DevOps Self-Service for Databases with SQL Clone

Phil Factor describes the freedom of being able to "self-serve" databases, during testing and development, and explains how it works with SQL Clone. Read more

You just Build It don’t you? 12 Common Database Build Blockers

Database deployments, like the sheep of exasperated hill-farmers, often find strange and unexpected ways to self-destruct. Phil Factor describes the most common things that can go wrong, and how a reliable automated database build process can prevent messy accidents. Read more

Monitoring TempDB Contention using Extended Events and SQL Monitor

When the tempdb database is heavily used, processes in any database on the instance will be forced to wait, due to contention as the SQL Server engine tries to manage allocation pages in tempdb. Phil Factor shows how to monitor for signs of trouble. Read more

Neglecting to Use, or Misusing, the RETURN Keyword (BP016)

Phil Factor demonstrates the correct use of the RETURN keyword in stored procedures or batches, to pass back a non-zero RETURN code to the calling process, informing it of the error. He also explains some of its misuses. Read more

Self-service and Delegation with SQL Clone 4 Teams

SQL Clone 4 introduces a new access control feature called Teams, allowing granular control over the SQL Server instances, images and clones to which each group of users has access. I’ll explain how Teams makes it easier to manage the safe distribution of database copies throughout the organization, to the various teams that need them Read more

Database Build Blockers: Cross-Server Database Dependencies

Phil Factor demonstrates how to tackle builds when databases make cross-server references. The technique uses synonyms to represent the remote objects, and local 'stub' objects to overcome the problems caused by 'missing references' when building the individual objects. Read more

Problems with adding NOT NULL columns or making nullable columns NOT NULL (EI028)

Phil Factor explains the problems you might encounter when adding a non-nullable column to an existing table or altering a column that contains NULL values to be non-nullable. He demos a migration script that can deploy such changes safely. You might also learn that in an archaic form of the Scots language, used in Cumberland, the number 17 is "tiny bumfit"; I think the tiny bumfit bus goes from Penrith to Carlisle. Read more

Managing Data Masking Rules in Larger Teams using Source Control

What if you have several people in the team who are responsible for data security across your databases, and they need to work together to develop and maintain the data masking configurations, which must then be applied consistently as part of an automated provisioning process? How should they do it? The solution turns out to be simple: source control. Read more

Resolving Cross Database Dependencies in SQL Change Automation using Local Databases or Clones

How to avoid database build failures, caused by circular cross-database object references, by restoring or provisioning copies of all required databases to the development, build, or test SQL Server instance. Read more

Why you Should Avoid Using the @@IDENTITY Function

Phil Factor demonstrates why SQL Prompt has a 'Best Practice' rule (BP010) that checks for use of the @@IDENTITY function, and suggests less error-prone ways to get the latest identity values used in a table. Read more

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