When the DevOps pipeline does not include the database, the database can become a bottleneck and slow down the delivery of new features. In this article, Robert Sheldon discusses the challenges involved with including the database and how to overcome them. … Read more
Joe Celko explains why questions requiring yes or no answers are more complicated than you might realize in both spoken language and computing.… Read more
Kathi Kellenberger continues her series on SSRS. In this article you learn hose to use parameters that let your report users control how the reports are filtered.… Read more
So far in this series, Andy Brown of Wise Owl Training has shed light on functions like CALCULATE, VALUES and FILTER, but it’s only when you understand the idiosyncrasies of the EARLIER function that you can claim to have genuinely cracked DAX. This article gives four examples of the use of this peculiar function, in the process explaining why it has such a misleading name. Using the EARLIER function properly all boils down (as is so often the case with DAX) to understanding row and filter context. The article also shows how to use the RANKX function to sort data into your required order.… Read more
PolyBase has been around since 2016, but Microsoft is enhancing it in 2019 with the ability to connect to more data sources. You can now use PolyBase to connect to other SQL Server instances, and it’s easy to set up with a wizard. In this article Benjamin Weissman explains what’s new in PolyBase and walks you through setting it up and connecting to an external table.… Read more
Microsoft continues to enhance the performance of SQL Server with new features. In this article, Monica Rathbun explains how to work with columnstore indexes, a different way to store tables that can drastically improve the performance of specific workloads.… Read more
There are those who argue that time doesn’t really exist; it’s just an illusion. That debate won’t keep you from storing and manipulating dates and time in SQL Server. In this article, Joe Celko discusses some of the many ways that SQL Server treats temporal data types.… Read more
Data sources and datasets are critical components of an SSRS report, but many people new to SSRS struggle to understand them. In this article, Kathi Kellenberger shows you how to create these components and explains when they should be shared vs. embedded. … Read more
Many organisations still run their companies on SQL Server 2008 or 2008 R2. There are many reasons to upgrade, but the most pressing reason is that extended support has run out. In this article, Brian Kelley explains what this means, tells you about some of the features you’ll gain if you upgrade, and provides some options. … Read more
Importing data from one system to another is a common task for database professionals. It’s possible to spend a lot of time figuring out what the schema should be for the target table. In this article, Rodney Landrum demonstrates an interesting solution to automatically figure out the data types and un-nest delimited data.… Read more
In this article, Kellyn Pot’Vin-Gorman continues teaching SQL Server DBAs how to navigate Linux. She demonstrates usings aliases, setting up environment variables, and examining processes.… Read more
In this article, Kathi Kellenberger demonstrates how to create a project and report using the SSRS Report Wizard. The wizard is fine for getting started, but you’ll soon learn about its many limitations. She also explains how reports fit in projects and solutions.… Read more
As database changes are added to the DevOps pipeline, unit testing of those changes becomes crucial. In this article, Adam Hafner describes unit testing and how it applies to databases.… Read more
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
Power BI is an excellent tool for departments or small organisations getting started with their BI solution. Unless some time is spent organising the solution, however, it can become cluttered. In this article, Gogula Aryalingam explains how to streamline the solution to keep it organized and efficient. … Read more
The JSON documents that are part of Cosmos DB document collections can be complex with arrays and nesting. In this article, Adam Aspin shows you how to query them with SQL.… Read more
The use of macOS by developers and IT professionals has gained popularity the past few years. Running a sandboxed SQL Server, however, has been difficult. That changed when Microsoft made SQL Server images on Docker available. In this article, Carlos Robles explains how to get started with Docker when running macOS. … Read more
A good day for a database administrator (DBA) is a lot like a good airline flight. A lot of excitement in either situation is bad. In a perfect world, a DBA will be productive and not spending most of their time “putting out fires.” (And fires are never a good idea on a flight!) DBAs … Read more
Gogula Aryalingam continues telling the story of the BI solution created by a business analyst intern. In this article, after the initial success, plans are made to sustain and grow the project.… Read more
Learning programming logic and syntax is just the beginning. In this article, David Njoku talks about how to debug and troubleshoot errors as a new developer.… Read more
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Compliant Database DevOps
