Author: Aaron Bertrand

Aaron Bertrand

Aaron Bertrand (@AaronBertrand) is a passionate technologist with industry experience dating back to Classic ASP and SQL Server 6.5. He also blogs at sqlblog.org.

MSSQLTips Awards: Author of the Year - 2016, 2023 | Leadership (200+ tips) - 2022

Title	Category	Date
Managing Underused Indexes in SQL Server Availability Groups – Part 2	Indexing	2025-10-08
Managing Underused Indexes in SQL Server Availability Groups – Part 1	Indexing	2025-10-03
A Rolling Filtered Index in SQL Server	Indexing	2025-08-18
Split strings by Regular Expressions in SQL Server 2025	SQL Server 2025	2025-08-04
Managing Point in Time Restores and Retention Policies for SQL Server Backups	Restore	2025-07-24
Enhancing Ola Hallengren’s SQL Server Backups for Hundreds of Databases	Backup	2025-07-11
Simplify SQL Date Calculations – First, Last, Nth Day of the Month	Dates	2025-06-10
SQL Server Date and Time Data Type Comparison	Dates	2025-04-27
Recommended SQL Server Date Formats	Dates	2025-04-27
SQL Server Between Dates Issue	Dates	2025-04-27
SQL Server Date Time Shorthand and Other Tricks	Dates	2025-04-27
SQL Server 2022 T-SQL Enhancements	SQL Server 2022	2025-04-09
Connect to SQL Server via SSMS in another domain using Windows Authentication	SQL Server Management Studio	2025-02-26
Cleanly Uninstalling Stubborn SQL Server Components	Install and Uninstall	2025-01-22
Creating a date dimension or calendar table in SQL Server	Dates	2025-01-08
Best Practices for Docker to run SQL Server on a Mac	Containers	2024-07-12
Making SQL Server metadata queries easier with these new Views	Database Administration	2024-01-03
SQL WAITFOR Delay Advanced Testing Options	TSQL	2023-12-11
SQL GROUP BY Alias in SQL Server for Complex Code	TSQL	2023-12-01
Unpivot Data with SQL Server Queries using CROSS APPLY	TSQL	2023-11-08
SQL Server Checklists to Manage Deployments or Maintenance Projects	Database Administration	2023-11-01
Validate the contents of large dynamic SQL strings in SQL Server	Dynamic SQL	2023-10-26
SQL Server Query Performance Degradation Over Time	Query Optimization	2023-10-10
SQL Server Always Encrypted – Enabling, Querying and Modifying Data	Encryption	2023-05-09
Refresh SQL Server View when Underlying Tables are Modified	Views	2023-03-22
TRY_PARSE Functionality for SQL Server 2008 to Determine Valid Dates	Dates	2023-03-09
SQL Calendar Table Simplified using a Table and a View	Dates	2023-02-22
Generate Events Calendar in HTML with SQL Server and CSS	Dates	2023-02-07
Automate Table Creation for Data Archival in SQL Server	Database Administration	2022-11-21
Data Archival in SQL Server using Partitioning and Archive Tables	Database Administration	2022-11-16
Strategies for Data Archival in SQL Server	Database Administration	2022-11-02
Deciding between COALESCE and ISNULL in SQL Server	Functions System	2022-10-03
SQL Server GENERATE_SERIES Function	SQL Server 2022	2022-08-09
Improve SQL Server Performance when Querying Very Large Log Tables	Performance Tuning	2022-07-07
SQL Server Table Partitioning with Maximum 15,000 Partitions	Partitioning	2022-06-21
SQL Server Internal Database Compatibility Issues with Restore	Restore	2022-06-01
SQL Server Search all String Columns in Tables or Views	Scripts	2022-05-09
Reduce Size of SQL Server Logging Tables with Dimension Tables	Database Design	2022-04-08
Cleanup and Enhance Data in SQL Server Dimension Tables	Database Design	2022-04-08
SQL PIVOT and GROUPING SETS for Advanced Reporting	TSQL	2022-03-07
SQL Date Format Comparison for Computed Column and Materialized Column	Functions System	2022-03-01
Fastest way to Delete Large Number of Records in SQL Server	TSQL	2022-02-24
SQL Date Format Comparison – SQL FORMAT vs. SQL CONVERT	Functions System	2022-02-16
Azure SQL Edge on Intel vs M1 MacBooks Performance Test	Containers	2022-02-02
