Generating Random Results - SQL School Video
How can you randomly generate data? MVP Andy Warren shows how in this SQL School Video.
Managing many SQL Servers?
Here's an article from Rudy Panigas on how to more effectively manage multiple servers.
The Hassles of Travel
As he prepares for a trip across the Atlantic, Steve Jones talks about some things he doesn't like about travel.
Extending the REVERT statement using the WITH COOKIE clause in SQL Server 2005
In a previous tip on Switching Execution Context using the REVERT clause, you have seen how to switch execution context to a more privileged user and revert back to the original context of the caller within a programmable object. The REVERT clause accepts a parameter WITH COOKIE to provide an even more granular option. How do we use it?
Obtaining Index Usage Information
This article shows how the sys.dm_db_index_usage_stats DMV can be used to tune your indexes, and maximize the performance of your database
Checkpoints in SSIS
Integration Services has a lot of features to enable to you perform ETL operations on data moving into SQL Server. Longtime author Dinesh Asanka brings us an article on
No More Lottery
Steve Jones talks about the lack of a big payday for tech workers. Not that most of us were expecting one.
Configuring Anonymous Dialog Security in SQL Server 2005 Express Service Broker Conversation
Recent installments of our series have discussed configuring Service Broker full dialog level security, which required a mechanism to facilitate the exchange of certificates between communication partners. In this article, we will present an alternative approach, which eliminates this requirement by relying on anonymous dialog security.
Identifying Windows Volumes on a Clustered SQL Server Instance with the DMVs
I am trying to determine which of the logical volumes on the shared disk are associated with each SQL Server instance. Is there a simple method in T-SQL to determine this without having to fire up Cluster Administrator?
Open Source Pay
Steve Jones talks about salaries and whether or not there's value in disclosing them. Respond to this Friday poll.
Blogs
Shifting Mindsets: Why FinOps is Essential for Cloud Efficiency
By HeyMo0sh
As a DevOps practitioner, I’ve always focused on performance, scalability, and automation. But as...
March 2026 SQL Server Security Updates
By Brian Kelley
On Patch Tuesday, in addition to OS and Office security patches, Microsoft also released...
How Fabric Mirroring Transformed with SQL Server 2025
When mirroring was first released for Azure SQL Database, it used Change Data Capture...
Forums
Multiple Deployment Processes
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How to Use sqlpackage to Detect Schema Drift Between Azure SQL Databases
Comments posted to this topic are about the item How to Use sqlpackage to...
Upgrading Admin Queries
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Upgrading Admin Queries
Question of the Day
Upgrading Admin Queries
I have a query from a former DBA that we run on SQL Server 2025 to check on database metadata. This query references sys.sysaltfiles. I want to refactor this code to be more modern. Which DMV should I reference instead?
See possible answers