SQL Server Gets Smarter and Smarter
With each recent version of SQL Server, Microsoft has added features that can be used to improve query performance with much less effort than traditional index and query tuning require. First was Query Store, introduced with 2016. When enabled, this feature allows you to easily find regression in query performance due to changing execution plans. […]
SQL Server on Linux, does it have Microsoft's full attention?
SQL Server on Linux doesn't support Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. Why weren't Microsoft ready for the next LTS release?
Working with Windows Containers and Docker: Save the Data
Docker continues to make improvements in their products running on Windows. In this article, Nicolas Prigent explains how to share data between Windows containers and the container host. As a bonus, he also shows how to run a Linux container on Windows Server 2016.
Harnessing SQL Server Metadata- Disabling and Rebuilding Indexes
When doing bulk data changes it may be beneficial to disable indexes prior to starting the operation. Fortunately, SQL's rich metadata makes this very easy to automate in a robust fashion.
Mercenary
Steve Jones talks about making deliberate career choices, or just moving from place to place without any worry about the job. Do you care about what work you do? Or is it just a job?
Transaction Locking and Row Versioning Guide
This guide describes the locking and row versioning mechanisms the SQL Server Database Engine uses to ensure the physical integrity of each transaction and provides information on how applications can control transactions efficiently.
Using SQL Server as a Source with for an Excel Application
I am presenting an MS Excel VBA project which automates the display of SQL Server data tables.
Artificially Intelligent - Text Sentiment Analysis
One of the truisms of the modern data-driven world is that the velocity and volume of data keeps increasing. We’re seeing more data generated each day than ever before in human history. And nowhere is this rapid growth more evident than in the world of social media, where users generate content at a scale previously unimaginable.
Blogs
Using Prompt AI for a Travel Data Analysis
By Steve Jones
I was looking back at my year and decided to see if SQL Prompt...
FinOps for Kubernetes: Leveraging OpenCost, KubeGreen, and Kubecost for Cost Efficiency
In the era of cloud-native applications, Kubernetes has become the default standard platform for...
2025 Wrapped for Steve
By Steve Jones
I’ve often done some analysis of my year in different ways. Last year I...
Forums
The North Star for the Year
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The North Star for the...
Multiple Escape Characters
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Multiple Escape Characters
reaching ftp thru winscp but erroring in ssis ftp task connection
Hi, below i show various results trying to reach our ftp site (a globalscape...
Question of the Day
Multiple Escape Characters
In SQL Server 2025, I run this code (in a database with the appropriate collation):
SELECT UNISTR('%*3041%*308A%*304C%*3068 and good night', '%*') AS 'A Classic';
What is returned? See possible answers