SMO Basics
SQL Server guru Andy Warren has been working with all aspects of SQL Server for many years and is slowly upgrading his skills to SQL Server 2005. Here he takes a look at SMO basics, which is the replacement for DMO.
BlackBelt Administration: Linked Reports in Report Manager
Use Linked Reports to provide multiple "versions" of a single source report, as a mechanism for restricting consumer groups to their respective data in accordance with a "need to know."
Using XP_EXECRESULTSET To Obtain Database Size Information and More
Have you ever used XP_RESULTSET in SQL Server? If you're like most DBAs, this procedure is rarely used and can be a little complicated to setup. New author J. T. Shyman brings us a look at just how useful this command can be in executing a command on every database.
Creating usable applications
If I had a penny for every person who said "usability is just common sense", I'd have a pretty reasonable stack of pennies – maybe 30 or so. Clearly I'm not going to be able to retire on this, but at least it demonstrates that many people have misconceptions about how usable interfaces are designed.
Management Studio with SQL Server 2000
SQL Server 2005 has a new administrative tool called Management Studio, with many enhancements and changes from Enterprise Manager. But it's not just for SQL Server 2005 as new author Rob Farley shows us how to use this tool with SQL Server 2000.
Working with TempDB
This white paper describes how SQL Server 2005 uses tempdb. Many improvements in SQL Server 2005 optimize tempdb usage and make it easier to manage and to troubleshoot. A case study that uses a workload similar to TPC Benchmark H (TPC-H) shows new ways to manage and troubleshoot tempdb resources. This paper also includes items to consider when upgrading to SQL Server 2005 and configuring tempdb
Attach and Detach..Again
Attaching and detaching databases is old hat these days right? Do you know how to reattach a database that has more than 16 files? Or do you know what happens if you try to reattach a database that had two log files but one is missing/deleted? And even if you know the answer to that - do you know how to fix it without restoring from backup? Maybe it's not ALL old hat just yet!
Database Geek of the Week - Glenn Johnson
The latest GotW award goes to Glenn Johnson, .NET trainer and author of Programming Microsoft ADO.NET Applications:
SQL Sudoko
The latest puzzle craze seems to be Sudoko with all kinds of online puzzles, books, etc. appearing around the world. Longtime SQL Server guru David Poole decided solving the puzzles was not enough of a challenge and brings us some T-SQL to help solve those difficult ones keeping you from getting back to work.
Building Database Applications with Remote Support in Mind
Although the challenges of designing and developing an embedded software package are obvious, the effort of providing remote support for the deployed application is often underestimated.
Blogs
Shifting Mindsets: Why FinOps is Essential for Cloud Efficiency
By HeyMo0sh
As a DevOps practitioner, I’ve always focused on performance, scalability, and automation. But as...
March 2026 SQL Server Security Updates
By Brian Kelley
On Patch Tuesday, in addition to OS and Office security patches, Microsoft also released...
How Fabric Mirroring Transformed with SQL Server 2025
When mirroring was first released for Azure SQL Database, it used Change Data Capture...
Forums
Multiple Deployment Processes
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How to Use sqlpackage to Detect Schema Drift Between Azure SQL Databases
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Upgrading Admin Queries
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Question of the Day
Upgrading Admin Queries
I have a query from a former DBA that we run on SQL Server 2025 to check on database metadata. This query references sys.sysaltfiles. I want to refactor this code to be more modern. Which DMV should I reference instead?
See possible answers