JSON indexing in SQL Server 2025: how it works and current limitations
This guide has everything you need to know about JSON indexing in SQL Server 2025: what it is, how it works, and current limitations.
Looking for New Blood
You may not be old, but I sure am. As I travel around to all the different conferences to speak, whether we're talking a dev conference, SQL Server, or PostgreSQL, one of the topics that keeps coming up is age. The age of the organizers. It's mostly the same people putting on events for the […]
Parameter Sensitive Plan Optimization vs. Parameter Sniffing: What SQL Server Fixes and What It Doesn't
See how SQL Server's Parameter Sensitive Plan optimization handles skewed parameters, how to verify dispatcher plans, and where PSP still falls short.
The End of Summer
It's the first week of September, but Steve sees it as the end of summer. It's a time to catch up on things.
How to avoid nested REPLACE functions with TRANSLATE in SQL Server
This guide covers how TRANSLATE() works, how it compares to REPLACE(), and where it falls short compared to other SQL dialects like PostgreSQL and Oracle.
Importing Excel files into SQL Server using DuckDB and Python
Learn to use DuckDB to read data from Excel and then send it to SQL Server with Python and Pandas.
Measuring Productivity
Today Steve wonders if the data professionals out there measure themselves on the job.
Database Animations: The Difference Between Row Compression and Page Compression
What's the difference between SQL Server's row compression and page compression, and when does each one make sense?
How Can SQL Server Detect Application Errors When Developers Can’t?
How a simple Extended Events session can turn you from a silent guardian to a developer’s best ally. There is an old, undeniable paradox in the life of a Database Administrator: If you do your job perfectly, nobody remembers you exist, only when you resolve problems. When queries are fast, backups are pristine, and the […]
Preserving Data
Today Steve has a few comments on backups and your ability to get to a restore in the event of an issue with your provider.
Blogs
Automated SQL Server Benchmarking with HammerDB and Docker: A Complete Testing Framework
I’m excited to announce the release of a new open-source project that fully automates...
T-SQL Snapshot Backups on Availability Group Secondary Replicas
One of my favourite features of SQL Server 2022 was the T-SQL Snapshot Backups....
The Book of Redgate: Hours
By Steve Jones
I have said and written this many times: Redgate Software is the type of...
Forums
AI Experience Gap that we keep talking about
Comments posted to this topic are about the item AI Experience Gap that we...
Squared Values
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Squared Values
I Don't Want To Do XX
Comments posted to this topic are about the item I Don't Want To Do...
Question of the Day
Squared Values
What happens when I run this code in SQL Server 2022?
SELECT SQUARE('12') See possible answers