Storage - A meeting of minds
Even if you are not an infrastructure guy a good grasp of storage basics will stand you in good stead
Write Better Code
Better security can be achieved by writing better code. Steve Jones agrees, but doesn't think it's as easy as it sounds.
Provisioning a New SQL Server Instance
Before you even install SQL Server, there a number of preparatory steps you need to take in order to get a new machine with a fresh copy of the operating system completely ready to install SQL Server properly. This is to maximize performance, reliability, and security.
Comparing Two Recordsets Using Powershell
How can you quickly and easily compare recordsets from different instances? This article will show you a quick way to do this with PowerShell.
Kill a SPID
This editorial was originally published on Sept 5, 2007. It is being re-run as Steve is traveling. Today Steve talks about the potential problems with killing SPIDs in SQL Server.
SQL Server 2012 Database Recovery Advisor: Simplified Point in Time Recovery
The aim of the new Database Recovery Advisor in SQL Server 2012 is to simplify the task of piecing together a recovery sequence from multiple backup files, comprising full, differential, and log backups. In this article, I'll demonstrate how the tool makes it easier to plan for, and perform, a point in time recovery from a series of backups, in order to recover data that may have been lost due to an application bug, or user error.
File Watcher Task
The task will detect changes to existing files as well as new files, both actions will cause the file to be found when available. A file is available when the task can open it exclusively. This is important for files that take a long time to be written, such as large files, or those that are just written slowly or delivered via a slow network link.
One Single View
This editorial was originally published on Oct 9, 2007. It is being re-run as Steve is traveling. When I worked at JD Edwards, one of the goals of our business intelligence system was to house a single view of the truth. I recently saw a blog post by Andrew Fryer that does a good job of explaining what this actually is.
SQL Triggers in a Security Context
This article will show you how to use user-defined triggers to supplement your security policies, preventing unauthorised data manipulation and blocking unfriendly logins.
Do you work with data to support organizational decisions?
Are you a database or BI expert supporting decisions in your company with reports or models using Microsoft tools? We want to hear how you do this and what you think of the trend towards 'self-service' analysis for business users. Share your experiences in a short survey.
Blogs
A New Word: los vidados
By Steve Jones
los vidados – n. the half-remembered acquaintances you knew years ago, who you might...
In-Person CISA Training – April 13-16, 2026
By Brian Kelley
I will be leading an in-person Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) exam prep class...
EightKB 2026
EightKB is back again for 2026! The biggest online SQL Server internals conference is...
Forums
query to track time spent on individual tasks in SSIS
Hi everyone I am looking at building a query to determine how much time...
SQL Server Transactional Replication from Always On Availability Groups to Azure SQL Database
Comments posted to this topic are about the item SQL Server Transactional Replication from...
Hidden Heroes
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Hidden Heroes
Question of the Day
Identities and Sequences I
When thinking of the Identity property for auto incrementing columns and sequences for the same action, which are explicitly linked to increment a number in a table when a new row is added?
See possible answers