Introduction to Indexes
Indexes are critical to good performance. However many people don't understand how indexes well. MVP Gail Shaw provides us with an introductory article on the basics of indexing.
SQL Server 2012 - New Service Broker Features
SQL Server 2012 came with bells and whistles for service broker, that give you plenty reasons to start using service broker in your applications.
The High Availability Poll
Most customers and clients wants highly available systems, with 100% uptime if possible. However most don't want to pay for them, and eventually tolerate some outages to keep costs down. This Friday, Steve Jones asks what is your environment like.
Password Help
Passwords control most of our access to computer systems and provide some level of authentication, but their security depends heavily on their strength and privacy. Steve Jones says you can set a good example for others and hemp improve security on all systems.
Transaction Replication Publisher failover to Mirror
Transaction Replication Publisher failover/failback to mirror standby with automatic redirection of the subscriber and client application.
Introduction into handling errors in PowerShell for SQL Server tasks
PowerShell is becoming a great tool for managing SQL Server tasks, but like most tasks that are coded there is always the need for error handling to deal with the unknown. PowerShell has several options for handling and capturing error details and in this tip we will explain these options using PowerShell for SQL Server examples.
Simplified Restores with SQL Server 2012 Recovery Advisor
Occasionally, a DBA may need to restore a database from a multiple backup files that originated from multiple servers. This requirement might arise, for example, in a database-mirroring configuration, where backups may be from either of the servers.
The Redmond Agenda
The things that are important to Microsoft might not be the same ones that are important to you as a customer. However Steve Jones thinks that the potential changes in the release strategy may be good for data professionals.
The Lure of Simplicity in IT
A deceptively simple solution to a business re-engineering problem can beguile companies into selecting a compromise that doesn't actually meet all their needs. Simple is great, but not at the expense of functionality. Some IT solutions are complex because the problem is complex, but they can be made conceptually clearer.
Documenting the Undocumented
Not everything in SQL Server is documented and Steve Jones doesn't think that everything should be. However some features are used often and should have additional documentation.
Blogs
Excellent article on securing msdb
By Brian Kelley
Fabiano Amorim has written an excellent article at Simple Talk on securing msdb. Here's...
T-SQL Tuesday #201: Temp Tables
By Steve Jones
This month we have a new host, which I am grateful for. So many...
When Do You Reach For A #temp Table?
I needed to do some research because there is more to #temp tables than...
Forums
OUTER APPLY Fundamentals: Part 2
Comments posted to this topic are about the item OUTER APPLY Fundamentals: Part 2
Building Great Software
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Building Great Software
The Range of Customers
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Range of Customers
Question of the Day
The Range of Customers
I have this data in the OrderHeader table in a SQL Server 2025 database (ordered by CustomerID ASC):
orderid orderdate customerid complete 3 2025-05-10 00:00:00.0002 1 21 2024-01-10 00:00:00.0003 1 15 2023-10-28 00:00:00.0004 1 13 2025-03-08 00:00:00.0006 1 11 2024-04-02 00:00:00.0007 1If I run this query, how many rows are returned?
SELECT * from dbo.OrderHeader where customerid between 3 and '6'See possible answers