When is the last time you faced an early morning but couldn’t fall asleep the night before? I don’t have to wake up for off-hours work as often or as early as I used to when starting ou…| Chad Callihan
SQL Server 2025 is out in preview form. CTP 2.0 is available for you to test, and there are quite a few changes that have been added to the platform. Some of these are already in the cloud, but this … Continue reading →| Voice of the DBA
I wanted to do some testing of SQL Server 2025 on my laptop. I have written before how I avoided installing SQL Server on the laptop and use containers instead. This post looks at adding a new version on the … Continue reading →| Voice of the DBA
For many years, most of the SQL Server installations I managed or deployed to were Standard Edition. Even in large companies that had agreements with Microsoft, since each instance had a cost (even…| Voice of the DBA
I recently built a process to create a new filtered index on a schedule to support a UI that only cares about the last 30 days.| SQLBlog.org
Reviewed by Imran Masud and Sumit Sarabhai When it comes to working with Microsoft SQL Server in Python, pyodbc has long been the de facto driver. It’s mature, trusted and has been serving the community well for years. But as applications scale and Python becomes more central to modern data workflows — from microservices to […] The post mssql-python vs pyodbc: Benchmarking SQL Server Performance appeared first on Microsoft for Python Developers Blog.| Microsoft for Python Developers Blog
Alternate title: How do I tell how far I am on that command? This little command (frequently with a WHERE ... Continue reading| SQL Studies
Welcome back to another edition of T-SQL Tuesday. This month’s blog party host is Taiob Ali, who asks “How is AI changing our careers?” Rewind a Year Ago… Had you asked me t…| Every Byte Counts
It’s another T-SQL Tuesday! Our host this month is Taiob Ali (b). (Thanks for hosting this month, Taiob!) He’s asked us to talk about how AI is changing our careers. The pressure is def…| Deb the DBA
Unlike your lawn, which benefits from a regular mowing to stay healthy and looking nice, a database isn’t meant to be regularly shrunk just to keep its size under control. The grass grows to …| Chad Callihan
I dug a little into one of the new RegEx functions in SQL Server 2025: REGEXP_SPLIT_TO_TABLE.| SQLBlog.org
In this follow-up, I show how we determine all possible point of time restores and identify which backup files to keep in order to meet our recovery objectives.| SQLBlog.org
Turn fixed DBA costs into a predictable subscription. Gain 24/7 expert support for Oracle and SQL Server with House of Brick Managed Services. The post Outsourcing Your DBA Team: A Smart Move for Today’s Enterprises appeared first on House of Brick.| House of Brick
Today, I have the honor and pleasure of debuting a new presentation for MSSQLTips: A Practical Introduction to Vector Search in SQL Server 2025 (you can watch the recording here too). To accompany …| Every Byte Counts
Have you ever heard of stolen memory in SQL Server? I’ve never had any significant issues with stolen memory myself, but I thought it would make for a good blog post. Let’s take a look …| Chad Callihan
In this article, I detail some of the things we do to manage backups and retention policies for hundreds of production databases.| SQLBlog.org
I put together a brief list of all the things that can cause "A network-related or instance-specific" error messages, and a few things that can't.| SQLBlog.org
Occasionally, it's fun to talk about our wish lists for SQL Server. In this post, I talk about a few that I came across recently...| SQLBlog.org
I recently had a great conversation with Louis Davidson as part of his "Coffee chat with..." series on Simple Talk.| SQLBlog.org
I talk about some of the challenges and qualitative factors that influence how you add, remove, and change indexes.| SQLBlog.org
I consolidate many bits of Docker advice that had previously been scattered across several different posts.| SQLBlog.org
Learn best practices for patching Oracle & SQL Server on Nutanix Database Service—use custom RPM repos, manage NDB profiles, and validate with testing & rollback.| House of Brick
After the successful release of Public Preview of mssql-python driver, we’re thrilled to announce a major milestone for the mssql-python driver: full support for all three major operating systems—Windows, macOS, and Linux. This release marks a significant leap forward in our mission to provide seamless, performant, and Pythonic connectivity to Microsoft SQL Server and the […] The post Announcing Full Cross-Platform Support for the mssql-python Driver appeared first on Microsoft for Pyth...| Microsoft for Python Developers Blog
