Monitor SQL Server using Zabbix
Zabbix is an open-source monitoring software, like Paessler PRTG, which can monitor SQL Server performance statistics and status. Although it doesn’t replace DBA functions, it is useful to provide evidence when things start to fail. Among its features …
Poll: Can Your DBAs Read the Data?
It’s a simple question: can your database administrators read all of the data in all databases? Yes Yes, but we trust them not to – as in, we’ve got written policies in place, and they know they’re not supposed to go poking around in the payroll tables …
How to use pgAdmin with Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server
Multiple tools are available for working with Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server. One of these is the psql command-line utility, which I introduced you to in the previous article in this series. Another valuable tool is pgAdmin, a much more …
Database Architecture Considerations for Implementing Content Moderation Services
Fellow SQL Server professionals, I wanted to share some insights and start a discussion about the database design challenges we face when implementing Content Moderation Services in enterprise applications. As more organizations build user-generated co …
Migrate from Linux to Windows with Availability Groups
We have an SQL Server 2019 server running on Linux Ubuntu, and we want to migrate to Windows for its user-friendliness, software and hardware compatibility, and readily supportiveness. To do that, we’re going to use a read-scale cross-platform Availabi …
Want Me to Train You & Your Coworkers Privately?
Your company doesn’t want to send you off to conferences or training classes in other cities. You’ve looked around locally, but the local options seem to be irrelevant to your needs. It’s generic stuff like how to pass certification classes, or boot ca …
Unlocking Interoperability: A Guide to Foreign Data Wrappers in PostgreSQL and Aurora PostgreSQL AWS RDS
Unlocking Interoperability: A Guide to Foreign Data Wrappers in PostgreSQL and Aurora PostgreSQL AWS RDS As a database professional, I often encounter scenarios where data is fragmented across various systems. In today’s distributed IT landscape, it’s …
Microsoft Fabric Has a New Service Status Page.
I’ve been pretty vocal here on the blog and on social media about the reliability problems with Microsoft Fabric. Today, I’ve got good news: Microsoft released a new Fabric status page and a known issues page, something that really does take guts given …
How to Use the New PRODUCT() Function in SQL Server 2025
With each version of SQL Server, there are always a few new features introduced that we applaud as we finally have access to a useful function that is already available elsewhere. Introduced in SQL Server 2025 CTP 1.3, the PRODUCT() function acts simil …
An Introduction To Database Diagrams
A database diagram clearly details the structure, relationships, and data rules in a database. It makes storing, retrieving and manipulating your data much simpler by ensuring your data’s consistency and organisation. This image belows shows a very sim …
When INCLUDE Columns Quietly Inflate Your Transaction Logs
Introduction As DBAs, we often think of INCLUDE columns as a harmless way to cover queries.They aren’t part of the index key, so it’s easy to assume that adding them wouldn’t have much impact. This thinking is dangerously incomplete. While INCLUDE colu …
Automating SQL Server Access Review
Tracking and reviewing user access in a SQL Server is an important tasks for any DBA. Unauthorized access or suspicious activity can comprise sensitive data, leading to business disruption, data breaches, or financial losses. In this article, we will l …
Incrementally Loading Data into Parquet with Python
Parquet is a column-oriented open-source storage format increasingly used for “big data” analytics. Yet despite its growing popularity as a native format for data lakes and data warehouses, tools for maintaining these environments remain scarce. Gettin …
Getting In: Running External Code in a Locked-Down PaaS
In Part 1, I explored how to bend SQL Server Agent to our will and peek under the hood of Azure SQL Managed Instance (SQL MI), gaining full OS access to the container (all without relying on xp_cmdshell). But once I realized what kind of door I’d opene …
How to Script Dimensions with data build tool (dbt) Macros
In previous articles we introduced the popular data engineering tool dbt (data build tool). We showed you how you can transform data in a Microsoft Fabric warehouse and how you can create tables with dbt models. We also demonstrated how you can use mac …