Why Containers?
Steve Jones highlights the importance he sees for data professionals in the containerization of software.
SQL Server Machine Learning 2019: Working with Security Changes
SQL Server Machine Learning allows you to run R and Python scripts from SQL Server. When SQL Server 2019 was released, Microsoft enhanced the security for this functionality, but it caused some existing code writing to the file system to to break. In this article, Dennes Torres explains the security enhancement and describes three ways to work with it.
Gap Analysis Using Algebra
This article shows how to solve a gaps and islands problem using simple algebra.
Analyze SQL Server Results in Excel with Conditional Formatting
Learn how to format your SQL Server results in Excel using conditional formatting to quickly identify patterns and issues.
Meeting your CCPA needs with Data Classification and Masking
This article will explain how to import the data classification metadata for a SQL Server database into Data Masker, providing a masking plan that you can use to ensure the protection of all this data. By applying the data masking operation as part of an automated database provisioning process, you make it fast, repeatable and auditable.
Implementing Drill Through Actions in SSAS
Business users get great value from SSAS cubes. In this article, learn how to create a drill-through action in an SSAS multi-dimensional model cube.
The Panjandrum Conundrum
With progress thwarted by a committee of panjandrums, will T-SQL forever remain in the doldrums? So wonders Phil Factor.
Storage 101: Understanding the Hard-Disk Drive
In this article in the series, Robert Sheldon provides a deep dive into HDDs.
Why you Should Always Specify Whether a Column Accepts Nulls
Phil Factor explains the factors that determine whether a column will allow null values, if you don't specify it explicitly in the column definition. If you rely on the default behavior established by your connection settings, you could be in for some nasty surprises.
Blogs
Learn Better: Pause to Review More
By Brian Kelley
If you want to learn better, pause more in your learning to intentionally review.
Azure SQL Managed Instance Next-Gen: Bring on the IOPS
By John
If you’ve used Azure SQL Managed Instance General Purpose, you know the drill: to...
SQL, MDX, DAX – the languages of data
By DataOnWheels
Ramblings of a retired data architect Let me start by saying that I have...
Forums
Two foreign keys to the same table. Can't cascade deletes.
Not sure if this is really a relational theory question but it seems about...
Connecting Power BI to SSAS and effective user not working
Hi everyone, Below is a consolidated summary of what we validated Architecture & data...
High Availability setup - has anyone seen this method?
Hi all, I recently moved to a new employer who have their HA setup...
Question of the Day
Encoding URLs
I have this data in a SQL Server 2025 table:
CREATE TABLE Response ( ResponseID INT NOT NULL CONSTRAINT ResponsePK PRIMARY KEY , ResponseVal VARBINARY(5000) ) GOIf I want to get a value from this table that I can add to a URL in a browser, which of these code items produces a result I can use? See possible answers