SQL Server database backup tools September 18, 2018 by SQLShack This collection of content presents an overview of top SQL Server database backup tools, with product page links for each of the tools and screenshots if available. If you noticed a tool we missed, please let us know in the comments below. Read more »
Querying data using the SQL Coalesce function September 18, 2018 by Bojan Petrovic We all know that a Null value is a field with no value. The statements that we are running daily will have to deal with Null values, especially when it comes to strings concatenation (adding strings together). Read more »
Available options for generating heatmaps in an SSRS report September 17, 2018 by Sifiso W. Ndlovu As developers of business intelligence solutions, we tend to service different types of business users. Whilst a call center supervisor is more likely to consume reports that offer detailed breakdown of day-to-day performance of her call center agents, senior managers on the other hand often prefer big-picture analytical reports that represent data in a form of colorful graphs and charts. Not surprisingly, such reports often make use of heatmap controls to provide visually effective comparative view of business metrics against set targets. Read more »
SQL Join overview and tutorial September 17, 2018 by Prashanth Jayaram The ability to combine results from related rows from multiple tables is an important part of relational database system design. In SQL Server, this is accomplished with the SQL join clause. It’s the nature of traditional relational database systems where some table contains information related to other tables with a common key value. Using a SQL join, you can easily perform queries on related data-sets from multiple tables with these shared keys. Read more »
SQL Server database auditing tools September 17, 2018 by SQLShack This collection of content presents an overview of top SQL Server database auditing tools, with product page links for each of the tools and screenshots if available. If you noticed a tool we missed, please let us know in the comments below. All database auditing tools are sorted by alphabetical order. Read more »
Advanced SQL Interview Questions and Answers on SQL Server Architecture September 17, 2018 by Rakesh Patil These SQL interview questions and answers deal with the following topics: SQL Server High & Low-Level Architecture Transaction Log Architecture Query processing Architecture Memory Architecture New Features added in SQL Server versions 2008, 2008 R2, 2012, 2014, 2016 SQL Server High & Low-Level Architecture Read more »
SQL Substring function overview September 14, 2018 by Prashanth Jayaram The requirement of data refactoring is very common and vital in data mining operations. In the previous article SQL string functions for Data Munging (Wrangling), you’ll learn the tips for getting started with SQL string functions, including the SQL substring function for data munging with SQL Server. As we all agree that the data stored in one form sometimes require a transformation, we’ll take a look at some common functions or tasks for changing the case of a string, converting a value into a different type, trimming a value, and replacing a particular string in a field and so on. Read more »
SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) Shared Dataset September 14, 2018 by Esat Erkec In the SQL Server Reporting Service (SSRS) report development process; we can use a beneficial feature which is called the “shared dataset”. The purpose of SSRS embedded datasets are to retrieve data from target data sources for only one report but a shared dataset can be used by multiple reports to retrieve data. Read more »
How to perform a performance test against a SQL Server instance September 14, 2018 by Jefferson Elias Introduction Intended audience This document is intended for application developers and database administrators who plan to evaluate performance for any computer hosting a SQL Server instance. Read more »
Top free add-ins for SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) September 13, 2018 by SQLShack This collection of content presents an overview of free SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) add-ins, with product page links for each of the tools and screenshots if available. SSMS add-ins are presented in alphabetical order. If you noticed a free tool we missed, please let us know in the comments below. Read more »
SQL string functions for Data Munging (Wrangling) September 13, 2018 by Prashanth Jayaram In this article, you’ll learn the tips for getting started using SQL string functions for data munging with SQL Server. In many cases, Machine learning outcomes are only as good as the data they’re built on – but the work of preparing data for analytics (that is, data wrangling) can eat up as much as 80% of your project efforts. Read more »
SQL Server transactional replication: How to reinitialize a subscription using a SQL Server database backup September 13, 2018 by Prashanth Jayaram A workload management is considered as a critical aspect of SQL Server transactional replication. Replication is the oldest of the high availability technologies in SQL Server and it is available since the inception of SQL Server. As a very mature technology, SQL Server transactional replication is also very robust and, in most cases, very straightforward to set up and manage. Read more »
Querying data using the SQL Case statement September 12, 2018 by Bojan Petrovic The Case statement in SQL is mostly used in a case with equality expressions. The SQL Case statement is usually inside of a Select list to alter the output. What it does is evaluates a list of conditions and returns one of the multiple possible result expressions. Read more »
SQL Server Execution Plan Operators – Part 1 September 12, 2018 by Ahmad Yaseen In the previous articles of this series, SQL Server Execution Plans overview , SQL Server Execution Plans types and How to Analyze SQL Execution Plan Graphical Components, we discussed the steps that are performed by the SQL Server Relational Engine to generate the Execution Plan of a submitted query and the steps performed by the SQL Server Storage Engine to retrieve the requested data or perform the requested modification operation. Read more »
SQL Replication: Basic setup and configuration September 12, 2018 by Prashanth Jayaram This is article is a continuation of the previous: SQL Server replication: Overview of components and topography. By now, you’re familiar with the components of replication. So far, we’ve seen a lot of theory about replication. It’s a time for practical walkthrough of setting up a basic transactional SQL Replication system. The best way to get a feel for how SQL Replication is implemented and how it works is to see it in action. Read more »
How to setup a custom SQL Server transaction replication model with a Central Subscriber and Multiple Publisher databases September 12, 2018 by Prashanth Jayaram In this data-driven era, replication is often a critical requirement for achieving a modern, agile database management environment. It is believed designing an enterprise-grade dataset is the to achieving this requirement but building datamarts from datasets always presents certain challenges In this article, we’ll discuss what it takes to setup “central subscriber with multiple publishers” replication model, to create an aggregate dataset from multiple sources, and you’ll also see how to scale with the data. Read more »
SQL Server replication: Overview of components and topography September 11, 2018 by Prashanth Jayaram The volume of data retained, managed, and accessed today is unprecedented. Businesses expect the IT department to keep data online and accessible indefinitely, putting intense pressure on the databases required to store and manage it. To meet today’s needs; we need to replace outdated and inefficient legacy processes with new, more agile techniques. SQL Server Replication is one of the techniques to accommodate such demands. Read more »
How to create a Mobile Dashboard with SQL Server Microsoft Mobile Publisher? September 10, 2018 by Esat Erkec Over the past three years, I read some interesting news about Microsoft which was “Microsoft acquires mobile business intelligence leader Datazen”. This news made me excited because showing Reporting Service reports in mobile devices can be painful and often not effective for end users. After this acquisition, Microsoft developers worked quickly to adapt the Datazen application to SQL Server Reporting Services and this effort culminated in Microsoft SQL Server Mobile Report Publisher. Read more »
How to Analyze SQL Execution Plan Graphical Components September 7, 2018 by Ahmad Yaseen In the previous articles of this series, SQL Server Execution Plans overview and SQL Server Execution Plans types we went through the different stages that the submitted SQL Server query followed and how it processed by the SQL Server Relational Engine that generates the Execution Plan and the SQL Server Storage Engine that performs the requested data retrieval or modification operation. In addition, we described deeply the different types and formats of the SQL Server Execution Plans that can be used for queries performance troubleshooting purposes. In this article, we will discuss the graphical query plan components and how to analyze it. Read more »
How to create a SQL dependency diagram in SQL Server September 4, 2018 by Marko Zivkovic Deleting or changing objects may affect other database objects like views or procedures that depends on them and in certain instances, can “break” the depending object. An example can be that if a View queries a table and the name of that table changes. The View will no longer function. Read more »
