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Database Weekly
The Complete Weekly Roundup of SQL Server News by SQLServerCentral.com
Hand-picked content to sharpen your professional edge
Editorial
 

A New Year, New Efforts

Happy New Year!

You're going to be seeing a lot of summaries for 2022 and predictions for 2023 around this time of year. I'm not writing one of those. You'll also see people calling for new years resolutions and the like. I'm not going for that either.

Nope, let's keep it simple. It is a new year. There will be new and interesting challenges and opportunities. Lots of people, in lots of places, will be dealing with lots of things, some we know and some we don't. Because of all this, I'm just asking that we renew our efforts at kindness. People may disagree, but we can still be kind. We may say the wrong thing, or say things the wrong way, so kindness is important for us all. Kindness is nothing more than a way to help lubricate the great machine that is social interaction. Like any machine, without some oil in the right places, stuff can go badly wrong. People are the same.

Where you can, when you can, practice a little kindness. I'll do the same. We may find things just a tad easier if we do.

Grant Fritchey

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.
AI/Machine Learning/Cognitive Services

4 Ways AI-Assisted Coding Can Benefit ITOps Engineers

From IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

AI-assisted coding doesn't just help software deve...

ChatGPT: Understanding the ChatGPT AI Chatbot

From Past News - RSS Feeds

Fueled by artificial intelligence, ChatGPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) is an AI chatbot that uses advanced natural language processing (NLP) to engage in realistic conversations with humans. ChatGPT can generate...

ITPro Today’s Top 10 Stories About AI in 2022

From IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Our most-read articles about AI explored the development of new business tools, robotic learning methods, and use cases.

Administration of SQL Server

How To Find If SQLServer Needs More Memory?

From Ajay Dwivedi's SQL Server Blog

How to decide if SQL Server needs more RAM or RAM ...

Lesson Learned #263:Mail could not be sent to the recipients because of the mail server in DBMail

From Azure Database Support Blog

Several days ago, I worked on a service request that our customer got the following error message: The mail could not be sent to the recipients because of the mail...

Lesson Learned #261: Java vs Permission denied: connect

From Azure Database Support Blog

Today, I worked on a service request that our customer got the following error message using Java code:  Exception in thread "main" com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerException: The TCP/IP connection to the host servername.database.windows.net,...

SQL ConstantCare® Population Report: Winter 2022

From Brent Ozar Unlimited

Ever wonder how fast people are adopting new versions of SQL Server, or what’s “normal” out there for SQL Server adoption rates, hardware sizes, or numbers of databases? Let’s...

SQL Server Recovery Point Objective vs. Recovery Time Objective

From Steve Stedman

Recovery Point Objective (RPO) and Recovery Time Objective (RTO) are two important concepts in disaster recovery planning. Recovery Point Objective (RPO)…… is the maximum amount of data that you...

SQL Server Log Backups

From Steve Stedman

In SQL Server, log backups are copies of the transaction log that can be used to restore the database to a specific point in time. The transaction log contains...

Azure Databricks, Spark and Snowflake

External tables and views in Azure Databricks Unity Catalog

From DCAC

I’ve been busy defining objects in my Unity Cata...

I like Snowflake More and More

From Sherpa of Data

With SQL Server, you’ll find that, quite often, when dealing with strings, you’re almost stuck using the like operator to check if items are “like” another string. I don’t...

Useful Commands for Snowflake Transactions

From MSSQL Tips

In this article, we look at how to create transactions when using Snowflake along with several commands specific to working with transactions.

Azure SQL

Lesson Learned #259: Capturing all blocking TSQL in Azure SQL DB and Managed Instance

From Azure Database Support Blog

Today, I worked on a service request that our customer is looking for all blocking issues that is happening in their database. We have many articles about it Lesson Learned...

Azure Synapse (SQL Data Warehouse and Data Lake)

Data Factory objects in Synapse Studio

From Kevin Chant

Reading Time: 3 minutes In this post I want to cover where you can find Azure Data Factory objects in Synapse Studio. I want to do this post...

Career, Employment, and Certifications

Tech Hiring Remains Strong, Despite Concerns Over Impact of Rate Hikes

From IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

IT employment numbers continue to be bullish, although there are fears that more rate hikes would affect future tech hiring.

Employee Turnover Costs Rise as IT Labor Market Stays Competitive

From IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Employee departures continue to plague the workforce, according to a survey of U.S. hiring managers, but there are steps organizations can take to help retain IT staff.

Community Interests

Azure Data Community Newsletter Nov/Dec 2022

From Azure SQL

It’s been almost 6 months since Deborah, Hemantgiri and Michael joined the Azure Data Community Council. According to Michael, the role of the council is as advertised: hands-off with the...

