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To Not CI to Eye

Tony Davis — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:21:57 GMT

Many developers have argued persuasively that each database developer in a team needs to work as sole user of a dedicated database-development environment whilst creating or updating databases. I'm not so sure. Are we in danger of trying to change database development practices to try to cure a problem that is far easier to solve by proper system design?

What's the Point of Using VARCHAR(n) Anymore?

Rob Garrison — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The arrival of the (MAX) data types in SQL Server 2005 were one of the most popular feature for the database developer. At the time, there was a lot of discussion as to whether this freedom from having to specify string length came at a cost. Rob attempts to give a final answer as to any down-side.

Converting String Data to XML and XML to String Data

Robert Sheldon — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

We all appreciate that, in general, XML documents or fragments are held in strings as text markup. In SQL Server, XML variables and columns are instead tokenised to allow rapid access to the data within. This is fine, but can cause some odd problems, auch as 'entitization'. What, also, do you do if you need to preserve the formatting? As usual Rob Sheldon comes to our aid.

SQL Cop Review

Grant Fritchey — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Static code analysis is used a lot by application programmers, but there have been surprisingly few tools for SQL development that perform a function analogous to Resharper, dotTest, or CodeRush. Wouldn't it be great to have something that can indicate where there are code-smells, lapses from best practice and so on, in your Database code? Now there is.

Confessions of a DBA: My worst mistake

Phil Factor — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Over the next few months, we'll be asking various well-known DBAs to describe their worst disaster caused by a mistake they made. To kick off the series, we asked Phil Factor to confess. He came up with a classic: The mistaken belief that a backup WITH CHECKSUM guaranteed a good backup that could be restored, and the ensuing disaster.

Pakistan: Cyber Warfare and Internet Hacking

Alamzeb Khan — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The extent of malicious hacking on the internet, in pursuit of political or economic advantage, crime or just plain mischief, threatens to escalate the cost of even basic IT infrastructure. In the emerging economies, organised hacking is now beginning to impede economic growth so much that organised counter-measures are now required. Our Pakistan correspondent describes the problem there, and suggests some solutions.

How to Document and Configure SQL Server Instance Settings

Brad McGehee — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Occasionally, when you install identical databases on two different SQL Server instances, they will behave in surprisingly different ways. Why? Most likely, it is down to different configuration settings. There are around seventy of these settings and the DBA needs to be aware of the effect that many of them have. Brad McGehee explains them all in enough detail to help with most common configuration problems, and suggests some best practices.

Managing ItemUpdating and ItemUpdated Events Firing Twice in a SharePoint Item Event Receiver

Damon Armstrong — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Developing a Sharepoint application would have all the fun of a video game, if only you had infinite lives. Dangers lurk hidden out there which, if you run into them, can be a blow to your project and waste a great deal of time. Damon gives just one example of a poisoned dagger in the game of Sharepoint Development: The Item Event Receiver.

Chuck Moore on the Lost Art of Keeping It Simple

Richard Morris — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Chuck Moore is still the radical thinker of Information Technology, After an astonishing career designing languages (e.g. FORTH), browser-based computers, CAD systems and CPUs, he is now energetically designing extremely low-powered 'green' multi-processor chips for embedded systems. Behind everything he does is a radical message: 'Embrace the entire problem, Keep it simple'.

Great SQL Server Debates: Buffer Cache Hit Ratio

Jonathan Kehayias — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

One of the more popular counters used by DBAs to monitor SQL Server performance, the Buffer Cache Hit Ratio, is useless as a predictor of imminent performance problems. Worse, it can be misleading. Jonathan Kehayias demonstrates this convincingly with some simple tests.