Bad Stored Procedures
Stored procedures can be poorly written, but Steve prefers them over embedded code.
Calculating Elapsed Times (SQL Spackle)
Calculating elapsed time between time values can be an interesting problem that is easily solved even when data anomalies are present.
Setup Excel as Front End Application for SQL Server
In this article, we walk through how to set up a simple Excel interface to work with SQL Server data to insert, update, delete, and select data.
When Do We Worry About Scalability?
Steve has a few thoughts on the tradeoff between getting work done quickly and producing well performing code.
Auditing SQL Server – Part 4 – Database Configuration Audit
This continues my series on auditing SQL Server. The fist parts covered discovery and documentation, server level hardware audits and SQL Server engine level audits. This section examines database configuration audits.
Microsoft return to PASS Summit 2024 as Sapphire sponsor
Get ready to meet Microsoft's experts on-site in the exhibit hall and in multiple educational sessions (including a pre-con, keynote and learning pathway). Watch a sneak peek of Microsoft's learning pathway 'Becoming an Azure SQL DBA – Advancing the Role of the On-Premises SQL Server DBA'
How to Add a New Shared Disk to a WSFC as a SQL Resource
Adding a new shared disk to Windows Server failover Cluster is not a complex process but special care must be taken when you want to use the new disk for any existing SQL Instance. In this article, we will show you all the required steps to add the disk to WSFC and then to properly assign it to an existing SQL role in the WSFC.
Download AWS RDS SQL Server Backup
Learn how to create a backup of an AWS RDS for SQL Server database and download the backup file to use on another SQL Server instance.
Level up your learning in 2024 with PASS Data Community Summit
Connect, share and learn with the global data community in Seattle this November. Whether you're a DBA, Developer, Architect, Engineer or you're just getting started in your data career, there's a huge range of content for you to choose from (over 150 sessions and counting across 5 different tracks). Speakers this year include Steve Jones, Grant Fritchey, Ryan Booz, Bob Ward, Deepthi Goguri and Jennifer Stirrup. Check out the full program and register before September 18 to secure your ticket at the standard price.
Blogs
A New Word: on tenderhooks
By Steve Jones
on tenderhooks – adj. feeling the primal satisfaction of being needed by someone, which...
Ramblings about data communities and your contributions, no excuses
By DataOnWheels
I have been active in the data community throughout my career. I have met...
SQL Server Journey till 2025 (brief)
By Vinay Thakur
Quick Summary for Microsoft SQL Server till 2025, I am fortunate to be part...
Forums
Ola Hallengren Index Optimize Maintenance can we have data compression = page
I have a quick question on Ola Hallengren Index Optimize Maintenance . Do we...
how do i map the "current" object entry in for each to one variable
hi, in an ssis for each loop over an object variable called MyListVariable, i...
Simulating Mercury’s Orbital Motion Using Pure T-SQL (NASA 2025 Dataset)
SQL Server is typically viewed as a transactional or analytical database engine. However, it...
Question of the Day
String Similarity I
On SQL Server 2025, when I run this, what is returned?
SELECT EDIT_DISTANCE_SIMILARITY('SQL Server', 'MySQL') See possible answers