Common Checks
This Friday Steve Jones wants to know what types of things are you checking for on your instances. What items can cause you issues if you don't proactively monitor for them.
The SQL Server Sqliosim Utility
The sqliosim utility is provided with SQL Server to test the I/O stability and 'correctness' of a server. It is generally used before installing SQL Server in order to ensure that new hardware can handle your expected loads. Bob Sheldon explains what it is and how to use it.
Too Much Choice
More information and choice are generally good things, but there can be problems. Steve Jones notes that we can't let freedom paralyze us.
Search multiple SQL Server Error Logs at the same time
The code in this tip will show how to use two system stored procedures to identify all iterations of a given string in the available SQL Server error logs since a specific point in time.
Software in 2014
What's the state of software in 2014. After reading Tim Bray's analysis, Steve Jones presents his.
Calculating the Median Value within a Partitioned Set Using T-SQL
It is ironic that one of the most essential of statistical aggregations, the median, has been so difficult in the past to calculate efficiently in SQL. Dwain Camps sets the candidates to work and identifies the winners and losers.
Free Online Business Analytics Training for Those Who Love Data
Spend a day with top experts from the world of business analytics and business intelligence on Feb. 5 and learn how to get the most from your data in a series of 12 free, live training webcasts with on-demand replay.
Mastering Dimensions of Time
A method to create and populate Date and Time dimension tables for a data warehouse project.
Uncontrolled Code
Excel is used quite often to build software, or at least, it's worksheets and formulas simulate software. Steve Jones notes there are lots of problems with this practice.
Migrating SQL Server Databases to Windows Azure by Leveraging BACPAC Files
Marcin Policht shows you how to migrate on-premise data that is already cloud-compliant to Windows Azure SQL Databases by converting it into a BACPAC formatted file.
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