Blog Post: Me and You or Me versus You
Have you ever had to deal with a manager or co-worker who made your working life uncomfortable or even miserable? That’s one of the most difficult and emotionally taxing situations for adults all...
View ArticleForum Post: RE: connect to a specific instance of SQL Server
I figured this out. When creating a new connection, enter server name\instance name in the "Server name:" box.
View ArticleBlog Post: Azure SQL Server Database
SQL Server in Azure You can create and leverage cloud based SQL Server instances using Microsoft Azure. However, if you have never used the Azure portal it can be a bit challenging to get started....
View ArticleBlog Post: Using a date or int column as the clustered index.
The other day I was answering a question about clustered indexes and it lead indirectly to a twitter conversation on whether a date or int column was better as a clustered index. My contention is that...
View ArticleBlog Post: DBTA : Business Intelligence Enhancements in SQL Server 2014
Microsoft has been pouring R&D resourcesinto building out its business intelligence (BI) feature set and the upcoming SQL Server 2014 (SQL2014) release will continue that trend. The new release...
View ArticleBlog Post: Exam Prep 70-463: Intro to Columnstore Indexes
This post is part of a series on this blog that will help me, and hopefully you, pass exam 70-463: Implementing a Data Warehouse with Microsoft SQL Server 2012. So far, we’ve covered: Tables and...
View ArticleBlog Post: New Power Query Videos Live
I have recorded two new videos for Project Botticelli about Power Query that are now available to view. They are: What Is Power Query? This is short introduction to Power Query is free to view...
View ArticleForum Post: Oracle Tuning Adivisor in TOAD
Hi, I am using TOAD(12.1.1.1) through Remote desktop.I am looking for TOAD option DataBase- Optimize- Oracle Tuning Adivisor but it is grayed out. Please help me regarding this. Thanks
View ArticleBlog Post: SQL Server 20082008 R22012 || Remove Node from failover cluster
Steps to remove node from failover cluster for SQL Server 2008 onwards :- Note :- a) Same process will be used to remove node from failover cluster b) Same process will be used when you left with only...
View ArticleBlog Post: Specifying Allowed Values, Sample Values and Descriptions For...
In part 1 of this series I showed how you can set properties for Power Query function parameters so that saw a description, an example value and a dropdown list containing allowed values when they...
View ArticleBlog Post: What is the Difference between GROUP BY and ORDER BY
All the examples for this lesson are based on Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio and the AdventureWorks2012 database. You can get started using these free tools using my Guide Getting Started...
View ArticleBlog Post: INSERT INTO SELECT vs SELECT INTO
INSERT INTO SELECT and SELECT INTO may be very similar commands but they have some important differences. Every now and again I see people getting confused by the similarities and missing the...
View ArticleBlog Post: Availability Group fail-over test with PowerShell
I have a number of SQL Server Availability Groups in my organization. Of them, most are multi-site configurations for disaster recovery. Naturally, the latency that a separate data center implies is...
View ArticleBlog Post: Materialized Views in SQL Server
What’s the difference between Oracle’s “materialized views” and SQL Server’s “indexed views”? They both persist the results of a query, but how are they different? Sometimes it’s difficult to tell....
View ArticleBlog Post: The Modern Data Warehouse
The traditional data warehouse has served us well for many years, but new trends are causing it to break in four different ways: data growth, fast query expectations from users,...
View ArticleBlog Post: Uncover the Monster Under Your Bed – Webinar and Tweet Chat with...
Think back to when you were safely tucked in between your Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle twin sheets when suddenly you hear a creak. Odds are you didn’t bravely swing your head over the side and peek...
View ArticleBlog Post: Power Query And Function Parameters Of Type List
Here’s something interesting that I just discovered about how Power Query deals with function parameters of type list… Imagine you have the following table in an Excel worksheet, and a Power Query...
View ArticleBlog Post: Video – Identifying large queries using Extended Events
A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by Webcuator (an online training company) asking if they could use my blog post “ Identifying Large Queries using Extended Events ” for a video training session...
View ArticleBlog Post: Friday Followup For December 5, 2014
It’s Friday, time to look back at the most popular RealSQLGuy posts of the week. Because it’s Friday and you’re not doing any real work anyway. Posts That Were Popular This Week Don’t Get Slimed By...
View ArticleBlog Post: What We’re Thankful For: Wrap-Up
Two weeks ago I decided to kick off the holiday season by asking people to write about what they were thankful for . I was very fortunate to get three great responses, which I am happy to share in no...
View Article