The Command Shell
This Friday Steve Jones talks about xp_cmdshell and the security regarding its use. Do you have any holes that might exist if administrators are allowed to use this tool on their instances?
Using the SQL Server APP_NAME function to control stored procedure execution
In this tip we will look at one way to achieve control of stored procedures to ensure that reuse is for the intended purpose and changes do not break other applications that may be using this same code.
Halo 4 and Hadoop
A case study shows how the combination of Azure and Hadoop helped the Halo 4 team grow their successful franchise.
Re-throw Errors with Logging
This article brings you a technique and framework to use in your stored procedures that can allow you to re-throw and log errors.
Ad-Hoc XML File Querying
When you need to shred just part of the data within a large XML file into a SQL Server table, the most efficient way is to just select what you need via XQuery or by using XPath, before shredding it into a table. But precisely how would you do that?
HASHBYTES: Is CHECKSUM really required?
When compared with HASHBYTES, CHECKSUM, has a number of drawbacks. Hence, a question that comes up is: Is Checksum really required? In this article, I attempt to answer that question.
Steve Jones and Grant Fritchey at SQL Intersection
SQL Server Central’s Steve Jones and Red Gate’s Grant Fritchey will be among a stellar line-up of speakers at SQL Intersection conference in Las Vegas on the 8th to the 11th of April.
What Do You Want to Know About I/O?
Steve Jones is looking forward to learning more about I/O. There is a panel of experts, taking questions at SQL Intersection in a few weeks.
SQL Server 2012 Integration Services - PowerShell-Based Project Deployment
You have the option of using PowerShell when automating management of SQL Server 2012 Integration Services. While this functionality is not as straightforward as those accustomed to traditional PowerShell cmdlets might expect, the steps required to accomplish the most common SSIS administrative tasks follow a relatively consistent pattern.
A Good Security Response
Evernote recently had a security incident and forced all users to reset their passwords. Many people thought this was a good response to a security incident. Would your company act in a similar manner?
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