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SQLServerCentral Article

DIY Database Clones

This article explores the 'shadow copy' and 'disk virtualization' services built into the Windows operating system and explains a basic solution demonstrating how the technology is used to copy the data and log files for a live SQL Server database into an 'image', from which we can create multiple, lightweight copies, or clones, of the original database.

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2025-10-22 (first published: )

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External Article

T‑SQL BULK INSERT vs OPENROWSET: CSV Imports, File Access Gotchas, and A PowerShell Script

Most SQL bulk insert and SQL Server openrowset tutorials skip file access issues that can stop imports cold. Both the bulk insert statement and openrowset function rely on the SQL Server service account to read a source file. The SQL Server service account must have read permission on the file or its folder. It is also convenient to have read & execute as well as list folder content permissions.

2025-10-17

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Question of the Day

Fun with JSON I

I have some data in a table:

CREATE TABLE #test_data
(
    id INT PRIMARY KEY,
    name VARCHAR(100),
    birth_date DATE
);

-- Step 2: Insert rows  
INSERT INTO #test_data
VALUES
(1, 'Olivia', '2025-01-05'),
(2, 'Emma', '2025-03-02'),
(3, 'Liam', '2025-11-15'),
(4, 'Noah', '2025-12-22');
If I run this query, how many rows are returned?
SELECT *
FROM OPENJSON(
     (
         SELECT t.* FROM #test_data AS t FOR JSON PATH
     )
             ) t;

See possible answers