Is C# Better?
This Friday Steve Jones has a poll for the programmers and hybrid DBAs out there. If you work with code, why do you use C#? Or why not?
2009-11-13
348 reads
Editorial - iPod
Consolidating Again and Again and Again
Virtualization is touted as a great way to save money, but it's a one time event. Once you've consolidated a server, you can't do it again. However consolidation isn't necessarily the same and Steve Jones tells us why.
2009-11-12
509 reads
A Better Way To Install Updates
The decisions to install service packs and cumulative updates is often confusing to new DBAs. Many of them install every update, often without a good reason. Steve Jones asks why we might not have a better way to install updates, maybe even helping us decide if we need them.
2009-11-11
337 reads
Is Unit Testing Important?
Testing our applications is important, but at what level do we need to test? Steve Jones talks about unit testing today, and wonders if this is prevalent for SQL Server developers.
2009-11-10
667 reads
A Bad Litmus Test
A litmus test is a way of determining your answer to a question based on a single issue or response. Steve Jones sees this as a bad idea, especially when looking to hire technical people.
2009-11-09
588 reads
Is The PASS Summit Worth It?
Steve Jones has attended the PASS Summit annually, and found value. But for this Friday's poll, did you find value this week? Or have you in the past? Let others know.
2009-11-06
657 reads
Why Is It Complicated?
One of the very common things that is needed in SQL Server is performing a restore of a database. It's also one of the most important things that needs to take place. So why isn't this a simpler process? Steve Jones wonders why we can't make this a simpler process.
2009-11-02
493 reads
Sharepoint Growth is Good
Sharepoint is a product that many IT people despise, but it's a popular seller for Microsoft. Steve Jones thinks that Sharepoint's growth is a good thing for DBAs as well.
2009-10-28
619 reads
Low Hanging Fruit
An open letter asks Google to change their default protocol to be more secure. Are there things that we might want to do inside SQL Server to make it more secure by default? Any low hanging fruit that would help the platform?
2009-10-26
479 reads
The Value of Experience
What type of previous experience makes a good DBA? Is it necessary to have other experience? Steve Jones asks the question in today's Friday poll.
2009-10-23
505 reads
Blogs
Post-quantum key exchange – Insurance policy for your packets
AWS recently added support for Post-Quantum Key Exchange for TLS in Application Load Balancer...
Plan your 2026
By Brian Kelley
If you don't have a plan, you'll accomplish it. That's not a good thing.
Another Change
By Steve Jones
Today Redgate announced that we are partnering with Bregal Sagemount, a growth-focused private equity...
Forums
Where Your Value Separates You from Others
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Where Your Value Separates You...
Fixing the Error
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Fixing the Error
T-SQL in SQL Server 2025: Encoding Functions
Comments posted to this topic are about the item T-SQL in SQL Server 2025:...
Question of the Day
Fixing the Error
On SQL Server 2025, I have a database that has this collation: SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS. I decide I want to run this code:
SELECT UNISTR('*3041*308A*304C*3068 and good night', '*') AS 'A Classic';
I get this error:Msg 9844, Level 16, State 4, Line 24 The char/varchar input type uses an unsupported collation. Only a UTF8 collation is supported with char/varchar input type in UNISTR function.What is the easiest way to fix this error? See possible answers