2020-01-10
315 reads
Editorials
A Problem with Cowboy Coding
Cowboy coding can be a problem, and in a case Steve talks about, a temptation for someone to get more work.
2020-01-08
514 reads
Great Writers Get Hired
Steve thinks one of the ways you can stand out with your resume or CV is by writing well and attracting the attention of hiring managers.
2020-01-07
176 reads
Quick Security Mistakes
Steve reminds you to be careful of taking shortcuts, as these can compromise security. Automation and DevOps might help you avoid mistakes.
2020-01-06
289 reads
The Art of Commenting
This week Steve talks about the ways in which comments are important in our code.
2020-01-04
291 reads
The Time to Patch
Microsoft has spent years working on building a reliable and dependable patch process for their software. While some products have had more sporadic updates, SQL Server has moved to a fairly regular schedule. Not quite a predictable "Patch Tuesday" schedule, but you can count on a CU arriving every month or two for SQL Server. […]
2020-01-03
821 reads
2020-01-02
331 reads
2020-01-01
86 reads
Looking Back at the Decade
Today is the last day of 2019, and the last day of the 2010 decade. I'm still somewhat amazed by the fact that we're entering the 2020s and we still don't really have flying cars. We're well past 2001 and 2010, and still not much space exploration, though the growth in computing power and AI/ML […]
2019-12-31
208 reads
2019-12-30
184 reads
Blogs
Microsoft announces new cybersecurity AI multi-model
By Brian Kelley
Yesterday, July 27, 2026, Microsoft announced a new cybersecurity effort called Project Perception. Included...
Getting the SQL Server MCP Server Running
By Steve Jones
If you’ve wanted a SQL Server MCP server for your databases, it’s available. The...
Introducing azsql-migration-test: Test and Validate Azure SQL Database Migrations
Introducing azsql-migration-test, a small open-source CLI that validates your Azure SQL Database migrations against...
Forums
Symmetric Key Encryption
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Symmetric Key Encryption
The “Successful Login” Dilemma: Why Your Login Auditing Strategy Might Be Hurting Your Server
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The “Successful Login” Dilemma: Why...
Building Your Own Software
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Building Your Own Software
Question of the Day
Symmetric Key Encryption
If I run this statement in SQL Server 2025, how is the password encrypted?
CREATE SYMMETRIC KEY MySymmetricKey WITH ALGORITHM = AES_256, KEY_SOURCE = 'My secret key source passphrase', IDENTITY_VALUE = 'My secret identity value' ENCRYPTION BY PASSWORD = 'S&perS#cretP@ssword7'; GOSee possible answers