With the advent of so many new technologies in the Microsoft space, a DBA needs to learn more and more about many of them that aren't a part of SQL Server. Alex Grinberg brings us a technique he has used to create ADO functions for your stored procedures.  Read more...

We bring you part 2 of a series on SSIS programming from Ira Whiteside and Actuality Business Intelligence. This article shows you how to dynamically build a package using code.  Read more...

Retrieving a hierarchy with recursive relationships can be difficult in SQL. Easily implement these relationships with a parent-child dimension using Analysis Services MDX.  Read more...

This white paper compares TDE with these other encryption methods for application developers and database administrators. While this is not a technical, in-depth review of TDE, technical implementations are explored and a familiarity with concepts such as virtual log files and the buffer pool are assumed.  Read more...

This article explores how we can import XML into SQL Server using a powerful open source tool called XMLStarlet  Read more...

In this new SQL School video, MVP Brian Knight shows how you can schedule your SSIS packages to execute at a specific time or on a recurring schedule.  Read more...

Data Collections are a great tool that allows DBAs to gather different statistics, and the Management Data Warehouse (MDW) is the repository for storing those statistics. This article offers an overview of Data Collections and how to configure the MDW.  Read more...

Attaching and restoring databases from one server instance to another are common tasks executed by a DBA. After attaching or restoring of a database, previously created and configured logins in that database do not provide access. This tip looks at how to deal with this.  Read more...

In part two of his series on Codeplex extensions to Powershell for SQL Server, Chad Miller talks more about the functions in the project and how you can integrate with Reporting Services.  Read more...

Red Gate's SQL Response is advertised as a low-impact SQL Server monitoring application with an intuitive interface. Given the advertising, I signed up for the SQL Response Release Candidate and took a look. I was pleasantly surprised with what I found.  Read more...