Getting Started with Azure
Many people have been unsure of cloud computing and what it means for your particular application. Steve Jones notes there's a great new demo that can help you get started exploring the Azure offerings.
How Many Passwords?
How many passwords do you have? Steve Jones has a lot and while he notes there are some new ways for us to authorize ourselves for servers, they aren't necessarily making things more secure or less complex.
Windows Azure SQL Database - Uploading Data by Using the bcp Utility
Instead of using a custom SSIS-based project to upload content from an on-premise SQL Server database to Azure PaaS-based SQL Database, Marcin Policht presents an alternative approach. Using the bcp utility not only eliminates the need for any custom development, but also rivals SSIS in terms of its data transfer efficiency.
Automate Sliding Window Partition Maintenance: Part II
Part 2 of a series on how to automate partition management. In this article learn how easy managing and maintaining a sliding window partition scheme can be with PowerShell.
Squeezing the DBA
What do you do as a DBA if you get asked to cook the books? With the economy doing poorly, some executives will be tempted to mis-report earnings and they might ask the technical people to help. Steve Jones has a few thoughts.
Big Data Basics - Introduction to HDFS
One of the core components of the Hadoop framework and responsible for the storage aspect is HDFS. Unlike the usual storage available on our computers, HDFS is a Distributed File System and parts of a single large file can be stored on different nodes across the cluster. Here are some of the key concepts related to HDFS.
Speakers Needed - SQL Saturday #292 Detroit
SQL Saturday #292 in Detroit, MI, is looking for speakers. The event is May 17, 2014, and there are still some speaking slots available.
#sqlhelp
The #sqlhelp hashtag on Twitter is a great way to interact with the SQL Server community and get help.
SFTP, encrypt or compress data files in SSIS using custom components
SQL Server Integration Services does not provide native SFTP, encryption or archiving task components. This article presents a set of open source custom task components that provides these functions.
Seven SQL Server Under-Used Utilities
There are many useful command-line applications that are either associated with, or are distributed with, SQL Server. They all have their uses and several become important as part of script-based automation of tasks. It is definitely worth knowing what is lurking in your tools\binn directory.
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
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...
Azure SQL Database | CREATE EVENT SESSION [Blocking_Capture] ON DATABASE
Hello, Is there a way in Azure SQL Database to change the 'Blocking Process...
Having a Little Fun at SQL Server Central
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Having a Little Fun at...
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