Is Rolling Back The Same as Failing?
When you must rollback a deployment of changes, is that a failure of the process? The development effort? Or something else?
Stairway to Azure SQL Hyperscale – Level 3: RBPEX Caching Layer Internals
In this level of the Stairway to Azure SQL Hyperscale we learn about the read-only layer that speeds up queries.
Use SQL to Find a String in Database Tables, Stored Procedures, and User Defined Functions
Searching for a string in database tables has been discussed over the years. There are several approaches to the problem (see References at the end of the article). See how to use SQL to find a string in different types of SQL Server objects and data.
Find Invalid Objects in SQL Server
This article shows how you can find which objects in your database might not be valid after schema changes.
Getting Fired
When should a DBA get fired? Steve Jones thinks it should be rare and gives you two cases.
SQL Server 2025 Makes Memory Troubleshooting Easier.
SQL Server 2025 introduces a new sys.dm_os_memory_health_history view to make it easier for meatbags like you and robots like Copilot to know if the SQL Server has been under memory pressure recently.
Lessons from the Postmark-MCP Backdoor
The Koi Security team recently uncovered the first known, malicious MCP server in the wild: a package called postmark-mcp, downloaded over 1,500 times per week, that silently BCCs every outgoing email to an attacker-controlled domain. So, what happened? High-level, a lot: The attacker cloned the legitimate Postmark MCP repository, made one small but nefarious change […]
Oracle Performance Tuning: Practical Techniques Every DBA Should Master
Here are a few things every Oracle DBA should know about performance in their databases.
Natural Language Query for SQL Server
Data is usually the most important asset in organizations, but only SQL developers can frequently access that data. Technical teams often write queries for non-technical users. This restricts agility, slows decision-making, and creates a bottleneck in data accessibility. One possible remedy is natural language processing (NLP), which enables users to ask questions in simple English and receive answers without knowing any code. Still, the majority of NLP-to-SQL solutions are cloud-based, which raises issues with cost and privacy.
Blogs
PlanTrace: Stop Reading Redshift EXPLAIN Plans. Start Seeing Them
PlanTrace: Stop Reading Redshift EXPLAIN Plans. Start Seeing Them Introducing PlanTrace — a free, browser-based...
A Cloud Dependency Failure from Amazon
By Steve Jones
I went to sleep while reading a Kindle book on my phone. I know...
Deploying AI in logistics (the unfiltered version)
A conversation with Jan Laš, CIO at HOPI, about what deploying a data agent...
Forums
SPAM Issues May 2026
We suffered a SPAM attack from May 1-6, which unfortunately corresponded with time off...
SQL Password enforcing
Hi to all We have situation at a client where someone is illegally changing...
SQL Password enforcing
Hi to all We have situation at a client where someone is illegally changing...
Question of the Day
Creating a JSON Document III
I have this data in a table called dbo.NFLTeams
TeamID TeamName City YearEstablished ------ -------- ---- --------------- 1 Cowboys Dallas 1960 2 Eagles Philadelphia 1933 3 Packers Green Bay 1919 4 Chiefs Kansas City 1960 5 49ers San Francisco 1946 6 Broncos Denver 1960 7 Seahawks Seattle 1976 8 Patriots New England 1960If I run this code, how many rows are returned?
SELECT TOP 2
json_objectagg('Team' : TeamName)
FROM dbo.NFLTeams;
See possible answers