SQL Server Source Control Basics

Source control can and should play a key role in the database development and deployment process, and this book will show you exactly how to get started.

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Swallowing the Camel

There is a paradox in the nature of the abstractions that many developers want when dealing with databases. They will strain at the gnat, but swallow a camel (Matthew 23:24). Whereas they will recoil with horror when a DBA suggests that an abstraction layer based on views, functions and procedures in a separate database schema […]

Mongo Jumbo Backups

Backing up MongoDB is akin to backing up SQL Server databases with a Windows tool such as Microsoft DPM. It removes almost all control over the database backup, and more critically, the database restore operation.

Fighting Tooth and Nail for Performance

You need a SQL Server-based application that will work with huge amounts of data and must perform calculations of startling complexity. How far will you go to deliver the required performance?

Escape from ETL Hell

What often starts out as a simple, quick process, gradually expands over time, as developers use SQL Agent to schedule new data feeds, add more complex transformations...

Great DBAs do <blank>

We know a lot about how great exponents of the DBA profession work, but the role is changing rapidly. What makes a great Data Scientist? Or a great BI specialist?

BACPACs be gone: Managing real backups in Azure

While backup to the Cloud may be useful in terms of optimizing storage across the enterprise, for DBAs it remains essential that they retain fast, easy, access to the backup files. Azure Explorer is a free tool that might help.

Stairway to Transaction Log Management in SQL Server, Level 9: Monitoring the Transaction Log

Our major goal in terms of log maintenance for all databases under our care is to optimize for write performance, in order to support all activities that require SQL Server to write to the log, including data modifications, data loads, index rebuilds, and so on. However, it's also important to keep an eye on possible log fragmentation, which, as described previously, can affect the performance of processes that need to read the log, such as log backups and the crash recovery process.

Deploying Databases to the Azure Cloud: an extended plea

Is there a sound technical reason why SQL Azure can't support extended properties?

Are Triggers a "Legacy" Feature?

It is late evening. Something is wrong with a database. You narrow down the possibilities, getting more frustrated and puzzled. Stay calm. Check the inputs systematically. No! The data going into that table is right, but when you then read it in the table, it's wrong. Why did I stop believing in the supernatural? Then it hits you. Every time it comes as a surprise. They're using triggers. (This editorial was originally published on Nov 10, 2008)