Optimizing DTS Data Loads
In this article, Brian Knight shows you the different ways to load data in DTS and how to optimize the Data Pump task for data loads. He also examines performance numbers on other data loading tasks in DTS.
Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Security
This document introduces SQL Server administrators and developers to the new security features of SQL Server 2000. In addition to outlining the new features, there is a detailed discussion about how to best implement security in a Microsoft Windows® 2000 domain environment as well as source code examples.
Professional SQL Server Programming
Steve Jones reviews Robert Viera's Professional SQL Server Programming text.
SqlServerCentral Announces New Guest Columnist
We've got a new guest columnist! Click here to find out a little bit about Mindy Curnutt, then read her first article for SqlServerCentral.com.
Using Stored Procedures for SQL Server DML
Designing your application so that Stored Procedures are the only database objects that are accessed is generally the best practice. Agree? Disagree? Read this article by guest columnist Mindy Curnutt to see what she thinks!
SQL Server 6.5 Data Page Structure
This article presents the technical details of the page layout for data in SQL Server 6.5
Using Cursor Metadata to Dynamically Generate HTML Tables
The following stored procedure will demonstrate the use of cursor metadata. Using cursor metadata we can get information about an SQL statement and use that information to dynamically generate other code such as HTML or other stored procedures.
SQL Server 2000: .NET and the Death and Re-Birth o
In this month's article I will cover an aspect of SQL Server that always generates a great deal of, well, shall we say "discussion"—triggers. Love them or hate them, SQL Server 2000 will change they way you think about triggers and will probably alter the way you design your applications. Specifically, this month I will dive into cascading referential integrity (RI) and the new INSTEAD OF and AFTER trigger concepts in SQL Server 2000.
The DBA Dot Com Bust
The downturn in the economy has left quite a few technical people out of work. This ongoing article describes the experiences over the past two years of Steve Jones. Reader experiences are requested and the article will be updated weekly.
Blogs
Microsoft announces new cybersecurity AI multi-model
By Brian Kelley
Yesterday, July 27, 2026, Microsoft announced a new cybersecurity effort called Project Perception. Included...
Getting the SQL Server MCP Server Running
By Steve Jones
If you’ve wanted a SQL Server MCP server for your databases, it’s available. The...
Introducing azsql-migration-test: Test and Validate Azure SQL Database Migrations
Introducing azsql-migration-test, a small open-source CLI that validates your Azure SQL Database migrations against...
Forums
Symmetric Key Encryption
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Symmetric Key Encryption
The “Successful Login” Dilemma: Why Your Login Auditing Strategy Might Be Hurting Your Server
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The “Successful Login” Dilemma: Why...
Building Your Own Software
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Building Your Own Software
Question of the Day
Symmetric Key Encryption
If I run this statement in SQL Server 2025, how is the password encrypted?
CREATE SYMMETRIC KEY MySymmetricKey WITH ALGORITHM = AES_256, KEY_SOURCE = 'My secret key source passphrase', IDENTITY_VALUE = 'My secret identity value' ENCRYPTION BY PASSWORD = 'S&perS#cretP@ssword7'; GOSee possible answers