The MCM Program is dead. Long live the MCMs!
Grant Fritchey on why he takes a dim view of most certifications, and why the MCM was different.
Backup to the Cloud: The Silver Lining
Offsite backups are vital to data integrity, allowing for preservation and backup of data in catastrophic circumstances. Cloud backups have been around for a while, but are now really coming into their own. Tony Davis looks at how to get set up with cloud backups for restores and disaster recovery.
Risk and Assumptions
Building software always involves risk, but in these tough times, Steve Jones thinks we should be working to lower the risk of IT projects.
Improved Application Availability During Online Operations in SQL Server 2014
SQL Server 2014 introduces enhancements to two common database maintenance operations namely Partition Switching and Online Index Rebuild which greatly increases enterprise application availability by reducing maintenance downtime impact.
SQL Saturday #213 Providence, RI
Join us for a free day of SQL Server training and networking on September 21 in Providence Rhode Island. Featured speakers include Paresh Motiwala, Wayne Sheffield, and Jason Brimhall.
Versions of Disaster
Dealing with a disaster is a trying experience for anyone, but having to then worry about having the proper software installed can make things much worse. Steve Jones talks a bit about the challenges of worrying about software versions.
Condensing a Delimited List of Integers in SQL Server
In real-world applications, it often makes sense to show denormalized data, such as delimited lists, within the application's user interface. Dwain Camps shows why, and how, the distribution business stores information about 'islands' in sequences in order to track the status of the shipping of a consignment. It makes a great SQL puzzle.
SQLskills and SQL Intersection
This fall SQLskills is running the SQL track at SQLIntersection, with an amazing lineup of speakers and sessions. Join Paul Randal and Kimberly Tripp in Las Vegas for the event, Oct 28-30.
SQL Saturday #249 San Diego
Join SQL Saturday San Diego for a free day of SQL Server training and networking on September 21st. There will also be a free SQL in the City Session on the 20th presented by Steve Jones and Grant Fritchey.
Blogs
Why Database AI Agents need Layers?
By Arun Sirpal
Third part in my Ai series with databases. When building AI solutions within the...
Un-Migrating From the Cloud: T-SQL Tuesday #199
By Steve Jones
This month we have a very interesting invitation from Koen Verbeeck. He has hosted...
T-SQL Tuesday #199: Back to the on-prem
It’s the second tuesday of the month, which means T-SQL Tuesday time! This month’s...
Forums
How Do the Experts Become Experts?
Comments posted to this topic are about the item How Do the Experts Become...
Stairway to Reliable Database Deployments Level 4 – Preparing for Production Deployment
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Stairway to Reliable Database Deployments...
Secure Communications
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Secure Communications
Question of the Day
Secure Communications
As of June 2026, what is the best version of TLS to use with SQL Server?
See possible answers