Solving Complex T-SQL Problems, Step-By-Step

What should you do if your first, most intuitive solution to a problem ends up scanning the data more than is necessary, resulting in poor performance? Have you missed a new SQL Server feature that can remove inefficiency from your technique? Alternatively, do you need a little help, and some lateral thinking, to open the path to a different approach? Sometimes, the answer is "both".

Natural Data

Can you own data itself or patent it? There's a Supreme Court case dealing with this right now. Steve Jones notes that the outcome could affect our jobs as we deal with more and more data and laws to control data are enacted.

Custom Metrics for Monitoring Database Mirroring

SQL Monitor comes with plenty of metrics, but there are always going to be things that you want to measure that can't be done 'out of the box'. Taking database mirroring as an example, Grant shows that custom metrics can be used to monitor and alert whatever aspect of SQL Server or database that you need.

Using FULL JOINs to Compare Datasets

This article describes a technique of using FULL JOINs to compare two datasets within a numerical tolerance.

SQL Server Central Webinar Series #23: Safeguard your data offsite with SQL Backup Pro

You may already have a great backup and recovery plan. However, if something were to happen to your databases and you needed to restore from your backups, you’d want to be in control, with the ability to access a copy of those backups quickly, restoring them with minimal downtime and minimal fuss.

In this session Grant Fritchey, SQL Server MVP, will discuss the key reasons why you need to have offsite backups, and the advantages of hosted storage. He’ll address some of the fears surrounding cloud backups, and show how offsite backup is made quick and easy with the new ‘backup to hosted storage’ features in SQL Backup Pro 7.3.

A Billion Transactions

A billion transactions is a lot of activity on your database, however Steve Jones thinks more and more of us might see this on a regular basis. Microsoft's facilities group shows this to be the case.

Excuses Execrating Excel

A bad workman always blames his tools. So does the entire western media, it seems, as poor old Excel gets it in the neck for some appalling calculation errors in economic papers.

Stay Backed Up by Monitoring Your Backup Process

Based on a linked server setup, you can check your SQL Server backups on multiple instances.

Diagnosing Common Database Ails

When a database starts showing signs of an illness, it's up to the DBA to get to the root of the problem, fast. Kat Hicks takes a look at the most common causes of database troubles, free tools that can help, and the misconceptions that get in the way.

Upgrading to 2012

Are many people upgrading to SQL Server 2012? Is it worth the cost for your company for any existing instances? Steve Jones asks the question this week.