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

Is Now the Time to Learn?

With many of us shut in our homes, it's a stressful time. We're often managing work, family, and the rest of our lives from an unchanging environment. If you're like me, you may struggle to tell one day from the next. Thankfully I have an app the keeps the date in the corner of my desktop, since I have to check it regularly to remember if it's Tuesday or Thursday.

Some of us are busy, or busier, and some not as busy. Stress has changed, and I know quite a few people looking for some break in their routine. At Redgate, we've started the Community Circle, which has some technical resources if you're trying to learn more or level up your skills. Some people are finding this to be a good time to tackle technical stuff, but not everyone feels that way.

Personally, I am doing a little more, or was before I got really busy at work, but more I need a break. I have been trying to do things away from work, mostly to just change my routine. I also have been doing a bit less overall, mostly because I'm struggling to find more mental energy to focus after work.

I saw this post from Kenneth Fisher, where he asked the same question and showed that he's trying to learn to juggle. I have been doing a bit more guitar, which I find relaxing. As the weather improves, I'm looking forward to sitting outside with a drink in the evenings and just learning a new song or playing something old.

The lack of movement for many of us does mean more time, but it doesn't necessarily mean you want to focus on learning something. If you do, there are lots of resources, and we'll keep providing information at SQLServerCentral. If you can't focus, then maybe you just want to relax and consume something fun. My wife and I have gone through the Oscar Best Picture nominees, one every few days, which has been fun. However, you might try picking up a fun new skill, like juggling. A break trying something new, laughing at yourself, or just getting away from life, might help you cope better.

Steve Jones - SSC Editor

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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

Help us define the State of Database Monitoring in 2020

The State of SQL Server Monitoring was launched in 2018. This year we are interested in gathering insight across database platforms, not just SQL Server. Have your say and take the survey to be first to receive the report and enter your chance to win a $500 Amazon voucher.

AI/Machine Learning/Cognitive Services

Doctors are using AI to triage covid-19 patients. The tools may be here to stay

Rizwan Malik had always had an interest in AI. As the lead radiologist at the Royal Bolton Hospital, run by the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), he saw its...

Vulnerability Finding Using Machine Learning

Microsoft is training a machine-learning system to find software bugs: At Microsoft, 47,000 developers generate nearly 30 thousand bugs a month. These items get stored across over 100 AzureDevOps...

Automated Machine Learning Vs. The Data Scientist

Ever since automated machine learning has entered the scene, people are asking, "Will automated machine learning replace data scientists?" The post Automated Machine Learning Vs. The Data Scientist appeared first...

Administration

IRL #7: Test Restores and CheckDB

My Pluralsight course for new SQL Server DBAs Prob...

[Video] Can You Tell When a Rollback Will Finish?

I happened to see this DBA.StackExchange.com question about killing a big delete, and I really felt for the admin involved: Four days ago a user ran the command below...

Size of all databases on an instance

Occasionally I have the need to look up the size of all databases on an instance, based on the log file size and the data file size. The following...

Removing the default trace – Part 3

Aaron Bertrand finishes up his series on replacing the default trace with views to simplify consumption and a caveat about reports in SSMS. The post Removing the default trace –...

A Bug in ‘Move All Your SQL Database and Log Files in Bulk’

It looks like we had a bug the in the SQL script in Move All Your SQL Database and Log Files in Bulk. No worries though, it’s all been fixed...

Query Store, force my plan on that other server too, please?

This blog is a follow-up to a discussion I recently had on Twitter, started by Patrick Joliffe asking some people: if you need to force an execution plan, would...

SQL: Shrinking SQL Server Databases usually isn't a good plan

I remember when SQL Server 7 was released, it was such a big deal that you could easily grow and shrink database files, and indeed, you could have databases...

IRL #7: Test Restores and CheckDB

My Pluralsight course for new SQL Server DBAs Problem: My client asked me for a way to automate test restores and CheckDB either ad hoc or on a schedule,...

