This month marks the 18th installment of T-SQL Tuesday. T-SQL Tuesday was started in December 2009 by Adam Machanic (blog | @AdamMachanic) and is defined as "a recurring, revolving blog party". Any blogger wishing to participate is invited to write about the given topic, chosen by whoever is hosting that particular …

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This weekend I took and passed Microsoft Exam 70-451 (MCITP: Database Developer 2008). I'm pleased to say my score on this exam was much higher than its prerequisite, 70-433, which I wrote about a few months ago. Much like last time, I am happy to offer my thoughts for those who might be taking this test in the future. …

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This month's T-SQL Tuesday is the brainchild of Matt Velic and was inspired by a quote from Adam Machanic on the importance of understanding the APPLY operator. It's a good trick to have up your sleeve as it can do some nifty things and really save you some keystrokes when used properly. My first experience with APPLY …

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I'm not a fan of the BETWEEN operator. While the syntax is very easy to understand and requires less typing than my favorite alternative, it can lead to situations where unwanted results are returned. Because of this I've gotten into the habit of avoiding it all together. If you'd like a refresher on BETWEEN, its …

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My shortest post to date comes as from the inaugural "Meme Monday" as declared by Tom LaRock. Here's my deep SQL Server thought in 11 words or less: Don't deploy changes until they've been tested in a dev environment. Tagged: Jose Chinchilla (blog) Kendra Little (blog | twitter)

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Another SQL Saturday has come and gone, but for me this one was the best by far. I've now had the pleasure of attending 3 SQL Saturday events but this was the first one I've had a hand in planning. It was a great experience and I can't wait until next year! Friday On Friday I spent the day at Brent Ozar's (blog | …

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After months of planning, SQL Saturday #67 is finally upon us! While this is the 3rd SQL Saturday I'll be attending, it's the first one I've had a hand in planning. It's been a real pleasure to be part of such an awesome team putting it all together along with: – Wendy Pastrick (blog | twitter) – Norman Kelm (blog | …

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I enjoy watching college basketball but am absolutely horrible at making my NCAA tournament bracket each year. This time around, rather than spending an hour making guesses, I decided to let SQL Server do the work for me. Besides it's way cooler to be able to justify your bracket with T-SQL, right? My bracket is based …

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T-SQL Tuesday this month is being hosted by the one and only Jes Borland (blog | twitter), and the topic of the month is aggregation. Powerful and fast aggregation tools are one of the biggest reasons to use a database. Without them, there would be a lot less awesomeness to look forward to – kind of like a meal without …

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If you've been following my blog, you'll know that I've written quite a few posts about the wonders of cloud backups and why you should be doing them to protect your precious data and memories. This doesn't just apply to personal computer use – businesses should be taking advantage of offsite backups as well. Large …

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