Table variables can cause performance issues with joins when they contain a large number of rows. In SQL Server 2019, Microsoft has improved how the optimizer works with table variables which can improve performance without making changes to your code. In this article, Greg Larsen explains how this feature works and if it really does make a difference.… Read more
Most advice you see online about heaps is to avoid them. In this article, Uwe Ricken describes the basics of heaps so that you can determine when heaps are the best choice. … Read more
Microsoft introduced Columnstore with SQL Server 2012 and have improved the feature in every version since then. You may be wondering why they are different than traditional indexes and how they work. In this series, Edward Pollack explains the architecture of Columnstore indexes. In future articles in the series, he will describe best practices for Columnstore.… Read more
Every computer science student must learn about Big-O Notation, a way to conceptualize algorithm complexity that directly relates to performance of the algorithm. In this article, Camilo Reyes demonstrates how to apply Big-O algorithms to .NET Core applications.… Read more
This marks the third year that Redgate have launched a survey to better understand how organisations monitor their databases. This year, 971 database professionals from around the world responded. Here are some of the key insights from the survey: Estates are growing more than ever Companies who reported over 1,000 SQL Server instances grew 9% … Read more
PowerShell scripts are the tool of choice for many admins, but how do you make them easy for others to use? In this article, Greg Moore shows how to add professional looking help to your scripts that work just like the help in cmdlets. … Read more
In the third article of this series, Sanil Mhatre demonstrates how to perform a sentiment analysis using R including generating a word cloud, word associations, sentiment scores, and emotion classification. … Read more
In this article, Lance Talbert demonstrates how to use scriptable objects in Unity for creating multiple, but similar, objects such as characters. Each character can inherit properties but also each can have their own settings. … Read more
A lot of folks have taken advantage of more time at home recently to pick up new skills and hobbies. In my case, I have started learning more about 3D printing. I bought an entry level 3D printer about a year ago to have something fun to do with my grandson during the summer. The … Read more
When the optimizer doesn’t estimate the correct amount of memory for a query, either memory is wasted that could be used for other processes or some operations will spill to disk. Microsoft has added Memory Grant Feedback to help overcome this issue. In this article, Greg Larsen explains what you need to know about this new feature. … Read more
In this article, Diogo Souza explains how to work with gRPC which is an improvement from Google over the classic remote procedure calls used when a program must communicate between resources on a network.… Read more
For any Business Intelligence solution to be useful for analytical and decision-making purposes, it is imperative that the underlying data quality is good so, that reports generated are reliable to make business decisions. This article from Imran Quadri Syed walks the through steps involved to implement a successful Data Quality Monitoring framework that would validate incoming data against predefined data quality rules and capture data quality metrics.… Read more
In this article of the series, Robert Sheldon discuses emerging trends in storage like virtual SANs, intelligent storage, computational storage and storage-class memory.… Read more
In some shops, testing is entirely in the realm of quality analysts. In this article, Julio Sampaio argues that testing should be automated and start with the developers.… Read more
Most of us have found our lives turned upside down in recent weeks as we try to shelter in place, work from home, or care for our families. There are many ways to cope with the situation. On Facebook, I see my friends talk about cooking and baking, watching hours of streamed content, trying to … Read more
In the third and final article of the series, Shel Burkow demonstrates several designs that cover many-to-many relationships, attribute closure, and solution space with Cassandra tables.… Read more
As organisations move to cloud platforms like Azure and AWS, understanding security is more important than ever. In this article, Vasanth Makam explains what companies need to know to make sure their data is secure.… Read more
Because of its many roles, tempdb is the source of performance issues in SQL Server, and there are recommended configuration changes to mitigate this. In this article, Fabiano Amorim demonstrates another issue with tempdb performance that you probably didn’t know about. … Read more
Everyone has been impacted in some way from the Covid-19 pandemic, whether it is missing out on holiday travel and events, being isolated from loved ones, facing economic issues, or contracting the virus. In the best of scenarios, buying groceries and supplies has turned into a scavenger hunt, while, in the worst, people are truly … Read more
When you create a table, SQL Server doesn’t save your comments explaining the table as it does with stored procedures, for example. In this article, Phil Factor explains how you can merge the documentation from your build scripts into the database.… Read more
Compliant Database DevOps
Standardize team-based development
Automate database deployments
Monitor performance and availability
Protect and preserve data
