Getting the Most out of Statistics
Statistics keep track of our data and will tell SQL Server how to make the best optimization decisions. Knowing how they work can make understanding query and performance problems much easier!
Quick Guide to Installing SQL Server 2014
In this tip, we will demonstrate the installation of SQL Server 2014 on a notebook. While processing large amounts of data on a system like this might not be feasible, one can still learn how to configure and use the features of SQL Server 2014.
Find Customers Who Bought "A" and "B" But Not "C" (SQL Spackle)
A simple problem that can become complex in T-SQL. How do you find the rows that match 2 conditions, but not a third, in an efficient manner. MVP Jeff Moden gives us a solution.
Motivating the Team
It's easy to get excited if you work at a startup, or a software company. But for corporate workers that toil in IT departments all around the world, how do you keep them motivated? Steve Jones has a few thoughts about simple things that make workers feel better about their jobs.
On Adopting the Mindset of an Enterprise DBA
Although many of the important tasks a DBA has to perform should be done 'by hand', keying in commands or using SSMS, the canny DBA with a heavy workload will always have an eye to automating routine tasks wherever possible, or using a tool.
Wandering Towards The Lonely Cloud?
Are all RDBMS heading towards "The Cloud"? Is this something we DBAs and consultants should be doing for our client?
SQL Server Hardware Configuration Best Practices
You have been asked to deploy a brand new SQL Server instance. Your management asks you to come up with the best balance of availability, performance and cost for SQL Server. Richard Vantrease has some recommendations.
DBA is too large a concept
Tthe term DBA is too broad and we should strive to institute more granular terms.
SQLSaturday # 286 - Louisville, KY
Join SQL Server MVP Grant Fritchey and other SQL Server professionals for a free day of training and networking at SQL Saturday Louisville, June 21. This is a free event, however there are also two paid-for precons available, run by Grant Fritchey and David Fackler. Register for SQL Sat while space is available.
Blogs
AI Helps Me with My Sloppiness
By Steve Jones
I type fairly well. Well, I type fast, but I do wear out a...
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...
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