Proof of Concepts: Making Hard Things Easy with Azure

PROOF OF CONCEPTS: MAKING HARD THINGS EASY WITH AZURE Back when I managed my employer's enterprise architecture, prior to the days of virtualization and cloud computing, one of my most difficult projects was to build out a sandbox environment for a major proof of concept (POC). Locally hosted servers and all of the required licenses were expensive and scarce. If you're still struggling with scarcity when conducting research and performing POCs, I've got to tell you you're doing it wrong. READ MORE... Posted November 02, 2016 … [Read more...]

SQL Server on Linux – It’s No Joke

SQL SERVER ON LINUX – IT’S NO JOKE Many thought it was an early April Fool's Day prank, but it was no joke: On March 7, 2016, Microsoft announced the beta release of SQL Server on Linux with the intention of shipping a full release of the product in 2017. READ MORE... Originally Posted May 04, 2016 … [Read more...]

Dynamic Data Masking and Row-Level Security Features on the Way in SQL Server 2016

DYNAMIC DATA MASKING AND ROW-LEVEL SECURITY FEATURES ON THE WAY IN SQL SERVER 2016 In addition to StretchDB and AlwaysEncrypted, there are two more exciting features in the works for SQL Server 2016: dynamic data masking and row-level security. In the case of these two features, they'll be released first to the cloud platform (Azure SQL Database) and, later, to the on-premises version of SQL Server. READ MORE... Originally Posted December 02, 2015 … [Read more...]

Tomorrow: Learn about SQL Server on Vmware

SQL Server Running on Vmware. A Common Scenario. I have the honor of presenting a webinar, tomorrow, on Thursday, October 12th, 2017 2:00 pm - 3 pm EDT, with Mr. Charles Kim. We'll be talking about SQL Server running on Vmware, with me taking the SQL Server part and Charles taking the Vmware part. Charles is the Founder of Viscosity North America and his accolades are many and manifold: Oracle ACE Director, Oracle Certified DBA, a Certified RAC Expert, Certified Exadata Implementation Specialist, VMware vExpert, and a VMware Certified Professional. Charles specializes in RAC, Exadata, … [Read more...]

Stronger Security Via Always Encrypted in SQL Server 2016

STRONGER SECURITY VIA ALWAYS ENCRYPTED IN SQL SERVER 2016 Prior to SQL Server 2016, currently in CTP, your main method for encrypting a SQL Server application was to use a feature called Transparent Data Encryption. TDE provides strong encryption, but with some shortcomings. First, you have to encrypt an entire database. No granularity is offered at a lower level, such as encrypting specific tables or certain data within a table. Second, TDE encrypts only data at rest, in files. Data in memory or in-flight between the application and server are unencrypted. Enter Always Encrypted. READ … [Read more...]

ICYMI: Partitioning Advice, Purging Data Bloat, and an example of TVF Misbehavior – SQL Server Performance

Here are some oldies, but goodies that I recommend you read: Two Partitioning Peculiarities and Aggregates and Partitioning Most of us know that partitions are one of the best ways to scale very large databases or very large IO workloads.  However, there are risks, two of which are explored in detail by internals master Paul White (b | t). The Price of Not Purging Holding on to data long after its useful lifespan contributes to bloat and added preventative maintenance headaches. Read this informative post from Erin Stellato (b | t), of SQLSkills.com, where you’ll find a lot of useful … [Read more...]

ICYMI: Troubleshooting CPU, Logging Myths, Missing Indexes, and Query Tuning Examples

Great Articles at SQLPerformance.com There are so many good articles from SQLPerformance.com this ICYMI article that it’s hard to know which are best to highlight in the limited space. So, I’ll be arbitrary and simply choose a few of my favorite entries as well look back: Troubleshooting SQL Server CPU Performance Issues This outstanding article from Joe Sack (b | t) of SQLSkills steps you through a methodical and insightful series of DMVs and queries that can pinpoint CPU issues on your SQL Server instances. Don’t just blindly create those “missing” indexes! Aaron Bertrand (b | … [Read more...]

Amazingly Useful SQL Server Articles on SQLPerformance.com

Me and Aaron Bertrand, SQL Sentry flagbearers. One of the things we've been working on at SQL Sentry is building up institutional knowledge for the SQL Server community. There are three main ways that we're doing that on-line: Hard-core tech articles on SQLPerformance.com, edited by long-time SQL Server MVP Aaron Bertrand ( b | t ). Helping tune tough SQL Server transactions on Answers.SQLPerformance.com for free. Streaming videos at SQLSentry.TV. In addition, our monthly eNews newsletter keeps you up to date on all the latest happenings on all of these websites. Please subscribe! … [Read more...]

Now Playing on SSWUG TV!

Hi friends, I know a lot of you regularly read my blog either on my home page at KevinEKline.com, on SQLBlog.com, or one of the locations where it's syndicated. And you may also regularly take in my content on SQLSentry.TV or my monthly column on Database Trends & Applications magazine.   Click the image to see my new weekly video series on SSWUG.org! Now I'm adding a new video format to the mix, in partnership with my friend Steven Wynkoop and SSWUG.org.  I've been a frequent speaker in the SSWUG virtual conferences over the past several years and, we thought, why not … [Read more...]

New on DBTA.com: Database Benchmarking Tools, the final article in the database benchmarking series

In the last several articles on Database Trends & Applications, I've been describing the benefits of reading and analyzing the benchmarking case studies released by the Transaction Processing Council. I've given you from a broad overview of the TPC benchmarks and shown ways that the vendor-published TPC benchmarks can help you save money and how the vendor-published TPC benchmarks must explain in disclaimers how they tweak their workloads. I have described how to run your own benchmarks and explained how to properly prepare your environment for a benchmark test. Pictured (L-R): Scott … [Read more...]