SQLServerCentral Article

A Case Study in Performance Tuning

SQL Server does a wonderful job of tuning itself, selecting the optimum query plans and in general performing very well under a variety of conditions. That does not mean the a good DBA cannot add value by setting up the system and ensuring the optimizer receives the information that it needs. New author Gordon Pollokoff brings us a short case study from a project he as recently involved in where a new application required a bit of tuning.

SQLServerCentral Article

On the Trail of the ISO Week

Chris Hedgate, one of our regular SQL Server columnists, recently became intrigued by the way that SQL Server implements the week number. His concern was why SQL Server treats week 53 as week 1, which is not that way that ISO6801 sees it. Read about his investigation into the methods of implementing an algorithm to solve this problem.

Technical Article

SQL Server 2005 Recursive Functions

SQL Server 2005 has added a new format for queries called a Common Table Expression or CTE. CTE’s are part of the SQL:1999 Specification and represent further compliance with this specification by SQL Server. This article will cover using one of the many capabilities of CTE’s, implementing recursive functions. A recursive function is a one that iteratively executes itself. Understanding how CTE’s implement recursive functions is the first step to understanding the full capabilities of CTE’s.

Technical Article

SQL Server Database Index Performance

When it comes to auditing index use in SQL Server databases, I sometimes get overwhelmed. For example, how to do you go about auditing indexes in a database with over 1,500 tables? While auditing a single index is relatively straight-forward, auditing thousands of them in multiple databases is not an easy task. Whether the task is easy or not, it is an important task if you want to optimize the performance of your SQL Server databases.

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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?  

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