Being Retained
Why should a SQL Server DBA want to keep their job? It seems obvious, but Steve Jones continues with his series on employee retention by taking a look at it from the employee side.
Michael Rys on XML in SQL Server 2005
Michael Rys is one of two program managers responsible for the XML features in SQL Server. He also represents Microsoft on the W3C XQuery Working Group, and on the ANSI working group for SQL. I asked him what is distinctive about the XML support in SQL Server 2005, as opposed to that found in rival database management systems. As Rys acknowledges, "all the three major vendors, Oracle, IBM and Microsoft, are moving towards second or third generation suppor
Sound Matching and a Phonetic Toolkit
One of the features of SQL Server 2000 is the Soundex feature that allows phonetic matching. Michael Coles brings us a new toolkit that solves some of the issues that occur with soundex as well as an explanation why this occurs.
Cross-Tab reports in SQL Server 2005
Microsoft introduces new operators PIVOT and UNPIVOT in SQL Server 2005. Traditionally we create queries using the CASE statement and aggregate function in order to produce cross-tab reports. This article illustrates the usage of the new operators, PIVOT and UNPIVOT.
Quickshift and SQLServerCentral.com Database Performance Survey
If you live in the US, take a few minutes for this performance survey and you could win an Amazon gift certificate.
SQL Server Integration Services - Part 5
We will continue our review of Foreach enumerators starting with Foreach ADO, since this one probably qualifies as the most popular choice in its category. This is due to the fact that ADO recordsets offer a convenient way of dealing with data sources, regardless of their type (for example, within SSIS, you can easily populate a recordset by executing a SQL query or by reading the content of a flat file)
Attack of the predatory sales force
Most skilled professionals—be they butchers, bakers or software makers—take pride in selecting their own tools of the trade. Why is it then that developers and DBAs in large corporations often are not afforded the same professional courtesy or opportunity? The tools they use are just as vital to their livelihood, yet when it comes to high-cost software, developers and DBAs often have no input into what is purchased for their use.
SQL Server Spotlight - Euan Garden
Who builds SQL Server? It's an interesting collection of individuals and we're looking to bring you some profiles of them all. In the first installment of this series Steve Jones interviews Euan Garden, longtime member of the team.
The identity crisis in replication
This article discusses three common problems DBAs are likely to encounter when columns have the identity property, which is defined as an attribute of int, smallint, bigint, decimal, numeric or tinyint columns that will auto-increment their value when data is inserted. These problems are humorously referred to as the identity crisis.
Apologies to Ken Henderson
We are sorry to say that a case of plagiarism occurred recently and SQLServerCentral.com is issuing an apology to Ken Henderson.
Blogs
Future-Proofing: How to Stay Ahead in FinOps
By HeyMo0sh
Cloud environments don’t sit still. Pricing models change, services evolve, workloads grow, and suddenly...
Introducing the SQL Server on Kubernetes Operator
Are you considering replatforming your SQL Server workload due to recent vendor changes, but...
Advice I Like: Rewards from Work
By Steve Jones
The greatest rewards come from working on something that nobody has words for. If...
Forums
Removing TDE
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Removing TDE
The day-to-day pressures of a DBA team, and how we can work smarter with automation and AI
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The day-to-day pressures of a...
Question of the Day
Removing TDE
How do I remove TDE encryption of data from database xxx?
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