The Cascading (CROSS) APPLY
An old trick nowadays but one which is still underused here on SSC is the cascading CROSS APPLY – where output from one CROSS APPLY is used as input for another.
Optimizing Batch Process in SQL Server
SQL Server batch processes are usually run from SQL Agent in the background. Often, the responsibility for creating these tasks belongs entirely to the developer. Dennes Torres demonstrates that DBAs can advise and assist with this type of batch job to help reduce their impact on the working system.
Big Data for SQL folks: The Technologies (Part I)
Will RDBMs be obsolete? Should Data Professionals care about Big Data technologies? What is NoSQL? What is Hadoop? Big Data-the whole story.
Native Audits
This week Steve Jones asks if you're using the SQL Audit feature built into SQL Server.
Database Continuous Integration Workshop - London, UK
Join this workshop on July 8, 2015 to learn how to: link your source control repository to a build system, trigger database builds automatically when you make a change, use DLM tools to test your database changes, and lay the foundations for package-based deployment of your database. Register while space is available.
Developer-Tester Relationships
In a development team, there are times when the relationships between developers and testers can become strained. How can you turn this potential conflict into something more positive? Is it part of the skill of team-working to find ways of avoiding friction, or should one blame a system that relies on good social skills to work well?
Interactive Parameter Selection with Reporting Services
Revamp the classic Reporting Services interface with a more modern look and feel adapted to mobile BI
Naming Confusion
The naming of systems and other technological constructs is always a debate within groups. Steve Jones points out a few places where this might actually prevent mistakes.
PCI Best Practices Guide for SQL Server DBAs
Tibor Nagy has put together some best practices to help SQL Server DBAs navigate the many different requirements around PCI compliance.
Blogs
Shifting Mindsets: Why FinOps is Essential for Cloud Efficiency
By HeyMo0sh
As a DevOps practitioner, I’ve always focused on performance, scalability, and automation. But as...
March 2026 SQL Server Security Updates
By Brian Kelley
On Patch Tuesday, in addition to OS and Office security patches, Microsoft also released...
How Fabric Mirroring Transformed with SQL Server 2025
When mirroring was first released for Azure SQL Database, it used Change Data Capture...
Forums
Multiple Deployment Processes
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How to Use sqlpackage to Detect Schema Drift Between Azure SQL Databases
Comments posted to this topic are about the item How to Use sqlpackage to...
Upgrading Admin Queries
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Upgrading Admin Queries
Question of the Day
Upgrading Admin Queries
I have a query from a former DBA that we run on SQL Server 2025 to check on database metadata. This query references sys.sysaltfiles. I want to refactor this code to be more modern. Which DMV should I reference instead?
See possible answers