SQL: When working with ALTER DATABASE, don't forget CURRENT

I've been seeing quite a lot of unnecessary dynamic SQL code lately, that's related to ALTER DATABASE statements.  It was part of code that was being scripted. Generally, the...

The Very Best of Extended Events

Over the next couple of months, I’ll be putting ...

How to run a SQL Agent job step as another account?

Microsoft SQL Server Agent includes a really cool, often unused feature. That is the ability to run SQL Server Agent job steps as another user besides the user account...

Fixing tempdb: Growing, shrinking, and removing data files

I recently came across a server where tempdb was breaking all the rules. Data files were all different sizes. I want all data files to be the same size...

Please clean down your SQL Server backup history

From looking around at some of the Issues that get logged for dbatools, it looks like people never clear out their SQL backup history from msdb. This causes slow...

Tempdb – Here’s a Problem You Didn’t Know You Have

Because of its many roles, tempdb is the source of performance issues in SQL Server, and there are recommended configuration changes to mitigate this. In this article, Fabiano Amorim...

Azure CosmosDB

How to retrieve data from Azure Cosmos DB by using Spatial function DISTANCE

     In my last post, I showed you how to insert Spatial Data into Azure Cosmos DB by using the .NET SDK. In this post; We will focus...

Azure SQL Database

Is there an easy way to tell what pricing tier my Azure SQL DB/DW is using T-SQL?

I ran into an interesting problem today. I needed ...

Running Azure SQL Database Edge on a Raspberry Pi

One of the coolest new projects out there is Azure...

A Weird Networking Problem with Azure SQL Database (and Fios)

Note: This is my first blog post in a while. You too may have been stressed by recent events in world. I’m also doing a large content project I’ll...

Career Growth and Certifications

New Pluralsight Course – Designing a Site Recovery Strategy on Microsoft Azure

My new course “Designing a Site Recovery Strate...

Launch of YouTube Video Channel

Dear Friends We are launching the YouTube Channel “Decode ITES”. Decode ITES will be sharing technical videos over multiple IT infra skills like SQL Server, Postgres, Oracle, Windows, Public... The...

Working from Home Effectively

Some of us have been lucky enough to have already been working from home (WFH) prior to the world events.  This has allowed most of us the ability to... The...

What’s Your Favorite SQL Server Interview Question? Here’s Mine.

“Out of the stuff on your resume, what are you the proudest of, the most excited about? When I’m interviewing a candidate for one of my clients, I’ll usually...

Computing in the Cloud (Azure, Google, AWS)

Microsoft: Here's how we're trying to manage increased cloud demand

Microsoft officials say they've been taking some behind-the-scenes steps to try to head off current and future cloud capacity issues.

Disk Performance Metrics in AWS and Azure

In the last two posts, we have discussed the diffe...

Conferences, Classes, Events, and Webinars

The easy way to Extended Events

Join Microsoft Data Platform MVP Grant Fritchey to discover not only know why you should be using Extended Events, but also how to get going in Extended Events the easy way.

Database DevOps: the benefits for your organization

Redgate's Chris Unwin and Chris Kerswell host Coeo’s CEO Justin Langford and Principal Consultant, Andy Jones to talk database DevOps and the benefits to your organization.

Live Stairways Day 1 Homework

I recorded my first class for the Live Stairways ?...

3 Pre-Cons at the #sqlpass Summit You Don’t Want to Miss

The team at Denny Cherry & Associates Consulting is thrilled to announce that we will have 3 presenters each presenting a full day presentation at the PASS Summit. Denny’s...

Upcoming Events: SQL Saturday Richmond (Virtual)

Key Details What: SQL Saturday Richmond.Where: On your computer. It’s a virtual event.When: Saturday, April 25th.Admission is free. Register on the SQL Saturday website. What I’m Presenting 1:45 PM —...

