SQL ConstantCare® Population Report: Spring 2026
It’s time for our quarterly update of our SQL ConstantCare® population report, showing how quickly (or slowly) folks […]
brentozar.com
There’s a Bug in sys.dm_exec_query_plan_stats.
When you turn on last actual plans in SQL Server 2019 and newer: ALTER DATABASE SCOPED CONFIGURATION SET […]
Building My Dev/Prod Demon Hunters Session, Part 2: The Tactics
This week at the SQLBits conference in Newport, I’m teaching an all-new all-day session called Dev-Prod Demon Hunters: […]
Updated First Responder Kit and Consultant Toolkit for April 2026
If there was ever a release you should skip for reliability reasons, it’s this one. There’s a lot […]
Announcing the Panel Lineup for My SQLBits Cloud Discussion
At SQLBits, I’m hosting a panel discussion called 20 Years of the Cloud: What Changed, What Didn’t, and […]
SQL Server 2016 Support Ends in 90 Days.
On July 14, 2026, Microsoft’s extended support ends for SQL Server 2016. Brent Ozar Unlimited circa 2016 They […]
Announcing More Improvements to PasteThePlan.com
Need to share an execution plan, like on forums or on Stack Overflow, and you wanna get their […]
SQLBits Bonus: Free Fundamentals + Mastering Bundle for My Training ...
Good news! My training day workshop, Dev/Prod Demon Hunters, was sold out, but Bits just moved me into […]
[Video] Office Hours: Microsoft Database Q&A
Let’s go through a LOT of your top-voted questions from https://pollgab.com/room/brento on a VERY early Saturday morning. 00:00 […]
Contest: Make the Comments Look Like My ChatGPT History.
Let’s have some fun. Put yourself in the frame of mind of the fella who writes this blog. […]
How Multi-Column Statistics Work
The short answer: in the real world, only the first column works. When SQL Server needs data about […]
Who’s Hiring Database People? April 2026 Edition
Is your company hiring for a database position as of April 2026? Do you wanna work with the […]
SQL Server 2025 CU4 Adds Automatic Updates
Big news for everyone who has to manage Microsoft SQL Server, whether they’re DBAs, sysadmins, or developers. Seven […]
How to Draw Line Graphs in SSMS
Ever just need a quick visualization of some numbers to get a rough idea of the trend, like […]
I’m Coming to the PASS Summit in Frankfurt!
The pre-conference lineup for the PASS Data Community Summit Frankfurt event was just released, and I’m proud to […]
[Video] Office Hours: Q&A on the Mountaintop
Well, maybe mountain is a bit of a strong word, but it’s one of the highest elevation home sites […]
Y’all Are Getting Good Free AI Advice from PasteThePlan.
PasteThePlan has a new AI Suggestions tab, and it’s been really fun to watch the query plans come […]
My Wish List for SQL Server Performance Features
There are a lot of shopping days left before Christmas, and even more before the next version of […]
SSMS v22.4.1: Copilot is GA. So What’s It Do Right ...
Copilot in SSMS has two parts. Usually people focus on the pop-out Copilot chat window, and that’s useful […]
[Video] Office Hours in North Bay, Ontario
I’m up in North Bay, Ontario, Canada for the 2026 Can-Am Curling Cup run by Aaron Bertrand – […]
Updated First Responder Kit and Consultant Toolkit for March 2026
For the last few years, I’ve slowed the First Responder Kit release down to once per quarter. It […]
Get Free AI Query Advice in PasteThePlan.
At PasteThePlan.com, you can paste execution plans into your browser, then send a link to someone else to […]
[Video] Office Hours, Standing in the Ocean Edition
My tripod is probably never gonna recover from the salt water, but the water was so nice that […]
Using Claude Code with SQL Server and Azure SQL DB
Let’s start with a 7-minute demo video – I didn’t edit this down because I want you to […]
Row-Level Security Can Slow Down Queries. Index For It.
