Default trace - A Beginner's Guide
This article is the beginner's guide to Default Trace. The article outlines how to query the default trace for key trace events, with a focus on DDL history.
How to Conduct Effective Data Warehouse and Business Intelligence Software Evaluations
Denise Rogers discusses the essential tasks in conducting effective software evaluations revolving around data warehousing and business intellegence. Each step has a dependency on the previous one, starting with establishing the framework of the evaluation and adding progressively elaborate data that facilitates a decision making process that is resolute.
Make a 100+ Server Inventory in 30 minutes
Learn how you can generate a server inventory in 30 minutes for all of your servers with this new article from Stanley Chan.
Who Wants to Lead the Community?
Steve Jones talks about the PASS Board of Directors election coming up this fall and hopes some of you will apply.
Exploring Derived Column Transformation in SQL Server Integration Services
Marcin Policht examines SQL Server Integration Services' component, Derived Column Transformation,and how its usefulness is enhanced by its ability to implement fairly elaborate mathematical, logical, and string operations.
Is the MVP Worth It?
The MVP award is coveted by many people and there are constant questions about how to get it. Is it worth it? Steve Jones talks about that today.
Speeding Up Incremental ETL Processes in SSIS by Using MD5 Hashes
Speeding up incremental ETL processes in SSIS by tracking changes to records in an MD5 Hash
SQL Server and the XML Data Type : Data Manipulation
The introduction of the xml data type, with its own set of methods for processing xml data, made it possible for SQL Server developers to create columns and variables of the type xml. Deanna Dicken examines the modify() method, which provides for data manipulation of the XML data stored in the xml data type via XML DML statements.
Blogs
Narrow Task Decomposition in AI Pipeline Agents
A nightly load into sales_fact fails. Ask an orchestrating agent to break down the...
Car Update: August 2026
By Steve Jones
It’s been some time since I provided a car update, so I decided to...
Microsoft Fabric OneLake Shortcuts: When to Use Them and When Not To
By James Serra
An architecture scenario Imagine separate Sales, Finance, Shared Data, and Executive Analytics workspaces. Sales...
Forums
Managing Incidents and Fighting Fires
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Backing Up a DMK
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The Quiet Part
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Question of the Day
Backing Up a DMK
In SQL Server 2025, I have a database with a Database Masker Key (DMK). I want to back up this key and keep a copy offline. When do I have to open this key before running the backup?
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