Have You Designed a Database from Scratch?

An interesting question from Steve Jones today, asking what is your experience with designing databases.

Practical Uses for Synonyms in SQL Server

The concept of a synonym was introduced in SQL Server 2005. Synonyms are very simple database objects, but have the potential to save a lot of time and work if implemented with a little bit of thought. This article discusses what exactly a synonym is, and a few examples of how to use them.

Persistent PowerShell: The PowerShell Profile

You can mould PowerShell to the way you want to work, with all the settings and modules that you require, by using the profiles. Profiles are PowerShell scripts that run at startup, and once you have understood where they are and when each is used, they have a whole range of uses that make using PowerShell a lot more convenient.

Why Use R Services?

R Services were added to SQL Server 2016, and there are customers using this feature to improve their business processes.

Custom Solution to Measure SQL Server Query Performance Improvements

Performance tuning is a creative process which requires a lot of attention and manual work. SQL Server 2016's Query Store makes some of this work much easier, but what if you're using an earlier version? Fikrat Azizov shows how to automate assessing SQL Server query performance changes by using custom performance collection tools and reports.

Byte Me: Behind Times

Altering an Existing Table to Support Temporal Data

In this article Greg Larsen explores using the temporal table feature of SQL Server 2016 to create a history table for an existing SQL Server table.

A Beautiful Google Mind

Larry Page is a very interesting person, one that is looking to change the world.

Migrating SSIS Projects and Parameters, Part 1

In this first part to looking at deploying SSIS packages to new environments, Andy Leonard looks at a few options for migrating your work to a new instance.

Taking Azure SQL Data Warehouse for a Test-Drive

Azure SQL Data Warehouse uses SQL to query the data, but there are some differences to SQL Server's dialect of TSQL, and queries don't necessarily work in the same way. DBAs are also required to use SSDT to access Azure SQL Data Warehouse. It is worth taking the time to try the preview of the product, and take it for a 'spin around the block', following Robert Sheldon's walk-through.