SQLServerCentral Article

Creating a Linked Server in Amazon RDS for SQL Server: A Step-by-Step Guide

Linked servers in Amazon RDS for SQL Server allow seamless connectivity to remote databases for distributed queries and data integration. In this article, I guide you through the step-by-step process of creating a linked server using SQL commands, from setting up authentication to testing the connection. Learn best practices, advanced configurations, and essential considerations, including why you can't use SSMS for linked server setup in RDS. This professional guide is tailored for experienced database administrators looking to optimize cross-server operations.

Technical Article

A Practical Guide to Using Azure Key Vault in Enterprise Deployments

Key vaults define security boundaries for stored secrets. It allows you to securely store service or application credentials like passwords and access keys as secrets. All secrets in your key vault are encrypted with a software key. When you use Key Vault, you no longer need to store security information in your applications. Not having to store security information in applications eliminates the need to make this information part of the code.

External Article

Add and Subtract Dates using DATEADD in SQL Server

Date manipulation is a common scenario when retrieving or storing data in a Microsoft SQL Server database. There are several date functions (DATENAME, DATEPART, DATEADD, DATEDIFF, etc.) that are available and in this tutorial, we look at how to use the DATEADD function in SQL queries, stored procedures, T-SQL scripts, etc. for OLTP databases as well as data warehouse and data science projects.

SQLServerCentral Editorial

Technical Pain Behaviors

In my family’s history of the past 10+ years, we have become well versed in nagging, ongoing, non-debilitating pain. In some ways, the lessons we have learned about physical pain correlate all too well to the types of pain that we technical people are involved with daily. But there is a huge difference, even if […]

SQLServerCentral Article

Boosting Data Accuracy: Resolving Common Data Quality Issues Using SQL

Poor data quality significantly hinders large enterprises from deriving meaningful value. The variety of data is a crucial factor to account for when assessing & rectifying data quality, as diverse data types introduce unique challenges in maintaining accuracy and consistency. Good data quality and integrity are essential for accurate insights, good decision-making, and potential success of large enterprises. Inconsistent, incomplete, and inaccurate data significantly affect business operations, customer satisfaction, and financial performance. SQL provides robust functions to proactively identify and resolve these data quality issues, ensuring accurate, reliable, and consistent data for reporting and analysis.

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Question of the Day

Upgrading Admin Queries

I have a query from a former DBA that we run on SQL Server 2025 to check on database metadata. This query references sys.sysaltfiles. I want to refactor this code to be more modern. Which DMV should I reference instead?  

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