(Ken Simmons) I am using partitioning in my database. Is there an easy way for me to identify partitions that may have too much data so they can be split? Check out the examples and scripts in this tip to find out.

(Denny Lee) I recently received a great question concerning the whitepaper Scale-Out Querying with Analysis Services:

(Kelvin Armstrong) Importing Excel documents into Microsoft SQL Server was a simple task before the world of x64.

(Evan Basalik) You know how every product that has an underlying database has documentation that says not to modify the schema? Do you always pay attention to that warning?

(Mike Chapple) The On Demand Execution Mode of SQL Server’s Declarative Management Framework allows you to manually test whether a DMF target complies with a policy. This is a great way to test a policy-based management strategy prior to deploying an automated policy.

(Roman Rehak) SQL Server Management Objects (SMO) are a collection of .NET code libraries containing API classes for accessing and working with all areas of Microsoft SQL Server. Many of the native SQL Server tools such as SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) utilize these classes. You can use SMO to

(K. Brian Kelley) I need to run something from the command-line, but based on best practices xp_cmdshell has been disabled. The task that needs to run is an internal process that will originate from within SQL Server. Is there a way to do this without using xp_cmdshell?

(Vinod Kumar) This topic in general is available at various locations on the internet and SQL Server Books Online. Here is our attempt to have some of the features from both these versions a.k.a SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2008 side by side so that you will understand some of the enhancements tha

Consider the following scenario: You create a SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) package in Microsoft SQL Server 2005, in SQL Server 2008, or in SQL Server 2008 R2.

(Sharon Bjeletich) Last time, I blogged on the first in a series of steps you need to take to verify your system is not experiencing any system errors or deadlocks. There are just a few more things you need to verify before moving on.