SQL SERVER – Database Backup and Restore Management and Automation with ApexSQL Backup

ApexSQL Backup is a powerful yet simple tool for Microsoft SQL Server which represents a fully equipped command center for database backup and restore jobs management. It enables users to create and schedule backup related jobs (backup, restore, log shipping, index defragmentation…) and monitor all scheduled backup activities or overview complete backup history on multiple servers across the domain.

ApexSQL Backup is designed to create and work with native Microsoft SQL Server backups and databases, and supports all backup options which can be used in the SQL Server Management Studio and encompasses them in a simple and user friendly UI which revolves around simple wizards for each particular job.

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SQL SERVER – Instance Definition Working with Oracle and SQL Server

During various conferences and user group Meetups I meet tons of new people who keep asking me on a number of topics that can sometimes be challenging for me. In a recent SQL Server Bangalore User Group chapter that I just bumped into an individual who had worked extensively with Oracle and was in transition to moving to SQL Server.

It was never a surprise for me meeting such people. Now this DBA asked me the fundamental difference with how instances are done in Oracle Vs SQL. And he was looking for my advice to when to use what. This was an interesting conversation and I wanted to pen down the same for your future references.

What are the Differences?

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Interview Question of the Week #060 – What is the Difference Between EXCEPT Keyword and NOT IN?

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to take many different interviews. Most of the DBA and Developers update their resume with various versions of the SQL Server. It seems like everybody had written SQL Server 2005 as one of their expertise. At this point of time, I remembered keyword EXCEPT which was introduced in SQL Server 2005 but not many people know about it. After interviewing, I realized that even after 11 years of release of SQL Server 2005 still most of the people do not know about EXCEPT keyword.

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SQL SERVER – AlwaysOn Availability Group Stuck in Resolving State For Long time

What is resolving state in SQL Server AlwaysOn?

When there is an availability group, the replica would be either in primary state or secondary state – when its online in failover cluster manager. Resolving is an intermediate state when the transition is happening from primary to secondary or vice versa. If due to some reason the transition is not successful, it goes to “resolving” state. In this state, the database is not accessible.

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SQL SERVER – 2016 – Check Value as JSON With ISJSON()

I have been wanting to write about the various operators that govern to use JSON and my first shot has been with: SQL SERVER – Getting started and creating JSON using SQL Server 2016. That was like a primer and as I see the subsequent releases of SQL Server 2016 CTP’s, I see more capabilities have been added to this. One of the most important tasks to do is to access the value that is represented in a JSON document. In this blog, let me talk about one of the most important function that can be used to validate / address if the document entered in JSON or not with the help of ISJSON().

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