My recent review of passing data to a database through an xml document has prompted me to take a step back and consider what are the good practices. To be clear, passing parameters to a database as an XML fragment is not a manageable practice. I have learned, through working with people much smarter than me, that when you start […]

Understanding Key SQL Server Security Points I’ll be presenting a webcast this week on SQL Server security. We’ll be looking at the challenges of security, the points to consider, the items you need to consider for your checklist. The webcast is free, and I hope you’ll join me. Here’s a link to register (it’s free): https://www.vconferenceonline.com/event/regeventp.aspx?id=1140 One of the things […]

We need your input for research this month! Just a quick note. We’re launching our research services with information about the cloud, usage, industry trends and the like. We need your help though! Our goal is to do regular research reporting on topics we all work with – and then present you with the results, industry feedback and comments and […]

I come across the pattern of using an XML document as the input parameters for stored procedures quite every once in a while. Each time I do I ask myself if the benefit is worth the cost. When you pass xml as parameters to a stored procedure you must extract the data into SQL table variables or scalar variables in […]

Today I am returning to the topic of having your Axe sharpened before cutting down the tree. We talked about preparing for work by having version control already in place, automating the build process, and shared Dilip’s comments regarding clear goals for any project to be undertaken. Here are some other areas of sharpening your software axe that come to […]

Not Everyone is an Expert Like You Are I don’t know if you’ve had the pleasure recently of setting up a system for a friend who is completely non-technical. While we’ve come a long way in the setup (I mean, seriously, Windows starts with "Hi."), there are still so many things that just aren’t clear like they should be. Heck, […]

Managing your skills and learning I wrote yesterday asking about how you stay current with your skills. How do you pick a direction, then keep on top of the changes in that direction. I talked too about the cloud, and how it is so interwoven into the technology pool you no-doubt do or will work with, that it’s clearly something […]

I started this topic yesterday on keeping your tools sharp. Today I start with a comment from Dilip with some thoughts on this topic. Dilip writes: Here, are my thoughts for your upcoming series for Being Efficient: 1. You wrote about sharpening the axe first, i.e. the best tools to be used but what if we don’t know as to […]

Your own direction: keeping current as a DBA I wanted to reach out to everyone today and see how you’re working through the huge directional swings with SQL Server (and databases in general). Yes, there certainly are common grounds, but let’s face it, it’s not just a database platform choice any more. You get the select from on-premise, cloud, hybrid, […]

I read a quote today attributed to the United States President Abraham Lincoln. It reads, “If I had 6 hours to cut down a tree, I would spend 4 hours sharpening the axe.” If you have never cut down a tree before using an axe, this is great advice. I was a lumberjack decades ago. I used the money to […]