RC4 Encryption in a Stored Procedure
Joseph gathered together some various bits of code and came up with a solution that lets you do RC4 encryption via the sp_oa~ procedures.
Alert! Alert! Backup and Restore Baby!
Are you using alerts to help you keep track of things? Are you using as many alerts as you should be? Jeremy has a great list of alerts that he considers so important they are on his 'best practice' list. Definitely worth reading.
Indexing Strategies
Ramesh writes about various indexing strategies that you might use to improve performance.
Using Bits to Store Data
David recently worked on a project where it turned out storing the answers to a survey using bitmapping was a good approach. He was good enough to write some of it down and share. As he notes bitmapping isn't used as often as it used to be, but it can still be a useful technique to have around.
Using xp_cmdshell
Haidong continues to point out ideas that might get you thinking about ways you can do more administration with less work. In this article he demonstrates a couple useful tasks you can do with xp_cmdshell.
Introduction to MDX
New Author! This is an introductory level look at MDX geared toward intermediate or higher SQL users. The rate of OLAP usage is lower than it should be - maybe this will be what gets you started using it. Or thinking about it at least!
Top 100 things you don't want the sysadmin to say
Hopefully you never hear any of these from your sysadmin...
Building SQL Server Central
Ever wonder how SQL Server Central.com was built? Ever wonder why the three founders made the decisions they did? Here's a look at some of the choices that were made early on with the discussion forums.
TSQL Virus or Bomb?
Joseph discusses some common and not so common security threats including the possibility of a TSQL virus and bombs planted from within the organization.
Yukon News
This article on CNET has some info about how Yukon affects the MS strategy in other areas.
Blogs
Learn Better: Pause to Review More
By Brian Kelley
If you want to learn better, pause more in your learning to intentionally review.
Azure SQL Managed Instance Next-Gen: Bring on the IOPS
By John
If you’ve used Azure SQL Managed Instance General Purpose, you know the drill: to...
SQL, MDX, DAX – the languages of data
By DataOnWheels
Ramblings of a retired data architect Let me start by saying that I have...
Forums
Two foreign keys to the same table. Can't cascade deletes.
Not sure if this is really a relational theory question but it seems about...
Connecting Power BI to SSAS and effective user not working
Hi everyone, Below is a consolidated summary of what we validated Architecture & data...
High Availability setup - has anyone seen this method?
Hi all, I recently moved to a new employer who have their HA setup...
Question of the Day
Encoding URLs
I have this data in a SQL Server 2025 table:
CREATE TABLE Response ( ResponseID INT NOT NULL CONSTRAINT ResponsePK PRIMARY KEY , ResponseVal VARBINARY(5000) ) GOIf I want to get a value from this table that I can add to a URL in a browser, which of these code items produces a result I can use? See possible answers