How Important Are Real Time Decisions?
There has been a push to build real time analytics and decision support systems. Steve discusses whether this is a good idea for many organizations.
T-SQL in SQL Server 2025: The UNISTR Function
I am not much for working in languages other than English. That's my native language and I know little about others. However, the last few years I find myself using emojis more and more in quick communications as they seem to add some fun to the interaction. And those interactions need to be stored in […]
How to Query JSON Data Quickly in SQL Server, Part 2: SQL Server 2025
SQL Server 2025 and .NET 10 bring several new improvements to storing JSON natively in the database and querying it quickly.
SQL Server Licensing is Simple
Over the years I've had no shortage of licensing questions for SQL Server. At times it's felt a little crazy. Look at the licensing guide. Choose EE or SE and the number of cores. Then check if you're using VMs. Oh, and consider the cloud, and which cloud you're running a workload on. It's simple […]
Stairway to Azure SQL Hyperscale Level 5: Data Growth and Fast Auto-Grow Mechanism
In this level, we learn about the database file size growth in Hyperscale.
SQL Server DBaaS Vulnerability: Decrypting System Code & Exfiltrating User Data
Security in cloud environments is both challenging and fascinating, particularly for Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) offerings like Amazon RDS, GCP CloudSQL and Alibaba ApsaraDB RDS. The cloud vendor acts as the system administrator, managing the operating system, patching, and backups, while the user manages their data and databases.
Build a Test Lab of SQL Server 2025 on Windows Server 2025 using Hyper-V Virtual Machines
Create your own test lab on Hyper-V to evaluate SQL Server 2025 and Windows Server 2025
Don't Let Corner Cases Drive Your Design
When we design a database or system, we often do so with corner cases in mind. We don't have to do this.
Troubleshooting Common SQL Server Errors: 823, and 824
Learn about the critical 823 and 824 errors in SQL Server and how to deal with them in this article.
Random Number Generator in SQL using Marsaglia Polar
How can we build a random number generator using Marsaglia Polar method in SQL Server without the use of external tools?
Blogs
Match the Model to the Task, Not the App: An Orchestrator-Worker Pattern in Python
Most apps that call an LLM send every request to the same model. That...
Advice I Like: Responsibility
By Steve Jones
“The foundation of maturity: Just because it’s not your fault doesn’t mean it’s not...
Power BI Performance in 2026: A Practical Guide to Faster Semantic Models and Reports
By James Serra
Originally published April 2022; substantially updated July 2026. This post is a complete replacement...
Forums
Migration Challenge: Excessive FULLSCAN Statistics Update Duration Blocking SQL
Hello everyone , I am planning to migrate a database from SQL Server 2014...
SQL Agent Job Automated Change Capture Process
Comments posted to this topic are about the item SQL Agent Job Automated Change...
Another Model, More Data Loss
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Another Model, More Data Loss
Question of the Day
Finding a Database Master Key
Where do I check for the existence of a Database Master Key (DMK) in SQL Server 2025?
See possible answers