The Semantics of NULL in SQL Server 2008
Learn the basics of NULL, what it is, and how to query for it in your databases from Adolfo Socorro. What NULL means, how to account for it, and how are expressions involving NULL evaluated
Tracy Hamlin, Exceptional DBA of 2010, on what it means to go the extra mile
An interview with the Exceptional DBA of 2010, Tracy Hamlin.
When To Touch
When can you modify a database that supports some third party product? Steve Jones has a few thoughts and warns you to be careful.
Executing SSIS Packages Using DTExec
Learn how the DTExec and DTExecUI utilities give you the ability to assign values to arbitrary properties of components within a SQL Server Integration Services package, when invoking its execution.
DMVs: are they worth the effort?
Many of the SQL Server DMVs still have a wild, unfinished feel but they are an incredibly useful tool for DBA, well-worth the sweat and toil required to learn and query them effectively.
Multi-Script, Multi-DB Deployments
A way to handle application releases involving multiple scripts and/or multiple databases.
Rating Bugs
How do you triage and rate the bugs that come in for software? How should Microsoft do this for SQL Server. Steve Jones has a few comments.
Tracy Hamlin elected Exceptional DBA of 2010
Congratulations to Tracy Hamlin, voted to be the Exceptional DBA of 2010.
TSQL Challenge 37 - Calculate the downtime and duration of servers bas
This is a challenge to identify the downtime of servers from the log data generated by a monitoring application.
How to execute a DOS command when xp_cmdshell is disabled
For security reasons many sites disable the extended stored procedure xp_cmdshell, which is used to run DOS commands or executables. When you really have to run a DOS command or an executable from a stored procedure how can you get around this limitation without a breakdown in security.
Blogs
Moving On-Prem PostgreSQL to the Cloud: Picking the Right Path for Big Tables
Every PostgreSQL migration eventually hits the same fork in the road. The database is...
A Spread of Vacation
By Steve Jones
I’m off on vacation today. Which is a little weird as I just got...
How AgentDBA Identifies Backup Failures
By Arun Sirpal
Every DBA has a box like this. Sitting untouched for months. Nobody’s proud of...
Forums
Have you done a Mid year check in?
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From SQL Server On-Premises to Claude Desktop: How I built a Full MCP Pipeline
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Independence Day 2026
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Independence Day 2026
Question of the Day
Independence Day 2026
In the original Independence Day movie (1996), what type of computer did Jeff Goldblum use to connect to the alien mainframe? Take a guess, don't look it up or ask AI.
See possible answers