Comparing and Syncing Data using SQL Data Compare Command Line

Robert Sheldon demonstrates how to start automating data comparisons between two databases, from the Windows command line or PowerShell. With a single command, you can easily compare and sync data such as test data sets, or static data used for reference or lookup purposes. Read more

Getting Started with Flyway and SQL Server

Phil Factor explains how to get started with Flyway, as simply as possible, using PowerShell. This article provides a practice set of database automation scripts that will build a SQL Server database, and then update it, running a series of migrations scripts that make some schema alterations, and load the database with test data. Read more

Managing database changes using Flyway: an Overview

This article describes the principles of using Flyway migrations to build a database from scripts, to a specified version, and to track, manage and apply all database changes. Read more

Is Tempdb Causing a Bottleneck?

One of your SQL Server instance shows a major dip in performance or throughput, affecting all the user databases. You notice that the slow interludes coincide, as if orchestrated. On investigation, it appears that several transactions running over that period were using a lot of space in tempdb. However, which of them, if any, are causing the tempdb bottleneck, and why? Read more

Automating SQL Compare Snapshots using SQL Snapper

If you have SQL Compare, then the SQL Snapper utility is very valuable 'extra' for certain team activities, because it can be freely distributed. It means that any developer can create a SQL Compare snapshot from databases that are on their local workstation and store them on the network. Read more

Using SQL Compare and SQL Data Compare within a PowerShell Cmdlet

SQL Compare and SQL Data Compare can be used together, from the command line, to provide a complete build process, or to script out changes to both the database and its development data. For doing this routinely, I find it easiest to script the operation using PowerShell. Read more

Finding Inactive SQL Server Databases

Phil Factor demonstrates how to use Extended Events to detect acquisition of Intent locks, and so determine which databases are active or apparently 'dormant', and then on which tables data has been modified recently, or which views and stored procedures have been run. Read more

Ten Reasons your SQL Server Monitoring will Scale

This article explains ten ways that SQL Monitor tackles the problem of scaling out the coverage of a single, lightweight monitoring system, and so allows your teams to maintain the health and performance of larger collections of databases and higher numbers of monitored SQL servers. Read more

Getting your SQL Server Development Data in Three Easy Steps

Phil Factor takes a staged approach to generating development data, creating one project that simply copies data from an existing database, another that copies most data but generates any personal or sensitive data, and a third that starts from 'anonymized' data and then generates other columns entirely and increase the number of rows for testing. Read more

Masking Data in Practice

Phil Factor takes a strategic look at common SQL data masking techniques, and the challenges inherent in masking certain types of sensitive and personal data, while ensuring that it still looks like the real data, and retains its referential integrity, and distribution characteristics. Read more

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