K. Brian Kelley

Brian Kelley is an author, columnist, Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), and former Microsoft Data Platform (SQL Server) MVP (2009-2016) focusing primarily on SQL Server and Windows security. Brian currently serves as a data architect as well as an independent infrastructure/security architect concentrating on Active Directory, SQL Server, and Windows Server. He has served in a myriad of other positions including senior database administrator, data warehouse architect, web developer, incident response team lead, and project manager. Brian has spoken at 24 Hours of PASS, IT/Dev Connections, SQLConnections, the Techno Security and Forensics Investigation Conference, the IT GRC Forum, SyntaxCon, and at various SQL Saturdays, Code Camps, and user groups.
  • MSSQLTips Awards: Author of the Year Contender - 2015, 2017 | Champion (100+ tips) - 2014
Title Category Date
Preparing SQL Servers and Data for Quantum Computing Security2026-05-14
Understanding SQL Server Clustering Downtime Clustering2026-05-10
Move a SQL Server Database Without Losing Settings Database Administration2026-05-10
SQL Server Static Data Masking with DataVeil Security2026-04-08
Automating SQL Server Builds Database Administration2026-03-06
Configuring Critical SQL Server Alerts SQL Server Agent2025-08-11
Microsoft SQL Server Sample Databases Testing2025-07-21
Using the Default Trace in SQL Server Profiler and Trace2025-03-26
Implementing SQL Server Security with Stored Procedures and Views Security2020-09-03
Understanding SQL Server Ownership Chaining Security2020-04-09
Dealing with a No NULL Requirement for Data Modeling in SQL Server Database Design2020-01-28
Skip-2.0 Malware Impacts SQL Server – Should I Be Worried? Security2019-10-24
SQL Server Implicit Conversions Performance Issues Data Types2019-10-23
SQL Server Forensics Analysis Based on Database Backup Size Monitoring2019-07-15
Statement Backup Log is Not Allowed for a SQL Transaction Log Backup Backup2019-03-15
Data Modeling: Understanding First Normal Form in SQL Server Database Design2018-08-16
Understanding and Using SQL Server sys.dm_exec_requests Functions System2018-06-20
Understanding and Using sys.dm_exec_sessions in SQL Server Functions System2018-06-06
Return SQL Server Connection Information with sys.dm_exec_connections Dynamic Management Views and Functions2018-05-18
Application Database Security Design Part 2 – Multiple Levels of Access to SQL Server Security2018-01-10
Script to find failed SQL Server Backups and validate re-running code was successful SQL Server Agent2017-11-01
Audit SQL Server Logins without filling up the Error Log Auditing and Compliance2017-10-27
Auditing for New SQL Server Agent Jobs SQL Server Agent2017-09-22
Is disabling xp_cmdshell in SQL Server really secure? Security2017-09-06
Protecting SQL Server from Ransomware Security2017-08-29
Practice of Using Privileged Accounts to Access SQL Server Security2017-08-07
Verify Connectivity to SQL Server Database Configurations2017-04-25
Application Security Design – Part 1 – Authentication for SQL Server Security2017-03-03
Quickly Find Failed SQL Server Logins Using the Windows Event Log Security2016-08-04
Migrate the Correct Logins with a SQL Server Database Security2016-04-28
Where Does SQL Server Store Its Certificates Encryption2016-04-26
SQL Server Permissions Granted to All Users By Default Security2016-03-28
Suppressing SQL Server Alerts to Reduce Emails SQL Server Agent2016-02-17
Scripting SQL Server Database Owners for Disaster Recovery Disaster Recovery2015-12-30
Why You Should Avoid SELECT * in SQL Server T-SQL Code Views2015-12-10
Minimum Permissions for SQL Server TRUNCATE TABLE TSQL2015-12-01
Best Practices to Secure the SQL Server sa Account Security2015-08-18
Script SQL Server Logins for Disaster Recovery Scripts2015-06-18
How to Clone a SQL Server Login, Part 3 of 3 Security2015-06-04
How to Clone a SQL Server Login, Part 2 of 3 Security2015-05-29
How to Clone a SQL Server Login, Part 1 of 3 Security2015-04-13
Recovering a SQL Server TDE Encrypted Database Successfully Restore2015-04-01
Retrieving SQL Server Server Roles for Disaster Recovery Disaster Recovery2015-03-22
