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The Complete Weekly Roundup of SQL Server News by SQLServerCentral.com
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Editorial
 

GitHub vs. Azure DevOps

I work often with Azure DevOps. I have enjoyed the platform and it does what I need. I also work regularly with GitHub and GitHub Actions. Those rebuild SQL Saturday and SQL Memorial when I need to make changes. It also works very well.

This week I saw a post on choosing between Azure DevOps and GitHub, which is something I get asked at times. The post goes into some of the differences and provides a lot of links that you can use to read about features. There also are plenty of links on using the two products together, which is something I see regularly. Code in GitHub and the build/test/release in Azure DevOps.

On the question of which one, the author doesn't give a recommendation, but rather some questions on things you might think about. The author asks about the features you use or think you will need and using that information to help guide your decision. I think that's fair, but here's what I'd say.

If you have no automated version control or build/test/release tool in your organization, then choose Azure DevOps. It has a lot built in that I like and it's simple to use. I think it's visually pleasing and I think it is easier to teach people how to use it for this reason. GitHub is fine, but I find it slightly more confusing to move around in, though to be clear, I spend more time in Azure DevOps, so I'm likely biased.

I'll also separate out version control. I assume your organization has someone using version control. Whatever system they use is the one to adopt. There's no reason to argue or get them to change. Most people use Git and all Git host services are essentially the same. We could argue some small thing you want, but really Git is Git. Use what others use.

I would say the same thing for build, test, and release. Use what software developers use. These systems are all good, and they all have pros and cons. They all do some things well and have some disadvantages, but they are really interchangeable. I wouldn't move build systems or release systems without a really good set of reasons to do so. Just because the new lead or CTO likes another system or has experience there isn't a good reason. If you don't have any system in your organization, then see my recommendation above.

Modern software development needs a team, and for teams to work well and efficiently, you need version control and an automated build/release system. Use what others use, or have some people conduct a few pilots and then take vote and go with the results. Really, all these systems are similar enough that it's not worth more than a few minutes of discussion.

Steve Jones - SSC Editor

Join the debate, and respond to the editorial on the forums

 
The Weekly News
All the headlines and interesting SQL Server information that we've collected over the past week, and sometimes even a few repeats if we think they fit.
Vendors/3rd Party Products

Increasing the Visibility of Database Changes in Flyway Development

If you save a metadata 'model' for every new version of a database created by Flyway, you can compare the current model to the previous one to see what changed. In turn, you can then generate a database E-R diagram that highlights the changed objects, instantly making those changes visible to other team members

Building a Database with Flyway

Flyway, especially Flyway Teams edition, can be used in several different ways to accommodate a database development that was originally based on builds rather than migrations. This article explores four different ways to use Flyway to build a particular version of a database, from the ground up, using a single migration script. It should help teams select the best way to incorporate Flyway into an existing database build system, during development, while benefitting from use of Flyway's versioned migration system for deployments and releases.

Why you need to go beyond dynamic data masking

Data masking is defined as replacing sensitive data with a realistic fictional equivalent. But do you know there are 2 key types of Data masking, and what each offer? Join SQLServerCentral Editor, Steve Jones, in this 30-minute on-demand webinar to find out more.

AI/Machine Learning/Cognitive Services

6 Trends in AI and Intelligent Automation

From IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Research firm Omdia shared insight into trends that will shape AI and intelligent automation in 2023.

What is Artificial Intelligence? Guide to AI

From Past News - RSS Feeds

By any measure, artificial intelligence (AI) has become big business. According to Gartner, customers worldwide will spend $62.5 billion on AI software in 2022. And it notes that 48...

Administration of SQL Server

Be Careful With Memory Recommendations When Installing SQL Server Standard Edition

From Erik Darling Data

Friday I’m Not Here This is a short post to warn you about the memory recommendation tab in the SQL Server installer. Let’s say you’re doing the smart thing and giving...

Office Hours Speed Round: Text Edition

From Brent Ozar Unlimited

Got questions for me? Post ’em at https://pollgab.com/room/brento and upvote the ones you’d like to see me cover. I filter out the ones that are too short for video...

Query Store Forced Plan Failures

From Purple Frog Systems

Query Store is a fantastic feature of both SQL Server and Azure SQL DB. It allows you to monitor how queries execute against the database which is invaluable for...

Why Adding Some Memory Doesn’t Fix All Caching Problems

From Brent Ozar Unlimited

It seems obvious: add some memory, and SQL Server should be able to cache data, thereby making queries run faster … right? Well, if you can’t cache everything you need...

