Black Friday returns to SQLServerFast
November approaches again. For Europeans, that is a month like any other, for Americans, November means: Black Friday, with huge discounts!
2023-11-24
Articles
Unpivoting Multiple Sets of Columns in SQL Server using CROSS APPLY
Learn how to unpivot data or sets of data with SQL Server queries using CROSS APPLY.
2023-11-24
Advanced SQL Server installation using Powershell DSC
Introduction In the previous article, we learned how to install a SQL Server instance with basic parameters like InstanceName, Features, SourcePath, SQLSysAdminAccounts, etc using Powershell DSC. In this article, we'll discover how to enhance our SQL Server installation with additional configurations. We'll cover things like setting up service account credentials, custom installation directories, configuring TempDB […]
2023-11-22
5,370 reads
Azure DocumentDB: Working with Microsoft's NoSQL Database in the Cloud
Coding for the new NoSQL JSON database service that supports SQL queries.
2023-11-22
T-SQL Fundamentals: Controlling Duplicates
When people start learning a new field, for example T-SQL, it’s tempting to spend very little time trying to understand the fundamentals of the field so that you can quickly get to the advanced parts.
2023-11-22
2023-11-20 (first published: 2023-10-02)
2,975 reads
SQL Window Functions Series: RANK() and DENSE_RANK()
Welcome to the fascinating world of SQL window functions! Today, we'll explore in detail: RANK() and DENSE_RANK().
2023-11-20 (first published: 2023-11-15)
13,634 reads
“How do my peers do this?” The latest best practices for IT architects implementing a major business initiative
How do other architects solve the common problems they encounter when tasked with implementing a major new business initiative? We asked 9 of your fellow IT architects to tell us how they approach the most common challenges.
2023-11-20
What are Warehouses in Microsoft Fabric?
In this article, we look at using Microsoft Fabric to build a data warehouse and some things you should know about doing this.
2023-11-20
Scheduling SQL Agent Jobs on Alternating Weeks
Bi-week... semi-week... fortnight... "every two weeks" Recently on the SQL Community Slack group, someone asked if there was a way to schedule a backup to run on alternate weeks. I'm not exactly sure why (maybe they wanted to run full and differential backups on alternating weeks), but yes, we can do that. In part one […]
2023-11-17
2,321 reads
Blogs
Webinar: Navigating the Database Landscape in 2026
By Steve Jones
For a number of years, we’ve produced the State of the Database Landscape report,...
Claude AI Convinced Me Not to Build an iPad App
By Steve Jones
I coach volleyball and I do a lot of stat stuff on paper. I...
A New Word: Dolorblindness
By Steve Jones
dolorblindness – n. the frustration that you’ll never be able to understand another person’s...
Forums
Transactional Replication setup issue
Hi! I've been banging my head against the wall for 2 days now trying...
The Power of Data and Privacy
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Power of Data and...
What's the Date?
Comments posted to this topic are about the item What's the Date?
Question of the Day
What's the Date?
In SQL Server 2025, there is a new function that returns the current date without the time. What is it?
See possible answers