Viva
Microsoft is working on the future of work, and adapting to remote work. Steve isn't sure this will work, but they have at least one interesting technology idea he likes.
sqldf in R Example for SQL Server
R has a package called sqldf that allows developers to manipulate data inside a dataframe in the same way a SQL developer queries a SQL table which we will cover with examples in this article.
Common Table Expression Misunderstandings
I frequently use Common Table Expressions (CTEs) when I demo windowing functions and get questions about them. Windowing functions are limited to the SELECT and ORDER BY clause which means that you can’t filter or group on them directly. Using a CTE is one way to separate the logic of the query into multiple steps […]
Monitoring the Number of Connections
Monitoring your SQL Server is important. This article examines one of the metrics you might want to keep an eye on.
What's a Lot of Money?
Handling a budget can be an interesting experience for many technical professionals. Today Steve wonders if you treat this differently than your budget at home.
Customizing Database Deployments using Flyway Callbacks and Placeholders
How to customize a database deployment process using Flyway, demonstrating how to incorporate tasks such stamping a version number into the latest database build, or writing to the SQL Server log.
Partitioned Tables Cause Longer Plan Compilation Times
Folks sometimes ask, “When a table has more indexes, and SQL Server has more decisions to make, does that slow down execution plan generation?”. Brent Ozar talks through his response in this article.
Query Optimizer Suggests Wrong Index and Query Plan -- Why?
A good example where the Query optimizer picks the wrong query plan and suggested index.
UX Matters
User interface is a part of software development that many technical people pay little attention to during the process of building something. However, it can be a problem for your customers.
Ten tips for building a collaborative DevOps culture
There is more to DevOps than tools and automation. In this article, Robert Sheldon explains how to create a DevOps culture based on collaboration.
Blogs
Methodology for dealing with bad data in production
By Brian Kelley
Pinal Dave wrote up his methodology for what to do when you discover bad...
How to Provision an Azure SQL Database
Aside from spinning up a SQL Server instance container, the free Azure SQL Database...
Claude finds two cryptographic weaknesses (but the sky isn’t falling)
By Brian Kelley
If you haven't seen the announcement, Anthropic was able to utilize Claude (Mythos Preview)...
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