How Helpful is a GenAI Copilot
Steve looks at a trial using Microsoft's Copilot and how helpful it was for workers.
SQL Server Cursor Example
I know SQL cursors exist, but I am not sure how or why to use them. Can you provide a SQL cursor example? Can you give any guidance on when to use a SQL Server cursor?
Rising Pay for Certifications
People with certifications are seeing their pay rise faster than others. Steve has a few thoughts on this today.
Building AI Calls into the First Responder Kit
No, that isn’t an April 1st joke, heh. I know a lot of vendors are shoving AI down your throat, but I can think of a few ways I actually want to get quick, easy advice from large language models (LLM) when I’m calling the sp_Blitz scripts:
Just Answer the Question!
I've taken part in online forums since... hoo boy, I was using a dial up modem and had to constantly remind my wife not to pick up the phone while I was using the computer. Man I'm old. Anyway... I've asked a lot of questions over the years, and I've tried to answer them as […]
Modern Streaming Architecture Serverless Pool with Spark Streaming
With the ubiquity of real-time data, organizations need streaming systems that are scalable, easy to use, and easy to integrate into business applications. Structured Streaming is a new high-level streaming API in Apache Spark based on my experience with Spark Streaming. In this article, we show structured streaming data written into Spark Tables and consumed by reporting Analytic for reporting needs.
Return stored procedure parameter values to a calling stored procedure
In a previous topic we discussed how to pass parameters into a stored procedure, but another option is to pass parameter values back out from a stored procedure. One option for this may be that you call another stored procedure that does not return any data, but returns parameter values to be used by the calling stored procedure.
Stairway to Transaction Log Management in SQL Server, Level 1: Transaction Log Overview
The transaction log is used by SQL Server to maintain data consistency and integrity. If the database is not in Simple-recovery mode, it can also be used in an appropriate backup regime to restore the database to a point in time.
Blogs
Shifting Mindsets: Why FinOps is Essential for Cloud Efficiency
By HeyMo0sh
As a DevOps practitioner, I’ve always focused on performance, scalability, and automation. But as...
March 2026 SQL Server Security Updates
By Brian Kelley
On Patch Tuesday, in addition to OS and Office security patches, Microsoft also released...
How Fabric Mirroring Transformed with SQL Server 2025
When mirroring was first released for Azure SQL Database, it used Change Data Capture...
Forums
Multiple Deployment Processes
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How to Use sqlpackage to Detect Schema Drift Between Azure SQL Databases
Comments posted to this topic are about the item How to Use sqlpackage to...
Upgrading Admin Queries
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Upgrading Admin Queries
Question of the Day
Upgrading Admin Queries
I have a query from a former DBA that we run on SQL Server 2025 to check on database metadata. This query references sys.sysaltfiles. I want to refactor this code to be more modern. Which DMV should I reference instead?
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