2026-04-13
103 reads
Database Design and Implementation
SQL Server Data Warehouse Concepts, Schema Design, and Implementation
Companies generate a huge amount of data on a daily basis from such things as sales transactions, inventory changes, and customer interactions. This data originates from different data sources and is stored in operational databases called OLTP (Online Transaction Processing) systems that primary focuses on transactions like data inserts, updates or deletes. Maintaining the transactional data in an OLTP database is important. However, if you need to analyze or report on the data, storing the data in a centralized repository in well-structured schema is necessary.
2026-03-30
What are database keys? A practical guide
There’s not much to database keys, right? When you build a new table, you add a column to act as the primary key, then set it to auto-generate. Done. That’s all there is to know…right?
2026-03-25
Designing SQL Server Pipelines That Are Ready for AI Before You Actually Need AI
Introduction. Why AI Readiness Starts in the Database You probably don’t need machine learning today. Most organizations don’t. You already have reporting dashboards, operational workflows, and business intelligence that work just fine without neural networks or predictive models. That’s not a failure. It’s normal. The problem doesn’t show up immediately. It shows up a few […]
2026-02-27
2,165 reads
Don't Let Corner Cases Drive Your Design
When we design a database or system, we often do so with corner cases in mind. We don't have to do this.
2025-12-01
114 reads
Being Mindful of Design Time
Do you take the time to model and design your database? Steve thinks this is important, even while trying to make changes quicker to adapt to changing requirements.
2025-11-14
101 reads
Poor Name Choice
Steve has a few thoughts on the names we choose for tables, columns, files, and more.
2025-11-07
140 reads
Data Encoding Schemes
Your choice of how you encode data can be significant. With computers and databases, you have a wide range of options. As a programmer, you will likely be called upon at some time in your career to design and coding scheme for particular application. It would really help if you at least avoided designing a bad one.
2025-06-30
A Domain for Data
A SQL DDL statement that Steve never knew about is the subject of today's editorial.
2025-04-04
132 reads
Scales & Measurements
If you’re going to work with databases, you probably ought to know something about data. In particular, we don’t put data directly into a database; we have to encode it and represent it in a format which a machine can handle.
2025-04-02
Blogs
Beware of Generic SQL Server License Keys (What to Use Instead)
By SQLPals
Beware of Generic SQL Server License Keys (What to Use Instead) ...
On Speaking Well
By Brian Kelley
Professor Patrick Winston of MIT used to give a one-hour talk about how to...
Monday Monitor Tips: Oracle Custom Metrics
By Steve Jones
One of the popular features of Redgate Monitor has been the ability to add...
Forums
Creating a JSON Document II
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Creating a JSON Document II
Backing Up Azure Key Vault EKM Key: Stairway to TDE Level 6
By VishnuGupthanSQLPowershellDBA
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Backing Up Azure Key Vault...
Every Database Has Problems
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Every Database Has Problems
Question of the Day
Creating a JSON Document II
I want to create a JSON document that contains data from this table:
TeamID TeamNameCity YearEstablished 1 Cowboys Dallas 1960 2 Eagles Philadelphia 1933 3 Packers Green Bay 1919 4 Chiefs Kansas City 1960If I run this code, what document(s) is/are returned?
SELECT json_objectagg( n.city : n.TeamName) FROM dbo.NFLTeams;See possible answers