Struggling with SQL Server ORDER BY performance on massive tables? Learn how to fix hidden sort issues and optimize batch inserts fast.| Virtual-DBA Remote DBA Services & Support - Certified Database Experts
This post walks you through settings up error logging and auditing for your Azure SQL DBs, which is easy with diagnostic settings.| sqlkitty
On behalf of the team that brought you SQL Saturday Chicago, I am ecstatic to announce that we are returning as Data Saturday Chicago on March 14, 2026 at Harper College. Sign up to receive E-mail Updates How We Got Here Chicago has a rich history of SQL Saturday events – NINE events since 2010!!! […]| Every Byte Counts
Welcome back to another edition of T-SQL Tuesday. This month’s topic is an inspirational one, hosted by John Sterrett. John would like us to blog about what we can do to help grow the data co…| Every Byte Counts
Cloud SQL Server costs creeping up? Learn how to optimize performance and cut waste—read the blog to save your budget (and lunch money).| Virtual-DBA Remote DBA Services & Support - Certified Database Experts
Joe Fleming wants to know how I solve weird problems. I’m not sure I’m actually qualified to answer this question since I, myself, am a weird problem, but I’ll give it a shot. One aspect of my job is to provide support to our clients. No, I’m not on call (thank the gods), but I’ll […] The post T-SQL Tuesday #187: It’s Extended Events. It’s Always Extended Events appeared first on Grant Fritchey.| Grant Fritchey
I have a proper blog post coming out tomorrow for T-SQL Tuesday, but today, celebrate with me that SSMS 21 finally, at long last, fixes the irritating fact that the New Session window in SSMS for Extended Events always opened to the wrong size. Here’s SSMS 20: At the bottom of the screen on the […] The post SSMS 21 Fixes Irritating Problem appeared first on Grant Fritchey.| Grant Fritchey
I’m working on an update to my Query Performance Tuning book for SQL Server 2025 and I found myself wondering, will a query hint be immediately apparent in an execution plan without runtime metrics (AKA, Estimated Plan)? My assumption was a resounding yes, but you have to check. Query Hint in Estimated Plan I’ve got […] The post Query Hints and Estimated Plans appeared first on Grant Fritchey.| Grant Fritchey
Just a quick one this morning. I’m on the road and haven’t worked up a full blog post, apologies. I’ve been using the preview for SQL Server Management Studio 21 for a little over a week now. You should check it out. It’s been mostly stable (I got a crash. I didn’t report it because […] The post SSMS 21 appeared first on Grant Fritchey.| Grant Fritchey
This month’s T-SQL Tuesday invite comes from Joe Fleming who asks us to write about how we worked through a strange or unique problem. Coincidentally, I had already started writing a blog pos…| Chad Callihan
ApexSQL Doc, a documentation tool for SQL Server, uses extended properties stored in the SQL Server database to display descriptions of SQL database objects. With the Extended Property Editor feature, you can add or modify these descriptions by editing the associated extended properties. You can fully customize an object’s extended property through a dedicated dialog, […] The post How to use extended properties to document a SQL Server database appeared first on Toad World Blog.| Toad World Blog
“Publishing a book is an amazing experience. Writing a book is very, very hard.” Louis Davidson, Simple Talk Editor (@drsql) At the risk of burying the lede… “Introduction to PostgreSQL for the data professional” was officially published on Monday, February 3, 2025 and is available on Amazon, Barnes and Nobel, and through various Redgate channels. ... Read more| Software and Booz
As the SQL Server 2025 public preview hit the streets, I had to test the new backup compression algorithn, ZSTD, on a decently-sized database.| SQLBlog.org
Developers are expected to know a broad range of programming languages. While great in theory, this can lead to mistakes with SQL code.| SQL Solutions Group
SQL Server 2025 is on the horizon, and one of its new capabilities is support for Vector Search. To start off, I’ll confess that I was an initial skeptic about AI and its practical uses. I’m not a fan of overused blanket terms/technology and clickbait fads… NoSQL will eliminate all SQL databases… Cloud means the […]| Every Byte Counts
