SQL Server Upgrades: In-Place or New Server?
This isn’t a religious debate. I have a client right now debating how to handle SQL Server upgrades across all of their dev and test environments. And it’s...
2025-12-31
4 reads
Kevin3NF
- Interests: Cycling, family, sci-fi, DBA stuff
Data Conferences – Worth Every Dollar
Some of the best career enhancers you can buy. Why I Go to Conferences I go for two big reasons: Learning from the best. The folks teaching at...
2025-12-01 (first published: 2025-11-12)
276 reads
SQL Server Reliability: Clearing the Fuzzy Thinking
The terminology around reliability is a mess If you’ve ever said, “We’re covered, it’s replicated,” you’re in good company. SQL Server is a massive, 35+ year-old product that...
2025-11-19
15 reads
SQL Server Alerts
Don’t Let Trouble Sneak Up on You Most SQL Servers run quietly. Until they don’t. By the time someone notices an application outage or a failed backup, you’re...
2025-11-03 (first published: 2025-10-15)
327 reads
SQL Server Versions: Out With the Old, In With the Supported
If your production SQL Servers are still running 2016 (or older) you’re basically banking on inertia. Sure, it’s been stable. But that doesn’t guarantee it’ll stay safe or compliant....
2025-10-29
26 reads
SQL Server is Slow, part 3 of 4
In parts 1 and 2 of this series, we’ve gathered info and done the triage just like anyone in almost any industry does At this point you’ve: Defined what...
2025-10-27 (first published: 2025-10-01)
1,724 reads
SQL Server Migration Overview
It’s Not Just Backup / Restore At some point every company faces it: the SQL Server that’s been quietly running for years is due for retirement. Maybe the hardware...
2025-10-22
16 reads
SQL Server Is Slow (part 1 of 4)
How should you respond when you get the dreaded Email/Slack/Text/DriveBy from someone yelling at you that SQL Server is slow? Stop. Don’t Open SSMS Yet. You’ve heard it...
2025-10-08 (first published: 2025-09-17)
404 reads
“SQL Server Is Slow” Part 4 of 4
Parts 1, 2 and 3 got you to the (SQL) engine room. Now we use community-trusted tools to find what’s going on, fix it safely, and hopefully keep it...
2025-10-07
188 reads
SQL Server Is Slow – Part 2 of 4(?)
The 10-Minute Outside-In Triage Don’t Blame SQL First It’s 9:05 AM and your helpdesk lights up: “The SQL Server is down. Nothing works.” By 9:07, everyone is staring at...
2025-09-24
24 reads
Blogs
Deploying an Updated Model with SQL Compare 16
By Steve Jones
In a previous post, I deployed a model to a database using SQL Compare...
Reality (And Limits) of Instant File Initialization for Transaction Logs in SQL Server 2022
By SQLPals
Reality (And Limits) of Instant File Initialization for Transaction Logs in SQL Server 2022 ...
Looking Back at the Redgate 2026 Company Kickoff
By Steve Jones
Last week I spent a few days in Cambridge, UK for the Redgate Company...
Forums
Adding and Dropping Columns II
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Adding and Dropping Columns II
Leveraging DuckDB for OLAP Workloads: The Fabric Modern Data Platform
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Leveraging DuckDB for OLAP Workloads:...
More Documentation is Needed
Comments posted to this topic are about the item More Documentation is Needed
Question of the Day
Adding and Dropping Columns II
I have this table in my SQL Server 2022 database:
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[CityList] ( [CityNameID] [int] NOT NULL IDENTITY(1, 1), [CityName] [varchar] (30) , [Country2] [char] (3), [stateprovince2] [char] (2), [Country] [char] (3), [stateprovince] [char] ) ON [PRIMARY] GOI decide to drop the stateprovince2 and country2 columns. What code should I use? See possible answers