Why Enable SQL Server Indirect Checkpoints	Database Configurations	2022-01-18
Setup SQL Server and Docker on a MacBook	Containers	2022-01-07
Azure SQL Database GREATEST and LEAST functions	Functions System	2021-12-08
STRING_SPLIT Function in Azure SQL Database for Ordinal Position	TSQL	2021-11-11
Performance Comparison of Ordered String Splitting in SQL Server	TSQL	2021-11-08
Find All SQL Server Index Hints in Stored Procedures or Queries	Indexing	2021-11-03
Compare SQL Performance for Splitting Comma Separated Strings	TSQL	2021-10-22
SQL Server Data Types Handling Errors	Data Types	2021-10-04
SQL WHILE Loop Avoid WHILE 1 = 1	TSQL	2021-09-08
SQL NOLOCK Code in SQL Server DML Statements	Locking and Blocking	2021-09-01
Eliminate False Positive SQL NOLOCK patterns in SQL Server – Part 3	Locking and Blocking	2021-08-18
Finding problematic SQL NOLOCK patterns for UPDATE and DELETE	Locking and Blocking	2021-08-03
Find SQL NOLOCK Problematic Patterns	Locking and Blocking	2021-07-28
Minimizing PAGELATCH_EX waits in SQL Server 2019	SQL Server 2019	2021-07-23
Create a Calendar Table in SQL Server to Optimize Scheduling Problems	Dates	2021-06-16
Calendar Table in SQL Server to Identify Date Gaps and Islands	Dates	2021-04-28
SQL Server Calendar Table Example	Dates	2021-04-22
SQL Server Date Format YYYY-MM-DD Considerations	Dates	2021-03-04
Enforce a SQL Unique Constraint Where Order Does Not Matter	Constraints	2021-02-19
SQL Server LocalDB Getting Started Guide	Express Edition	2021-01-29
SQL Server Extended Events Filtering by Database Name	Extended Events	2021-01-14
SQL Server Extended Events using collect_database_name	Extended Events	2020-12-23
Alter Table Modify Column ONLINE Issues in SQL Server	Database Design	2020-08-19
A way to improve STRING_SPLIT in SQL Server – and you can help	TSQL	2020-08-11
Improve SQL Server Extended Events system_health Session	Extended Events	2020-06-17
SQL Server Split String Replacement Code with STRING_SPLIT	Functions System	2020-06-01
How To Find Space Used by Tables and Indexes in SQL Server – Part 3	Database Administration	2020-05-26
SQL Server Index and Partition Space Usage – Part 2	Database Administration	2020-05-04
SQL Server File and Filegroup Space Usage – Part 1	Database Administration	2020-04-07
Making SQL Server Function Changes Backwards Compatible	TSQL	2020-03-18
Measure Delayed Durability impact in SQL Server 2016 and later	Performance Tuning	2020-03-04
SQL Server Checkpoint Monitoring with Extended Events	Extended Events	2020-02-17
Memory-Optimized TempDB Metadata in SQL Server 2019	SQL Server 2019	2020-02-14
Use caution with sys.dm_db_database_page_allocations in SQL Server	Dynamic Management Views and Functions	2020-02-04
Queue table issues with Availability Groups in SQL Server	Availability Groups	2020-01-29
Faster SQL Server SELECT COUNT(*) Queries with Columnstore Indexes	Indexing	2020-01-06
SQL Server 2019 Installation Enhancements for MAXDOP and Max Memory	SQL Server 2019	2019-11-11
Simulating ON DELETE CASCADE in SQL Server	TSQL	2019-10-28
Impact of UTF-8 support in SQL Server 2019	SQL Server 2019	2019-10-15
Get Column Attributes for all SQL Server Tables that Match Criteria	Database Administration	2019-10-02
How Forced Parameterization in SQL Server Affects Filtered Indexes	Indexing	2019-09-19
SQL Server STRING SPLIT Limitations	Functions User Defined UDF	2019-09-03
Partitioning Data in SQL Server without using Partitioned Tables	Partitioning	2019-08-27
How to Alter User Defined Table Type in SQL Server	User Defined Type UDT	2019-08-08
SQL Server 2019 Execution Plan Enhancements	SQL Server 2019	2019-08-01
Find SQL Server Integer Columns to Make Skinnier	Database Design	2019-07-25
SQL Server Management Studio 18 New Features	SQL Server Management Studio	2019-07-25
Four SQL Server Syntax Rules I Always Follow	TSQL	2019-07-11
Simplify Date Period Calculations in SQL Server	Dates	2019-06-27
