Rodney Landrum Consolidating SQL Server Error Logs from Multiple Instances Using SSIS SQL Server hides a lot of very useful information in its error log files. Unfortunately, the process of hunting through... 14 April 2010 15 min read
Fabiano Amorim Showplan Operator of the week – Assert As part of his mission to explain the Query Optimiser in practical terms, Fabiano attempts the feat of describing, one... 14 April 2010 7 min read
Alex Kuznetsov Basic Defensive Database Programming Techniques We can all recognise good-quality database code: It doesn't break with every change in the server's configuration, or on upgrade.... 31 March 2010 36 min read
Buck Woody Mission Critical: Engine Pre-Installation Even with a task you're entirely familiar with, it is always great to have a checklist to make sure it... 31 March 2010 3 min read
Joe Celko Celko’s SQL Stumper: Eggs in one Basket Joe Celko reveals the winner of his Easter Stumper: the puzzle of designing an apparently simple database to deal with... 29 March 2010 13 min read
Buck Woody Mission Critical: Database Design There is nothing like a checklist to make sure you've completed all the tasks in designing a database, and there... 18 March 2010 3 min read
Database Administration John Magnabosco in Database Administration Transparent Data Encryption Transparent Data Encryption is designed to protect data by encrypting the physical files of the database, rather than the data... 16 March 2010 26 min read
Rod Colledge Planning for Disaster There is a certain paradox in being advised to expect the unexpected, but the DBA must plan and prepare in... 16 March 2010 16 min read
Buck Woody Mission Critical: SQL Server 2008 Engine Post-Installation Even an experienced DBA finds it safer to double-check that all the tasks have been done, and in the right... 03 March 2010 3 min read
Robert Sheldon Adding a KPI to an SQL Server Analysis Services Cube Key Performance Indicators, which vary according to the application, are widely used as a measure of the performance of parts... 02 March 2010 14 min read
Phil Factor Exploring your database schema with SQL In the second part of Phil's series of articles on finding stuff (such as objects, scripts, entities, metadata) in SQL... 02 March 2010 23 min read
Jonathan Lewis Designing Efficient SQL: A Visual Approach Sometimes, it is a great idea to push away the keyboard when tackling the problems of an ill-performing, complex, query,... 25 February 2010 16 min read
Andrew Clarke Who Tests the Tester? It is scarcely surprising that it can take up to five years to release a new version of SQL Server... 19 February 2010 15 min read
Joe Celko Procedural, Semi-Procedural and Declarative Programming in SQL A lot of the time, the key to making SQL databases perform well is to take a break from the... 15 February 2010 10 min read
Buck Woody Mission Critical: SQL Server 2008 General Maintenance There is nothing that beats a simple checklist for ensuring that things don't get forgotten in the Database Maintenance process.... 15 February 2010 3 min read
Laerte Junior Exceptional PowerShell DBA Pt 3 – Collation and Fragmentation In this final look into his everyday essentials, Laerte Junior provides some useful scripts for the DBA that use an... 11 February 2010 15 min read
Paul Nielsen Switching rows and columns in SQL When they use SQL Server, one the commoner questions that Ms Access programmers ask is 'Where's the TRANSFORM/PIVOT command? So... 04 February 2010 4 min read
Phil Factor Finding Stuff in SQL Server Database DDL You'd have thought that nothing would be easier than using SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) for searching through the DDL... 04 February 2010 24 min read
Kathi Kellenberger Writing Efficient SQL: Set-Based Speed Phreakery Phil Factor's SQL Speed Phreak challenge is an event where coders battle to produce the fastest code to solve a... 04 February 2010 31 min read
Josef Richberg Simple Query tuning with STATISTICS IO and Execution plans A great deal can be gleaned from the use of the STATISTICS IO and the execution plan, when you are... 04 February 2010 21 min read
