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.
What MAXDOP Setting Should be Used for SQL Server
I have a busy SQL Server and notice that several queries are running in parallel. I know I can set the max degree of parallelism setting, but what MAXDOP should I use?
Blogs
Funny Money: #SQLNewBlogger
By Steve Jones
While wandering around the documentation looking for some Question of the Day topics, I...
Why Database AI Agents need Layers?
By Arun Sirpal
Third part in my Ai series with databases. When building AI solutions within the...
Un-Migrating From the Cloud: T-SQL Tuesday #199
By Steve Jones
This month we have a very interesting invitation from Koen Verbeeck. He has hosted...
Forums
How Do the Experts Become Experts?
Comments posted to this topic are about the item How Do the Experts Become...
Stairway to Reliable Database Deployments Level 4 – Preparing for Production Deployment
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Stairway to Reliable Database Deployments...
Secure Communications
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Secure Communications
Question of the Day
Secure Communications
As of June 2026, what is the best version of TLS to use with SQL Server?
See possible answers