Expanding The Scope of Bridge Tables
Timothy Claason continues talking about database design in a new article. This one talks about expanding the functionality that Bridge Tables provide in your schema.
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Integration Services Problem-Design-Solution - Sample Chapter
Learning about practical Integration Services is an important part of the well rounded DBA for the future. Read a sample chapter from this new book.
Reverse Engineering a Server Side Trace
How to reverse engineer or script a trace for disaster recovery, or simply scripting for enhance and adjustment.
The Missing Certification
You can earn an MCITPro or an MCM in your DBA career, but there's a world of difference between those two. Steve Jones agrees with Simon Sabin that we need something in between.
Minimizing Fragmentation when Moving data using a Switch
Yesterday was the first day of the SQL Server 2008 R2 airlift.I attended a great session on Implementing a Fast...
SQL Server 2008 R2 Multi-server Administration - A First Look
One of the most useful new features of SQL 2008 R2 for DBA’s is the ability to manage and administer multiple instances of SQL Server from a central location using the new SQL Server Utility tool.
Double-Entry Bookkeeping for SQL Programmers
All defensive programmers should, in general, avoid unsupported techniques. However, there is a balance to be struck between adherence to 'best practice' approaches to SQL programming, and the need to get the job done. Perhaps certain critical code would benefit from use of the age-old practice of double entry bookkeeping?
Dynamically name report/file export in SSRS
Wouldn't it be nice if you could have the report's name and filename be changed to something more specifically related to the particular run of that report.
Rolling Back a Restore
Should rolling back a restore be an option for SQL Server? Steve Jones talks about the possibilities in today's editorial and where it might come in handy.
Configure Windows Firewall for SQL Server 2008 Database Engine in Windows Server 2008 R2
I have installed SQL Server 2008 Developer Edition on Windows Server 2008 R2 and I am unable to get connect to SQL Server 2008 Instance from SQL Server 2008 Management Studio which is installed on another remote server. As I am new to Windows Server 2008 R2 it would be great if you can let me know the step by step approach to enable the default port of SQL Server 2008 in Windows Firewall for user connectivity.
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
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Backing Up a DMK
The Quiet Part
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Quiet Part
BIT_COUNT in SQL Server
Comments posted to this topic are about the item BIT_COUNT in SQL Server
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?
See possible answers