Part 1: The Database Administrator's Primary Responsibility
SQL Server Essentials Part 1: A look at the key responsibility of a DBA and why it is so vital.
ShowPlan Operator of the Week - Split, Sort, Collapse
'Split, Sort & Collapse' is, happily, not a description of the intrepid Fabiano Amorim after his epic series of articles about the ShowPlan operators. With renewed stamina, Fabiano continues his mission to describe all the major operators by explaining the Trivial Plan and the power of unique indices.
Saying Thank You
After a bad experience traveling, Steve Jones stops to recognize that despite a possible computer bug, he still recognizes that the programmers building web sites aren't making mistakes on purpose and deserve a thank you for their work.
SQL Server Webinar Series #9: Streamlining SharePoint Recovery
Metalogix Selective Restore Manager streamlines the process of finding and recovering individual documents and lists directly from a SharePoint content database backup file without the need for a recovery farm. When used in conjunction with Red Gate’s SQL Virtual Restore, Selective Restore Manager can recover documents and lists without physically restoring the backup file—saving time and much needed disk space. Together, Metalogix Selective Restore Manager and Red Gate SQL Virtual Restore open up new possibilities for your SharePoint backup and recovery strategy. Apr 21, 2011, 11am EST.
When does a Tumbling Window Start in StreamInsight
Whilst getting some courseware ready I was playing around writing some code and I decided to very simply show when a window starts and ends based on you asking for a TumblingWindow of n time units in StreamInsight. I thought this was going to be a two second thing but what I found was something I haven’t yet found documented anywhere until now.
The Mentoring Experiment
Have you ever wanted a mentor? Do you think that your career would benefit from having one? Steve Jones talks about a new experiment that he is putting in place with Andy Warren that looks to build a mentoring framework.
Database Normalization Webcast
Join Normalization nut Thomas LeBlanc for a review of a standard operating procedure used among DBAs at an employer. See the changes he made after joining the BI group at this employer. The session will go through naming conventions, check list for creating a table, formatting in stored procedures, and more. A brief preview of the SQLRally talk 3rd Normal Form: That’s Crazy Talk!!! Will be given about Lookup tables. Thur, Apr 21, 2011, 12:00pm EST.
Implementing Database Settings Using Policy Based Management
This article demonstrates how a DBA can check for policy compliance by leveraging the Policy Based Management Feature of SQL Server.
Careful Blogging
This editorial was originally published on Sept 22, 2005. Steve Jones talks about the dangers of blogging about your job and with your company. Be sure that you are aware of what the impact of your posts will be on your image.
Performance Troubleshooting with Windows Resource Monitor
Windows Resource Monitor can be a very useful tool for initial diagnosis of performance issues. In this two part series we look at how to troubleshoot performance issues using Resource Monitor.
Blogs
Narrow Task Decomposition in AI Pipeline Agents
A nightly load into sales_fact fails. Ask an orchestrating agent to break down the...
Car Update: August 2026
By Steve Jones
It’s been some time since I provided a car update, so I decided to...
Microsoft Fabric OneLake Shortcuts: When to Use Them and When Not To
By James Serra
An architecture scenario Imagine separate Sales, Finance, Shared Data, and Executive Analytics workspaces. Sales...
Forums
Managing Incidents and Fighting Fires
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Backing Up a DMK
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The Quiet Part
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Question of the Day
Backing Up a DMK
In SQL Server 2025, I have a database with a Database Masker Key (DMK). I want to back up this key and keep a copy offline. When do I have to open this key before running the backup?
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