Honeywords in SQL Server
There's an idea of using false passwords with real accounts, honeywords, that can help us detect security issues with our servers. Is that worth implementing in SQL Server?
How to Change the SQL Server Name after Renaming the Windows Host
This article shows how to change a SQL Server name after changing the Windows machine name.
Getting Started Testing Databases with tSQLt
There are several frameworks for assisting with the testing of SQL Server databases, but tSQLt is popular because it is written in TSQL and is simple for a database developer to set up and use. It doesn't get in the way. Rob Sheldon shows you how to get started.
#22: What counts for a DBA
In this session Louis Davidson, Microsoft MVP, discusses how being observant of the environment you work in can help you make sure that you are aware of the health of your database systems, as well as your career. You can watch the complete webinar here. Answers to any questions asked are further down the page, […]
The Challenger
There is plenty of competition in the database platform space for SQL Server. There's a new NuSQL platform, whose vendor hopes will replace SQL Server as the platform of choice in the cloud. However Steve Jones isn't sure this will be the case.
Using XML from data variable option in SSIS
Learn how you can manipulat XML documents solely in memory. No file required.
Webinar: Forgotten Rings and Other Monitoring Stories
In this session, Grant Fritchey, Microsoft MVP, drills down into a few of the more obscure monitoring metrics that can give you very precise information about exactly what's happening within your server. He'll also show you how you can use custom metrics to enable these metrics in Red Gate's SQL Monitor.
Webinar: Using SQL Storage Compress by Steve Jones and Brad McGehee
Steve Jones and Brad McGehee lead you through real-world examples of working with SQL Storage Compress
Forwarding Pointers in Heaps
When no clustered index is defined on a table, that table is said to be a Heap. Heaps are not ideal when it comes to performance but there are lots of instances where you have heaps.
Blogs
A bespoke reporting solution doesn’t have to cost the earth
By ChrisJenkins
You could be tolerating limited reporting because there isn’t an off the shelf solution...
Presenting with Visual Studio Code
A while back I wrote a quick post on setting up key mappings in...
Advice I Like: In 100 Years
By Steve Jones
In 100 years a lot of what we take to be true now will...
Forums
AllocationType as ROW_OVERFLOW_DATA
Hello, I inherited a number of tables with like 20-30 column using nvarchar(256) in...
is it true we cant debug c# scripts in ssis anymore under vs
Hi, i'm running vs2022. I'm trying out a c# script that i'd like to...
Question of the Day
Missing the Jaro Winkler Distance
I upgraded a SQL Server 2019 instance to SQL Server 2025. I wanted to test the fuzzy string search functions. I run this code:
SELECT JARO_WINKLER_DISTANCE('tim', 'tom')
I get this error message:Msg 195, Level 15, State 10, Line 1 'JARO_WINKLER_DISTANCE' is not a recognized built-in function name.What is wrong? See possible answers