Microsoft Team

SQL Server 2014 : New incremental statistics

Do you use partitioning with SQL Server? If yes this post is for you because there are good news about partitioning with SQL Server 2014. I remember an old job with a healthcare customer who we decided to implement(…)

SQL Server 2014: SELECT INTO operators can run in parallel

A couple of weeks ago, I had to provide some best practices in term of architecture for a “heavy writes” environment that consists in importing data from different sources into SQL Server tables. At the customer place, I was(…)

SQL Server 2014: In-Memory tables, Bw-Tree, and storage

SQL Server 2014 introduces hash indexes with in-memory optimized tables. I described some of their aspects in a previous blog post.  These indexes are very efficient with lookup search operations but have some limitations with operations(…)

Transparent data encryption, key management and backup strategies

Transparent Data Encryption requires the creation of a database key encryption. The database key is a part of the hierarchy of SQL Server encryption tree with at the top of the tree the DPAPI. Then if we traverse the(…)

SQL Server 2014: Buffer pool extension – an interesting new feature

Buffer pool extension (aka BPE) is an interesting feature of SQL Server 2014. Database administrators already know that memory is one of the key assets available for SQL Server. This is especially true for buffer pool memory, which plays(…)

SQL Server 2014: Deleting files of a hekaton table

A recurrent question I have often heard about Hekaton objects is the following: Is an accidental deletion of the compilation files of a hekaton table on the file system irreversible and could this compromise the execution of SQL Server?(…)

SQL Server 2014 : SELECT ALL USERS SECURABLES & DB admins

Microsoft will introduce four new security permissions in SQL Server 2014. One of them called SELECT ALL USERS SECURABLES is the subject of this post.  As explained by Microsoft SQL Server 2014 will allow a database administrator to manage(…)

SQL Server 2014: Hekaton memory optimized tables, hash indexes, and bucket counts

For my first blog post at dbi services, I think it could be a good opportunity to begin by discussing around SQL Server 2014, Hekaton memory optimized tables, and hash indexes. When you create a memory optimized table you(…)

IT Pro TechDays 2013 in Lausanne: BYOD, SQL Server & SharePoint

I had the opportunity to attend the IT Pro day at the Microsoft Techdays in Lausanne. Let me give you a few insights on my day there. Being a SharePoint specialist but also ramping up on Microsoft SQL Server(…)

Collation changes in Microsoft SQL Server are not that simple

Lots of DBAs are changing the collation of their SQL Server databases without knowing exactly what they do and the consequences of this change. And as they don’t know what they do, they often only perform the small and easiest(…)