SQL Server Blocking Query Monitor + Mentoring

From Steve Stedman

SQL Server Blocking queries are one of those things that can really bog down your database. You might have plenty of memory, and way more CPU than you need,...

Azure CosmosDB

Managing Cosmos DB using Azure storage explorer

From SQLShack

This article will explain how to perform various activities for Azure cosmos DB using Azure storage explorer. The storage explorer is a very useful desktop utility that helps admins...

Azure Databricks, Spark and Snowflake

Using Snowflake – Hands On

From SQLServerCentral Blogs

Now let’s start the process of creating a snowfl...

Power to the SQL People: Introducing Python UDFs in Databricks SQL

We were thrilled to announce the preview for Python User-Defined Functions (UDFs) in Databricks SQL (DBSQL) at last month’s Data and AI Summit. This blog post gives an overview of the new capability and walks you through an example showcasing its features and use-cases.

Azure SQL

Resolve Elastic Query issues in Azure SQL Database

From Azure Database Support Blog

Summary Elastic Queries are used to implement cross-database queries in Azure SQL Database. Elastic Query makes data located in an Azure SQL Database available to other Azure SQL Databases. It...

Azure SQL Managed Instance

Testing connectivity against a Managed Instance using a CNAME

From Azure Database Support Blog

As documented here. We can change the SQL Managed Instance default DNS zone ".database.windows.net" to any of your choice. However, the instance name part of the FQDN is mandatory.    Whether you are connecting...

Bidirectional Transactional Replication in SQL Managed Instance

From Azure Database Support Blog

Bidirectional Transaction Replication sample script   This article provides you with a sample script for creating a Bidirectional Transactional Replication between two Managed Instances. It keeps details as simple and straightforward...

Azure Synapse (SQL Data Warehouse and Data Lake)

Update both ends of Azure Synapse Link for SQL Server 2022 using Azure DevOps

From Kevin Chant

Reading Time: 8 minutes This post covers how to update both ends of Azure Synapse Link for SQL Server 2022 using Azure DevOps. As shown at the Data...

FAST – Billions of rows with Azure Data Explorer (ADX)

From Guy in a Cube

Have you tried Azure Data Explorer? We look at how ADX can support large amounts of data and query at blazing fast speeds. it truly is BANANAS! And you...

Community Interests

Data Relay Speaker Diversity and Feeling Included

From SQLServerCentral Blogs

Back in 2018, wow four years ago, I presented at a...

Thank You Tim!

From Grant Fritchey

Ah, Tim Ford. I remember the time we were sitting at Ruth Kriss Steakhouse trying to figure out which of the two of us was the dumbest person in...

Women In Data Engineering W.I.D.E

From Adatis

Being a W.I.D.E Diversity and inclusion  Diversity and inclusion are a big focus on most companies minds right now and everyone seems be promoting that they are tackling it...

Computing in the Cloud (Azure, Google, AWS)

Accessing Key Vault from Another Subscription Over Private Endpoint

Hello everyone, Andrew Coughlin here and I am a Cloud Solutions Architect at Microsoft focusing on Azure IaaS. I recently received questions from a few of my customers about access to a key vault from a different subscription. In this blog I will walk through the process of using a managed identity and access an Azure Key Vault from another subscription with private endpoint.

Enable Azure Storage diagnostics – Storage Metrics and Storage logging

From SQLShack

Azure storage is a core cloud storage service that is used by almost all application or database deployments. We use it in SQL Server for various requirements like for...

Creating Azure Policy to setup Virtual Machine Auto-Shutdown

From Simple Talk

 The Auto-Shutdown policy is another important policy to ensure our virtual machines don’t expend more than what we planned for them. If we have a time window to use...

Conferences, Classes, Events, and Webinars

SQL Server Course Coupons and Deals

From Steve Stedman

Current SQL Server course coupon codes and on going deals you can only get from Stedman Solutions! 25% Off in July! Coupon Code: DATABASEHEALTH Learn how to monitor your...

SQL Saturday #1026 - Baton Rouge 2022

For the 12th year, SQLSaturday Baton Rouge is coming to LSU!

Notes on SQL Saturday New Jersey 2022

From SQLServerCentral Blogs

I was honored to attend the first SQL Saturday in New Jersey last weekend. I consulted with and helped the organizers get the event going and executed. I made... The...

Full-day Power BI for Enterprise Solutions Workshop in Chicago, Sept 12

From Paul Turley's SQL Server BI Blog

If you are in the Chicago area and haven’t already registered for the Data Insights Summit, please join me. I will be teaching a full-day workshop specifically focused on...

