When Do You Pull Your Hair Out?
Another adventure in the real world. Steve Jones tracks down a problem with locks on a live system. Read along and see how he works through the issues.
Terminal Services - A Couple Tips
We agree with Andy that Terminal Services is definitely a tool to have in the DBA toolbox. Like most tools, everyone uses them differently. Andy starts the discussion with some comments on how he uses TS - what about you? Do you use TS at all? Use it differently than Andy does? Prefer a different solution? Read the article and post a comment.
Review of SQLDiff by Lockwood
Chris was kind enough to take some time to put this product through it's paces and ends up giving it a very good rating. Read the article to see a nice graphical walkthrough of how to use the product.
Fixed Database Roles
This article covers four of the fixed database roles (db_datareader, db_datawriter, db_denydatareader, and db_denydatawriter). If you're new to SQL security (and maybe even if you're not) this article is worth reading.
Cluster That Index - Part 2
Chris does a follow up to his very popular article on clustered indexes. They seem simple, but in practice they are fairly complicated. Having a solid understanding of clustered indexes will definitely help you get the results you need.
xSQL Object Public Beta
xSQL Object for Microsoft SQL Server has been designed with the DataBase Administrator in mind. Scripting, Comparing and even Synchronizing different objects like tables, views, stored procedures etc. is fast and easy.
Auditing DTS Packages
In this follow up article, Haidong explains how to audit DTS packages. While parts of it are specific to DTS, the general technique has many useful applications.
SQL DMO Poster in PDF!
Last year we did a project with Lumigent to create a DMO poster. Part of the agreement allows us to now distribute the PDF version to our readers. It's about a 400k file, print size is 24x36. We hope you DMO users will find it useful.
White Board, Flip Chart, or Notepad?
Andy discusses the low tech tools he uses at the office to convey problems and describe solutions. He also provides some interesting links you will want to browse.
Database Workbench 2.3.1 released
Database Workbench is a powerfull developer tool that includes support for Microsoft SQL Server, version 7, 2000, MSDE 1 & 2. It let's you create schema objects from a convenient interface, transfer data or profile your database by displaying query plans or creating thousands of rows of test-data.
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