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How SQL Server stores data types: DATETIMEOFFSET
If you’d like to check out the previous instalment in this series on storing dates and times, click here. I avoided mentioning this data type because I didn’t think a lot of people used it, and then my co-author William Assaf (blog | Twitter) told me on Twitter that he uses it, so here we
-> Continue reading How SQL Server stores data types: DATETIMEOFFSET
Things to check when restoring a database
Whenever I restore a database — especially one I obtained outside of my regular environment (for example a customer database, a development database, or even a sample database like WideWorldImporters) — there are a few things I like to check to make sure it’s configured for peak performance. Note that some of this advice may
-> Continue reading Things to check when restoring a database
The curse of the blank page
Last week I wrote about recovering data after an unplanned outage, and this week I’m contemplating a thing that would be considered bad in those circumstances as well as in the context of writing: a blank page. I’m feeling the psychic weight of the pandemic, despite having had a vaccination. After writing a blog post
-> Continue reading The curse of the blank page
How I tackle disaster recovery
One of my special interests as an autistic person is understanding mechanical components of a computer, both analog and digital. In the olden days, we had devices known as hard drives which used one or more spinning disks and a read/write head that would move over the surface with a buffer of air so thin
-> Continue reading How I tackle disaster recovery
A quick primer on binary and hexadecimal
A few years ago, I wrote that a CPU is “a hot mess of on-off switches.” There’s more to it than that when you get into the weeds of caches and cores and logic gates, but at the heart of every single one of the billions of transistors in a modern CPU, electricity either flows
-> Continue reading A quick primer on binary and hexadecimal
T-SQL Tuesday Retrospective #015: Automation
In February 2011, Pat Wright invited us to talk about Automation: So the topic I have chosen for this month is Automation! It can be Automation with T-SQL or with Powershell or a mix of both. Give us your best tips/tricks and ideas for making our lives easier through Automation. I’ve spoken about this topic
-> Continue reading T-SQL Tuesday Retrospective #015: Automation
T-SQL Tuesday Retrospective #014: Resolutions
At the end of 2010, Sean McCown (blog | Twitter) invited us to talk about resolutions: Things like getting certified, or perfecting a process, or taking management classes, etc are all things that are commonly found in your yearly goals at work. So if you’re going to make some kind of resolution to do something,
-> Continue reading T-SQL Tuesday Retrospective #014: Resolutions
Ambling through undocumented DBCC commands may result in boredom
There comes a time when we heed a certain call. The call is to avoid dangerous undocumented DBCC commands in SQL Server, especially those that bypass built-in protections. I’m looking directly at you DBCC WRITEPAGE. Besides, Paul Randal (blog | Twitter) has written strongly and authoritatively on the topic, striking fear in the hearts of everyone
-> Continue reading Ambling through undocumented DBCC commands may result in boredom
Calgary Data User Group with Deborah Melkin and Andy Yun
Next week on Wednesday is the Calgary Data User Group’s second event for 2021, and the second event as a member of Microsoft’s new Azure Data Community. Since last year February we have been offering two sessions per event, with the opportunity for a lightning session (15 minutes) as well as the regular-length session (60
-> Continue reading Calgary Data User Group with Deborah Melkin and Andy Yun
T-SQL Tuesday Retrospective #013: What the business wants
Click here to read previous retrospective entries. From Steve Jones (blog | Twitter) in December 2010 comes the question “What issues have you had in interacting with the business to get your job done?” However a little digging showed that the business didn’t really understand the technology. They were asking for a result, and [the DBA] took them
-> Continue reading T-SQL Tuesday Retrospective #013: What the business wants