Monthly Archives: January 2017

Disabling #sqlprompt Formatting

Posted on January 31, 2017 by

I love SQL Prompt, especially the new formatting engine. However, it’s not perfect, and there are times I don’t want code reformatted. One great example is when I write INSERT statements. Here’s what I might write: INSERT dbo.Payments_A   ( … Continue reading →

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A Wide Variation in Skill

Posted on January 31, 2017 by

I was helping someone recently clear up some confusion about the encryption structure of their TDE databases. This individual wasn’t sure about how the various keys were used, which ones needed to be backed up, and which keys needed to … Continue reading →

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#ReadyRoll at #SQLintheCity

Posted on January 30, 2017 by

When Redgate purchased ReadyRoll a few years ago, I wasn’t sure this was a great idea. After all, SQL Source Control and DLM Automation work really well to bundle up changes in a VCS and easily deploy them. However, as … Continue reading →

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The New DBA is a Developer

Posted on January 30, 2017 by

I was reading a short piece from Mike Fal recently and it struck a chord with me. I started working with computers as a developer, really a hack programmer as a kid. Friends and I would build small games or … Continue reading →

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The vNext Bleeding Edge

Posted on January 28, 2017 by

Microsoft has had early access programs for years. I worked at a few companies that were a part of the TAP (Technology Adoption Program) program, and we would get access to code early in exchange for providing feedback and working … Continue reading →

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Finding Sysadmins with dba tools–GetDbaRoleMember

Posted on January 27, 2017 by

I really like the dbatools project. This is a series of PowerShell cmdlets that are built by the community and incredibly useful for migrations between SQL Servers, but also for various administrative actions. I have a short series on these … Continue reading →

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How Much Code Can You Review?

Posted on January 27, 2017 by

When I was in college, I mostly wrote my own code for assignments (and fun), turning it in when I thought it was done. At some point I had a class that started to adopt more software engineering practices, and … Continue reading →

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What’s a Database Encryption Key (DEK) in TDE

Posted on January 26, 2017 by

The encryption mechanisms in SQL Server are interesting, and they work well, but they are somewhat poorly named. I ran across a few people struggling to understand, so I decided to cover the concepts in a series of posts. This … Continue reading →

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The New SQL Server 2016 Edition Limits

Posted on January 26, 2017 by

I was thrilled with SQL Server 2016 SP1. I’ve been asking for all features to be in all editions for a long time, and now we have most of the features available. There are still a few enterprise only items, … Continue reading →

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Querying My Named Instance in PoSh–#SQLNewBlogger

Posted on January 25, 2017 by

Another post for me that is simple and hopefully serves as an example for people trying to get blogging as #SQLNewBloggers. I was looking at some sample code the other day and it looked like this. cd sqlserver:\sql\localhost\default\databases This allows … Continue reading →

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