2023-02-22 (first published: 2022-02-28)
2,488 reads
Stairways
To keep up to date with all the technologies in SQL Server, the DBA or developer who wants to stay ahead is faced with the struggle of constant learning. How do you keep up while avoiding information overload, unnecessary detours and dead-ends?
The SQL Server Stairways is our solution to this problem. Designed to smooth out even the steepest learning curve, each Stairway is a SQL tutorial series focused on a single topic and is arranged into no more than a dozen easily-navigable tutorials that we call 'steps'. Each step is the length of a typical magazine tutorial, and emphasizes practical, hands-on learning, with just enough background theory to help you understand the topic at a deeper level.
Using straightforward language and avoiding jargon and marketing babble, each Stairway tutorial series is designed to take you from zero knowledge of a particular SQL Server topic to a level of practical understanding that will allow you to start using that feature in a production environment. The learning gradient is steady and manageable, but also brisk. You won't be wasting time.
Happy climbing!
Stairway to Data
IT projects can hit problems that turn out to be due to an insufficient understanding of the basic data and data-types, rather than the database design. It is a sorely neglected topic that might seem to be trivial, but certainly isn't. The DBA, with a broad perspective on corporate data can do a great deal to help application developers to avoid the common mistakes that so often happen, and Joe Celko's Stairway gives the busy IT professional a crash course to understanding the nature of the data being processed.
2019-03-26 (first published: 2011-04-07)
4,927 reads
Stairway to Database Design
New to the task of designing and creating a database? Joe Celko, who is one of the most widely read of all writers about SQL, explains the basics. As usual, he comes up with the occasional surprise for even the most seasoned database professional. Joe was the winner of the DBMS Magazine Reader's Choice Award four consecutive years. He has taught SQL in the US, UK, the Nordic countries, South America and Africa.
He served 10 years on ANSI/ISO SQL Standards Committee and contributed to the SQL-89 and SQL-92 Standards.
2019-03-26 (first published: 2011-02-04)
10,474 reads
Stairway to Integration Services
Integration Services is one of the most popular subsystems in SQL Server. It allows you to Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) data between a variety of data sources and programmatically change data in any manner you can think of and script in C#.
2019-03-26 (first published: 2011-02-10)
32,458 reads
Stairway to Server-side Tracing
Learn how to use the SQL Trace subsystem in SQL Server to audit your instances. This series will examine the basics of SQL Trace and teach you how to set up, schedule, and manage traces and the data generated.
2019-03-26 (first published: 2011-02-01)
3,361 reads
Stairway to SQL Server Agent
SQL Server Agent is at the heart of any live database system. The Agent has a number of uses which aren't always obvious, and so a knowledge of the system is always useful, to developers as well as DBAs. Richard Waymire provides a simple explanation of its many uses.
2019-03-26 (first published: 2011-02-04)
5,215 reads
Stairway to SQL Server Reporting Services
Learn how to get started with Reporting Services in this easy to read series from MVP Jessica Moss that examines how you might start dealing with reporting requests from management.
2019-03-26 (first published: 2011-02-02)
8,999 reads
Stairway to StreamInsight
Microsoft StreamInsight™ is designed to assist in developing Complex Event Processing (CEP) applications in .NET This is appropriate for stream sources tsuch as those in manufacturing applications or financial trading applications. StreamInsight provides the means to monitor, manage, and mine several sources simultaneously for conditions,trends, exceptions, opportunities, and defects almost instantly. It is ideal for performing low-latency analytics on the events and triggering response actions, and for mining historical data to continuously refine and improve definitions of alerting conditions. Johan provides a simple explanation of the system in a series of practical articles.
2019-03-26 (first published: 2011-02-04)
522 reads
Stairway to Azure Data Factory
Learn about the Azure Data Factory service for moving data in ETL flows.
2018-10-23
6,323 reads
Stairway to SQL Server on Linux
SQL Server 2017 is the first SQL Server version that can be installed on Windows, Linux and inside a Docker container. This stairway series serves as a guide for the experienced SQL Server DBA to acquire skills and knowledge on this platform. This is an introductory series to installing Linux and SQL Server on Linux.
2018-08-09
2,985 reads
Blogs
SQL Server 2025 GAs Today
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If you aren’t watching the Ignite keynotes today, then you might have missed the...
Run SQL Server 2025 and SQL Server Management Studio on macOS Tahoe
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The Roundup for T-SQL Tuesday #192
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Last week I asked you to write about SQL Server 2025 and what things...
Forums
The case for "Understanding our business" training
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The case for "Understanding our...
Specifying the Collation
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Specifying the Collation
SQL Server 2025 has arrived!
Comments posted to this topic are about the item SQL Server 2025 has arrived!
Question of the Day
Specifying the Collation
I am dealing with issues on my SQL Server 2022 instance related to collation. I have an instance collation of Latin1_General_CS_AS_KS_WS, but a database collation of Latin1_General_CI_AS. I want to force a few queries to run with a specified collation by using code like this:
DECLARE @c VARCHAR(20) = 'Latin1_General_CI_AS'
SELECT p.PersonType,
p.Title,
p.LastName,
c.CustomerID,
c.AccountNumber
FROM Person.Person AS p
INNER JOIN Sales.Customer AS c
ON c.PersonID = p.BusinessEntityID
COLLATE @c
Will this solve my problem? See possible answers