Build and Automate a SQL Server Status Report on Server Restart or Scheduled
Do you know when a SQL Server instance restarts? When you manage many SQL Server instances you may not know when one restarts, so having an automated report emailed to you could be helpful to get an idea what's going on for that instance.
SQL Server Graph Databases – Part 5: Importing Relational Data into a Graph Database
In the final article of this series, Robert Sheldon shows how to move from a relational structure to a graph structure using the Graph Database feature.
Checking CHECKDB
Everyone should be running DBCC CHECKDB on their systems. We not have some help in determining if we are doing this.
Scheduling a PowerShell Script Using SQL Server Agent
This article will give you insight to understand how you can schedule a powershell script you have written using SQL Server Agent.
Why Are You Dropping and Recreating Your Indexes?
Do you have data load processes that drop indexes to optimize the load process? Are you dropping those indexes in one step, then loading data into your table, only to recreate the indexes in a post data load step?
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.
Blogs
Who Are You Doing It For?
By Brian Kelley
But as I've matured over the years, I came to realize that I needed...
Presenting Twice in May 2026
By alevyinroc
I will be presenting my latest session, Documenting Your Work for Worry-Free Vacations, in-person...
Finding the Next Sequence Value: #SQLNewBlogger
By Steve Jones
I saw a question asking about the next sequence value and decided to try...
Forums
DB Design Methods
I've read a few posts regarding what we use to design DB models and...
Auto Update Statistics not triggering on filtered indexes
I've got a table with 186,703,969 rows, about 300GB of data. There are several...
What is the difference between SQL Server and SQL Database?
I created a SQL Database in Azure Portal but I've just noticed it also...
Question of the Day
An Unusual Identity
What values are returned when I run this code?
CREATE TABLE dbo.IdentityTest2
(
id NUMERIC(10,0) IDENTITY(10,10) PRIMARY KEY,
somevalue VARCHAR(20)
)
GO
INSERT dbo.IdentityTest2
(
somevalue
)
VALUES
( 'Steve')
, ('Bill')
GO
SELECT top 10
id
FROM dbo.IdentityTest2 See possible answers