The Colocated Dangers
An outage at SQLServerCentral reminded Steve Jones that it's not "if" a disaster will occur, but "when" it will occur that should have you preparing for a disaster at some point in the future.
Deciding between COALESCE and ISNULL in SQL Server
When writing T-SQL, a lot of developers use either COALESCE or ISNULL in order to provide a default value in cases where the input is NULL. The two functions do have quite different behavior and it is important to understand the qualitative differences between them when using them in your code.
An examination of bulk-logged recovery model
This article looks at the bulk-logged recovery model in depth and examines how it affects disaster recovery and logging.
Mobile Password Protection
Security is becoming more of an issue for mobile devices as we store and access more information on them all the time.
Responsibility for Security
Steve Jones talks about security, and the developer's role in ensuring secure code.
Big Data is Just a Fad
The Term 'Big Data' is nothing more than a fad, and we'll soon be cringing with embarrassment at the thought that we ever used it. However, the data, and the challenges to processing it that it presents, will stay with us. If jargon like 'Big Data' helps us focus on the problems, then let’s use it: temporarily, perhaps.
Red Gate releases SQL Backup Pro 7
Red Gate Software has released SQL Backup Pro 7 with pioneering new features focused on SQL Server backup verification. SQL Backup Pro 7’s step-by-step scheduling wizards aim to simplify the process of restoring and verifying backups.
The Best Way to Learn
This Friday Steve Jones is looking to see how you might like to improve your educational materials. With the success of our Stairway Series, we are looking to find better ways to teach people about SQL Server.
Implementing Lookup Logic in SQL Server Integration Services
With SSIS, you can perform a lookup on data in the course of a task, using referenced data from any OLE DB source. It is a useful feature that enables you to check on the validity of data, or interpret it before proceeding. Robert Sheldon explains.
Learn XML
Steve Jones talks about XML and how it will be more and more important for DBAs to understand this in the future.
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