Tagging SQL Server Changes in SQL Monitor
How to use RAISERROR() in T-SQL to send annotations to SQL Monitor, so you can observe the direct impact of application tasks, or server changes, on the SQL Server metrics.
A Data Controversy
A request to rapidly gather data caused some friction recently. Is that something that organizations ought to be prepared to handle?
Evaluating SQL Data Catalog using Docker Containers
Richard Macaskill shows how to use Docker Compose to get SQL Data Catalog up and running in a container, in your SQL Server test lab, and then use it to evaluate its data discovery and categorization capabilities on a containerized SQL Server instance.
Virtual Reality
While we are centuries away from the Holodeck experience, we can take advantage of today’s technology for fun or education.
The Challenge of Contracting
The nature of work might be changing, and Steve has a few thoughts on thinking about your job as always contracting.
Storage 101: Understanding the NAND Flash Solid State Drive
Today, most organization are using solid-state drives for everything from laptops to enterprise database storage and virtual machines. In this article, Robert Sheldon explains how NAND flash solid-state drives work.
Using SQL Monitor Groups in PowerShell
Not only are SQL Monitor Groups probably the neatest and most maintainable way of ensuring that all your SQL Servers have the best possible configuration of alerts, but they represent a powerful way of categorizing your SQL Server estate. In this article, I'll show how to use the SQL Monitor PowerShell API to export these groups, save their settings onto a configuration management system, or compare groups of settings to see the differences between them.
Creating SQL containers on Azure Data Studio Notebooks with Python
Carlos Robles explains how to use Azure Data Studio Notebooks to create SQL containers with Python.
Avoid using constants in an ORDER BY clause
Phil Factor explains why an ORDER BY clause should always specify the sort columns using their names, or aliases, rather than using an integer to specify the position of a column in the SELECT list.
Blogs
Automatic Index Compaction
By ReviewMyDB
Index maintenance has always meant nightly jobs and a window you have to defend....
The Goldilocks problem – Materialized Views
I’m sure you’ve all heard the tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, but...
Monday Monitor Tips: Virtual Machine Usage and Cost
By Steve Jones
One of the things I’ve been requesting for a number of years is cost...
Forums
SQL Art, Part 4: Happy 4th of July — A British DBA's Guide to Celebrating a War We Don't Talk About
Comments posted to this topic are about the item SQL Art, Part 4: Happy...
How We Handled a Vendor Retry That Loaded Twice in Snowflake
Comments posted to this topic are about the item How We Handled a Vendor...
Cognitive Coverage
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Cognitive Coverage
Question of the Day
Getting the Average
I have this data in the dbo.Commission table in a SQL Server 2022 database.
salesperson commission Brian 12 Brian 16 Andy 7 Andy 14 Andy 21 Steve 20 Steve NULLAll the data is a varchar, and I decide to run this query to get the totals for each salesperson.
SELECT SalesPerson
, AVG(TRY_PARSE(Commission AS int)) AS TotalCommission
FROM commission
GROUP BY SalesPerson
GO
What average commission is calculated for Steve? See possible answers