Reader Response – DB Naming Conventions Paul Writes: A couple of observations, based on the discussion so far. For me, some things that give me some initial pointers: – How does it look ‘out of the box’ ? – What does MS do? – What happens when you use the visual tools? – How do we avoid valueless annotation? For […]

Naming Conventions – Primay and Foreign Keys Hank writes in with a scenario revolving around system assigned key names. In Microsoft SQL Server you can declare constraints without providing names. In these situations, the system assigns a name on your behalf, usually part of the key looking like a GUID. There is little meaning or value in the name. The […]

Error Handling Final Comments Today I’m Wrapping up this series on error handling with some interesting insights from two of our readers. One is from an SQL Server perspective, and the other reflects code in all layers. Fraser Responds to Error Handling flow with the following thoughts: > Start at the highest level of code when handling errors. Personally I […]

Merge Comments Today I had a number of comments regarding an SQL merge process. Jason: If you do the update first you have X rows in the table that it has to evaluate to join on. Now when you delete you still have X rows to join on. I believe you said you do the insert after the update so […]

Featured Article(s) Troubleshooting SQL Server 2008 performance counters problems In this article, Alexander Chigrik explains some problems that you can have with SQL Server 2008 performance counters. He also tells how you can resolve these problems.SQL Server 2012 Release – Beginning to Understand the Changes SQL Server 2012 brings a while series of changes to the platform, from more crystalized […]

Open Software is a Great Resource Many have written in with examples of how Open Source software has been essential to their business solutions. Today, as I close out this topic, I am including comments from David. They pretty much encapsulate the comments as a whole. David Writes: Putting on my developer hat, open source software is a great boon. […]

Disk Encryption Do you need Disk Encryption? Let’s ask a few questions? Do you have a laptop you carry with information you would not like for others to obtain? Do you have complete security on all of your workstations containing protected information? Do you have servers that may be decommissioned without destroying all sensitive information? These are all scenarios we […]

Accidental DBA Tip One of the most important tasks of an Accidental DBA is to assure that access to your database is set correctly. Developers naturally build applications using the least restrictions possible when connecting and manipulating a database so that they can rapidly develop applications. Often they use an account to connect to the database server having administrative privileges. […]

New SSWUGtv Show Avoiding surprises with your SQL Server configuration… who is changing what? Raj Sabhlok of ManageEngine on the show to talk about more holistic monitoring of your servers, plus Laura Rose with time management tips. [Watch the Show] REST – OData vs. GData Are these two different protocols really the same thing? As you may know, the intention […]

SSWUG TV With Stephen Wynkoop In this edition you’ll find Eric Johnson and Stephen Wynkoop talking SSIS, and Laura Rose is back with more tips for your career. Watch the Show Webcast Tomorrow – Last day to register, free for Full Members! SSRS Data-driven Subscription using SSIS SQL Server Reporting Services provides a powerful tool to render report based on […]