SQL Server
Top 5 Selection Criteria for Packaged BI Systems
Small- to Medium-Sized Businesses (SMBs) enjoy a growing marketplace for packaged, SMB-focused business intelligence (BI) solutions. From all-in-one solutions that you host on your own server to Software as a Service (SaaS) cloud-based solutions that you just sign up for, … Continue Reading
Business Intelligence (BI) solution: SQL Server, Office, and SharePoint
Do you really need to buy a business intelligence solution in order to get business intelligence? Maybe not. If you’ve got more or less all of your data in the latest version of SQL Server, and you’re using the latest … Continue Reading
How to Use Values from Previous or Next Rows in a Query in SQL Server
I recently came across a problem that required having to perform a calculation in a query that involved a value in the current row and a value in the previous row. In SQL Server versions prior to 2012, you need … Continue Reading
Business Intelligence (BI) from the Cloud: Feasible or Fantasy?
As both Business Intelligence and Cloud Computing continue to be the marketing buzzwords of our day, it’s inevitable that the two would eventually come together. An increasing number of vendors are offering cloud-based business intelligence solutions, often targeting them squarely … Continue Reading
SQL Server in Virtual Machines: Myth or Reality?
Can SQL Server live inside a virtual machine? Yes and no. There are certainly reasons to do so, such as the ease of constructing high-availability databases that don’t involve the complexity and expense of Windows Clustering (for example, using virtualization-based … Continue Reading
Alternating Row Colors in SQL Server SSRS
Here is a simple report with alternating row colors; in this case, PaleGoldenRod and LightSteelBlue: In order to create alternating colors, we start by going to the Design tab and selecting the detail row in the tablix data region. Next, … Continue Reading
How to Administer a SQL Azure Database?
As Microsoft continues to develop and promote their cloud-based SQL services, database administrators will have to become adept at administering their company’s Azure-based assets. If you’re a “reluctant DBA” – someone tasked with managing databases just because you’re “the Microsoft … Continue Reading
Three Easy Ways to Improve Performance in Any SQL Server Database
The boss is yelling. Users are grumpy. SQL Server’s performance is tanking, and it’s making all of your organization’s line-of-business applications slow. And it’s your problem, just because you’re the “Microsoft person” in your environment. What’s a “reluctant DBA” to … Continue Reading
3 Tips for Tweaking SQL Server’s SharePoint Performance
If you’re a “reluctant DBA” supporting SQL Server, in an environment that uses SharePoint Server, you may sometimes find yourself wondering how you can get better performance out of the combination. SQL Server is the back-end for SharePoint, so better … Continue Reading
What SQL Azure Means for the Reluctant DBA
Fun joke heard at a recent conference: “What color is the sky when you have no clouds? Azure.” Cue big laffs at Microsoft’s expense. The reality, though, is that SQL Azure – the version of SQL Server that lives in … Continue Reading
How to Create a Simple Find Feature for your SQL Server Database
As we see in the SQL100:Introduction to Transact-SQL and SQL250:Transact-SQL for Developers courses, SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) has a view (aka panel or window) called Object Explorer that contains all the metadata of a database and much more. But … Continue Reading
Using TEXTSIZE to limit the amount of text displayed by the Select statement
My students sometimes ask me how they might limit the amount of text displayed in large text columns, like nvarchar(max), for example. Data types like nvarchar(max), varchar(max), varbinary(max), text, ntext, and image (the last three are deprecated and should not … Continue Reading
How to select multiple SQL Server database objects in SSMS
My students sometimes ask me how they can script multiple tables, views, or other database objects at once without having to do it one at a time. They correctly point out that you can select only one table at a … Continue Reading
How to Create a .Net Stored Procedure in SQL Server
One of the most exciting features of SQL Server is its ability to leverage the power of .Net. With .Net, SQL Server can more efficiently perform procedural tasks that are so inefficient in SQL, or perform non-database tasks, such as … Continue Reading
SQL Server -The Self-Join Query
There are times when it is necessary to join a table to itself. Let’s take a look at the Employee table in the AdventureWorks database to understand the need for a self-join and then how to put one together. We’ll … Continue Reading
Understanding Database Building Blocks in SQL Server
Every house has a kitchen, at least one bathroom and a bedroom, a front door, a plumbing system, and other things. These things can be arranged in different ways and in different numbers to produce different houses. So it is … Continue Reading
Understanding Isolation Levels in SQL Server 2008 R2 and 2012 through Examples
On your way to work, you stop by an ATM. Just as you are punching in your secret code, so is a family member punching in their secret code at an ATM across town. You are going to transfer $400 … Continue Reading
SQL Server 2012 training now available at Interface
Interface Technical Training is offering training in the latest Microsoft SQL release, SQL Server 2012. Interface is recognized as a premier provider of training for IT and database professionals to develop insightful and robust business information capabilities. Two new courses … Continue Reading
Using parameters with multiple values in SQL Server Reporting Services
In one of my SQL courses; 6236: Reporting Services, we learn how to create an “All” option in the values dropdown list of a parameter and see how to “wire up” the All option so that, when selected, the report … Continue Reading
