Performance of the SQL MERGE vs. INSERT/UPDATE

The SQL MERGE statement offers convenience, safety and elegance, but how does it perform compared to other methods?

Your Favorite Feature that Needs Work

This week Steve Jones asks what parts of SQL Server would you improve and why.

PowerShell Invoke-SQLCmd outputs DataTables you can INSERT into SQL Server

Aaron Nelson explains how you can take an existing SQL query, run it against a SQL Server and then take the results and save them to a different SQL Server without using Linked Servers.

Preferred Node Policy-Setting on Traditional SQL Cluster

Preferred node setting facilitates instances on traditional cluster to be on the correct nodes which will lead to load-balancing of the resources.

SQL Server Execution Plans, Second Edition by Grant Fritchey

Every Database Administrator, developer, report writer, and anyone else who writes T-SQL to access SQL Server data, must understand how to read and interpret execution plans. This book leads you right from the basics of capturing plans, through how to interrupt them in their various forms, graphical or XML, and then how to use the information you find there to diagnose the most common causes of poor query performance, and so optimize your SQL queries, and improve your indexing strategy.

The Great and Powerful Internet of Things

A look at the good, and bad, of the IoT world along with the potential future.

Using A Block Predicate to Restrict Row Updates and Inserts

If you are using row level security in SQL Server 2016 you might find users are updating or inserting rows of data that keep them from seeing the row after they have performed the update or insert statement. If you want to prevent this from occurring, you can use a blocking predicate.

Byte Me: Avoiding Detection

Introducing Minion CheckDB by MinionWare

Minion CheckDB completes the MinionWare maintenance and backups suite in style. Each solution is plug-and-play for the busy DBA, and deeply configurable for those shops with in-depth needs.

The Future is Now - An Internet of Things Infographic

A look at the positive and negative aspects of IoT in this infographic.