The Technology Journey to Disaster
Phil Factor on a journey that started with a decision to introduce a new IT platform, and ended in a disaster that left TSB customers locked out of their accounts, experiencing problems such as zero balances, incorrect currencies, and massively inflated mortgage amounts.
Parking Garages And Predicates
You lost your car in a big parking lot. Erik Darling explains how this is just like an index scan.
Navigating Hadoop Resources
Learn where to get the latest installation and learning resources for the ever-evolving components of Hadoop ecosystem and how those components may complement Microsoft SQL Server common everyday tasks.
“But I don’t need to back up that database.”
Brent Ozar shares four stories of people who thought they could avoid backups - and got burned.
Reasons to Upgrade
There are always reasons to upgrade or avoid upgrading to a new version. Steve Jones has a few thoughts.
Scripting Objects with PowerShell
In the third installment of this series, Steve Jones uses PowerShell to source control code.
150 SQL Code Smells
Some time ago, Phil Factor wrote his booklet 'SQL Code Smells', collecting together a whole range of SQL Coding practices that could be considered to indicate the need for a review of the code. It was published as 119 code smells, even though there were 120 of them at the time. Phil Factor has continued to collect them and the current state of the art is reflected in this article. SQL Prompt is committed to cover as many as possible of them. Phil has also updated his book, which is free to download.
Packaged-Application Database Nightmares - A Horror Story
The business decides on a packaged application and buys it. After installation, you look at the schema and realize that is is a nightmare. How do you manage this nightmare?
Blogs
ISACA AI Material/Exam Prep Discount (May 18 – June 30, 2026)
By Brian Kelley
If you are considering any of the ISACA AI certs like the Advanced Artificial...
A Fabric solution can be very cost effective
By ChrisJenkins
Are you currently using Microsoft Fabric or considering migrating to it? If so, there...
Track SQL Server Configuration Changes Using the Error Log
By SQLPals
Track SQL Server Configuration Changes Using the Error Log If you...
Forums
We Are Eating Our Own Seed Corn
Comments posted to this topic are about the item We Are Eating Our Own...
Before Using AI with Business Data, Read This
Artificial intelligence tools are quickly becoming part of daily business operations, from document analysis...
Designing SQL Server ETL Pipelines That Don't Break at Scale
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Designing SQL Server ETL Pipelines...
Question of the Day
Detecting Deadlocks Quickly
In the Database Engine, when a deadlock is detected, what does the detection interval shrink to (in time)?
See possible answers