Conferences, Classes, Events, and Webinars

Join me at VS Live Las Vegas 2023

From SQLServerCentral Blogs

I’m heading back to VS Live in March 2023 for the Las Vegas show. This time it’s at Planet Hollywood, which is a hotel I’ve never visited. I’m excited... The...

More DevOps with the SQL Solutions Group

From SQLServerCentral Blogs

I’m doing another webinar on Jan 18, 2023 with the SQL Solutions Group. You can register here and reserve a spot. Scott Klein and I did a webinar last... The...

Data Privacy, Compliance, and Governance

Compliance and Risk Management in 2022: Top 10 Stories

From IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

ITPro Today's most-read articles about compliance ...

Data Science

Business Use Cases Create Momentum for Citizen Data Scientists

From Dataversity

As businesses plan for data democratization, it i...

Database Design, Theory and Development

Top 5 Trends for Data Management in 2023

From Dataversity

Despite ongoing economic uncertainty, we know that 2023 will require us to do more with the data we have, protect it better, and find new ways to uncover insights...

The Open Data Stack Distilled into Four Core Tools

From Dataversity

In this article, we are going to explore core open-source tools that are needed for any company to become data-driven. We’ll cover integration, transformation, orchestration, analytics, and machine learning...

DevOps and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD)

How to Prevent Shift-Left Approach From Making Developers' Jobs Harder

From IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Despite its benefits, shifting left can actually m...

Everything You Need to Know About SecOps

From Dataversity

Security Operations (SecOps) refers to a joint eff...

DevOps & CI/CD for Power BI

From Paul Turley's SQL Server BI Blog

DevOps isn't difficult to implement for small and medium-scale projects, and simple things like managing version control in a code repository can save hours of lost time. Organization who...

ETL/SSIS/Azure Data Factory/Biml

Extract Transform Load (ETL) Tools Comparison - SQL Server Integration Services vs Oracle ODI

From MSSQL Tips

In this article, we look at a comparison of how to perform ETL tasks in an Oracle environment using ODI versus a SQL Server environment using SSIS.

Hardware

RAID 0  Vs. RAID   1: How to Choose the Right RAID Configuration

From Petri IT Knowledgebase

RAID 0 and RAID 1 are two of the standard...

How To Monitor Temperature With a Raspberry Pi Pico

From Tom's Hardware US

The Raspberry Pi Pico is a low cost and fun way to...

Seeking Home Network Happiness

From SQLServerCentral Blogs

TL;DR: My home firewall/router is slow, please hel...

Chinese CPU Maker Debuts 32-Core Chiplet-Based Processor

From Tom's Hardware US

Samples of Loongson's 32-core processors coming in 1H 2023.

Inland TN436 SSD Review: Retail 2230 Drive That Comes Up Short

From Tom's Hardware US

The Inland TN436 is a specialized SSD, a retail option produced in the 2230 form factor for devices like the Steam Deck and Surface but workable in many PCs....

Upgrading Your GPU? Here's How to Totally Uninstall Old Nvidia, AMD or Intel Graphics Drivers

From Tom's Hardware US

If you're installing a new graphics card, you need to remove every trace of the old drivers.

MDX/DAX

What happened in the DAX world in 2022

From SQLBI

Here we are, at the end of another year, to see what happened in the DAX world. New DAX functions in 2022 Microsoft released eight new DAX functions: NETWORKDAYS:...

INTRODUCING DAX WINDOW FUNCTIONS (PART 2)

This is the second installment in our two-part series on DAX window functions announced in the December 2022 release of Power BI Desktop. I will first answer the questions that I had received from the community about topics covered in the first article, and then go into more technical details about the implementations of these functions to help advanced users understand the performance characteristics of these functions when working with large volumes of data.

ERROR – DAX Guide

From SQLBI

ERROR: Raises a user specified error. https://dax.guide/error/

Many-to-Many Relationships – The Whiteboard #12

From SQLBI

The many-to-many cardinality relationship in DAX is not what a many-to-many relationship is for the rest of the world…

Oracle/PostgreSQL/MySQL/other RDBMS

Understanding the difference between SQL and MySQL

From SQLShack

This article will explain the difference between S...

Performance Tuning SQL Server

Lesson Learned #262: Database Wait Stats and Log Analytics.

From Azure Database Support Blog

Yesterday, we received a question from our customer that needs to know if it is possible to receive an email or alert about the main database wait stats usage...

SQL Server For Beginners: How Indexes Can Fix Blocking Problems Lecture

From Erik Darling Data

+OK

PowerPivot/PowerQuery/PowerBI

Eighteenth Blog Birthday: On The Question Of “Wouldn’t It Be Great If Power BI Did This?”

