Why SQL Server is Better Than Oracle
WARNING: This editorial contains graphic language. Viewer discretion is advised.
2012-10-09 (first published: 2007-10-04)
1,618 reads
Editorials
Software is Like Building a House
One of the really classic analogies in software is that it's like building a house. You have a foundation, multiple teams, lots of contractors that specialize in something, etc. And it's an analogy that's debated as to its relevance over and over. I won't go into the correctness of this analogy, but I wanted to comment on it.
2012-10-08 (first published: 2007-10-05)
381 reads
Your Password has Failed the Test
Your data is in the public domain and as a DBA you need to be very familiar with what it is possible for the sinner to do with a handy password, and how easily that sinner can get hold of it.
2012-10-08
154 reads
Not Just At Home
There was an interesting article about how telecommuting is the secret to employee happiness and it makes some sense in today's fast-paced, highly connected world. There are a number of job surveys that list flexible hours as one of the most desired benefits.
2012-10-05 (first published: 2007-10-10)
873 reads
The Build Buy Debate
Does it make more sense for a company to build it's own software or buy a package?
2012-10-04 (first published: 2007-10-23)
231 reads
Dog Food
Should you dog food your own software? Steve Jones thinks this is a good idea if it works for your particular product.
2012-10-03 (first published: 2007-09-28)
643 reads
Remote DBAs
There's still hope for all you DBAs out there looking for a telecommuting job that allows you to work in your pajamas. Someone sent me this case study about remote DBAs and I decided to pass it along. It's a one page PDF, and it's a fluff piece to some extent for Bluewolf, a company that has outsourced IT staffing, but has a section on remote DBA work as well
2012-10-02 (first published: 2007-09-19)
1,371 reads
Challenge Yourself
Challenge yourself to find new tools and use them in your work. That's today's message from Steve Jones. (This editorial was originally published on Aug 5, 2007. It is being re-run as Steve is away on the SQL in the City US 2012 tour.)
2012-10-01
307 reads
Fragmentation Fear
Index fragmentation can certainly cause performance problems, but should it really dictate the way we design our clustered indexes?
2012-10-01
397 reads
Outsourcing Security
Companies may look to outsource security in order to take advantage of experts' skills at a lower price. What will that mean for data professionals?
2012-09-27
113 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