Generating a Distinct Delimited List Using XML
Generating an ordered, distinct, delimited string using ROW_NUMBER() and FOR XML PATH.
The Breakfast Plan Goes Awry
A simple motivational plan goes sideways in this guest editorial from Andy Warren.
Performance Counter DMV sys.dm_os_performance_counters
By querying a single DMV, sys.dm_os_performance_counters to be precise, you can collect counter information that you would receive from PerfMon for the various SQL Server counters.
How the Resource Governor Helped Our Report Server
Trying to manage the load in a reporting server can be hard. Roy Ernest shows that Resource Governor might be a great solution that has worked in his environment.
Kudos to the Community
Steve Jones takes a day to thank everyone that donates their time to help others in the community.
The Great Forum Debate
Phil discusses the pros and cons of the traditional versus stack overflow-style model for forum debate, and wonders whether there is a database model that would support all these different forms of discussion, or cooperative work, so that we can simply fit the 'visualization' to the nature of the particular discussion.
TSQL Challenge 33 - Calculate list of bookings fully paid on the book
This problem is related to a reservation system where customers book a service and pay it in one or more transactions which may happen on different dates.
Operator of the Week - Lazy Spool
Continuing to illuminate the depths of SQL Server's Query Optimizer, Fabiano shines a light on the sixth major Showplan Operator on his list: the Lazy Spool. What does the Lazy Spool do that's so special, how does the Query Optimizer use it, and why is it so Lazy? Fabiano Amorim explains all.
The Phantom DBA
This week Steve Jones has a poll about the difficulties in getting the DBA position into companies. What's your current opinion of this profession?
SSAS: Explaining the State Transitions Viewer for Sequence Clustering
In SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2008, Microsoft has added some fantastic visualizations around data-mining algorithms. These visual aids allow us to see exactly what a particular algorithm is predicting or describing—making a difficult subject easier to understand.
Blogs
Redgate and Rome
By Steve Jones
I’m at the UK Redgate office today, meeting with senior leaders in all areas...
Quick Tip: Check Most DTU Expensive Queries in Azure SQL Database
Optimizing Azure SQL Database performance often begins with identifying the most resource-intensive queries. Understanding...
PowerShell Newbie – Variables
By gbargsley
This is Week 2 of PowerShell Strikes Back – a four-week May series for...
Forums
SSRS Is Dead. Here Are Your Real Options
Comments posted to this topic are about the item SSRS Is Dead. Here Are...
The Distance Metric
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Distance Metric
The New Wave of Security Threats
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The New Wave of Security...
Question of the Day
The Distance Metric
In the new VECTOR_DISTANCE() function in SQL Server 2025, the first parameter is the distance_metric. What is this?
See possible answers