Feedback is Encouraged
Microsoft is asking for feedback, more and more from customers. Steve Jones sees that as a good thing.
Grow Your Skills
The idea of moving to the cloud is scary, but it will happen for many of us. If not at this job, perhaps at the next. Learning more about the cloud is something Steve Jones thinks you should consider.
Tip: Resetting Identity Fields
How to reset an identity field to the next contiguous value, after deletions.
How to Identify and Backup the Latest SQL Server Database in a Series
I have to support a third party application that periodically creates a new database on the fly. This obviously causes issues with our backup mechanisms. The databases have a particular pattern for naming, so I can identify the set of databases, however, I need to make sure I'm always backing up the newest one. Read this tip to ensure you are backing up your latest database in a series.
SQL Saturday #172 - Washington, D.C.
A free day of training in the US nation's capital. Come join in if you are nearby.
Auditing SQL Server 2012 Server Roles
My organization is looking at SQL Server 2012 and I know that the ability to create roles at the server level is a new feature. Since this is new and impacts security, how do I handle them and how do I audit them?
Don't Explain Too Much
Having management get too involved in technical details can cause problems. Steve Jones notes that technical people should minimize the details when communicating with management.
Database Deployment: The Bits - Getting Data In
Quite often, the database developer or tester is faced with having to load data into a newly created database. What could be simpler? Quite a lot of things, it seems.
Free eBook: The Red Gate Guide to SQL Server Team-based Development
Get a free ebook that discusses how you can better manage your team development.
Regulators, Mount Up
If you are bound by HIPAA regulations, you may have more auditing in your future. If you're not, perhaps you should still pay attention to the criteria being used for auditing.
Blogs
Flyway Tips: AI Helps with Commit Messages
By Steve Jones
At Redgate, we’re experimenting with how AI can help developers and DBAs become better...
Startup scripts in SQL Server containers
I was messing around performing investigative work on a pod running SQL Server 2025...
Using SQL Compare with Redgate Data Modeler
By Steve Jones
Redgate recently released SQL Compare v16, which included a new feature to work with...
Forums
Encoding Strings
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Encoding Strings
Deep Learning and Craftsmanship Matter
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Deep Learning and Craftsmanship Matter
Building a Real-Time Analytics Pipeline with Azure Stream Analytics and SQL Server
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Building a Real-Time Analytics Pipeline...
Question of the Day
Encoding Strings
I have this code in SQL Server 2025. What is the result?
DECLARE @message VARCHAR(50) = 'Hello SQL Server 2025!'; DECLARE @encoded VARCHAR(MAX); SET @encoded = BASE64_ENCODE(@message); SELECT @encoded AS EncodedResult;See possible answers