Which Should You Use: VARCHAR or NVARCHAR?
You’re building a new table or adding a column, and you wanna know which datatype to use: VARCHAR or NVARCHAR?
Regular Expressions in SQL Server 2025
This article examines the new regular expression functions added to T-SQL in SQL Server 2025.
The Selfish Case for Learning AI
Steve has a good reason to spend time working with and learning about AI technology.
Static Versus Dynamic Bulk Insert Imports of Multi-File Datasets
There are numerous use cases for multi-file imports of CSV files into a SQL Server table:
Reducing Cloud Cost
Cloud costs are high and growing. Some orgs think they're out of control and are trying to limit spend. Some orgs are looking to leave the cloud. A lot of IT spend over the years has been seen as a cost center, with many executives trying to limit the growth or spend, even while they […]
Stairway to Azure SQL Hyperscale Level 4: Log Service and Transaction Management
Learn about how the Log Service helps manage transactions in the Hyperscale Tier.
DevOps is DevOps
DevOps includes a lot of practices, but no matter which technology that you use, the ideas are the same.
Docker Advice for SQL Server in Production
Introduction Nowadays, with the widespread adoption of microservices across major companies, using Windows Server to host SQL Server remains the gold standard. However, there are still certain scenarios—or even specific environments—where deploying SQL Server in containerized setups using the Docker engine becomes necessary. In this article, I will offer practical tips based on my hands-on […]
Managing Underused Indexes in SQL Server Availability Groups – Part 2
Knowing the usage from all workloads is definitely better than focusing on only the primary or a single secondary. But what if I want to make more informed decisions, incorporating row counts, size, and index columns into this output?
Blogs
Demo for Parameter Sniffing and Memory Grant Feedback
Disclaimer: The following is built with Claude Code. Just need to justify my $100/mo...
My Social Media Rules
By Brian Kelley
I developed these rules a while back, before COVID. I had a period of...
Why Use TRY_PARSE(): #SQLNewBlogger
By Steve Jones
Someone asked why I would use TRY_PARSE after I posted a question at SQL...
Forums
The SQL Server MCP Server
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The Hidden Danger of Wildcard Operators In Join Operations
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Hidden Danger of Wildcard...
A Worse Computer; A Better Car
Comments posted to this topic are about the item A Worse Computer; A Better...
Question of the Day
The SQL Server MCP Server
How do I get an MCP server for my SQL Server 2025 database from Microsoft?
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