Performance Tuning Through Panic
We've all been there, trying to improve performance in a panic situation and not making things better.
Black Day at I/O Gulch
Not long ago, a crack team of SQL Server experts was flamed for a crime against database normalization they didn't commit. Today, Joe Deebeeay had a problem, no one else could help, so he found these exiled experts. Together Joe and the DBA-Team get to the bottom of high disk I/O.
Five Rules For Successful Conversations With Developers
In this piece, Josh follows up on his earlier article about smoothing DBA/Developer interactions, this time from the side of the developers.
Oddball Interview Questions
Today we have a guest editorial from Andy Warren. He talks about strange questions in interviews and whether they help you assess the candidate.
SQL Server Database Connectivity Testing Using PowerShell
There are several networking issues that can prevent the user from reaching or connecting to the SQL Server database. Learn how to test your SQL Server connectivity with PowerShell.
Sending a Variable Number of Elements in a Parameter
What are your options for sending a variable number of choices in a parameter to a stored procedure? Alex Grinberg looks at three techniques you can use.
The Cloud
Steve Jones likes the Cloud and gives a few reasons why. He also thinks we'll see more data in the cloud over time.
The Performance of the T-SQL Window Functions
Window Functions in SQL greatly simplify a whole range of financial and statistical aggregations on sets of data. Because there is less SQL on the page, it is easy to assume that the performance is better too: but is it? Dwain gets out the test harness to investigate.
A genuine use for a SQL CLR Aggregate
When should you use a SQL CLR Aggregate? Lots of people have struggled with this one, but David Poole found a use, and has some interesting performance data analysis as well.
Blogs
Rethinking Index Maintenance: Why avg_fragmentation_in_percent Is Outdated and What You Should Do Instead
By Tim Radney
As a SQL Server DBA with years of experience tuning production environments, I’ve seen...
Microsoft Build 2026 announcements
By James Serra
Once again there were a number of Microsoft Build announcements related to data and...
T-SQL Tuesday #199: Roundup
A good week ago I hosted the monthly T-SQL Tuesday blog party. I invited...
Forums
Changes, Happiness, and a Few Tears
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Changes, Happiness, and a Few...
BCP on Linux
Comments posted to this topic are about the item BCP on Linux
You Probably Don't Need a Vector Database
Comments posted to this topic are about the item You Probably Don't Need a...
Question of the Day
BCP on Linux
When running bcp on Linux, what is the field terminator?
See possible answers