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?
TSQL Challenge 48 - Parse and evaluate Arithmetic Expressions using TS
This challenge is to parse and evaluate arithmetic expressions using TSQL.
Another Example of CPU Throttling Due to Balanced Power Plan in Windows Server 2008 R2
Here is another example CPU throttling from someone who had a server running with the default “Balanced” Power Plan in...
BIT of a Problem
The BIT data type is an awkward fit for a SQL database. It doesn't have just two values, and it can do unexpected things in expressions. What is worse, it is a flag rather than a predicate, and so its overuse, along with bit masks, is a prime candidate for being listed as a 'SQL Code Smell'. Joe Celko makes the case.
You Need Two SLAs for Disaster Recovery
Continuing on with my MCM prep, I was listening to the High Availability/DR prep module today and I was once...
Blogs
Flyway Tips: Object History
By Steve Jones
It’s a small change, but a handy one. Flyway Desktop (FWD) now includes the...
Car Update September 2026
By Steve Jones
Software is hard. While I love our Lucid Gravity, I realize that they are...
Microsoft Tools for Making Data AI-Ready
By James Serra
Making Data AI-Ready, Part 2 (This is the second article in a three-part series...
Forums
Looking for old SQL Server 1.x - 4.21 disks, manuals, boxes, etc.
Hi everyone, I'm hoping some of the longtime SQL Server professionals here might be...
Checking the Error Log II
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Checking the Error Log II
Parameter Sniffing on SQL Server 2025: A Walkthrough with Real Numbers
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Parameter Sniffing on SQL Server...
Question of the Day
Checking the Error Log II
What is the reason I should change my old code that uses xp_readerrorlog?
See possible answers