From Chris Webb's BI Blog

Every year, on the anniversary of the first-ever post on this blog, I write a post reflecting on what has happened to me professionally in the past year or...

SSMS Error when refreshing a Power BI Table: Paramter name already exists

2 weeks ago I talked about A No-Code Method to Refresh One Table From a Power BI Dataset in the Service. I recently ran into an error using this method, so I thought it was worth sharing this error, and the solution , with you.

How to Create a Box and Whisker Plot in Power BI Desktop

From MSSQL Tips

In this article, we look at how to build a box and whisker plot chart using Power BI Desktop with a step-by-step walkthrough.

Professional Development

Advice if Microsoft certifications are your New Years resolution

From Kevin Chant

Reading Time: 4 minutes In this post I want to share some advice if Microsoft certifications are your New Years resolution. Before I go any further I want...

Securing and Improving User Experience for the Future of Hybrid Work

From Dark Reading: Dark Reading News Analysis

Digital transformation initiatives are challenging...

Python

Python Exception Handling using Try, Except, Else and Finally

From MSSQL Tips

Learn about exception handling in Python and how t...

R Language

RObservations #44: Adding Frame and Custom Title Support To mapBliss

The mapBliss package is a R package which I developed which allows for users to make custom souvenir quality maps of their flights, road trips and favorite cities by utilizing the power of the leaflet and other R packages (for a full list, see the Github README here).

Security News and Issues

LastPass Breach

From Schneier on Security

Last August, LastPass reported a security breach, ...

Arresting IT Administrators

From Schneier on Security

This is one way of ensuring that IT keeps up with ...

Why Attackers Target GitHub, and How You Can Secure It

From Dark Reading: Dark Reading News Analysis

The unfettered collaboration of the GitHub model c...

Ransomware Defense a Top 2022 Cybersecurity Trend, Challenge

From IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

2022 was a year of unrest in the cybersecurity world. Here are three major trends that influenced security strategies.

Healthcare Providers and Hospitals Under Ransomware's Siege

From Dark Reading: Dark Reading News Analysis

According to the FBI and Internet Crime Complaint Center, 25% of ransomware complaints involve healthcare providers.

QR Code Scam

From Schneier on Security

An enterprising individual made fake parking tickets with a QR code for easy payment.

Software Development

Lesson Learned #260: Java vs Connection is closed error message.

From Azure Database Support Blog

Today, I worked on a service request that our cust...

How IT Operations Teams Can Improve API Management

From IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Although API management is primarily the domain of developers, ITOps teams also have an important role to play in managing APIs.

Top 10 Stories About Programming Languages in 2022

From IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

ITPro Today's most-read articles on programming languages in 2022 explored Python's popularity and why COBOL is still in demand, as well as updates on other major languages.

T-SQL and Query Languages

SQL Server HAVING clause on SELECT statements

From Steve Stedman

The SQL HAVING clause is used in conjunction with the GROUP BY clause to filter the results of a query based on the group by clause. The HAVING clause...

SQL Server Windowing Functions

From Steve Stedman

SQL Server windowing functions are a powerful and versatile set of tools that allow you to perform complex calculations and operations on a set of rows within a query....

An overview of the SQL GROUP BY clause

From SQLShack

This article briefly explains the SQL group by clause, when it should be used, and what we should consider when using it. Side Note: All code examples in this...

Tech News

The newest crop found on the farm? Solar panels.

From Technology Review Feed - Tech Review Top Stories

On a recent cool, sunny morning, Meg Caley could b...

Solar Projection v Estimates

From SQLServerCentral Blogs

We got a solar system in 2022 to try and fix some ...

A Lesson for IT – Don’t Be Southwest Airlines

From SQLHA -- Allan Hirt

Technical debt is a killer - especially for Southw...

Back to the Future of Work: Three Predictions for Productivity in 2023

From IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

A new model of where and how to work is emerging and it hinges on learning from past mistakes.

Software Development in 2022: ITPro Today's Top 10 Stories

From IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Our most-read software development stories cover new tools and strategies to help developers overcome challenges that are leading to burnout and turnover.

Southwest Air’s Lagging Tech Investments Exposed in Wintry Chaos

From IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Southwest's meltdown is rooted in outdated technology that analysts and its unions have warned about for years. It serves as a warning to organizations that are slow modernize systems.

Top 10 Stories About Microsoft Windows in 2022

From IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Our most-read articles about Windows highlight a variety of the operating system’s features and processes.

Revisit 3 Major Storage Technology Trends of 2022

From IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

The storage and backup market underwent changes shaped by security concerns, economic uncertainty, and the broad adoption of containers.

 
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