SQL Saturday #1026 - Baton Rouge 2022

For the 12th year, SQLSaturday Baton Rouge is coming to LSU! A free day of training on 13 Aug 2022

Accelerating Digital Transformation: The role of DevOps and Data

Catch up on-demand with SQL Server Central Editor Steve Jones, DevOps Consultant Hamish Watson, and BMW Microsoft Data Platform Lead Tony Maddonna, as they discuss their experiences with digital transformation, and the impact it had on themselves, their teams and the wider organization.

SQLSaturday Orlando on October 8, 2022

From SQLServerCentral Blogs

This year we’re back at our usual location on the campus of Seminole State College for SQLSaturday #1030. You may remember that last year we couldn’t use the college... The...

DMO/SMO/Powershell

Inserting and Exporting MySQL Values with PowerShell

From Callihan Data

I recently went through an example of making SQL Server changes with PowerShell. To continue on a PowerShell trend, let’s take a look at inserting and exporting MySQL values...

Understanding PowerShell Objects

From Petri IT Knowledgebase

One of the features that both makes PowerShell so easy...

Using PowerShell Select-Object

From Petri IT Knowledgebase

PowerShell is an object-oriented shell for Windows...

Run Glenn Alan Berry’s Diagnostic Notebooks Everywhere

From SQLServerCentral Blogs

As part of starting a new job you need a way to ge...

Data Privacy, Compliance, and Governance

How to explore your data estate using the Microsoft Purview data catalog | Data Exposed

From Azure SQL

Microsoft Purview is a unified data governance sol...

The Trend Toward Emphasizing Data Minimization

From Dataversity

With GDPR being the “shot heard ’round the wor...

Track your data supply chain using Azure Purview | Data Exposed: MVP Edition

From Azure SQL

Collecting data is one part of the story. To know your data estate is another part. Let's see how Azure Purview can help you to manage and govern your...

Data Visualisation

how to improve a line chart in Excel

From Storytelling with Data

In a recent post, we shared how to create an Excel line chart, ending with the line chart below. This article builds upon this graph and covers simple design...

Database Design, Theory and Development

Questions to ask when designing a data architecture

From SQLServerCentral Blogs

When I’m leading a full-day architecture design ...

DevOps and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD)

Choosing Between Azure DevOps and GitHub

Every time I do an Azure DevOps talk, I get someone asking me about migrating from GitHub to Azure DevOps. Every time, I have to ask “Why do you want to migrate from GitHub to Azure DevOps?”

Hardware

Core i7-13700K Allegedly up to 60% Faster Than Alder Lake With DDR5

From Tom's Hardware US

New Chinese benchmarks show serious multi-threaded...

Gigabyte Details Dual-Socket Ampere Motherboard: Up to 256 Cores Per Box

From Tom's Hardware US

Gigabyte has introduced the industry's first 2-way...

Ryzen 5 7600X Beats i9-12900K by 22% in New Single-Core Benchmarks

From Tom's Hardware US

AMD's upcoming Ryzen 5 7600X Zen 4 processor outperforms the Core i9-12900K in a new single-core benchmark.

Intel Meteor Lake Boot Log Spotlights 20 Core CPU Sample

From Tom's Hardware US

CPU appears to be a 1.2 GHz Engineering Sample, an...

Dell XPS 13 Plus (9320) Review: Form and Capacitive Function

From Tom's Hardware US

The Dell XPS 13 Plus brings radical design changes, including an invisible touchpad and capacitive function keys, in a beautiful chassis with solid performance.

Backblaze Reveals Life Expectancy for HDDs in Its Servers, Going Back to 2013

From Tom's Hardware US

Cloud storage provider Backblaze has shared its life expectancy numbers for HDDs as they've experienced them ever since the company opened doors back in 2013.

MDX/DAX

Row Context – The Whiteboard #02

From Sqlbi

Learn what the row context is in DAX with a more graphical explanation!

Oracle/PostgreSQL/MySQL/other RDBMS

Introducing the MySQL SELECT statement

Use SELECT statements to query a MySQL database. In this article, Robert Sheldon explains how.

Performance Tuning SQL Server

This OVERPOWERED Hint Will Break NOLOCK Hints In SQL Server

From Erik Darling Data

G4M3R CREATE TABLE dbo.view_me ( id int NOT NULL ); GO CREATE VIEW dbo.viewed AS SELECT vm.* FROM dbo.view_me AS vm WITH(READCOMMITTED); GO...

