Foreign Keys
Foreign keys are an important part of a relational database. New author Ravi Lobo takes a look at foreign keys from the perspective of a new DBA with some scripts to help you ensure your database is setup correctly.
Talking Technical
Should IT managers understand technical issues, or is a full appreciation of the technology somehow unworthy and unnecessary for senior staff? In such a rapidly changing industry where fortunes are made and lost by attempting to exploit gaps in the market too thin to see with the naked eye, the answer would seem obvious. However, I have repeatedly come across amazing gaps in the technical knowledge of managers.
Usage Based Optimization in SSAS 2005
One of the difficult parts of developing anaylsis services cubes is determining which aggregations should be chosen. Yaniv Mor brings us the second part of his series and examines using Usage Based Optimization in SQL Server 2005.
Load 1TB in less than 1 hour
This project was done using SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition (with SP1 beta) using the BULK INSERT command with 60 parallel input files, each of approximately 16.67 GB. The best time I got was 50 minutes. Hewlett Packard was kind enough to loan me some time one night on the machine they use to do the TPC-H tests. It is an Itanium2 Superdome with 64 1.6GHZ 9M (Madison) CPUs. For the insert tests the system was equipped with 256GB of RAM. The HP SAN configuration is rated at 14GB per second throughput.
Don't use stored procedures yet? Must be suffering from NIHS
At just about every talk I give I always try to make several consistent statements. One of which is: ‘Whenever possible use stored procedures to access your data’.
TheServerSide Debates: Stored Procedures v Parameterized Queries
Let me start by stating some disclaiming remarks. I'm not against stored procedures in general, I find that the choice why procedures should be used, should be based on proper facts, not on claims without any proof.
Introduction to the ADO Connection Object
Part 1 of a 4 part series about ADO, this is a beginner level article designed to get you started using the ADO connection object. If you haven't used ADO so far, why not see what it's all about?
Integrating Electronic Payment Processing into
This is a good explanation on how to acctually bill a customer for your service over a credit card in your web application.
Achieving Server Redundancy at Remote Offices
Everyone wants a highly available system, but achieving 4 or 5 9s of uptime is hard to do. Especially when you have cost limitations. New author Mark Cook takes a look at how his company analyzed the challenges and which method they chose along with some implementation details.
SQL Server 2005 Integration Services - Package Execution - Part 24
Continuing our coverage of topics dealing with various aspects of managing SQL Server 2005 Integration Services packages, which we started with an overview of their storage and deployment, we now turn our focus to their execution.
Blogs
Monday Monitor Tips: Intelligent Alert Thresholds
By Steve Jones
At the recent Redgate Summit in Chicago, I demo’d (lightly) the ML based Alert...
A New Word: los vidados
By Steve Jones
los vidados – n. the half-remembered acquaintances you knew years ago, who you might...
In-Person CISA Training – April 13-16, 2026
By Brian Kelley
I will be leading an in-person Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) exam prep class...
Forums
String_agg not working as needed
I'm trying to get this string_agg to put all the 'comments' into one result...
Vectors in SQL Server 2025
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Vectors in SQL Server 2025
Odd Sequences
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Odd Sequences
Question of the Day
Odd Sequences
What values are returned from this code?
CREATE SEQUENCE NumericSequence
AS NUMERIC(5,1)
START WITH 1.0
INCREMENT BY 0.1;
GO
SELECT NEXT VALUE FOR NumericSequence
GO
SELECT NEXT VALUE FOR NumericSequence
GO See possible answers