use a max() aggregate and a group by clause.

It's fairly simple, but it almost seems like this is homework. Try it yourself.

I see NULL mostly as a "we need to get this data" marker. We don't know why it's not there, don't know what's there, but we need something.

No, I don't think there are big issues. SQL Server is designed to handle files, even large ones. I think that you have some limitations around 2GB, but apart from...

Implement logging, read the logs. They will provide more information

I don't think we completely know what happened. That would be limited to a few people, but I think most reports agree he did not disclose passwords when asked, and...

Thanks for the vote. I would decline to serve.

As good a word (phrase?) as any.

I shall decline to post my word for the day

:w00t:

Thanks, Alvin. Appreciate the kind words.

Thanks. I shall decline to comment on PASS further at this time.

256kb, should be in SQL, above 1MB, should be in the file system. I think it's a gray area in between.

You might reduce some SQL resources/IO from a large file,...

If you can be sure that it will always mean N/A, you could use it. Alternatively, you could use a code, something like 99989 to mean electric car.

It's how you...

George has good reasons. Shrinking log files is mostly a waste of resources if done regularly. It is really there for fixing specific problems from one-off situations.

I agree with David that TableDiff can work. It's a little work on your side, but not a crazy amount. Red Gate and Apex tools are low cost, are tested,...

I believe that data is moved to other files in the filegroup, round robin style, and then the file is emptied.