The official Azure SQL Dev’s Corner blog recently wrote about how to enable soft deletes in Azure SQL […]
Logical Reads Aren’t Repeatable on Columnstore Indexes. (sigh)
Sometimes I really hate my job. Forever now, FOREVER, it’s been a standard thing where I can say, […]
[Video] Office Hours: Back in the Bahamas Edition
Yes, I’m back on a cruise ship with another 360 degree video. Lest you think I’m being wildly […]
Who’s Hiring Database People? March 2026 Edition
Is your company hiring for a database position as of March 2026? Do you wanna work with the […]
The Tech Consulting Market Isn’t Looking Good.
After hearing the same dire news from several of my consulting friends, I put a poll up on […]
[Video] Office Hours in the Vegas Home Office
Let’s hang out in my home office in Vegas and go through your top-voted questions from https://pollgab.com/room/brento. The […]
I Don’t Take Private Questions at Pre-Conference Classes.
When I first started teaching database sessions at conferences, I noticed a pattern. When I finished the session, […]
10 Signs It Was Time to Hire Me
You’ve been reading my blog, watching my videos, and maybe even taking some of my training classes. You’ve […]
[Video] Office Hours: Ask Me Anything About Microsoft SQL Server ...
Want to ask your own questions or pick the ones I discuss? Head over to https://pollgab.com/room/brento to get […]
How to Help Copilot Encourage Good Database Standards
I know a lot of y’all lag behind on upgrading SSMS, but v22.3 just introduced something that you […]
[Video] Office Hours at Atlantis, Bahamas
It’s an overcast afternoon at Atlantis Paradise Island in the Bahamas, so since I can’t go into the […]
Updated First Responder Kit and Consultant Toolkit for February 2026
Two big sets of news this month! The Consultant Toolkit now supports imports to a database so you […]
[Video] Office Hours Aboard the Groove Cruise
On the world’s largest floating electronic dance music festival, I took your top-voted database questions from https://pollgab.com/room/brento. Here’s […]
Who’s Hiring Database People? February 2026 Edition
Is your company hiring for a database position as of February 2026? Do you wanna work with the […]
I’m Coming to #SQLBits! Here are My Sessions.
The annual SQLBits conference is April 22-25, and they just announced the session and speaker lineup. This year’s […]
[Video] Home Office Hours, Under Construction Edition
While in the midst of moving my home office into a new room in the house, I stopped […]
Automatic Stats Updates Don’t Always Invalidate Cached Plans
Normally, when SQL Server updates statistics on an object, it invalidates the cached plans that rely on that […]
Maybe You Shouldn’t Even Be Using Clustering or AGs.
Sandra Delany (LinkedIn) wrote a well-thought-out blog post called, “Should a SQL Server DBA Know Windows Clustering?” She’s […]
SQL Server 2025 CU1 is Off to a Rough Start
SQL Server 2025 Cumulative Update 1 came out last week, and I was kinda confused by the release […]
Thoughts on PASS’s Bankruptcy, Redgate’s Acquisition, and Private Equity
A private equity (PE) company recently acquired the majority of Redgate Software, the current owners of the PASS Data […]
SQL ConstantCare® Population Report: Winter 2026
It’s time for our quarterly update of our SQL ConstantCare® population report, showing how quickly (or slowly) folks […]
Announcing the 2026 Data Professional Salary Survey Results, And They’re ...
The results are in! You can download the raw data in Excel for all 10 years and do […]
SQLBits Session Voting is Open Now! Wanna See My Sessions ...
I’d love to come over and speak at SQLBits this April, but for that to happen, the organizers […]
New Year’s Task: Quick, Easy Prep for a Raise
You’re busy, so I’ll keep this short. Several months from now, you’re gonna have a salary review. Your […]
Database Development with AI in 2026
This seems like the appropriate first BrentOzar.com blog post in the year 2026, eh? In the PollGab question […]
Are You Looking for Work? Underpaid? Overpaid? Let’s Find Out.
Every year, I run a salary survey to help folks have better discussions with their managers about salaries, […]