SQL Server NOLOCK Anomalies, Issues and Inconsistencies	Locking and Blocking	2019-06-18
Five Things I Wish I Knew When I Started My SQL Server Career	Professional Development Career	2019-05-08
SQL Server CASE Expression Overview	TSQL	2019-04-30
Query Extended Properties from Multiple SQL Server Databases	Database Design	2019-04-05
Manage SQL Server Agent History More Effectively	SQL Server Agent	2019-03-26
Accelerated Database Recovery in SQL Server 2019	SQL Server 2019	2019-03-06
Scale SQL Server Bulk Loading with Partition Switching	Import and Export	2019-02-14
Scale SQL Server Bulk Loading On a Budget – Part 1	Import and Export	2019-02-07
Make SQL Server DMV Queries Backward Compatible	Dynamic Management Views and Functions	2019-01-29
Four ways to improve scalar function performance in SQL Server	Functions User Defined UDF	2019-01-11
Using T-SQL to find events that overlap (or don’t) in SQL Server	Dates	2018-12-26
SQL Server 2019 APPROX_COUNT_DISTINCT Function	SQL Server 2019	2018-12-19
Improve SQL Server Scalar UDF Performance with Scalar UDF Inlining	SQL Server 2019	2018-11-12
Execute TSQL Command in Each SQL Server Database – Part 2	TSQL	2018-10-22
New Command in SQL Server 2019 ADD SENSITIVITY CLASSIFICATION	SQL Server 2019	2018-10-12
New Function in SQL Server 2019 – sys.dm_db_page_info	SQL Server 2019	2018-10-08
Execute Command in Each SQL Server Database with sp_ineachdb	TSQL	2018-10-04
What’s New in the First Public CTP of SQL Server 2019	SQL Server 2019	2018-09-24
Table Variable Deferred Compilation in SQL Server	Performance Tuning	2018-09-06
Customize SQL Server Notifications for DDL Changes	Database Administration	2018-08-27
Making a more reliable and flexible sp_MSforeachdb	Scripts	2018-07-24
Use Caution with SQL Server’s MERGE Statement	TSQL	2018-07-24
Be Careful with Key Order in SQL Server Missing Index Recommendations	Indexing	2018-07-17
Solving forget me requests for GDPR in SQL Server	Security	2018-07-02
Using FOR XML PATH and STRING_AGG() to denormalize SQL Server data	Functions System	2018-06-22
Data cleanup in SQL Server becomes more important with GDPR	Security	2018-06-12
Script triggers from any database in SQL Server	Triggers	2018-05-30
Issue with UNION and columns with mismatched data types in SQL Server	JOIN Tables	2018-05-07
Simulating TRY_CONVERT() in SQL Server 2008 – Part 2	Functions User Defined UDF	2018-04-25
Simulating TRY_CONVERT() in SQL Server 2008	Functions User Defined UDF	2018-04-02
Troubleshooting the SQL Server Dedicated Administrator Connection	Dedicated Administrator Connection	2018-03-07
Do tabs vs. spaces affect performance in SQL Server?	TSQL	2018-02-28
Optimize for ad hoc workloads – at the database level – in SQL Server	Performance Tuning	2018-02-01
SQL Server STRING_AGG and STRING_SPLIT functions	Functions System	2018-01-19
Is your SQL Server environment ready for GDPR?	Security	2018-01-05
Changes to SQL Server CXPACKET Wait Types	Performance Tuning	2017-12-18
SQL Server DateTime Best Practices	Dates	2017-11-15
Overview of Database Engine Changes in SQL Server 2017	SQL Server 2017	2017-10-04
More on Resumable Online Index Rebuilds in SQL Server 2017	SQL Server 2017	2017-09-20
Virtual Log File Monitoring in SQL Server 2017	Monitoring	2017-07-25
Dealing with the single-character delimiter in SQL Server’s STRING_SPLIT function	Functions System	2017-06-22
Safeguard to Avoid Costly Mistakes for UPDATE or DELETE Statements in SQL Server Management Studio	TSQL	2017-05-15
Performance Impact of SQL Server 2016 Row-Level Security	Security	2017-03-27
Auditing Who Changed Temporal Table Data in SQL Server	Temporal Tables	2017-02-27
Managing Temporal Table History in SQL Server 2016	Temporal Tables	2017-02-10
Benefits of SCHEMABINDING in SQL Server	DBA Best Practices	2017-01-31
More on Recovering Access to a SQL Server Instance	Security	2017-01-27
