Make SQL Server monitoring useful by relating waits, batch activity, memory indicators, and file latency to the same workload and observation window.
Peak Concurrency: The Busiest Moment From Start and End Times
Counting sessions per day tells you nothing about overlap. Here is a small event-sweep query that finds the busiest moment, with the tie trap explained.
Pulling Values Out of Text With REGEXP_SUBSTR and REGEXP_INSTR
Extract codes with REGEXP_SUBSTR in SQL Server 2025, locate matches, select occurrences and capture groups, and validate text boundaries.
How to check the ANSI Compatibility of SQL Server Queries? – Interview Question of the Week #221
How do you check the ANSI compatibility of SQL Server queries? A client asked me this unique question, and the FIPS standard helps keep your code portable.
Docker Volume for SQL Server: Keep Your Data Across Upgrades
A Docker volume keeps SQL Server data outside the container, so you can replace the container and keep every database. This post creates a named volume, copies a backup into it and upgrades by starting a newer image on the same volume. It also covers the cautions that protect your data.
MAXDOP Guidelines: Audit CPU and Memory Settings in SQL Server
MAXDOP guidelines start from the number of CPUs and NUMA nodes on the server. This post builds three read-only queries that show those facts, the current MAXDOP and cost threshold, and the memory settings. It also shows how to read the answer without changing anything.
Many-to-Many Merge Join and the Worktable in STATISTICS IO
Diagnose a many-to-many merge join and its worktable, verify true uniqueness, and compare join choices without changing legitimate matches.