3 Pre-Cons at the #sqlpass Summit You Don’t Want to Miss

The team at Denny Cherry & Associates Consulting is thrilled to announce that we will have 3 presenters each presenting a full day presentation at the PASS Summit. Denny’s...

DAX and Power BI Stairway Live

As part of the Redgate Community Circle, I’m going to be running a live class on DAX and Power BI, every Thursday, from 12MDT for about 30-45 minutes. We’ll... The...

DMO/SMO/Powershell

Using Formatting Files with PowerShell 7

Any terminal output in PowerShell is controlled by formatting files. Oftentimes, it is very useful to display more information about a given object than the default views offer. The post...

Using Pester to Improve Operational Tasks

Taking the Time To Test Requirements in a constan...

Data Mining / Data Analysis

How analytics is helping state governments head off unemployment claims fraud

If you’re in state government, you're well aware of the unprecedented challenges that come with off-the-charts unemployment numbers due to COVID-19. Crashing websites at state unemployment insurance offices and...

Data Privacy, Compliance, and GDPR

Global Surveillance in the Wake of COVID-19

OneZero is tracking thirty countries around the world who are implementing surveillance programs in the wake of COVID-19: The most common form of surveillance implemented to battle the pandemic...

Amazon reportedly used merchant data, despite telling Congress it doesn’t

Amazon is a competitor to its own third-party merchants, and probes abound.

DocumentDB/Key-Value/Graph/other NoSQL Databases

Translating a SQL Server Schema into a Cassandra Table: Part III Many-to-Many, Attribute Closure and Solution Space

In the third and final article of the series, Shel Burkow demonstrates several designs that cover many-to-many relationships, attribute closure, and solution space with Cassandra tables.… The post Translating a...

ETL/SSIS/Azure Data Factory/Biml

Stacking Up Datasets in Azure Data Factory

(2020-Apr-24) Using UNION SQL operator is a very common practice to combine two or more datasets together, it helps to create a single result set from many sourcing ones. Azure Data... The...

Get Any Azure Data Factory Pipeline Activity Error Details with Azure Functions

A quick blog friends… I’ve done a few different thing now with Azure Functions and Azure Data Factory (ADF). They are definitely two of my favourite Azure Resources. In...

ADF.procfwk v1.4 – Enhancements for Long Running Pipelines

Code Project Overview This open source code project delivers a simple metadata driven processing framework for Azure Data Factory (ADF). The framework is delivered by coupling ADF with an...

Hardware

Crucial Annouonces P5 and P2 NVMe SSDs: Going In-House for the High-End

Micron's consumer brand Crucial has introduced two...

HP Updates Pavilion x360 14 Series, A 10th Gen Ice Lake Convertible

In what has become a busy month for HP, the company has continued to update its array of laptops and other portable PCs with new Intel processors. The latest...

MDX/DAX

Edit/Replace Code Inside All DAX Measures Using Tabular Editor

OK, by now you will likely be getting to understand that I think Tabular Editor is pretty cool. I like every bit about it, and I am learning more...

Avoiding Pitfalls in Calculation Groups Precedence

This article describes in which conditions the precedence of calculation groups might return unexpected results when filtering calculation items in both the visuals and the measures present in a...

Performance Tuning SQL Server

The SQL Server Performance Tasting Menu: Useful vs Useless Bitmaps

Bitwise, Filter Foolish …

Key Lookup

Introduction The Key Lookup operator provides a subset of the functionality of the Clustered Index Seek operator, but within a specific context. It is used when another operator (usually...

PowerPivot/PowerQuery/PowerBI

9 things to know before getting into Power BI (Or, really anything)

We share 9 things to know before starting your jou...

3 tips for using the MODEL VIEW in Power BI Desktop

The model view, in Power BI Desktop, is really pow...

3 tips for using the MODEL VIEW in Power BI Desktop

The model view, in Power BI Desktop, is really pow...

Five Mistakes To Avoid When Migrating To Power BI From Another BI Platform

Now that Power BI is so popular, it’s becoming more and more common for organisations to migrate their reports from other BI platforms to Power BI. And why not?...

