SQL Saturday #38 - Jacksonville
Come attend this great one day free event on the Florida coast on May 8, 2010. There are a number of great speakers that make this worth attending.
SQL Server 2008 System Functions to Monitor the Instance, Database, Files, etc.
SQL Server provides several system meta data functions which allow users to obtain property values of different SQL Server objects and securables. Although you can also use the SQL Server catalog views or Dynamic Management Views to obtain much of this information, in some circumstances the system meta data functions simplify the process. In this tip I am going to demonstrate some of the available system meta data functions and their usage in different scenarios.
Calling exceptional DBAs: step up and be recognized
Nominations for The Exceptional DBA of 2010 open today, giving database administrators around the world the chance to be recognized for service to their employers, the SQL Server community, and the IT industry at large.
Improving Performance of Cross-Partition Queries
Table partitioning was added in SQL Server 2005 and increases performance in most cases but decreases it in others.
This Can't Happen
A bug reported on Connect has Steve Jones worried. This one could be a big deal in some situations that are concerned about comprehensive auditing.
The Com.PASS Feeds
A new set of RSS feeds, hosted by PASS, bring you a large quantity of SQL Server content from various sites, including SQLServerCentral.
How to create Policies using PowerShell scripts
This article explains how to create policies with user defined conditions in MS SQL 2008 using PowerShell scripts
Leadership
Steve Jones talks about the need for leadership and what managers should be looking to achieve in their efforts.
The Cost of Data Loss
The cost of data loss is higher in the US than other countries. That's good and bad for DBAs.
TSQL Challenge 29 - Reorganize sales data by sales amount
Your job is to reorganize the items in the table by sales amount (quantity * price). Reorganize the items from left to right, bottom to top. The item with the highest sales amount should come on top left of each invoice.
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
Backing Up a DMK
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The Quiet Part
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BIT_COUNT in SQL Server
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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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