SQL Server 2014 New Defaults
SQL Server 2014 is being released and a change in the defaults will ensure that more instances will run smoother.
Database Master Key Error After Database Restore
When restoring a database to another server, you may get a master key error if using symmetric keys
David McCandless Keynoting at PASS Business Analytics Conference 2014
Bringing together business analysts, data scientists, and business intelligence and IT pros, the PASS BA Conference will feature 65+ best-practices, how-to, and strategy sessions by top BA/BI experts. Keynoting this year is Information Is Beautiful author David McCandless.
IT Skills Shortage? No, Just Looking in the wrong place
In which Phil ruminates on the ridiculous idea that we in the West suffer from an IT skills shortage. In truth we have a very blinkered idea of the sort of person who would succeed in an IT Development role
X in Technology
Steve Jones talks about the women in technology, and other efforts to help minorities.
Applying The Scientific Method to SQL Server Performance Tuning
A relational database is a complex machine that is asked to deal with intricate problems. When things go wrong, it usually takes knowledge, deduction and a systematic approach to track down the root core of problems and to determine the best fix, Joshua Feierman illustrates how this can be done.
Solid State Tapes–Prelaunch News!
In the world of data it’s always been about speed. SSD’s have become very common on consumer machines and not unusual in corporate datacenters.
The Perfect Environment
All our environments for SQL Server are different, but Andy Warren wonders if each of us might have a "perfect environment." Would things be standardized to make administration consistent? Or perhaps flexible to allow each instance to be tailored to its own needs.
The SQL Server 2008 Datetimeoffset Data Type
The Datetimeoffset Data Type was introduced in SQL Server 2008 (and .Net Frameword 3.5) and is the most advanced date and time date type available.
Transactional Replication and the Ballooning Log File
A drive on a mission-critical server is reaching capacity, and the new DBA is panicking. How do you approach a ballooning log file that won’t stop growing?
Blogs
Learning from Mistakes: T-SQL Tuesday #194
By Steve Jones
We’re a week late, once again my fault. I was still coming out of...
Stupid Things I Did With AI: ASCII Art
By Steve Jones
I ran across this article recently (https://www.gatesnotes.com/meet-bill/source-code/reader/microsoft-original-source-code) and it has a great opening piece...
Simple Talks Podcasting in 2026
By Steve Jones
I’m in the UK today, having arrived this morning in London. Hopefully, by this...
Forums
Learning From Breakage
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Python in Action to Auto-Generate an Optimized PostgreSQL Index Strategy
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Python in Action to Auto-Generate...
Adding and Dropping Columns I
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Adding and Dropping Columns I
Question of the Day
Adding and Dropping Columns I
I have this table in my SQL Server 2022 database:
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[CityList] ( [CityNameID] [int] NOT NULL IDENTITY(1, 1), [CityName] [varchar] (30) COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS NULL ) ON [PRIMARY] GOI decide to add two new columns for the StateProvince and Country. What code should I use? See possible answers