A problem you may be faced with is that data is given to you in multiple files such as sales and sales orders, but the load process requires you to join these flat files during the load instead of doing a preload and then later merging the data. Check out
In my environment I have a few tables with thousands of rows that have URLs in particular columns. We are going through some changes in the environment and need to be able to parse out the data (base URL, file name, query parameters) from the specific co
In the recent years, there have been a few different trends related to the hardware platform for SQL Server. One trend was to have a dedicated SQL Server for each application. This trend has been countered in some organizations by a major consolidation
I have a Database Master Key created in the database. Can I start encrypting data in my database now? The answer is not yet. A Database Master Key per se' cannot encrypt data. You either need another key or a certificate. In this second tip of a four-pa
Maintenance plans are a great thing, but sometimes the end results are not what you expect. The whole idea behind maintenance plans is to simplify repetitive maintenance tasks without you having to write any additional code. For the most part maintenanc
When loading data using SSIS the file may have double quotes around the data. In this tip we look at how to remove the double quotes.
Using the Business Intelligence Development Studio, you can bang out some fairly nice, basic reports with the Report Wizard without much effort. But making your reports sizzle with all the bells and whistles of a professionally created report, requires so
When developing code for an n-tier system, one common mistake client and logic tier developers can make is to write code that directly SELECTs, INSERTs, UPDATEs, and DELETEs data from core application tables defined in the database tier. Database access c
In this tip we look at how to manage database master keys for SQL Server.
I have seen the recent addition of SQL Server product listings on your web site and see the value in being able to find all of the SQL Server products per category in one place. Going to your web site rather than having to search all over the Internet to
Over the last few months I have heard the terms 'typer' and 'clicker' related to how SQL Server DBAs manage SQL Server. Working with one specific customer, the customer came right out and asked me 'if I was a typer or a clicker'. I was surprised to hear
I am working at an organization where I need to have access to my SQL Servers around the clock. I do not have a company laptop to check into the environment and troubleshoot issues directly so I am looking for alternatives to meet the need. We are on a
In this article we look at how to query for a list of random data from a SQL Server table by using TABLESAMPLE clause.
In this tip we look at how to parse the SQL Server error log to only extract the errors and corresponding error messages.
SQL Server Reporting Services is a great tool to give your users access to commonly run reports. There is still the effort of developing the reports, but with parameter driven reports you can give your end users a lot of power very quickly without much d
In this tip we look at creating policies and procedures that your SQL Server team should follow to make sure things are being done consistently.
Learn how to capture SQL query SET options to troubleshoot and reproduce performance issues when tuning SQL Server queries.
In a recent tip, you outlined steps for code deployment (Code Deployment Best Practices). That is a good first step to get a process in place to work with the team and set expectations. As a DBA, I need to find out the technical steps I should take when r
I am the only SQL Server DBA at my organization and I feel like I am constantly pushing out code. I have Developers send me emails, I get help desk tickets, I have to go out to file shares and VSS to check for code that needs to get pushed out. I have b
I used to work for a small organization with a few SQL Servers. I have changed jobs and started working for a much larger publicly traded company. When I was at my last job, I heard a great deal of buzz about SOX and some other types of audits and legis
One great feature of Reporting Services is the ability to drill through to secondary reports. This is pretty straightforward to do, but the built-in option in Reporting Services is an all or nothing approach. Sometimes there is a need to drill through t
Some time ago, I had a water cooler discussion with one my company’'s java developers about maintaining data integrity. His belief was that all data integrity checks should be handled in the logic tier of an n-tier system. I politely explained why I consi
The article includes a checklist of items that you should consider when implementing integrity checks for SQL Server databases.
In this article we look at different ways to determine if one SQL Server database object is dependent on another database object.