Raw Materials - The Vermillion Screen of Death
An elementary error foils Peter's plans for world domination.
The Ad Hoc Change
Almost every DBA will be asked to change data in production at some point. Too often we don't have the tools to allow users to correct errors, but when you make changes, Steve Jones reminds you that you need to be careful and still have a process.
Using Extended Events to troubleshoot SQL Server issues
As a DBA, you'll encounter elusive performance, connectivity and locking problems that you'll need to troubleshoot. There are many tools that you can use such as Profiler. In addition to these tools, SQL Server 2008 offers extended events ("XEvents"), which you can use as a powerful tracing system. By default, the "system_health" extended events session is always on, and can provide you help to locate the source of trouble much faster.
Database testing. The ferret and the rabbit
Can one generalize from agile techniques of application testing to database testing. Phil isn't entirely convinced that it can do any more that remove the distracting trivial bugs in order to allow testers to concentrate on the important issues
SQL 2005 vs. SQL 2008 Part 1 - (Backup File Sizes and Times)
SQL 2008 has some key improvements over SQL 2005. This article deals with backup compression and faster backups in SQL 2008
TSQL Challenge 57 - Identify rows that match the rollup trade data
Your job is to scan the trades data and identify combination of trades that match a given rollup data.
Cartoonists Wanted
An open call to the amatuers that might want to pen some database related cartoons for Simple Talk Publishing.
Cursors for T-SQL Beginners
Should we really avoid cursors? See how to rewrite code to avoid cursors and also analyze the implications.
Blogs
Webinar: Navigating the Database Landscape in 2026
By Steve Jones
For a number of years, we’ve produced the State of the Database Landscape report,...
Claude AI Convinced Me Not to Build an iPad App
By Steve Jones
I coach volleyball and I do a lot of stat stuff on paper. I...
A New Word: Dolorblindness
By Steve Jones
dolorblindness – n. the frustration that you’ll never be able to understand another person’s...
Forums
Data Warehouse Toolkit meets Star Schema: The Complete Reference
Is there a good syllabus for reading these two together? (Yes, it's called the...
GPX distance and time analysis in SQL Server
Comments posted to this topic are about the item GPX distance and time analysis...
The DBA is Dead; Long Live the DBA
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The DBA is Dead; Long...
Question of the Day
Changing the AG Listener
In SQL Server 2025, if I want to remove an IP from a listener, what do I do?
See possible answers