First Normal Form (1NF): Breaking the ‘unbreakable rule’ in database design
First Normal Form (1NF) is the most widely known rule in database normalization. It requires that tables contain no repeating groups and that each column holds atomic values. But, in real-world database systems, developers often intentionally break thi …
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 this: Option 1: ask Copilot to write the query for you. In SSMS v22.3 and newer, with the results query on your screen, open up SSMS Copilot and copy/paste this …
How to set up a data analysis environment in esProc SPL (compared to Python)
This article is the first in this six-part “Moving from Python to esProc SPL” series. You’ll learn how to set up esProc SPL, install it on different operating systems, configure your development environment, and load your first dataset. You’ll also wri …
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 share that I’ll be teaching my new all-day pre-conference workshop. Dev-Prod Demon Hunters: Finding the Real Cause of Production Slowness P …
How User-Defined Types work in PostgreSQL: a complete guide
I’m sure I’m not alone when I say, sometimes I get sidetracked. In this particular instance, I hadn’t intended to start learning about User-Defined Types (UDT) in PostgreSQL – I just wanted to test a behavior that involved creating a UDT. But, once I s …
[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 in Las Vegas, with beautiful views over the valley, the Strip, the airport, and the surrounding mountains. Let’s go through your top-voted questions from h …
SQL101: Top Ten SQL Server Performance Tuning Best Practices
There are a huge number of best practices around SQL Server performance tuning – I could easily write a whole book on the topic, especially when you consider the number of different database settings, server settings, coding practices, wait types, and …
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 in and the advice go out. Here are some examples: Date “tables” – when I looked at the query, I glossed over the real problem. I thought arc_Calendar was …
Everything you should know about the SQL Server Resource database
Every SQL Server instance contains a database that most people never query, never back up, and never even see in Object Explorer. Yet, without it, SQL Server would not start. Enter the SQL Server Resource database. This article explains what the SQL Se …
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 SQL Server ships, so might as well get my wish list over to Santa now so the elves can start working on ignoring them. My work focuses on performance tunin …
Why most enterprise AI projects fail – and how to fix them
Today’s AI landscape is characterized by a gap. While it is often relatively easy to reach the proof of concept (PoC) stage, getting from a PoC to a reliable production system is often much more challenging than teams expect. As a result, by some indus …
SSMS v22.4.1: Copilot is GA. So What’s It Do Right Now?
Copilot in SSMS has two parts. Usually people focus on the pop-out Copilot chat window, and that’s useful for sure, but honestly I think you’re going to get way more mileage out of the code completions feature, right away, because it blends in with you …
Protecting Transparent Data Encryption Databases
I have gotten a lot of email questions recently about TDE and SQL Server, specifically around the encryption hierarchy involved in protecting the encrypted data inside of a TDE enabled database in SQL Server. So, rather than continuing to write long em …
DevOps anti-patterns: what they are and how to avoid them
In software development, DevOps promises faster delivery, increased collaboration, and more reliable deployments. However, many teams unknowingly fall into anti-patterns. Anti-patterns refer to recurring practices that may seem beneficial initially but …
[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 – and my team actually won! Hanging out with Andy Mallon, Aaron Bertrand, Leanne Swart, Michael J Swart, and Ken Mallon before the tournament The winning team, w …