Decoding the SQL Server Index Structure
A deep dive into the implementation of indexes in SQL Server 2008 R2. This is information that you must know in order to tune your queries for optimum performance. Partial scans of indexes are now possible!
No More NULL
A change in the support for NULL values has Steve Jones commenting on the implications.
Insider Insights
Insider rumours and gossip from the murky world of the Database Industry, and from the colourful characters that inhabit it.
ORM Mapping
A guest editorial from Phil Factor that discusses ORMs and how they ca be used, or mis-used, in our applications.
Managing Your Backup Files
I recently posted a couple of scripts that backup all databases on your SQL Server instance to disk with a...
SQL Server 2008 - Accessing Audit Details
Learn how to use the SQL Server 2008 catalog view and dynamic management view to access the audit details of existing server and database level audits.
Scaling Out the Distribution Database
Replication is a great technology for moving data from one server to another, and it has a great many configuration options. David Poole brings us a technique for scaling out with multiple distribution databases.
Why Be an MCP?
With Steve Jones on vacation, we reprint on of his more popular editorials from the past. This was originally published on Feb 14, 2005.
A High Level Comparison Between Oracle and SQL Server - Part III
Part III of the Oracle / SQL Server comparison looks at the configuration options for each database, their storage options as well as the startup and shutdown procedures.
Blogs
Automatic Index Compaction
By ReviewMyDB
Index maintenance has always meant nightly jobs and a window you have to defend....
The Goldilocks problem – Materialized Views
I’m sure you’ve all heard the tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, but...
Monday Monitor Tips: Virtual Machine Usage and Cost
By Steve Jones
One of the things I’ve been requesting for a number of years is cost...
Forums
SQL Art, Part 4: Happy 4th of July — A British DBA's Guide to Celebrating a War We Don't Talk About
Comments posted to this topic are about the item SQL Art, Part 4: Happy...
How We Handled a Vendor Retry That Loaded Twice in Snowflake
Comments posted to this topic are about the item How We Handled a Vendor...
Cognitive Coverage
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Cognitive Coverage
Question of the Day
Getting the Average
I have this data in the dbo.Commission table in a SQL Server 2022 database.
salesperson commission Brian 12 Brian 16 Andy 7 Andy 14 Andy 21 Steve 20 Steve NULLAll the data is a varchar, and I decide to run this query to get the totals for each salesperson.
SELECT SalesPerson
, AVG(TRY_PARSE(Commission AS int)) AS TotalCommission
FROM commission
GROUP BY SalesPerson
GO
What average commission is calculated for Steve? See possible answers