Does Version Control Scare You
Steve finds a lot of people don't use version control and don't want to learn how to use it.
SQL STRING_AGG Function Use and Examples
The STRING_AGG function concatenates strings separated by a specified separator. This was introduced with SQL Server 2017.
Helpful Management Studio Settings and Features
Learn a few tips and tricks to make your work with SSMS much more efficient and helpful.
Securing the DevOps Pipeline Part 2: Hardening Kubernetes and Cloud Security
In Part 2, we shift our focus to securing containerized deployments and cloud infrastructure. We will cover Kubernetes security hardening, real-time monitoring, infrastructure as code (IaC) security, and shifting security left to catch misconfigurations early. These strategies will help your team secure workloads in production and respond to potential threats before they lead to a security breach.
Shining a Light on Shadow AI - Responsible Data Protection When AI is Everywhere
As someone who has had the honor of delivering keynotes at both Oracle and SQL Saturday data events, I’ve spent time with professionals on both sides of the database world. I’ve held the title of database administrator, developer, engineer and architect for structured, transactional giants and the analytics-heavy ecosystems of eight different database platforms, (not […]
Are Data Breaches Inevitable?
Steve examines the idea that we might all have a data breach at some point.
How to Safely Remove a SQL Server Data File Without Downtime
Learn how to safely remove a SQL Server .ndf data file without any downtime using DBCC SHRINKFILE (EMPTYFILE). This hands-on tutorial walks through real-world Azure-based setup, data redistribution, and storage cleanup — ideal for DBAs managing enterprise SQL Server environments.
SQL ASCII Function Use and Examples
The ASCII function is used to return the ASCII value for the first character in a string.
Evergreen SQL Server
Microsoft talks about evergreen SQL, where you never need to patch your database.
Blogs
Ramblings about data communities and your contributions, no excuses
By DataOnWheels
I have been active in the data community throughout my career. I have met...
SQL Server Journey till 2025 (brief)
By Vinay Thakur
Quick Summary for Microsoft SQL Server till 2025, I am fortunate to be part...
Building Power BI Reports: Desktop vs Fabric
By James Serra
Why this comparison feels confusing If you’re a Power BI report author who’s just...
Forums
Can someone please explain what happens?
I have mentioned this several times over several years. Can someone please help me...
SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT) returns null when nothing is found instead of 0
SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT Component) AS Found FROM tblComponents WHERE(Component NOT LIKE '%[a-z]%') AND(LTRIM(RTRIM(Component)) = 'GM13622')...
Remotely Engineer Fabric Lakehouse objects: The Fabric Modern Data Platform
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Remotely Engineer Fabric Lakehouse objects:...
Question of the Day
Creating JSON III
In a SQL Server 2025 table, called Beer, I have this data:
BeerIDBeerName 1Becks 2Fat Tire 3Mac n Jacks 4Alaskan Amber 8KirinI run this code:
SELECT JSON_OBJECTAGG(
BeerID: BeerName )
FROM beer;
What are the results? See possible answers