SQL Bits XI
The popular UK conference heads to Nottingham from May 2-4, 2013. Both Grant Fritchey and Steve Jones will be speaking, along with lots of talented SQL Server professionals. Register today.
Deleting large number of rows from a table in a VLDB
For enterprise systems, purging data is a reality. Today, we will see some strategies that I recently implemented to make this process work efficiently.
Brent Ozar's Six Scary SQL Surprises
In lesson 3 of the Top 5 Hard-earned Lessons of a DBA series, Brent Ozar exposes six common but scary surprises that can lurk behind the façade of SSMS. Read it now, and learn hard lessons the easy way.
Using the SQL Server MERGE Statement to Process Type 2 Slowly Changing Dimensions
The MERGE statement is powerful and multifunctional, yet it can be hard to master. SOmetimes the MERGE statement that just doesn't do what it's needed to do, like process a Type 2 slowly-changing dimension. Check out this tip to learn more.
Data Insecurity: A Perspective on Data Encryption
The focus of this paper is on the protection of PII data stored within a database using encryption technologies.
Productivity and Accountability
The recent decision by Yahoo to end telecommuting elicits some comments from Steve Jones on the topic of remote work.
Securing SQL Server: Vulnerabilities You Might Not Have Considered
A short look at the vulnerabilities your data may be susceptible to outside of the database tables.
A SQL-Based Universal Currency Formatter
SQL Server isn't usually the best place to format dates or currency as strings. It can be a complex task to conform correctly with national and cultural conventions. Just occasionally, though, you need to do it. This is easy in SQL Server 2012, but if you aren't using that, what do you do?
Two Plugs Away
The culture and practices at Valve are interesting to Steve Jones, but the desks really caught his eye.
Blogs
“We love to debate minutiae”
By Brian Kelley
I am guilty as charged. The quote was in reference to how people argue...
Advice I Like: Knots
By Steve Jones
Learn how to tie a bowline knot. Practice in the dark. With one hand....
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...
Forums
Windows logins for users migrated from DomainA to DomainB
Hi, I have a SQL Server instance where users connect to via Windows Authentication,...
Multiple Deployment Processes
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Multiple Deployment Processes
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...
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