Incident Response Data
Being prepared for a disaster might mean having a way to collect data when something occurs.
Automating Azure DevOps with Logic Apps
Azure Logic Apps can be used to automate steps like sending approval emails. Elie Bou Issa explains automating Azure DevOps with Logic Apps.
Take our survey to win a $500 Amazon gift card
Take the 2021 State of Database Monitoring survey and tell us about how you monitor your databases, instances and servers. By taking the survey, you’ll contribute to (and get early access to) the leading industry-wide report on database monitoring, and be entered to a prize draw for a $500 Amazon gift card.
Checking Up on Vendors
Being able to audit the actions others take on your systems is important to Steve, especially when working in the cloud.
Understanding CRUD Operations on Tables with B-tree Indexes, Page-splits, and Fragmentation
Introduction Every DML transaction reads the data before it makes any changes. Not only during a SELECT query, but when you run any DML statement, insert, update, or delete, SQL Server first fetches a bunch of pages into the buffer pool locating the desired rows and changes them while synchronously writing to the transaction log […]
Running Dynamic Code Quality Checks on Flyway Databases: Table Smells
How to extend the range of SQL code analysis, during database development, to include dynamic analysis of the database metadata. This will allow regular checks for problems with the design of your tables and indexes ("table smells") that can affect database performance and data integrity.
SQL Server Sequence Numbers
In this tip we look at the Sequence Number feature in SQL Server and compare it to the use of identity columns.
Non-Stop Learning
There was a recent discussion in the forums here at SQL Server Central regarding the difficulties presented by the constantly shifting technology landscape. The core question was, how on earth do you master stuff? Especially, how do you master things when they're both new and constantly changing? Honestly, you don't. I mean, you can, but […]
Getting Started Remotely
Today Steve wonders what advice you might give someone starting out their career in technology.
Optimize Your SQL by Reformulating the Spec
As SQL developers, we tend to think of performance tuning in terms of crafting the best table indices, avoiding scalar and table valued functions, and analyzing query plans (among other things). But sometimes going back to the spec and applying some properties of elementary math can be the best way to begin to improve performance of SQL queries which implement mathematical formulas. This article is a case study of how I used this technique to optimize my SQL implementation of the Inverse Simpson Index.
Blogs
Who Are You Doing It For?
By Brian Kelley
But as I've matured over the years, I came to realize that I needed...
Presenting Twice in May 2026
By alevyinroc
I will be presenting my latest session, Documenting Your Work for Worry-Free Vacations, in-person...
Finding the Next Sequence Value: #SQLNewBlogger
By Steve Jones
I saw a question asking about the next sequence value and decided to try...
Forums
DB Design Methods
I've read a few posts regarding what we use to design DB models and...
Auto Update Statistics not triggering on filtered indexes
I've got a table with 186,703,969 rows, about 300GB of data. There are several...
What is the difference between SQL Server and SQL Database?
I created a SQL Database in Azure Portal but I've just noticed it also...
Question of the Day
An Unusual Identity
What values are returned when I run this code?
CREATE TABLE dbo.IdentityTest2
(
id NUMERIC(10,0) IDENTITY(10,10) PRIMARY KEY,
somevalue VARCHAR(20)
)
GO
INSERT dbo.IdentityTest2
(
somevalue
)
VALUES
( 'Steve')
, ('Bill')
GO
SELECT top 10
id
FROM dbo.IdentityTest2 See possible answers