Because of the way date and time values are stored in SQL Server, searching for a particular date or time is not as straightforward as you might think it would be. This article describes how date/time values are stored, how the database design can simplify (or complicate) data retrieval, and how to query date/time data to get the right results every time.
This article is the first of a series that I plan on writing and placing on my website to help other DBAs in auditing a new SQL Server environment. This article deals with determing which SQL Server logins have weak passwords, with the definition of weak being, no password, password the same as the login name or having a password of only one character.The stored procedure used for this article is embedded in the article and it has been submitted as a independent script named spAuditPasswords.
Continuing with our worst practices series, Steve Jones looks at another administrative no-no. Making a change to your live system on the fly.
David Gugick, SQL Server performance expert and software developer, provides over 100 tips on how to boost SQL Server performance.
You have spent thousands of dollars on that cool technology; clustering, redundant controllers, redundant disks, redundant power supplies, redundant NIC cards, multiple network drops, fancy tape backup devices and the latest and greatest tape technology. You are all set. There is no way your going to have downtime. Right?
Andy had a semi-disaster similar to the one he wrote about last year. Interesting to see the kinds of problems that happen to other people. This article raises some interesting points that are outside the scope of basic disaster recovery, looking at how/when to move databases to a different server and how to reduce the server load dynamically.
For most DBAs, normalization is an understood concept, a bread and butter bit of knowledge. However, it is not at all unusual to review a database design by a development group for an OLTP (OnLine Transaction Processing) environment and find that the schema chosen is anything but properly normalized. This article by Brian Kelley will give you the core knowledge to data model.
Continuing on looking at demo servers, this article presents an interesting solution to ensuring consistent demos that was deployed out in the field for a client company.
Microsoft tells us why it's so important to defend your code against malicious attacks.
The challenge for Robert Marda was to devise a way to keep the data available at all times while importing the new data, detect if a full or daily update was received and run appropriate data pumps, put in sufficient fail safes to ensure bad data would not get imported, and to make the process automatic including notification to pagers upon failure. Robert shows you how he did it here.
By Steve Jones
dorgone– adj. wondering if you could slip away from an event or group conversation...
By ReviewMyDB
Many of us use AI the same way every single day. Open a tab....
By SQLPals
SQL Server Transaction Log Forensics: Preserving Evidence During an Incident SQL...
Could you please let me know if anyone is used https://github.com/ktaranov/sqlserver-kit github for deployment...
I’ve been looking into ways to improve the connection between a website and its...
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How many Azure SQL DB Hyperscale HA replicas can be configured as of Sept 2026?
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