SQL Server Articles

Recently I came across with an article on DB2 about using Union instead of OR. So I thought of carrying out a research on SQL Server on what scenarios UNION is optimal in and which scenarios OR would be best. I will analyze this with a few scenarios using samples taken  from the AdventureWorks database [...]

Adding a column to a table is  common task for  DBAs. You can add a column to a table which is a nullable column or which has default values. But are these two operations are similar internally and which method is optimal? Let us start this with an example. I created a database and a [...]

Introduction Database Administrators have always had a tough time to ensuring that all the SQL Servers administered by them are configured according to the policies and standards of organization. Using SQL Server’s  Policy Based Management feature DBAs can now manage one or more instances of SQL Server 2008 and check for policy compliance issues. In [...]

This article outlines the main techniques for optimizing queries running on SQL Azure.

Problem When using transactional replication to replicate data in a one way topology from a publisher to a read-only subscriber(s) there is no need to manage identity ranges. However, when using  transactional replication to replicate data in a two way replication topology – between two or more servers there is a need to manage identity [...]

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate a custom scripting framework which enables the management of SQLServer databases from a Windows PowerShell session and also to extend Powershell’s flexibility by creating a set of commands customized to our needs. I will call this framework comprised of a library of modules and functions specialized to manage [...]

With 64 bit versions of Windows fast becoming the standard it is imperative that an app work in both 32 bit and 64 bit environments, this article demonstrates how to ensure your app can work in both environments.

It is nothing really new that indexes have their right to exist in SQL Server. It is also nothing really new, that these indexes need to be maintained every now and then, even though this might be surprising for people who are lulled by the otherwise low maintenance for SQL Server. But if you think [...]

This article demonstrates how to monitor the usage of the various drives attached to a Windows Server installation.

Despite Windows Server Backup being listed in Administrative Tools, the Windows Server Backup feature will still need to be installed, this article demonstrates how.