PowerPivot/PowerQuery/PowerBI

Power BI Dynamic X and Y Axis Using Groupings in Field Parameters

From MSSQL Tips

In this step-by-step article, learn how to dynamically select what displays on the X or Y axis of a Power BI chart.

(Livestream Replay) Insights Unlocked Using Conditional Formatting in Power BI - with Pragati Jain

From Havens Consulting

ABSTRACT In this session, Pragati will be showing some conditional formatting tricks in Power BI, which will change the way the visuals look and imparts insights to the...

Prioritizing Cybersecurity at the Leadership Level

From Dataversity

Week after week, month after month, shareholder cyber lawsuits hit the news. Capital One settles for $190 million. A class-action lawsuit was filed against Ultimate Kronos Group for alleged negligence regarding a ransomware...

Power BI: Data Quality Checks Using Python & SQL

From Data on Wheels (Steve Hughes)

Picture this, you have a report in Power BI that someone passes off to you for data quality checks. There are a few ways to make sure your measures...

Add user to Power BI deployment pipeline using REST APIs

From Data – Marc

Especially in this time of the year, you will encounter many similar kind of questions as a Power BI Service Administrator. Questions like: “My colleague is on vacation, but...

Import data using R in Power BI

From SQLShack

In this article, we will learn how to configure Power BI to work with R and source the required datasets from it for reporting in Power BI Reports. Introduction...

Discovering data within Power BI and quickly EXPORT!

From Guy in a Cube

Sometimes you just don't know what data is out there in Power BI. Patrick shows you how you can discover data available to you and also how to quickly...

Product Upgrades and Releases

Azure Data Studio July 2022 Release

From Curated SQL

Timi Oshin announces a new set of updates: The Query Plan Viewer feature continues to add functionality with this release of Azure Data Studio. There are…Continue readingAzure Data Studio July...

General availability: Azure Sphere version 22.07

From Azure Updates

The 22.07 release includes reduced connect-to-cloud time for the OS, resulting in lower energy use; best practices guidance for production-ready applications; and optimized manufacturing scripts.

Public preview: Azure Synapse Analytics Spark elastic pool storage

From Azure Updates

Reduce job failures by using elastic pool storage....

Azure Data Studio July Release with VS Code Updates 

From Microsoft SQL Server Blog

Hello, community! As you may already know, Azure Data Studio (ADS) is and has always been focused on building out its own ecosystem of extensions and customized tabs for...

General availability: VM Applications – Manage and deploy applications to VMs and VMSS

From Azure Updates

VM Apps is a service that simplifies management, sharing, and global distribution of application packages at scale.

Public preview: SQL DB output connector improvements in Stream Analytics

From Azure Updates

You can now configure your Azure Stream Analytics job to write to a SQL table that hasn't yet been created or see schema mismatch detection for an existing SQL...

Updates To sp_HumanEvents

From Erik Darling Data

Touchy, Touchy I’ve made some slight tweaks to sp_HumanEvents. One of them fixes a bug with view creation when you use a custom schema. The rest are minor tweaks and fixes...

Generally available: Azure Stream Analytics in four new regions

From Azure Updates

Azure Stream Analytics is a fully managed, real-time analytics service designed to help you analyze and process fast moving streams of data.

Public preview: Managed attributes in Microsoft Purview data catalog

From Azure Updates

Append organizational metadata to your technical assets by creating and applying managed attributes in the Microsoft Purview data catalog.

Python

Power BI: Data Quality Checks Using Python & SQL

Picture this, you have a report in Power BI that someone passes off to you for data quality checks. There are a few ways to make sure your measures match what is in the source data system, but for this demo we are going to use python and excel to perform our data quality checks in one batch.

Using Machine Learning to Perform Text Clustering

n interesting branch of machine learning is Natural Language Processing (NLP). As the name suggests, it involves training machines to detect patterns in language using algorithms. It is quite often the case that NLP is referred to as text analytics.

Python Built-in Statistics Functions using SQL Server Data

From MSSQL Tips

Learn how to use statistical functions in Python with data from a SQL Server database along with several different examples.

Reporting Services

[How-To] SSRS migration

From SQLServerCentral Blogs

Good evening. Today’s episode is coming to you from my home office, where I feel motivated to write a blog in the comfort of my home. Today we will... The...

SQL Server News

Azure Active Directory authentication for SQL Server 2022

From Microsoft SQL Server Blog

Part of the SQL Server 2022 blog series. Azure Act...

SQL Server 2022 community technology preview 2.1 is now available

Continuing with our release cadence, we’re excited to announce the release of SQL Server 2022 Community Technology Preview 2.1. Since the first public preview in May 2022, anyone can download SQL Server 2022 CTP2.1 to try the new features in this release.

