Being Exceptional
It's time to vote for the Exceptional DBA awards, and Steve Jones is asking for your opinion. Take a moment and recognize one of your peers as the best DBA in 2012.
Working with SQL Agent Durations
SQL Agent stores duration in HHMMSS format - not always useful. Discover how to use Powershell, some basic math, and T-SQL to tame these unruly values.
Provisioning a New SQL Server Instance – Part Two
So how should you install and configure SQL Server 2012 properly? Glenn Berry completes his two-part series by explaining the steps needed to complete the preparation and do the actual installation.
Make a Backup First
The hack on a Gizmodo writer using Amazon and Apple customer service security holes was shocking. Steve Jones notes that while security is important, backups are even more important.
Stairway to T-SQL DML Level 8: Using the ROLLUP, CUBE and GROUPING SET operator in a GROUP BY Clause
In this article I will be expanding on my discussion of the GROUP BY clause by exploring the ROLLUP, CUBE and GROUPING SETS operators. These additional GROUP BY operators make it is easy to have SQL Server create subtotals, grand totals, a superset of subtotals, as well as multiple aggregate groupings in a single SELECT statement.
Row Number Transformation
The Row Number Transformation calculates a row number for each row, and adds this as a new output column to the data flow. The column number is a sequential number, based on a seed value. Each row receives the next number in the sequence, based on the defined increment value.
Big Data Jobs
Big Data is in the news and there is a lot of job growth. Steve Jones lists a few industries and areas where you might find one.
Hierarchies in SQL, Part II, the Sequel
In a followup to his first article on Hierarchies, Gus Gwynn takes a look at the performance of a few different methods of querying a hierarchy. Learn how the HierarchyID stacks up.
How To Support Multiple SQL Server Package Configurations in SSIS
I have several applications that use SSIS packages and I want to be able to store all the configurations together in a single table when I deploy. When a package executes I need a way of specifying the "application" and having SSIS automatically handle the package configuration based on the application.
Brad McGehee Moves On
The SQLServerCentral and Database Weekly editors recognize the contribution of Brad McGehee to the websites and newsletters, and to DBA education in general, over the past 5 years.
Blogs
“We love to debate minutiae”
By Brian Kelley
I am guilty as charged. The quote was in reference to how people argue...
Advice I Like: Knots
By Steve Jones
Learn how to tie a bowline knot. Practice in the dark. With one hand....
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...
Forums
Windows logins for users migrated from DomainA to DomainB
Hi, I have a SQL Server instance where users connect to via Windows Authentication,...
Multiple Deployment Processes
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Multiple Deployment Processes
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...
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