How to Detect SQL Injection Attacks using Extended Events and SQL Monitor

Phil Factor shows how to monitor for the errors indicative of a possible SQL Injection attack on one of your SQL Server databases, using a SQL Monitor custom metric that uses diagnostic data from Extended Events. Read more

The Changing Role of SQL Server Monitoring

Grant Fritchey explains how a modern monitoring tool must adapt, as our SQL Server databases grow in number and size, and migrate onto new cloud-based, containerized or virtual machine-based SQL Servers. Read more

Pseudonymizing a Database with Realistic Data for Development Work

How to use SQL Data Generator, and PowerShell to obfuscate personal data (names), while retaining the same distribution of data, so that the test database behaves like the original. Read more

Practical PowerShell Processes with SQL Change Automation

Starting from the object-level source code for a database, Phil Factor shows how SCA can create a NuGet build package, use it to migrate target database to the same version, and publish web-based database documentation, a report of what changed on the target and the results of a static code analysis assessment. Read more

SQL Change Automation with PowerShell Scripts: getting up-and-running

Provides a PowerShell automation script that will build a SQL Server database from the scripts in source control, document the database and then deploy it as a NuGet package, using it to update the schema of a live database. Read more

Using SQL Data Compare to Synchronize Custom Error Messages

Steve Jones shows how to get SQL Data Compare to synchronize custom error messages, stored in the sys.messages system catalog view, across SQL Server instances. This can be a handy way of ensuring your DR and HA instances keep their messages in sync. Read more

Monitoring Distributed SQL Servers using SQL Monitor

If your SQL Server estate is large, or installed across different, isolated networks, or both, then you need a distributed monitoring solution. It is very easy to set up multiple base monitors in SQL Monitor, and then to manage the monitoring, alerting and troubleshooting for your entire SQL Server estate, from a single web interface. Read more

Pseudonymizing your data with SQL Data Generator

Starting from a database view, as the basis for a typical sales reports, Phil factor shows how to generate a data-masked version of this report, which the Tax Men can safely pore over. Read more

SQL Compare Snapshots: a lightweight database version control and rollback mechanism

During the proof-of-concept phase of development work, SQL Compare Snapshots offer an easy way to work out what broke, if a change causes some tests to fail, as well as a simple ‘roll back’ technique to return quickly to the last working copy. Read more