(Pinal Dave) Whenever we try to use Configure Distribution option in SSMS in a SQL Server instance which is configured on a UNC Path, the wizard will not allow us to configure the Distribution database and we will get the below error:

(blobeater) As a mini project I wanted to use Azure logic apps to pull tweets from my twitter account when people were tweeting about #Azure / #Microsoft. From here I used cognitive services – sentiment analysis API which returns a numeric score between 0 and 1.

(Kenneth Fisher) I was working on a SQL Agent job recently that required a series of command shell commands. And it would not work. Days I spent fighting it. I eventually went to sqlhelp.

(Jovan Popovic) Azure API enables you to create Azure SQL Managed Instance using ARM templates. These are JSON objects that contain definition of resources that should be created. You can send these objects to the Azure REST API to automate creation of Azure SQL Managed Instance.

(Daniel Calbimonte) I want to be able to query details about my SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) database and automate this process with a SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) Package. How can this be done?

(Grant Fritchey) I’m desperately working to finish up a new version of my book on Execution Plans. We’re close, so close. However, you do hit snags. Here’s one. My editor decided to change one of my queries. I used a local variable so that I got one set of behaviors.

(Itzik Ben-Gan) This article is the second in a series about optimization thresholds related to grouping and aggregating data. In Part 1, I provided the reverse-engineered formula for the Stream Aggregate operator cost.

(Pinal Dave) I do apply patches to my SQL instances as and when they are released by Microsoft. This is important because I always feel keeping the bits up-to-date is essential because I don’t want to get infected as I travel quite a bit.

(John Miner) Some technical problems lend themselves to storing and retrieving data from a relational database management system (RDBMS). Edgar Codd came up with the idea of a relational model when he was working at IBM’s San Jose Research Library in 1970. The purpose of this model was to abstract

(Pinal Dave) In the current era where companies’ mergers and take over is a common phenomenon, it is possible to run into a situation where there are two domains which are connected but not trusted. I was engaged in consulting for a client who had a similar merger in the past.