Do You Really Need Surrogate Keys? Part 1 – Concepts and Methods
This is the first of a series of articles to analyze the use of surrogate keys in different scenarios.
End of October Free Training from PASS Virtual Chapters
This wraps up the last of the free training the PASS Virtual Chapters are providing in October.
Remote Security
As more and more people look to work away from inside traditional networks, security becomes an issue. As a data professional, Steve Jones reminds you to be sure that your data is protected.
SQL Slammer
It's been seven years since SQL Slammer, the worst SQL Server security worm struck. Steve Jones remembers that time.
SQLServerCentral Webinar Series #3: Optimize your SQL Server storage with SQL Storage Compress
Another webinar from SQLServerCentral that examines how you can compress your data on any edition of SQL Server.
Introducing ADO.NET Entity Framework
The challenge of bringing data from efficient storage engines such as SQL Server into object-oriented programming models is hardly a new one. Most developers address this challenge by writing complex data access code to move data between their applications and the database. This requires an understanding of the database so that you can access data either from the raw tables, from views, or from stored procedures.
Sending multiple rows to the Database from an Application: Part II
In part 2 of this series, Mohd Nizamuddin looks at sending multiple rows to the database from an application using XML.
Investigating Transactions Using Dynamic Management Objects
There can be a great difference in the performance of a particular routine in a test database, and in a fully loaded production system. When you hit performance problems in a database under load, and there is excessive locking and blocking, how can you determine exactly where the problems lie, in order to fix them?
Cheap Fun
Today we have a guest editorial from Andy Warren that talks about ways to enjoy life without spending a lot of money. Some of these might even be great team building ideas.
Notifications for SQL Server Agent Restarts
This article demostrates how to set up email notifications for SQL Server Agent Restarts.
Blogs
A New Word: on tenderhooks
By Steve Jones
on tenderhooks – adj. feeling the primal satisfaction of being needed by someone, which...
Ramblings about data communities and your contributions, no excuses
By DataOnWheels
I have been active in the data community throughout my career. I have met...
SQL Server Journey till 2025 (brief)
By Vinay Thakur
Quick Summary for Microsoft SQL Server till 2025, I am fortunate to be part...
Forums
Ola Hallengren Index Optimize Maintenance can we have data compression = page
I have a quick question on Ola Hallengren Index Optimize Maintenance . Do we...
how do i map the "current" object entry in for each to one variable
hi, in an ssis for each loop over an object variable called MyListVariable, i...
Simulating Mercury’s Orbital Motion Using Pure T-SQL (NASA 2025 Dataset)
SQL Server is typically viewed as a transactional or analytical database engine. However, it...
Question of the Day
String Similarity I
On SQL Server 2025, when I run this, what is returned?
SELECT EDIT_DISTANCE_SIMILARITY('SQL Server', 'MySQL') See possible answers