SQL Server on Amazon RDS vs SQL Server on Amazon EC2
Exploring briefly the difference between using Amazon Machine Images running SQL Server and using SQL Server instances on Amazon's Relational Database Service.
Would You Move For a Job?
Today we have a guest editorial from Andy Warren as Steve is on vacation. Would any job be enough for you to uproot your life?
Posting SQL Server Notifications to Slack
In this article we look at how to send Slack notifications when certain events occur in a SQL Server database.
Solving Real Problems
Today we have a guest editorial where Grant talks about being effective and practical in your world.
Heaps in SQL Server: Part 3 Nonclustered Indexes
Uwe Ricken continues his series on heaps. This time he demonstrates a common scenario where the query against a heap is faster than a clustered index.
Aiming for Better Data Governance
Today Steve gives a reason why your organization might consider improving its data governance.
Stairway to Biml Level 7 – Populating the Database for a Custom Biml Framework
In this next level of the Stairway to Biml, we look at a custom framework in Biml.
Power BI Histogram Example using DAX
Companies use a Bell Curve approach to measure performance. As part of this approach they create a histogram. A histogram is a statistical concept and according to Wikipedia it is defined as a graphical distribution of the numerical data. A histogram is made of several bins and bins can be considered a range of values or a benchmark
When SQL Server Performance Goes Bad: Rogue Indexes
Phil Factor explains how SQL Monitor helps focus performance tuning efforts on the tables and queries where 'rogue indexes' might be a significant problem, and then how to identify both 'missing' indexes that might be beneficial to the overall workload, and those that are unused or duplicated, and so are doing more harm than good.
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