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
Moving On-Prem PostgreSQL to the Cloud: Picking the Right Path for Big Tables
Every PostgreSQL migration eventually hits the same fork in the road. The database is...
A Spread of Vacation
By Steve Jones
I’m off on vacation today. Which is a little weird as I just got...
How AgentDBA Identifies Backup Failures
By Arun Sirpal
Every DBA has a box like this. Sitting untouched for months. Nobody’s proud of...
Forums
Have you done a Mid year check in?
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Have you done a Mid...
From SQL Server On-Premises to Claude Desktop: How I built a Full MCP Pipeline
Comments posted to this topic are about the item From SQL Server On-Premises to...
Independence Day 2026
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Independence Day 2026
Question of the Day
Independence Day 2026
In the original Independence Day movie (1996), what type of computer did Jeff Goldblum use to connect to the alien mainframe? Take a guess, don't look it up or ask AI.
See possible answers