In case you missed it, SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) 21 GA released last week. It can be downloaded here, and release notes can be found here. I gave my first impressions to the SSMS 21 previ…| Chad Callihan
It's quite easy to query multiple databases in Azure SQL Database with PowerShell. Gone are the days of having to context switch in a GUI.| sqlkitty
SQL Server 2025 Public Preview is not even a week old, but I’m impressed with another new capability that was released – a new backup compression algorithm: ZSTD. This one came as a surprise, despite being part of Private Preview, as it was only released with Public Preview. TL;DR – ZSTD Can Be Fast! Today, […]| Every Byte Counts
With the announcement of SQL Server 2025 Public Preview, hopefully you are interested in test driving Vector Search. Microsoft has already posted demo code, but it’s only for OpenAI on Azure.…| Every Byte Counts
It’s time for another video! This time, it’s getting started with using vectors and vector searches in SQL Server 2025, which just went into public preview. Let me know your thoughts! If you want to get started, here are some references for SQL Server 2025:| Deb the DBA
Happy T-SQL Tuesday! This month, Andy Levy (bsky | blog) has asked us: How do you manage and/or monitor your SQL Server Agent jobs? (Check out the full invite here.) When I first got started as a D…| Deb the DBA
Do you know who is logging into your SQL Server? I was once asked about the need to track SQL Server logins. Many servers were already tracking failed logins. Where the issue came up in this case was tracking successful logins to determine login usage. Let’s take a quick look at how we can track … Continue reading SQL Server Login Auditing Options| Chad Callihan
The T-SQL Tuesday invite for May 2025 comes from Andy Levy. Andy asks us to write about managing and/or monitoring SQL Server Agent jobs. Click on the T-SQL Tuesday logo to read the full invite. Th…| Chad Callihan
I got contacted by someone from my team that INSERTs were failing on one of our database instances. A look at Application Insights showed th...| bartwullems.blogspot.com
Yeah, yeah, second AI post in a row. I promise not to make a habit of it. But I saw someone else mention that you can feed them XML and the AI will read the execution plan. I had to test it out and then overshare my results with all of you. We Need A […]| Grant Fritchey
Welcome back for another edition of T-SQL Tuesday! This month’s edition is hosted by Erik Darling and is a bit special, as instead of blogging, he’s asked us to create some video conten…| Every Byte Counts
I thought I didn’t care about linting, and lately, I haven’t written a lot of SQL, but for the SQL I do write, I have SQLFluff to help me format it. A friend of mine is big into SQLFluff and finally talked me into installing… The post Using SQLFluff appeared first on sqlkitty.| sqlkitty
Happy T-SQL Tuesday! This month (April 2025), Erik Darling asked us to record a video. Enjoy my take!| Deb the DBA
Have you ever wanted to know how to create a parquet file directly from your SQL Server 2022 instance? Did you even know that it was an option? Setting this up sounds like it would be really complicated, but it’s much simpler than it seems. Join me as I show you how: As I mention […]| Deb the DBA
A while back I wrote about using AI to explore why people are not using Extended Events. You can read all about it here, but a short summary of the biggest blockers would be: For this blog post I want to focus on the last one, Event Overload. There really are a lot of events […]| Grant Fritchey
I wondered why myself as I hadn't used it until I saw a developer using it a while back, and then I wanted to know the ins and outs.| sqlkitty
SQL Server 2019 has reached EOL for mainstream support. The countdown has begun for extended support and only security fixes coming.| MlakarTechTalk
I have to say that I’m so happy with all the response for this month’s T-SQL Tuesday. I think I had 18 responses to go through. It’s been a while since I have seen this many people reply. Can we ke…| Deb the DBA
Answering the question "Can You Tell Why a Plan Didn't Go Parallel" within SQL Server using Execution Plan properites.| Grant Fritchey
Answering the question, can you see table valued parameters in Extended Events. The answer, is pretty surprising.| Grant Fritchey
A SQL MERGE statement performs actions based on a RIGHT JOIN between target and source tables| Java, SQL and jOOQ.
