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.
Birds of a Feather
What makes SQL Server professionals stick together? Can we draw any conclusions from this?
What You Need To Know About DR Testing
Practice makes perfect. That’s true of everything, including disaster recovery. If you aren’t already testing your DR plan, you should be - here’s what you need to know to get started.
Introduction to Azure SQL Datab Sync
The majority of Azure SQL Database related features reach their General Availability (GA) stage relatively quickly. There are however, some exceptions. The most prominent example in this category is likely Azure SQL Data Sync, which has remained in Preview since its introduction 7 years ago. Fortunately, there are signs that this service might be finally reaching production-ready state. In this article, Martin Pollicht introduces its main characteristics.
Blogs
Monday Monitor Tips: Virtual Machine Usage and Cost
By Steve Jones
One of the things I’ve been requesting for a number of years is cost...
Advice I Like: Respect
By Steve Jones
“Don’t aim to have others like you; aim to have them respect you.” –...
Blue Sky Programming – The Optimism Trap
Many years ago, before I joined Oracle, I was working on a major modernisation...
Forums
SQL Art, Part 4: Happy 4th of July — A British DBA's Guide to Celebrating a War We Don't Talk About
Comments posted to this topic are about the item SQL Art, Part 4: Happy...
SQL Server Still Wins
Comments posted to this topic are about the item SQL Server Still Wins
DBCC CHECKDB Limits I
Comments posted to this topic are about the item DBCC CHECKDB Limits I
Question of the Day
DBCC CHECKDB Limits I
When running DBCC CHECKDB on SQL Server 2025, can I include the Resource Database?
See possible answers