What is Continuous Integration for Databases?
What is continuous integration for databases? Steve Jones gives a short explanation and information on why you might care about this.
Take our SQL Source Control survey and win an Amazon voucher
We’re changing how users get SQL Source Control updates, and we want to learn how users feel about the current update process. Take the survey for a chance to win one of five $25 Amazon vouchers.
The SQL Server Sqlio Utility
If, before deployment, you need to push the limits of your disk subsystem in order to determine whether the hardware’s I/O capacity meets the needs of a database application, if you need performance baselines, or if you want to identify any performance-related issues, then why not use the sqlio utility?
How Often Do I Backup my Log?
Do you know how often to back up your SQL Server transaction log? Steve Jones has a few thoughts today and notes that you definitely need to know how to restore the log backups.
Natively Compiled Stored Procedures with SQL Server 2014
With the new SQL Server 2014 In-Memory OLTP tables, stored procedures can be natively compiled and can improve performance. Read on to learn more.
The Data Platform Vision
Microsoft published a vision for their data platform and SQL Server recently. Steve Jones has a few thoughts on what this means for you. Hint: it's cloudy.
Nesting Levels in SQL
The 'Structured' part of SQL denotes the fact that queries can be nested inside each other in such a way that, wherever you can use a table, you can use a table expression. Such derived tables can provide powerful magic, to which is added CTEs and Lateral Tables.
San Jose, CA - SQL in the City Seminar - Deployment Stairway
SQL Server MVP Steve Jones will be hosting a free seminar in San Jose on Friday March 7 2014. Join fellow database professionals to learn best practices and practical tips for SQL Server version control, continuous integration and deployment.
Did This Work? - Forum Changes at SQLServerCentral
We've made a change to the forums at SQLServerCentral. Learn how you can mark a post as an answer to your question and help others.
Performance Tuning Through Panic
We've all been there, trying to improve performance in a panic situation and not making things better.
Blogs
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...
The DIY Cost of Masking Test Data For Smaller Organizations
By Steve Jones
One of the things I’ve tried hard to do in database development situations if...
Forums
XACT_ABORT being set to ON by web services
We have two "identical" instances of an ASP.NET web service (or so I have...
OPENQUERY Flexibility
Comments posted to this topic are about the item OPENQUERY Flexibility
A Full Shutdown
Comments posted to this topic are about the item A Full Shutdown
Question of the Day
OPENQUERY Flexibility
Which of these are valid OPENQUERY() uses?
See possible answers