Help Make SQL Server “Denali” The Best Release Yet!
A blog from Dan Jones of Microsoft asks you to test the next release of SQL Server, in CTP3 now, and send your feedback to Microsoft to ensure that the product is well tested.
Understanding the SQL Server NOLOCK hint
It seems that in some SQL Server shops the use of the NOLOCK (aka READUNCOMMITED) hint is used throughout the application. In this tip we take a closer look at how this works and what the issues maybe when using NOLOCK.
A faster DBCC CHECKDB?
This article describes a utility that is able to report the most common DBCC CHECKDB errors significantly faster than DBCC CHECKDB does itself.
The Talent Crunch
There seems to be no shortage of IT jobs in the US, and Steve Jones reminds us that the shortage is for talented workers, not just workers.
Script to Get Available and Free Disk Space for SQL Server
Often we face the situation where we need to check the total disk space and available disk space for both physical and LUN/Mount drives. See how this can be done using PowerShell.
Devil's Advocate
With the one hand, Chris applauds the outstanding work of the SQL Server community, and tentatively raises the other to ask if we're on the cusp of a chance.
How to Name Sheets in Exported Excel Workbooks with SSRS 2008 R2
A new feature of SSRS 2008 R2 is the ability to name sheets in exported Excel workbooks. This article explains how to utilize this feature.
Virtual Security
As more and more companies move to virtualized servers, security should be on their minds. Steve Jones talks about that changes that you should consider.
Blogs
Advice I Like: Respect
By Steve Jones
“Don’t aim to have others like you; aim to have them respect you.” –...
Blue Sky Programming – The Optimism Trap
Many years ago, before I joined Oracle, I was working on a major modernisation...
Setting Up a Mac for Data Engineering and AI Work
If you work with data pipelines, SQL, notebooks, or machine learning models, a Mac...
Forums
SQL Art, Part 4: Happy 4th of July — A British DBA's Guide to Celebrating a War We Don't Talk About
Comments posted to this topic are about the item SQL Art, Part 4: Happy...
locking down agent for new user on our dev machine
hi , a new user wants to be able to add sql agent jobs...
SQL Server Enum Implementation: A Single-Row View Strategy for Avoiding Magic Values
Comments posted to this topic are about the item SQL Server Enum Implementation: A...
Question of the Day
BIT_COUNT I
In SQL Server 2025, I have a table (dbo.UserPermission) that contains this data:
UserID UserPermissions 15 23 37What is returned when I run this code:
select bit_count(UserPermissions) as PermissionCount from dbo.UserPermission where UserID = 3;See possible answers