Microsoft at the PASS Data Community Summit 2023
Microsoft will be presenting a number of sessions at the PASS Data Community Summit 2023. Read about their plans for the event and register to come if you can.
Crazy Interviews
Today Steve has a few thoughts about some of the nightmare interview processes tech workers are going through.
Using Machine Learning Pipeline Execution Activity in Azure Data Factory
This article shows how one can run a machine learning activity in an Azure Data Factory (ADF) pipeline.
Read Data Stored in a Lake Database using Azure Synapse Analytics
In this article, we look at how to read data stored in a lake database using Azure Synapse Analytics to help reduce overall Azure costs.
Honeybee Swarms
I love honeybees. This will be my seventh year as an amateur beekeeper, and aside from family or data, there are few other topics that I could easily spend an afternoon talking to you about. They’re amazing creatures. This past winter I had to move my beehives temporarily to the apiary of a friend. With […]
Identifying Customer Buying Pattern in Power BI - Part 2
In this article, we develop the Power BI DAX formula for basket analysis. It is the technique used in retail industry for market based analysis.
Multiple Display Productivity
How many monitors do you need? Steve notes that having multiple ones seems to be a standard these days for tech workers. Do more make you more productive? Answer the poll today.
Database Subsetting and Data Extraction
Let’s start by defining a subset and why you would require a data subset? When dealing with the development, testing and releasing of new versions of an existing production database, developers like to use their existing production data.
Are IT Certifications Still Relevant?
Steve talks about certifications today, after watching a video that showcases the benefits of why they are good for your career.
Stairway to SQL Server Security Level 7: Security Across Databases with Cross-Database Ownership Chaining
Sometimes you need to reach outside a database and access data and objects from multiple databases, which raises some security issues and increases the complexity of data access. In this stairway level, you’ll learn about cross-database ownership chaining so that you can reach across database boundaries securely.
Blogs
Shifting Mindsets: Why FinOps is Essential for Cloud Efficiency
By HeyMo0sh
As a DevOps practitioner, I’ve always focused on performance, scalability, and automation. But as...
March 2026 SQL Server Security Updates
By Brian Kelley
On Patch Tuesday, in addition to OS and Office security patches, Microsoft also released...
How Fabric Mirroring Transformed with SQL Server 2025
When mirroring was first released for Azure SQL Database, it used Change Data Capture...
Forums
Multiple Deployment Processes
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How to Use sqlpackage to Detect Schema Drift Between Azure SQL Databases
Comments posted to this topic are about the item How to Use sqlpackage to...
Upgrading Admin Queries
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Upgrading Admin Queries
Question of the Day
Upgrading Admin Queries
I have a query from a former DBA that we run on SQL Server 2025 to check on database metadata. This query references sys.sysaltfiles. I want to refactor this code to be more modern. Which DMV should I reference instead?
See possible answers