After being dropped 35 feet from a helicopter and spending the next year recovering, Robert Sheldon left the Colorado Rockies and emergency rescue work to pursue safer and less painful interests—thus his entry into the world of technology. He is now a technical consultant and the author of numerous books, articles, and training material related to Microsoft Windows, various relational database management systems, and business intelligence design and implementation. He has also written news stories, feature articles, restaurant reviews, legal summaries, and the novels 'Last Stand' and 'Dancing the River Lightly'. You can find more information at http://www.rhsheldon.com.
SQL Server has many tools used to make it secure. In this article, Robert Sheldon demonstrates several of these features including SQL Server Configuration Manager and the Vulnerability Assessment tool.… Read more
SQL Server contains many built-in views and functions that can be used to understand what is going on “under the hood,” and security is no exception. In this article, Robert Sheldon explains the security related catalogue views, dynamic management views, and system functions.… Read more
The sa account is the most powerful account in a SQL Server instance, and most DBAs disable it. There are several other built-in accounts that you may not think about that often. Robert Sheldon continues his SQL Server security series with an article about built-in accounts.… Read more
SQL Server supports partially contained databases. This gives you the option of adding database users with a password inside the database. This makes the database easier to move to another instance or participate in an Always On Availability Group. In this article, Robert Sheldon explains how to work with users in contained databases.… Read more
In this article, the second in the series, Robert Sheldon demonstrates how to manage the SQL Server security with granting permissions to users, logins, and groups.… Read more
Security is often considered the most important of a database administrator's responsibilities. SQL Server has many powerful features for security and protecting data, but planning and effort are required to properly implement them. In this article, the first of a series, Robert Sheldon reviews the many components available to secure and protect SQL Server databases. … Read more
SQL Server Audit is a powerful feature that can help you comply with regulations such as HIPAA and SOX, but it’s not easy to view the data collected. In this article, Robert Sheldon demonstrates how Power BI can be used to view and filter SQL Server Audit results.… Read more
Regulations may require that you audit exactly who does what in your databases. Robert Sheldon explains how SQL Server can help you meet those requirements with its built-in auditing capabilities.… Read more
Database administrators are typically responsible for the security and availability of financial data. In this article, Robert Sheldon discusses SOX, passed in 2002, that governs financial data of publicly traded companies in the US.… Read more
HIPAA was signed into law in the United States in 1996. In this article, Robert Sheldon discusses how the act affects the day-to-day responsibilities of database administrators. … Read more
As new versions of SQL Server have been released, the Query Optimizer has undergone many improvements. Adaptive Query Processing, new in 2017, represents a new direction. This set of features provides some flexibility for varying join types, multi-statement table valued functions, and memory grants. In this article, Robert Sheldon explains the three features that make up Adaptive Query Processing … Read more
Power BI Desktop is typically used to create reports that will eventually be published to Power BI Services where dashboards can be built. Robert Sheldon demonstrates how to publish reports from Power BI Desktop to the Power BI Service. Once published, the visualizations can be filtered, drilled into, or pinned to a dashboard.… Read more
Power BI contains rich visualizations that allow anyone to build insightful dashboards. In this article, Robert Sheldon shows you how to create Power BI charts, tables, maps, and slicers, … Read more
Despite the attention to data privacy and protection caused this year because of the GDPR, regulations governing how data is handled are nothing new. In this article, Robert Sheldon provides an overview of two US regulations, HIPAA and SOX, and explains how these regulations affect DBAs. … Read more
In this article of the Power BI series, Robert Sheldon demonstrates how to work with the Power Query M language to import and transform data.… Read more
Data for Power BI can come from many sources, but often the data is hosted in SQL Server. In this article, the fifth of the series, Robert Sheldon demonstrates how to work with SQL Server data in Power BI Desktop, including relationships between tables. … Read more
Power BI allows you to use parameters to make your reports dynamic. In this article, Robert Sheldon demonstrates how parameters can be used to substitute connection information, query filters, or even calculations within the query.… Read more
R is a powerful language for manipulating data and creating visualizations. In this article in the series, Robert Sheldon demonstrates how R can be used within Power BI Desktop to import data and to create visualizations.… Read more
Power BI Desktop is the free tool from Microsoft for developing in Power BI. In this article, Robert Sheldon walks you through importing and manipulating data with the Query Editor in Power BI Desktop.… Read more
Power BI has been available for a number of years, but new functionality is added regularly. In this new series from Robert Sheldon, you will learn about the latest developments or get started with Power BI if you are new to it. Robert provides an overview of Power BI, the services and tools available in this article. … Read more