Nagaraj Venkatesan

I am Nagaraj (aka Raj), a SQL Server Database Administrator for one of the busiest OLTP systems in Singapore. Being a SQL Enthusiast for over 10 years now, I love to explore and share more and more on SQL Server.

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Blogs

Reality (And Limits) of Instant File Initialization for Transaction Logs in SQL Server 2022

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Reality (And Limits) of Instant File Initialization for Transaction Logs in SQL Server 2022 ...

Looking Back at the Redgate 2026 Company Kickoff

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Last week I spent a few days in Cambridge, UK for the Redgate Company...

PASS Data Community Summit 2025 Recap

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This is long overdue but life and distractions happened. It’s been a little over...

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Forums

Microsoft no longer being supported?

By Richard.Westhaver

The word is finally out that Microsoft is no longer supporting SSRS. I just...

SQL Agent job running gMSA cannot backup to NAS target

By DataMatt43

I'm running a group MSA for the database engine and SQL Agent in a...

sys.query_store_query question

By as_1234

All, My query is as follows: SET DATEFORMAT dmy SELECT p.query_id, DATEADD(MICROSECOND,-rs.max_duration,rs.first_execution_time) AS starttime,...

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Question of the Day

Encoding Strings

I have this code in SQL Server 2025. What is the result? 

DECLARE @message VARCHAR(50) = 'Hello SQL Server 2025!';
DECLARE @encoded VARCHAR(MAX);

SET @encoded = BASE64_ENCODE(@message);
SELECT @encoded AS EncodedResult;

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