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.
The Backup Passwords
Today Steve Jones asks how you handle those passwords across time for backups in this week's Friday poll.
Onboarding SQL Server Private Cloud Environment
This guide outlines the major considerations that must be taken into account when onboarding Microsoft® SQL Server® environments into a private cloud infrastructure.There is a strong trend in IT to virtualize servers whenever possible, driven by:1. Standardization2. Manageability3. IT agility and efficiency4. Consolidating servers reduces hardware, energy, and datacenter space utilization costs5. Virtualized environments allow new Disaster Recovery strategiesThe Hyper-V™ role in Windows Server® 2008 R2 provides a robust and cost-effective virtualization foundation to deliver these scenarios.However, there is significant risk in virtualizing SQL Server environments without giving careful consideration to the workloads being virtualized and the requirements of the server applications running on a Hyper-V environment.
Getting the most out of your SQL Server 2008 Cluster
Gain an insight into how to use your SQL Server cluster for more than just high availibility in this article from Mark Jones.
Greed Is Good (for IT)
Can greedy executives be good for IT? Steve Jones thinks so and gives us a few reasons today.
SQL Server Index Maintenance Performance Tuning for Large Tables
This article describes a real-world example of performance tuning index maintenance for a large table of approximately 1 billion rows.
Nominations open for Exceptional DBA of 2011
The Exceptional DBA contest is running again in 2011 and nominations are now open. Please submit yourself or a colleague for a chance to win some great prizes and be recognized as an amazing data professional.
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
Vectors in SQL Server 2025
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Vectors in SQL Server 2025
Odd Sequences
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Odd Sequences
Everything is the right question away
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Everything is the right question...
Question of the Day
Odd Sequences
What values are returned from this code?
CREATE SEQUENCE NumericSequence
AS NUMERIC(5,1)
START WITH 1.0
INCREMENT BY 0.1;
GO
SELECT NEXT VALUE FOR NumericSequence
GO
SELECT NEXT VALUE FOR NumericSequence
GO See possible answers