Everyone wants good performance from their database systems. Some even expect and need a high performing Ferrari all the time. How is this achieved though? What do you need to understand about SQL Server specifically in order to make your company’s applications hum along like a well tuned car? We will look at three keys … Continue reading Three Keys to SQL Server Performance
I recently saw a Tweet from Kendra Little where she asked the simple question, “What got you into databases?” I’m intrigued by people’s stories of how they got into their current careers so I looked through the thread. There were lots of interesting paths shared and even a blog post was shared by someone who … Continue reading How I Became a Database Administrator
SQL Server concatenation methods have been enhanced in modern versions of SQL Server. SQL Server 2012 introduced the CONCAT() function. In SQL Server 2017 we get CONCAT_WS(). A common usage of concatenation, or joining column values together in a string, is combining a FirstName and LastName column into a FullName column. Another common usage might … Continue reading How to Use the SQL Server CONCAT Function
In the initial post, we talked about some very basic items to get you up and running with temporal tables. In part 2, I’ll cover a few more things to think about and implement when working with temporal tables. In the first post, we looked at altering an existing table to be a temporal … Continue reading How to Configure SQL Server Temporal Tables Part 2
Temporal tables were a new feature in SQL Server 2016. They allow for the tracking of changes without having to set up change tracking, change data capture or triggers. For certain uses, they are not a replacement for something like change data capture, but would work if the purpose is simply having a record of … Continue reading How to Configure SQL Server Temporal Tables
I recently needed to configure log shipping for multiple databases at once as part of a migration project. I turned to PowerShell to do this. But before we get to that part, this post assumes that you’ve done the upfront work to create shares for the backups to write to and for the backups to … Continue reading How To Use Powershell to Configure Multiple Databases for Log Shipping
I recently was thrust into a conundrum. I suddenly found myself in need of a speaker for a recent SQL Server Meetup this month. My co-organizer and I had one week to find a presenter, set up a new Meetup, and then publicize so people outside of Meetup would know about it. I decided that … Continue reading What I Learned From Giving My First Presentation
Dear readers, it’s been a little while since my last blog post. Life is busy and so I’ve been away for a little bit. I am hoping to get back into the swing of things with more blogging though. Here’s what I’ve been up to. Keeping a SQL Server Meetup going. I’ve been working with … Continue reading What I’ve Been Doing Recently
I am telling my story about steps I took to handle burnout, but I want to put a disclaimer at the beginning. I am not a mental health professional. Do not construe anything I say to be professional mental health advice. I’ve always wanted to be a high impact person. I want my life to … Continue reading Steps I Took To Handle Burnout
So, I realize it’s now almost April of 2021 when I’m posting this. Normally this sort of post would come out in January for the previous year. However, I have a reason for this being late and I’ll actually post about that separately. Showing My Blog Some Love In mid-2020 I decided to give my … Continue reading Top 3 Most Popular Posts of 2020