SQL Server Security and Auditing

EXECUTE AS USER vs EXECUTE AS LOGIN

From SQLStudies

I use impersonation a lot. It’s a really easy way to check if someone has the permissions they are supposed ... Continue reading

Security News and Issues

US Investigating ‘Significant’ Breach of American Court System

From IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Three hostile foreign actors breached the federal courts document management system via “an incredibly significant and sophisticated” cyberattack more than 18 months ago.

Microsoft Zero-Days Sold and then Used

From Schneier on Security

Yet another article about cyber-weapons arms manufacturers and their particular supply chain. This one is about Windows and Adobe Reader zero-day exploits sold by an Austrian company named DSIRF. There’s...

Economic Downturn Raises Risk of Insiders Going Rogue

From Dark Reading: Dark Reading News Analysis

Insiders could become more vulnerable to cybercrime recruitment efforts, new report says.

No More Ransom Helped More Than 1.5 Million People Decrypt Their Devices

From Dark Reading: Dark Reading News Analysis

.

Average Data Breach Costs Soar to $4.4M in 2022

From Dark Reading: Dark Reading News Analysis

Call it a "cyber tax": Those costs are usually passed on to consumers, not investors, as compromised businesses raise prices for goods and services.

32-Bit Linux Won't Get Patched for Latest Intel Vulnerabilities

From Tom's Hardware US

The amount of work involved in fixes means that the 32-bit Linux kernel won’t be getting the same treatment as the 64-bit version of the OS.

Software Development

Querying SQL Server with Golang

From No Column Name

Words: 333 Time to read: ~ 2 minutes I’ve been looking into Golang recently. Hey, everyone has to go with what interests them! It’s all very well and good...

T-SQL and Query Languages

Stored Procedures vs sp_executesql In SQL Server: Is One Better Than The Other?

From Erik Darling Data

Basically I get this question a lot while working with clients, largely in a couple specific contexts: Me telling someone they need to use dynamic SQL in a stored procedure Applications sending...

T-SQL template parser

Just for the heck of it, I scratched together a template parser for T-SQL GitHub. The usage of this function is similar to the STRING_SPLIT() function, except instead of splitting a string by a delimiter character, we want to split a string according to a defined template.

T-SQL template parser

From Sunday morning T

Just for the heck of it, I scratched together a template parser for T-SQL . The usage of this function is similar to the STRING_SPLIT() function, except instead of...

[Video] Fundamentals of Stored Procedures at SQLBits

From Brent Ozar Unlimited

Anybody can write a stored procedure with a little help from Google. This session is about how to write stored procedures that have a high likelihood of performing well...

Database Fundamentals #32: Create Unique Constraints with T-SQL

From Grant Fritchey

In the last Database Fundamentals post, I explained what a unique constraint was and how you can create them using the GUI. Using TSQL to create a constraint is...

Fun With KQL – Extract

From Arcane Code

Fun With KQL - Extract

Tech News

BMW's 3,854-Variable Problem Solved in Six Minutes With Quantum Computing

From Tom's Hardware US

Quantum computing specialist QCI claims quantum ad...

Intel Posts $500 Million Loss for the First Time in Decades as Sales Drop 17%

From Tom's Hardware US

Intel's revenue and margins waterfall in Q2 2022 d...

IT Job Salary Survey Yields Surprises and Action Items

From IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

ITPro Today’s survey of IT professionals revealed a desire for more training and better tools. Learn about respondents’ priorities and pain points.

Microsoft Releases Emergency Fix for Windows 11 Start Menu Issues

From Petri IT Knowledgebase

Microsoft has acknowledged a new issue that is currently preventing...

Remote Work Demands Accentuate Strategic Shift in Role of HR

From IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Supervisors want employees in the office more often, but workers are prepared to resist. HR must rely on tech tools to keep everyone happy.

Google Fires Engineer Who Claimed AI Was 'Sentient'

From IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Google AI engineer Blake Lemoine's claims had gripped the AI community.

T-Mobile Pitches $4-Per-Customer Settlement for Data Leak Impacting 80M People

From Dark Reading: Dark Reading News Analysis

After leaking 80 million US customer data records in a cyberattack last summer, T-Mobile offers to settle a wide-ranging class action suit for just $350 million.

The Lighter Side

Two Trees TTS-55 Review: No Frills Laser Engraver

From Tom's Hardware US

A low power laser engraver good for beginners on a...

 
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