Top 5 Reasons for Wrong Results in SQL Server	TSQL	2016-11-17
New Features in SQL Server 2016 Service Pack 1	SQL Server 2016	2016-11-16
Cleaning up the SQL Server master database	System Databases	2016-10-27
Avoid ORDER BY in SQL Server views	Views	2016-10-04
Beware of Side-Channel Attacks in Row-Level Security in SQL Server	SQL Server 2016	2016-07-21
Extracting ShowPlan XML from SQL Server Extended Events	Extended Events	2016-03-10
The SQL Server Numbers Table, Explained – Part 2	TSQL	2016-02-26
The SQL Server Numbers Table, Explained – Part 1	TSQL	2016-02-18
Removing Duplicates from Strings in SQL Server	TSQL	2016-01-14
Advanced JSON Techniques in SQL Server – Part 3	SQL Server 2016	2016-01-07
Phase out CONTEXT_INFO() in SQL Server 2016 with SESSION_CONTEXT()	SQL Server 2016	2015-11-19
Advanced JSON Techniques in SQL Server – Part 2	SQL Server 2016	2015-11-03
SQL Server Advanced JSON Techniques – Part 1	SQL Server 2016	2015-10-30
Build a cheat sheet for SQL Server date and time formats	Dates	2015-10-13
Search all string columns in all SQL Server databases	Scripts	2015-09-30
SQL Server 2016 Always Encrypted	Encryption	2015-09-15
SQL Server 2016 Row Level Security Limitations, Performance and Troubleshooting	SQL Server 2016	2015-09-02
SQL Server 2016 Row Level Security Introduction	SQL Server 2016	2015-08-31
Understand the Limitations of SQL Server Dynamic Data Masking	SQL Server 2016	2015-08-20
Identify Candidate Tables for SQL Server 2016 Stretch Databases	SQL Server 2016	2015-08-13
Prepare for an Upgrade with the SQL Server 2016 Upgrade Advisor	SQL Server 2016	2015-07-29
Use Dynamic Data Masking in SQL Server 2016 CTP 2.1	SQL Server 2016	2015-07-09
Protecting Yourself from SQL Injection in SQL Server – Part 2	SQL Injection	2015-06-01
Protecting Yourself from SQL Injection in SQL Server – Part 1	SQL Injection	2015-05-27
Query Data from Extended Events in SQL Server	Extended Events	2015-05-21
Convert Existing SQL Server Traces to Extended Events Sessions	Extended Events	2015-04-21
Prevent and Log Certain SQL Server Login Attempts	Security	2015-04-03
Give SQL Server users access to Extended Events	Extended Events	2015-02-26
Finding SQL Server views with (or without) a certain property	Database Administration	2014-12-02
Over 40 queries to find SQL Server tables with or without a property	Database Administration	2014-11-19
Verify the databases a SQL Server login can see – and why	Security	2014-11-06
Map between SQL Server SIDs and Windows SIDs	Security	2014-10-13
Drop and Re-Create All Foreign Key Constraints in SQL Server	Constraints	2014-10-06
What Effect Does Persisting a Computed Column Have in SQL Server?	TSQL	2014-09-30
What Happens When a Computed Column is Persisted in SQL Server?	TSQL	2014-09-24
Change All Computed Columns to Persisted in SQL Server	TSQL	2014-09-19
SQL Server Video – Tricks to play on your DBA – 2	Database Administration	2014-09-10
SQL Server Video – Tricks to play on your DBA – 1	Database Administration	2014-08-20
Why the SQL Server FORCESCAN hint exists	Performance Tuning	2014-07-31
Choosing Between SQL Server 2012 and SQL Server 2014	Upgrades and Migrations	2014-06-05
Use Extended Events to Get More Information About Failed SQL Server Login Attempts	Auditing and Compliance	2014-04-17
Enforce SQL Server Database Naming Conventions Using DDL Triggers	Database Administration	2014-04-08
Handle conversion between time zones in SQL Server – part 3	Dates	2014-04-01
Handle conversion between time zones in SQL Server – part 2	Dates	2014-03-10
Handle conversion between time zones in SQL Server – part 1	Dates	2014-03-04
Avoid using NOLOCK on SQL Server UPDATE and DELETE statements	Locking and Blocking	2014-02-24
Improve SQL Server Efficiency by Switching to INSTEAD OF Triggers	Triggers	2013-12-19
Script to Set the SQL Server Database Default Schema For All Users	Security	2013-11-08