Welcome to another edition of T-SQL Tuesday! This month’s host is Deborah Melkin, who asks bloggers to share some thoughts around mentoring. My Experiences with Mentoring Over the course of m…| Every Byte Counts
Microsoft will withdraw Azure Data Studio (ADS), its cross-platform utility for administration of SQL Server and other database […]| DEVCLASS
I love that, while I’ve been working with SQL Server for far too many years, that I’m still constantly learning new things, even about old aspects of SQL Server. MirrorDirectory / MIRROR TO… Wut? About a month ago, was having a conversation with a Pure Storage customer’s SQL Server backups. They were using Ola Hallengren’s […]| Every Byte Counts
Interesting news dropped – Microsoft announced that Azure Data Studio is going to be retired in 2026. You can read the official announcement here. In some ways, I have to admit that I was a l…| Deb the DBA
I attended the PASS Data Community Summit held in Seattle in person this year after a long gap of 4 years and after RedGate software took over running the summit. The place I work at had stopped pa…| Curious..about data
Learn why you should use compact table columns when designing your database schema to get better performance for your SQL queries.| Vlad Mihalcea
I had a need to install SQL Server 2022 on Ubuntu 24.04. The instructions for Ubuntu 22.04 will work fine, until you start it. While it does install with the Ubuntu 22.04 packages, the dependencies are incorrectly marked*. When you… Continue reading →| the sporks space
TL;DR: SCCM maintenance tasks for WSUS no longer work if you are using WSUS with the Windows Internal Database (WID). When looking at the SCCM wsyncmgr.log, I noticed some SQL exceptions that […]| Out of Office Hours
Stay secure with SQL Server Patching. Prevent threats, reduce downtime, and ensure compliance with routine updates for a stable and high-performing database.| House of Brick
Performance matters! I decided to break down some quick tips to help you write faster, more efficient SQL queries. 1. Limit Your Use of SELECT * While SELECT * seems like a quick and easy solution,…| Smoak Signals | Data Analytics Blog
In this blog post I am here to defend the art of working with SQL and show some appreciation for its talented practitioners. Here is my hot take, it can be very difficult to write …| Smoak Signals | Data Analytics Blog
I show an inline table-valued function to extract values from an integer encoded with days of the week.| SQLBlog.org
In this post, I talk about why it's so important to regularly test that your backups can be restored.| SQLBlog.org
Reading through an execution plan to understand window functions can be a little tricky, so stick to the basics.| Grant Fritchey
SQL Server 2014 extended support ends on July 9, 2024. Upgrade now with House of Brick's expert migration services to ensure security, compliance, and performance.| House of Brick
In the last part of the series, I show how I coordinate multiple parallel jobs... and what comes after them.| SQLBlog.org
In part 3 of this series, I dig into some detail about how I further parallelized the work and reduced overall runtime.| SQLBlog.org
In part 2, I show how I take advantage of snake draft order with a couple of real use cases.| SQLBlog.org
In this four-part series, I borrow a concept from fantasy football to solve an optimization problem in a long-running weekly job in SQL Server.| SQLBlog.org
I talk about a technique that can avoid expensive sorting to paginate by large string values.| SQLBlog.org
In this post I talk about how to avoid losing valuable debugging information in the abyss and noise of SQL Server Agent's history.| SQLBlog.org
I put together a few pointers about upgrading SQL Server, including /SkipRules, and avoiding the web installer.| SQLBlog.org
For this month's T-SQL Tuesday, Brent Ozar asks about the last ticket we closed. I came close...| SQLBlog.org
I talk about several things you can do to clean up after yourself and be a good RDP citizen.| SQLBlog.org
If you're planning to roll forward your existing configuration file to SQL Server 2022, read this first.| SQLBlog.org
Azure SQL Database got an update: A new locking model that might finally displace NOLOCK.| SQLBlog.org
2023 was an interesting year for SQLblog.org - I talk about top posts and some changes I made here over the year.| SQLBlog.org
I show how to use metadata to avoid costly reads when retrieving counts, even for a subset of the table.| SQLBlog.org
Last November marked the 20 year anniversary of Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday. Like brushing your teeth or taking showers, keeping your SQL Server patched is good hygiene and a best practice. Let’s explore why in this post. Feature Image Attribution The Importance of Patching Typically, after 5 years Microsoft software falls out of Mainstream support and […] The post Maintaining Healthy SQL Server Hygiene: The Importance of Patching SQL Server appeared first on MlakarTechTalk.| MlakarTechTalk
We check execution plans and benchmark results to see if using a LIMIT clause is useful when checking for existence of N values in SQL| Java, SQL and jOOQ.
Learn how the Hibernate StatelessSession Upsert method works on PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, and SQL Server.| Vlad Mihalcea
Using H2 as a test database vs integration testing directly on your production RDBMS| Java, SQL and jOOQ.
In my entry for T-SQL Tuesday #166, I discuss the reasons why not extended events, which circle right back around to how search engines work.| Grant Fritchey
