SQL Server 2017 for Linux First Impressions
Microsoft has released a version of SQL Server 2017 for Linux.
READ COMMITTED SNAPSHOT ISOLATION and High version_ghost_record_count
Developer shops may decide to use Read Committed Snapshot Isolation (RCSI) to reduce contention, and possibly improve performance, but it is not without its own pitfalls. In this article, Uwe Ricken describes a situation where long running transactions caused a severe performance degradation when RCSI was in use.
Ad Hoc Logs
We often make changes to production systems in an ad hoc manner. Steve asks how much auditing we might have in place.
Getting query text from SSMS into a CSV with PowerShell
You have times where you need to copy/paste something out of SSMS' grid view results pane that has a carriage return in it. Trying to copy/paste that data into Excel can be a headache and cause you to waste precious time reformatting. This just offers a tidbit of PowerShell code to help.
Scripting the Description of Database Tables Using Extended Properties
Stored procedures, for example, are very easy to document. The comment block at the beginning stays with the code and a CREATE or ALTER script contains everything to reproduce the proc. SQL Server tables, however, are more difficult to document. You can use Extended Properties to document columns and constraints, but working with Extended Properties is difficult at best. Phil Factor demonstrates ways to easily add Extended Properties to your build scripts.
More SQL Server Updates
Updates this week for SQL 2014, 2016, 2017 and SSMS have Steve thinking about the pace of patching.
The DefaultBufferMaxRows and DefaultBufferSize Properties in SSIS
This article shows how DefaultBufferMaxRows and DefaultBufferSize properties can be used to improve dataflow task performance.
How to Get a Random Row from a Large Table
Brent Ozar takes a look at four different ways to get a random row from a large SQL Server table.
Charles Bachman and Pointer Chains
Joe Celko reminisces about the origins of databases and one of the early pioneers, Charles Bachman. He explains how pointer chains were used to traverse data in the NDL standard and referential integrity that we use today.
Blogs
Future IT Roles – Agentic Architect and AI Boom!!
By Vinay Thakur
These days everything is changing to AI World, IT roles are getting changed and...
PlanTrace: Stop Reading Redshift EXPLAIN Plans. Start Seeing Them
PlanTrace: Stop Reading Redshift EXPLAIN Plans. Start Seeing Them Introducing PlanTrace — a free, browser-based...
A Cloud Dependency Failure from Amazon
By Steve Jones
I went to sleep while reading a Kindle book on my phone. I know...
Forums
SPAM Issues May 2026
We suffered a SPAM attack from May 1-6, which unfortunately corresponded with time off...
SQL Password enforcing
Hi to all We have situation at a client where someone is illegally changing...
SQL Password enforcing
Hi to all We have situation at a client where someone is illegally changing...
Question of the Day
Creating a JSON Document III
I have this data in a table called dbo.NFLTeams
TeamID TeamName City YearEstablished ------ -------- ---- --------------- 1 Cowboys Dallas 1960 2 Eagles Philadelphia 1933 3 Packers Green Bay 1919 4 Chiefs Kansas City 1960 5 49ers San Francisco 1946 6 Broncos Denver 1960 7 Seahawks Seattle 1976 8 Patriots New England 1960If I run this code, how many rows are returned?
SELECT TOP 2
json_objectagg('Team' : TeamName)
FROM dbo.NFLTeams;
See possible answers