Understanding how SQL Server Agent Jobs can share schedules SQL Server Agent2015-03-18
Automated way to get all port information for SQL Server instances Security2015-03-09
Finding Encrypted Data in a SQL Server Database Encryption2015-01-14
Catalog SQL Server Services Installed on Servers SQL Server Configurations2014-12-17
What Windows Server Groups Should I Audit on my SQL Servers? Auditing and Compliance2014-10-23
Auditing Critical Windows Files and Folders for SQL Server Security2014-09-08
Add a Salt with the SQL Server HASHBYTES Function Security2014-07-25
How to Audit for SQL Server Users in Contained Databases Contained Databases2014-04-11
How come I can create SQL Server objects but not access these objects Security2014-04-09
Understanding how SQL Server handles Service Isolation Security2013-11-26
Using Triggers to Mitigate Some SQL Injection Effects SQL Injection2013-11-19
How to Enable Secondary Decryption of SQL Server Symmetric Keys Security2013-11-11
Using Views to Expose Encrypted Data in SQL Server Security2013-10-21
Determining Permission Issues for a SQL Server Object Security2013-09-24
Determining Drive Letters in Use by SQL Server Databases Database Administration2013-09-16
SQL Server Security Community Questions on Windows, Server Level, Database, Roles and more Security2013-08-06
What to Audit at the SQL Server Instance Level Auditing and Compliance2013-07-30
Understanding the importance of key length with the SQL Server asymmetric encryption algorithms Security2013-07-23
Understanding the SQL Server Symmetric Encryption Algorithms Security2013-07-19
Understanding the SQL Server HASHBYTES hashing algorithms Security2013-07-11
Can I stop a System Admin from enabling SQL Server xp_cmdshell? Security2013-07-03
Disaster Recovery Planning for Microsoft SQL Server – Getting Backups and Restores Right Disaster Recovery2013-05-22
SQL Server Case Sensitive Collations and DMVs Dynamic Management Views and Functions2013-03-22
The Power of the SQL Server Database Owner Security2013-03-15
Blocking SQL Server db_datareader, db_datawriter, and db_owner Permissions Security2013-03-06
Understanding GRANT, DENY, and REVOKE in SQL Server Security2013-02-27
SQL Server Agent Job Email Notifications via PowerShell SQL Server Agent2012-12-27
SQL Server Encryption To Block DBAs Data Access Auditing and Compliance2012-12-19
How to Automate SQL Server Restores for a Test Server Restore2012-12-11
How to Identify and Backup the Latest SQL Server Database in a Series Backup2012-11-20
Auditing SQL Server 2012 Server Roles Auditing and Compliance2012-11-14
Viewing VMware Counters in PerfMon for SQL Server Virtualization2012-11-07
Protecting the SQL Server Backup folder Security2012-09-19
Using a Backup to Find SQL Server Security Changes Auditing and Compliance2012-09-11
Using PowerShell to Audit for Blank SA Passwords Security2012-09-04
How to Unlock a SQL Login Without Resetting the Password Security2012-08-28
Parsing all the files in a directory using PowerShell PowerShell2012-08-22
Using nmap to scan for SQL Servers on a network Security2012-08-16
How to Audit Login Changes on a SQL Server Auditing and Compliance2012-07-30
Issues Determining an Individual SQL Server User’s Permissions Security2012-07-25
Why Can’t I Set a Default SQL Server Schema for Windows Group Login? Security2012-05-29
Identifying the Tie Between Logins and Users Security2012-05-23
Export data to an earlier SQL Server version Import and Export2012-04-25
Why Can’t I Restore a Database to an Older Version of SQL Server? Restore2012-04-17
Using Friendly Names for SQL Servers via DNS SQL Server Configurations2012-03-28
How to Connect to a SQL Server Named Instance Security2012-03-22
Get Back into SQL Server After You’ve Locked Yourself Out Security2012-03-09
Potential Security Exploit Using CONTROL SERVER Permissions in SQL Server Security2012-02-24
Identifying What Runs at Startup on SQL Server Auditing and Compliance2012-01-30
Auditing sysadmin on multiple servers using PowerShell Auditing and Compliance2012-01-23
Understanding the SQL Server SELECT @@VERSION command SQL Server Configurations2011-12-13
