Connect to a SQL Azure Database Using SSMS or SQLCMD
Learn how you can connect to a SQL Azure database.
DBA 101: Why is my log file full?
This question comes up constantly in different venues. I see it sometimes 2-3 times a day on SQL Server Central....
Distincting an IN subquery
This is going to be a quick one…
I keep seeing forum code (and production code) that includes the DISTINCT in...
ERROR_PROCEDURE Does Not Return a Schema Name
"A recent blog entry I read reminded me again that I wanted to rant about an issue in SQL Server for quite some time now. SQL Server 2005 introduced the separation between user and schema. Though schemata already existed before SQL Server 2005, they really became usable with this version, imho. At the same time TRY...CATCH was a new way for structured error handling introduced. And so it finally became possible…"
31 Days of SSIS – SQL Server Configuration (18/31)
31 Days of SSIS
The last post in the 31 Days of SSIS talked about the use of environmental variables. As...
How to Speed up MS SQL Reporting Services on First Run
I set up a new instance of MS SQL Server Reporting Services, but I noticed that it starts up very slow and I have to wait for ages to access the site. I also noticed that it is always slow when it has not been used for a certain period of time.
Read from the Right End of the Index: BACKWARD Scans
Optimizing queries is the most fun when you don’t need to add indexes. There’s nothing quite so nice as finding...
Help Us Help You
SQLServerCentral has a new place for discussions and Steve Jones hopes you use it. It's a forum built for critiquing and discussion the presentations that the SQL Server community shares with each other.
Is hyper-threading still relevant for SQL Server?
There still seems to be a lot of fear, uncertainty and doubt, in the community, with regard to use of Hyper-threading (HT) with SQL Server workloads. So, how and when should it be used?
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