Understanding UNION and UNION ALL in SQL Server
A short look at the differences in UNION and UNION ALL in a SELECT query.
Using Feature Flags
Feature flags are being used in modern software development. Steve thinks these should also be a staple of database changes.
Introduction to GitHub Actions Part 1: Getting Started
This article series will teach you what you need to know to take advantage of GitHub Actions, especially for deploying database code.
Feeling your age? How would you know?
As this idea is being born, I am sitting in a dueling piano bar and I have never felt so old ever. And I don’t mean physically. I have only recognized about 1/4 of the songs being played, and everyone just seems younger than me. Even the people I think are older seem younger as […]
A Domain for Data
A SQL DDL statement that Steve never knew about is the subject of today's editorial.
Windows Clustered MSDTC and SQL Server 2019 mishap
Introduction As you may know, in the early days of SQL Server Clustering, Microsoft advised to provide each clustered SQL Server instance with its own Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator (MSDTC) resource. Since SQL Server 2012 this advice has been withdrawn. Microsoft now recommends to provide your instance with its own MSDTC resource, once you notice the […]
DAX CASE Statement Functionality using IF, SWITCH and SWITCH True
If you don’t know, DAX (Data Analysis Expressions) is a language for creating custom calculations and aggregations in Power Pivot, Power BI, and other data analysis tools. Two functions in DAX come close to replicating the functionality but come with limitations. Which one of these functions should you use?
Database DevOps Metrics
DevOps includes the idea of measuring how code flows through your organization and looking for ways to improve your software development process. Steve has a few thoughts on the four main metrics many developments use.
Scales & Measurements
If you’re going to work with databases, you probably ought to know something about data. In particular, we don’t put data directly into a database; we have to encode it and represent it in a format which a machine can handle.
DeepSeek: What is new with this AI technology?
Learn how the DeepSeek GenAI LLM works and see how it produces SQL code.
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
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Multiple Deployment Processes
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?
See possible answers