SQL Server
Articles covering SQL Server topics across performance, operations, troubleshooting, architecture, security, lifecycle management, and practical production experience.
SQL Server High Availability: Define the Failure Before Choosing the Technology
A SQL Server high availability discussion can turn into a technology discussion very quickly. Someone suggests an Availability Group, someone else prefers a Failover Cluster Instance, and before long the conversation is about synchronous replicas, shared storage, listeners and automatic failover. Those may all become relevant. But at that point, ...
SQL Server Execution Plans Need Runtime Context
SQL Server execution plans are often the first place I look when a query behaves differently from what I would expect. They tell me how SQL Server chose to access the data, which join strategies it selected and where estimates may not match what actually happened during execution. An actual ...
A Restored Database Is Not the Same as a Recovered Service
A SQL Server restore can complete successfully while the business service behind it remains unavailable. The database may return to an ONLINE state, but that status only tells us something about SQL Server itself. SQL Server restore validation therefore needs to look further: can the application connect, are the required ...
When Permissions Outlive Their Context in SQL Server
Most SQL Server permissions begin with a perfectly reasonable decision. An application needs access to another database, a service account requires additional rights for a deployment, or an administrator receives broader permissions while a migration is in progress. At that point, the reason is probably known, and there may even ...
What I Took Away from Data Saturday Rheinland 2026
Two days of technical sessions, direct conversations with speakers and practical exchange with other data professionals at Data Saturday Rheinland 2026.
AWS Summit Japan 2026: Agentic AI, Data Platforms, and the Operational Reality Behind the Hype
At AWS Summit Japan 2026, the AI message was hard to miss. But the more interesting signal was not the headline itself. It was how naturally Agentic AI data platforms are now being discussed together with infrastructure, analytics, security, developer experience, and operations. This matters because AI does not run ...
SQL Server 2016 End of Support: The Real Problem Is Not the Date
SQL Server 2016 EOL is approaching: Extended Support ends on July 14, 2026, according to the official Microsoft Lifecycle page for SQL Server 2016. Mainstream Support already ended in July 2021. For many organizations, that date is now close enough to appear in roadmaps, risk registers, audit discussions, or internal ...
SQL Server 2016 End of Support: What Companies Should Review Now
In many SQL Server environments, the first problem with an older version is not the version number itself. The real problem is often that there is no complete and reliable picture of what is still running, which applications depend on it, who owns the systems, and which changes are actually ...