A Simple Method to Load Excel Data
Learn how a C# script can easily load data from Excel into SQL Server.
Portable Data Storage
Today Steve wonders if the technology for storage and data transfers has superseded the need for portable drives.
Eager Aggregation in SQL queries
Aggregation is a widely used way to summarize the content of a database. It is usually expressed with GROUP BY clause or just using aggregate functions (like COUNT or SUM). When the database engine executes a query with aggregations, it produces individual rows need to compute the required output and then performs the aggregation as (almost) last step. We discuss in this article how to re-write a query manually so that the order of operations will be different and when it can be beneficial.
Play To Your Strengths
I really enjoy playing with radios [ed: we know, you won't shut up about it]. Something as simple as checking in to a local net (basically saying hi to a bunch of people on the radio) is fun. However, there's so much more to it. In the last few weeks I've been testing a new […]
Continuity Across Restarts
A cloud version of Aurora MySQL has added support for the buffer pool to survive restarts of the database engine. Steve thinks that's an interesting technology, which could be helpful.
Dimensional Modelling Case Study Part 1 - Age Group
Learn how you can handle dimensional modeling in a data warehouse when your data uses different categorization for ages.
Counting more efficiently
Nearly a decade ago, I wrote a post called “Bad habits : Counting rows the hard way.” In that post, I talked about how we can use SQL Server’s metadata to instantly retrieve the row count for a table.
Adding Cookie Consent to SQL Server Central
We are adding a consent form to the SQL Server Central website to allow our cookies.
An In-Depth Look at MIXED_PAGE_ALLOCATION and Changes in Page Allocation
Learn about the benefits of mixed extent allocation in SQL Server 2016, along with how you can check this setting or enable it in your database.
Re-Evaluating the Cloud
An update from 37 Signals/Basecamp shows their expatriation from the cloud has been a success. Worth reading before you make too many moves to the cloud.
Blogs
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...
EightKB 2026
EightKB is back again for 2026! The biggest online SQL Server internals conference is...
Forums
query to track time spent on individual tasks in SSIS
Hi everyone I am looking at building a query to determine how much time...
SQL Server Transactional Replication from Always On Availability Groups to Azure SQL Database
Comments posted to this topic are about the item SQL Server Transactional Replication from...
Hidden Heroes
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Hidden Heroes
Question of the Day
Identities and Sequences I
When thinking of the Identity property for auto incrementing columns and sequences for the same action, which are explicitly linked to increment a number in a table when a new row is added?
See possible answers