Generating Random Numbers in SQL Server Without Collisions	TSQL	2013-09-17
Use SQL Server’s UNPIVOT operator to dynamically normalize output	TSQL	2013-07-24
Use SQL Server’s UNPIVOT operator to help normalize output	TSQL	2013-07-12
Extend SQL Server DDL Triggers for more functionality: Part 2	Triggers	2013-05-21
Extending SQL Server DDL Triggers for more functionality: Part 1	Triggers	2013-05-08
Move all SQL Server indexed views to a new filegroup	Indexing	2013-02-06
Auditing when Triggers are Disabled or Enabled for SQL Server	Triggers	2012-11-01
Script to create dynamic PIVOT queries in SQL Server	TSQL	2012-10-16
Revisit your use of the SQL Server REMOTE join hint	Query Plans	2012-09-18
Build a quota system for SQL Server user defined tables	Database Administration	2012-09-12
Recover access to a SQL Server instance	Security	2012-08-30
Removing the SQL Server Management Data Warehouse	Performance Data Warehouse	2012-07-31
SQL Server Queries With Hints	Dynamic Management Views and Functions	2012-07-24
Script to rename constraints and indexes to conform to a SQL Server naming convention	Database Administration	2012-06-19
Tracking Login Password Changes in SQL Server	Security	2012-06-13
Getting Started with SQL Server 2012 Express LocalDB	Express Edition	2012-05-16
Maintaining SQL Server default trace historical events for analysis and reporting	Profiler and Trace	2012-05-08
Minimize SQL Server plan cache bloat	Query Plans	2012-04-24
Storing E-mail addresses more efficiently in SQL Server – Part 2	Database Design	2012-04-12
Storing E-mail addresses more efficiently in SQL Server	Database Design	2012-03-13
Checking for potential constraint violations before entering SQL Server TRY and CATCH logic	Error Handling	2012-02-28
Troubleshooting IntelliSense in SQL Server Management Studio 2012	SQL Server Management Studio	2012-02-01
Use SQL Server Code Snippets to encourage consistent conventions	SQL Server Management Studio	2012-01-25
Get Alerts for Specific SQL Server Login Failed Events	Security	2012-01-17
Determine SQL Server memory use by database and object	Dynamic Management Views and Functions	2011-05-19
Using DMVs to Adjust SQL Server Resource Governor Settings	Resource Governor	2011-04-28
Identify deprecated SQL Server code with a server side trace	Deprecated Features	2011-03-24
Enforce SQL Database Naming Conventions Using Policy Based Management	Policy Based Management	2011-02-10
Avoid External Dependencies in SQL Server Triggers	Triggers	2011-01-26
Identify SQL Servers with inefficient power plans using Policy Based Management	Performance Tuning	2011-01-18
Identifying Key and RID Lookup Issues and How to Resolve	Performance Tuning	2010-12-30
Find unused SQL Server indexes with Policy Based Management	Policy Based Management	2010-11-30
More intuitive tool for reading SQL Server execution plans	Performance Tuning	2010-11-24
SQL Server Data Type Consistency	Database Design	2010-09-29
Use Consistent SQL Server Naming Conventions	DBA Best Practices	2010-09-09
Keeping your SQL Server DDL Trigger Audit Table in Check	Triggers	2010-08-31
SQL Server DDL Triggers to Track All Database Changes	Triggers	2010-08-09
Make your SQL Server database changes backward compatible when changing a relationship	TSQL	2010-07-28
Make your SQL Server database changes backward compatible when renaming an entity	TSQL	2010-07-26
Make your SQL Server database changes backward compatible when dropping a column	TSQL	2010-06-29
Make your SQL Server database changes backward compatible when adding a new column	TSQL	2010-06-09
Unicode Compression in SQL Server 2008 R2	Compression	2010-05-28
Simple process to track and log SQL Server stored procedure use	Stored Procedures	2010-05-10
Find all SQL Server columns of a specific data type using Policy Based Management	Policy Based Management	2010-04-28

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