Do as I say, not as I do
Steve wishes that Microsoft would follow some of their own advice on SQL Server development in their other software.
2021-08-04
265 reads
Editorials
Interconnected Temp Files
Links between systems can become a problem if an issue in one system affects the others.
2021-08-02
285 reads
Deploying SQL Server Automatically
I've had to install SQL Server many times over the years. Often it has felt that most of these installs were one-offs, a dev server, a new QA instance, a production server for a brand new application. A few times I've had to recover from disaster, including restoring master, but often, I just installed SQL […]
2021-07-31
477 reads
Your MTTR
There are a lot of metrics you can track and many ways to use them to improve how you build and manage software. Steve has a few thoughts on MTTR and similar metrics.
2021-07-30
340 reads
Leading without Managing
Learning to lead is a valued skill to have, and you can do this no matter what your role. You don't need to be a manager to become a leader.
2021-07-28
289 reads
Do You Have ALL the YAML?
There are lots of data exchange formats, and one of them that has become popular is YAML. However, are you sure you have the entire file?
2021-07-26
1,372 reads
Define All The Steps Up Front
After 23 years in one place, I'm pulling up stakes and moving. We're selling our house in one state in the US and we're buying a house in another state about half a continent away. To say it's a stressful and exhausting process is an understatement. The worst part is that no one has defined […]
2021-07-24
203 reads
How Often Do You Patch?
Patching is a chore that any system administrator needs to deal with. As SQL Server 2016 moves out of mainstream support, Steve asks if you have a plan and how often you ensure systems are patched.
2021-07-23
270 reads
The Danger of Management Access
First we had the Solarwinds hack, and now we have a Kaseya ransomware epidemic. It seems the criminals are moving up the stack. We used to see physical attacks on tapes and keyboards, then we saw OS level attacks. Now we seem to be getting to the management layer for software that is used to […]
2021-07-21
303 reads
Seriously Real Time Data Processing
Autonomous cars provide a great environment for large scale, real-time data processing.
2021-07-19
420 reads
Blogs
RANK() vs DENSE_RANK(): #SQLNewBlogger
By Steve Jones
I haven’t done one of these in awhile, but I saw an article recently...
Using CAT for Testing of Data Agents
In last months one of the scenarios where you can use AI has been...
Forums
Missing the Jaro Winkler Distance
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Missing the Jaro Winkler Distance
25 Years Later: What SQLServerCentral Meant to Me
Comments posted to this topic are about the item 25 Years Later: What SQLServerCentral...
Doing Good at SQL Server Central
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Doing Good at SQL Server...
Question of the Day
Missing the Jaro Winkler Distance
I upgraded a SQL Server 2019 instance to SQL Server 2025. I wanted to test the fuzzy string search functions. I run this code:
SELECT JARO_WINKLER_DISTANCE('tim', 'tom')
I get this error message:Msg 195, Level 15, State 10, Line 1 'JARO_WINKLER_DISTANCE' is not a recognized built-in function name.What is wrong? See possible answers