Stairway to SSAS Tabular Level 2: Installing the Components
In this level of the Stairway to SSAS Tabular you will learn how to install the platform and tools.
How to migrate a SQL Server database to a lower version
A tip looking at a one time procedure which we can follow to downgrade the database from a higher version (SQL Server 2012) of SQL Server to a lower version (SQL Server 2008 R2) of SQL Server.
Always Canary
One way to make deployments smoother is to use a second system, but that's a challenge for databases, as Steve Jones notes.
Placing a Mark in SQL Server's Transaction Log for Fall Back
How many times have you had a programmer come to you and say they want you (the DBA) to restore their database to sometime prior to when they accidentally corrupted it? If you are doing FULL transaction logging you can do a point in time recovery to restore the database to just prior to when the corruption occurred. But in order to do that you need to know exactly when the programmer corrupted the data, which in a lot of cases is not known down to the second.
Using Dynamic SQL in Stored Procedures
Dynamic SQL allows stored procedures to “write” or dynamically generate their SQL statements. The most common use case for dynamic SQL is stored procedures with optional parameters in the WHERE clause.
Future Proofing an IT Career
Steve discusses the ways that you can ensure your IT career continues to move forward.
How much database normalization is enough?
Normalization is important for relational databases, but sometimes too much of a good thing can be bad.
Upgrade From SQL 2012 to SQL 2016 - Problem with Certificates
You may need to drop and recreate your certificates after migrating from SQL 2012 to SQL 2016+
How to be Accountable for Handling Personal Data
The GDPR is in full effect but meeting the requirements may still be confusing for many companies. In this article, William Brewer discusses what is needed to ensure compliance, including when a Data Protection Impact Assessment is required. He also explains the Data Protection Officer role.
Blogs
Moving On-Prem PostgreSQL to the Cloud: Picking the Right Path for Big Tables
Every PostgreSQL migration eventually hits the same fork in the road. The database is...
A Spread of Vacation
By Steve Jones
I’m off on vacation today. Which is a little weird as I just got...
How AgentDBA Identifies Backup Failures
By Arun Sirpal
Every DBA has a box like this. Sitting untouched for months. Nobody’s proud of...
Forums
Have you done a Mid year check in?
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From SQL Server On-Premises to Claude Desktop: How I built a Full MCP Pipeline
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Independence Day 2026
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Independence Day 2026
Question of the Day
Independence Day 2026
In the original Independence Day movie (1996), what type of computer did Jeff Goldblum use to connect to the alien mainframe? Take a guess, don't look it up or ask AI.
See possible answers