Free Training: Power BI Paginated Reports in a Day

Power BI Paginated Reports in a Day training is av...

Power BI Reports, governance and updates… (Roundup | April 20, 2020)

Thanks for watching this week's Power BI news roun...

Product Reviews and Articles

SQL Prompt Fixes Always Have an Else

SQL Prompt is a fantastic coding aid, but it does ...

7 steps to effective SQL Server monitoring

There are a whole range of reasons you should monitor your SQL Server estate, from the essentials that support firefighting through to advanced modelling to help with proactive future...

How SQL Clone and SQL Change Automation enable seamless Database Branch Switching

Learn how to use SQL Clone together with Git hooks and SQL Change Automation to branch your database in Git as quickly and simply as your code. The post How...

A Hybrid Approach to Database DevOps

A flexible approach to Database DevOps where the team maintain the current state of the database in version control, during development, and then at key stages generate and test...

SQL Server Security and Auditing

Audit Logons with Extended Events

This article shows how to audit the logon events f...

Security News and Issues

Almost 8,000 could be affected by federal emergency loan data breach

Pressing the back button could expose another appl...

A critical iPhone and iPad bug that lurked for 8 years may be under active attack

Malicious emails require little or no interaction; exploits active since at least 2018.

Modern Authentication Becomes More Intelligent Inside Office 365

Azure Active Directory has implemented Continuous Access Evaluation (CAE), a technology to allow the directory to inform applications when security events occur. It's then up to the applications to...

Software Development

Coding Standards Gone Bad in SQL Server

Knowing your data is very important when it comes to writing code. Now I’ll admit that I am very far from being a developer, however as a DBA, I...

T-SQL

Join the Best Worst Code Contest today at 5pm BST / Noon Eastern #BestWorstCode

I have an idea! Let’s have a “Worst Code Contest.” Why do this? Bad code is really fun — at least, when you write it on purpose. And other...

SQL: Why I prefer sequences to IDENTITY columns

I posted the other day that I don't like negative ranges used for IDENTITY columns. I feel the same about the range of values for sequences, but when I...

Why Ordering Isn’t Guaranteed Without an ORDER BY

If your query doesn’t have an ORDER BY clause, you can’t reliably predict the order of your results over time. Sure, it’s going to look predictable at first, but down...

How SQL Server stores data types: DATETIME, DATE, TIME, and DATETIME2

This post dives into how SQL Server stores date and time data types in memory and on disk. But first, a note about endianness: CPUs manufactured by Intel and... The...

T-SQL 101: #66 Date and time data types in SQL Server T-SQL

While there are some other data types that I'd like to see added (for example a month data type), SQL Server has quite a rich set of date and...

Basics of Working with JSON in SQL Server

Total: 1 Average: 5JSON – A Brief Background JSON is an acronym for JavaScript Object Notation, that became popular a little over seventeen years ago. JSON is essentially a...

SQL: Don't start identity columns or sequences with large negative values

This week, one of my colleagues was complaining that he had to do work on a database where every table had identity columns, and they all started at large...

[Video] Altering Datatypes With (Almost) No Downtime

Sometimes, your INT columns run out of space, and you need to alter them to be a larger datatype, like BIGINT. Usually, when you do this, you’re met with...

Tech News

The FCC ratified Wi-Fi 6E this morning

The 6GHz spectrum is officially open for unlicense...

The Lighter Side

Ford builds a 1,400hp electric Mustang drag racer

Other Mustang drag racers have gone that fast, but...

2020 YouTube & Live Streaming Studio Tour – 100k Sub Video

We made it to 100k YouTube Subs!!! Thank you to ev...

The Falcon 9 just became America’s workhorse rocket

"While the other guys deliver press releases, we deliver astronauts."

SpaceX returns to the launch pad, and there are a few things to watch for

Third time had better be the charm.

 
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