Cool Projects
This week Steve Jones wants to know what type of really interesting projects you are working on. Is there something you really enjoy and look forward to building?
What do you do when you make a mistake?
We all make mistakes, what you do next is what is important.
Performance Myths: Oversizing string columns
Aaron Bertrand shows a quick demo that illustrates why you should be very careful about oversizing varchar / nvarchar columns.
SQL Server DBA On-Boarding Checklist
How can we be sure that the new DBAs are productive a soon as possible? How can we use highly qualified contractors in the most effective way from day one?
Batch SSIS pkg execution from Business Intelligence Development Studio
The Execute Package Task and a second instance of Business Intelligence Development Studio can be a satisfactory method of background execution of SSIS packages in batch mode when you don't have access to Integration Services.
How do you go about team building?
Team building isn't easy, but important for people to work together well.
Continuous Database Deployment with Confidence
To achieve gains from Database Lifecycle Management in general, and in Continuous Deployment in particular, it pays to aim for lightweight but consistent techniques and processes, refining them iteratively in the light of experience. Edward Elliott describes a Test-driven development process for developing SQL Server databases that worked for CD, based on a series of steps. Though the tools for CD may be necessary, they are not sufficient, without an effective structured process.
Top 10 DevOps Operational Requirements
One of the key tenets in DevOps is to involve the Operations team in the full software development lifecycle and, in particular, to ensure that operational requirements are incorporated...
Azure DWH part 10: WPF and Azure SQL Data Warehouse
In this article, we will show how to create a WPF application and show how to insert data to ASDW.
Blogs
March 2026 SQL Server Security Updates
By Brian Kelley
On Patch Tuesday, in addition to OS and Office security patches, Microsoft also released...
How Fabric Mirroring Transformed with SQL Server 2025
When mirroring was first released for Azure SQL Database, it used Change Data Capture...
The DIY Cost of Masking Test Data For Smaller Organizations
By Steve Jones
One of the things I’ve tried hard to do in database development situations if...
Forums
XACT_ABORT being set to ON by web services
We have two "identical" instances of an ASP.NET web service (or so I have...
OPENQUERY Flexibility
Comments posted to this topic are about the item OPENQUERY Flexibility
A Full Shutdown
Comments posted to this topic are about the item A Full Shutdown
Question of the Day
OPENQUERY Flexibility
Which of these are valid OPENQUERY() uses?
See possible answers