Five Useful SQL Server Management Practices
This article outlines five SQL Server capabilities you can use to enhance your efficiency as a DBA.
Put your Database under Source Control
This article will walk you through a demostration on linking your DB to SubVersion with RedGate SQL Source Control.
SQL Server v.Next : STRING_AGG() performance
Aaron Bertrand takes an initial look at the performance of a new function, STRING_AGG, in SQL Server v.Next CTP 1.1.
Delaying Patches is Problematic
Many of our security issues come down to not patching software when there are updates available.
SQL Server in Azure Virtual Machines - Performance Optimizations
When deploying SQL Server in an Azure virtual machine, you can take advantage of several Azure Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) features that enhance performance of the SQL Server database engine. This article explores a couple of these enhancements, with a particular focus on increased I/O throughput facilitated by the Solid State Drive (SSD) storage available on most Azure virtual machines (VMs).
A Possible Alternative to SQL UNPIVOT
Understand how to use the SQL UNPIVOT statement and then an equivalent using XML and XPath Querying in SQL Server.
The Development Lab
This week Steve Jones looks at hardware and the ways in which you might assemble a set of computers for building software.
Writing the Correct Query is Important
Making simple mistakes in queries can have far reaching consequences.
Free Webinar – Database DevOps Demo
Learn how to extend DevOps practices to SQL Server databases in our free demo webinar on January 17th. Microsoft Data Platform MVP, Steve Jones will demonstrate how Redgate’s database automation tools plug into Git, Jenkins & Octopus Deploy. Learn how to branch and merge with SQL Source Control then automate the build and deployment of changes with DLM Automation. Register now.
Blogs
Automatic Index Compaction
By ReviewMyDB
Index maintenance has always meant nightly jobs and a window you have to defend....
The Goldilocks problem – Materialized Views
I’m sure you’ve all heard the tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, but...
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...
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...
How We Handled a Vendor Retry That Loaded Twice in Snowflake
Comments posted to this topic are about the item How We Handled a Vendor...
Cognitive Coverage
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Cognitive Coverage
Question of the Day
Getting the Average
I have this data in the dbo.Commission table in a SQL Server 2022 database.
salesperson commission Brian 12 Brian 16 Andy 7 Andy 14 Andy 21 Steve 20 Steve NULLAll the data is a varchar, and I decide to run this query to get the totals for each salesperson.
SELECT SalesPerson
, AVG(TRY_PARSE(Commission AS int)) AS TotalCommission
FROM commission
GROUP BY SalesPerson
GO
What average commission is calculated for Steve? See possible answers