Phil's solution is definitely the more elegant but (for completeness) there is also a TABLESAMPLE clause.

Writing a backup solution for HAG can be a messy business.

I'm in the process of replacing a series of Mintenance Plans (not an attractive solution) with ola...

SQL Saturday in Edinburgh  - 1st Feb, anybody from here thinking about going?

Oh go on Steve - pick an easy solution!

Doesn't help for my 12 month task (the joys of a PCI audit), but I do wish I'd thought of that.

As you have created the stored procedure 'sp_area', go back and modify it - I suspect you'll be a bit surprised at what you see.

Then have a look at 'batch...

Erland is correct, there is no time-based setting for retaining the error logs.

However, I'm looking at exactly the same issue right now (but I need to keep mine for a...

The question was "What types of backup are there?" followed by a lot of muttering, hesitation and apologies for going blank. I've gone completely blank in interviews before, so it...

Ask them the difference between blocking and deadlocks. Those are always awesome answers. Less fun, but still fun, what's the difference between a clustered and non-clustered index is a...

I agree with Jeff on this. I have seen too many people at interviews that have amazing paper qualifications and yet can't answer my most basic practical questions.

Microsoft are very...

Have you taken a look at Redgate's Data Masker? You can download it for a free trial period and see if it is suitable.

We're looking at purchasing...

I've never had my own dedicated lab environment until recently, when I decided that I really need to start learning Powershell. A book that I bought contains the instructions for...

Disinformation is an old weapon of choice, these days it can travel faster and further.

Many years ago I can recall the chairman of a company I worked at telling us...

No problem, I'm pleased it was so simple.

If we start comparing stupid mistakes, I might have quite a head start on you.

Are you amending the schedule, which is associated with more than one job? If so, then any job that uses that schedule will be affected.

Or are you creating a new...

No, the documentation is quite clear about that.

"You cannot back up or restore database snapshots."