Parameter Sniffing in Production: How a 200ms Query Became a 90-Second Outage
Learn how parameter sniffing appeared in a real system and how the issues were solved.
2026-06-29
5,427 reads
Uncategorized
Concurrency and Baseline Control: Stairway to Reliable Database Deployments Level 5
As database development scales across multiple contributors, concurrency becomes an inherent aspect of the process. Changes that are individually correct may still conflict when developed against a shifting baseline. This level introduces a disciplined approach to managing parallel changesets by controlling their scope, identifying overlap, and resolving conflicts through realignment. By ensuring that only one changeset retains its original baseline while others are adapted accordingly, deployments remain predictable and consistent. Once released, changesets are treated as immutable, and further evolution proceeds through new, forward-only changes.
2026-06-24
1,199 reads
How to Deploy SQL Server on Kubernetes running on Windows
Learn how to deploy SQL Server on Kubernetes using Docker Desktop on Windows. Unlock powerful capabilities for your database.
2026-06-22
Index Fragmentation Explained: Page Splits, Logical Reads, and What to Do
Index fragmentation can silently degrade your query performance over time. Learn what happens at the page level, how to measure it, and how to fix it.
2026-06-22
3,768 reads
Midjourney, Healthcare?
Certain announcements in AI tell you more about where an industry is heading than any earnings call or research paper ever could, and Midjourney just made one. The company that spent the last few years as the most recognizable name in image generation, the one whose pictures flooded everyone's feeds and defined what people saw […]
2026-06-20
1,203 reads
Your Database Just Hit One Terabyte: Now What?
You were minding your own business, and all of a sudden it happened.
2026-06-17
Microsoft are retiring role-based certifications. Here’s why they shouldn’t
In this Simple Talk opinion piece, Microsoft certification veteran Dr Greg Low considers – and shares his thoughts on – the recent announcement that many role-based Microsoft certifications are being retired.
2026-06-08
Fuzzy String Matching in SQL Server 2025
Learn about the new fuzzy matching functions in SQL Server 2025.
2026-06-01
3,317 reads
Even When You Know What You're Doing, You Can Screw Up
There I was, walking around Amsterdam, radio in hand (OMG! He's talking about radios again!), automatically transmitting Active Packet Report System (APRS) signals every 90 seconds. Same radio I had used in Chicago a couple of weeks ago and in Poland last week. I was on the correct frequency and, as I say, I had […]
2026-05-23
186 reads
Database Mail in SQL Server 2022
This article covers the basics of getting Database Mail setup in SQL Server.
2026-05-22
4,184 reads
Blogs
How to Clear the SSMS Cache (SSMS 21 and Later)
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The flight recorder: Replaying what an AI agent did on my SQL Server
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“What exactly did it do on my server?” is the first question a DBA...
Announcements from the Microsoft Fabric Community Conference — Barcelona 2026
By James Serra
Microsoft shared a broad set of Fabric, Power BI, and SQL updates at FabCon...
Forums
Let's Talk Certifications
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The Hidden Security Risks of Role Combination in SSAS Tabular
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Hidden Security Risks of...
The Empty Aggregate
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Empty Aggregate
Question of the Day
The Empty Aggregate
I have this table in a SQL Server 2025 database:
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[CustomerOrder] ( [OrderID] [int] NULL, [CustomerID] [int] NULL, [total] [money] NULL ) ON [PRIMARY] GOWhat is returned from this code? (answers are for the sum and then the count)
SELECT SUM(total) AS sum,
COUNT(total) AS count
FROM dbo.CustomerOrder;
See possible answers