Stairway to Azure SQL Hyperscale – Level 3: RBPEX Caching Layer Internals
In this level of the Stairway to Azure SQL Hyperscale we learn about the read-only layer that speeds up queries.
Use SQL to Find a String in Database Tables, Stored Procedures, and User Defined Functions
Searching for a string in database tables has been discussed over the years. There are several approaches to the problem (see References at the end of the article). See how to use SQL to find a string in different types of SQL Server objects and data.
Find Invalid Objects in SQL Server
This article shows how you can find which objects in your database might not be valid after schema changes.
Getting Fired
When should a DBA get fired? Steve Jones thinks it should be rare and gives you two cases.
SQL Server 2025 Makes Memory Troubleshooting Easier.
SQL Server 2025 introduces a new sys.dm_os_memory_health_history view to make it easier for meatbags like you and robots like Copilot to know if the SQL Server has been under memory pressure recently.
Lessons from the Postmark-MCP Backdoor
The Koi Security team recently uncovered the first known, malicious MCP server in the wild: a package called postmark-mcp, downloaded over 1,500 times per week, that silently BCCs every outgoing email to an attacker-controlled domain. So, what happened? High-level, a lot: The attacker cloned the legitimate Postmark MCP repository, made one small but nefarious change […]
Oracle Performance Tuning: Practical Techniques Every DBA Should Master
Here are a few things every Oracle DBA should know about performance in their databases.
Natural Language Query for SQL Server
Data is usually the most important asset in organizations, but only SQL developers can frequently access that data. Technical teams often write queries for non-technical users. This restricts agility, slows decision-making, and creates a bottleneck in data accessibility. One possible remedy is natural language processing (NLP), which enables users to ask questions in simple English and receive answers without knowing any code. Still, the majority of NLP-to-SQL solutions are cloud-based, which raises issues with cost and privacy.
PRs Are Like Trouble Tickets
Adopting a modern development approach brings with it the need to manage PRs, which Steve thinks can be like trouble tickets.
Blogs
Using Prompt AI for a Travel Data Analysis
By Steve Jones
I was looking back at my year and decided to see if SQL Prompt...
FinOps for Kubernetes: Leveraging OpenCost, KubeGreen, and Kubecost for Cost Efficiency
In the era of cloud-native applications, Kubernetes has become the default standard platform for...
2025 Wrapped for Steve
By Steve Jones
I’ve often done some analysis of my year in different ways. Last year I...
Forums
reaching ftp thru winscp but erroring in ssis ftp task connection
Hi, below i show various results trying to reach our ftp site (a globalscape...
Finding Motivation
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Finding Motivation
The Last Binary Value of the Year
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Last Binary Value of...
Question of the Day
The Last Binary Value of the Year
What does this code return?
SELECT cast(0x2025 AS NVARCHAR(20))Image 1:
Image 2: 
Image 3: 
Image 4: 
See possible answers