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.
SQL Server emergency? Email pinal@sqlauthority.com with URGENT in the subject line.
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.
Spotting Unusually Small Backups Against Each Database’s Average
Flag unusually small backups against database-specific history, use aggregate filtering, and investigate alerts without assuming data loss.
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