Windows Instant File Initialization and SQL Server
One Windows setting that I think is extremely important for SQL Server usage is the “Perform volume maintenance tasks” right,...
A Variety of Interpretations
This week was T-SQL Tuesday week, the brainchild of Adam Machanic, and hosted by Pat Wright. The theme of Automation produced some very interesting posts. Some of them might inspire you to change the way you tackle the solutions for a variety of problems.
An In-Depth Examination of Red Gate SQL Monitor
A review of SQL Monitor, the new DBA utility from Red Gate Software that can help you keep an eye on what your SQL Server instances are doing.
Careful Blogging
Today we have a reprint of an editorial from Sept 22, 2005. In this one, Steve Jones reminds you that blogging is a public event and you want to be careful about what you write.
Avoid External Dependencies in SQL Server Triggers
I sometimes want to perform auditing or other actions in a trigger based on some criteria. More specifically, there are a few cases that may warrant an e-mail; for example, if a web sale takes place that requires custom or overnight shipping and handling. It is tempting to just add code to the trigger that sends an e-mail when these criteria are met. But this can be problematic for two reasons: (1) your users are waiting for that processing to occur, and (2) if you can't send the e-mail, how do you decide whether or not to roll back the transaction, and how do you bring the problem to the attention of the administrator?
SQL Saturday #47 - Phoenix
Come learn about SQL Server in Phoenix on Feb 19, 2011. For free! Spread the word to anyone you know in the area.
Most Work is Mundane
Today we have a guest editorial from Andy Warren. Work can seem mundane and tedious at times, and today Andy asks you you remain engaged when the work isn't exciting.
Preventing usage of "SELECT *..."
Is there a way to not allow users to use SELECT * in their queries? New author AJ Raghuram has an interesting solution that can prevent this in code.
SQL Server Data Mining with Microsoft Office Excel
This article demonstrates using SQL Server's data mining capabilities with the Excel.
SQL University: SQL Server Security Architecture - 3rd Party, Some Options
Day 3 of Security Week at SQL University is now in session. You're implementing a third party solution and you...
Blogs
Monday Monitor Tips: Intelligent Alert Thresholds
By Steve Jones
At the recent Redgate Summit in Chicago, I demo’d (lightly) the ML based Alert...
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...
Forums
String_agg not working as needed
I'm trying to get this string_agg to put all the 'comments' into one result...
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
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