How to Create Secure SQL Server Service Accounts Security2011-09-28
Understanding First Normal Form in SQL Server Database Design2011-06-28
Identify Local Administrators on a SQL Server box using PowerShell Security2011-06-15
Why System Account is a bad idea for SQL Server Service Account Security2011-05-25
Unable to see a SQL Server table Security2011-05-18
Auditing SQL Server Password Age Auditing and Compliance2011-05-11
Understanding SQL Server inserted and deleted tables for DML triggers Triggers2011-03-22
Understanding When SQL Server Kerberos Delegation is Needed Security2011-02-22
Retrieving SQL Server Fixed Database Roles for Disaster Recovery Security2011-02-04
How to Setup Row Level Security for SQL Server Security2010-12-17
Network communications mechanisms for SQL Server Security2010-12-10
Implicit Permissions Due to Ownership Chaining or Scopes in SQL Server Security2010-11-23
Implicit Permissions Due to SQL Server Database Roles Security2010-11-17
Retrieving SQL Server Permissions for Disaster Recovery Security2010-10-27
Auditing SQL Server User and Role Permissions for Databases Auditing and Compliance2010-10-20
Filtering SQL Server Columns Using Column Level Permissions Security2010-09-30
Filtering Columns in SQL Server Using Views Security2010-09-21
Cannot make a role a member of itself error in SQL Server Security2010-08-30
SQL Server Security Auditing to Match Logins And Users Auditing and Compliance2010-08-13
SQL Server Policy Management to Enforce Database Settings in Development Policy Based Management2010-07-15
Why listing all of your SQL Servers does not always work SQL Server Configurations2010-07-09
Auditing SQL Server Permissions and Roles for the Server Auditing and Compliance2010-06-29
Understanding How A User Gets Database Access in SQL Server Security2010-06-14
Tables and Views for Auditing SQL Server Logins Auditing and Compliance2010-05-24
Replace xp_cmdshell command line use with SQL Server Agent Security2010-05-19
SQL Server nested securable permissions Security2010-04-13
Nesting Database Roles in SQL Server Security2010-04-07
Configure Password Enforcement Options for Standard SQL Server Logins Security2009-12-28
SSRS Report Filters Reporting Services Dynamic Reports2009-12-23
Understanding SQL Server fixed database roles Security2009-12-14
Understanding SQL Server fixed server roles Security2009-11-24
SQL Server Encryption Symmetric vs. Asymmetric Keys Encryption2009-11-23
On Demand Linked Server Creation with a SQL Server Login Linked Servers2009-10-14
On demand creation and destruction of a SQL Server Linked Server Linked Servers2009-09-25
Dynamic SQL and Ownership Chaining in SQL Server Security2009-08-24
Breaking ownership chaining within a schema in SQL Server Security2009-08-11
Grant limited permissions to create SQL views in another schema Part 2 Security2009-07-27
Grant limited permissions to create SQL views in another schema Part 1 Security2009-07-20
Understanding Cross Database Ownership Chaining in SQL Server Security2009-06-29
Ownership chaining in SQL Server security feature or security risk Security2009-06-23
Using authenticators with SQL Server encryption Encryption2009-05-27
Automate collection and saving of failed logins for SQL Server Auditing and Compliance2009-05-13
Auditing Failed Logins in SQL Server Auditing and Compliance2009-04-22
Database level permissions for SQL Server 2005 and 2008 Security2009-03-30
Server level permissions for SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2008 Security2009-03-24
SQL Server Surface Area Configuration for Features Option Selection Surface Area Configuration Manager2009-02-11
SQL Server security settings using the Surface Area Configuration tool Surface Area Configuration Manager2009-01-22
How to setup security features for SQL Server SQL Server Configurations2009-01-15
New Security Catalog Views in SQL Server 2005 and SQL 2008 Security2008-12-24
Auditing SELECT statements in SQL Server 2008 Auditing and Compliance2008-12-18
Connecting to SQL Server with a Bad Logon Trigger Triggers2008-11-20
SQL Server 2005 SysAdmin Login Auditing Triggers2008-11-14
How to setup and use a SQL Server alias SQL Server Configurations2008-11-05