Key-Value and Document Databases are two NoSQL models. One finds a value by its key, the other stores a whole JSON document you can query by any field. This post shows when each one fits and builds both patterns in SQL Server 2025 with a key-value table and the json data type.
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What Is Replication in SQL Server?
Replication in SQL Server copies chosen tables to other servers and keeps them current. Publisher, distributor and subscriber in plain words, the three kinds, and why replication is not high availability or a backup.
OLTP vs OLAP: Why Transactions and Analytics Need Different Designs
OLTP vs OLAP is the difference between recording what’s happening now and studying what’s already happened. This post compares the two designs, tests the same 500,000 orders as a rowstore and a columnstore table on SQL Server 2025, and shows how data moves from one side to the other.
Polymorphic Associations: Why One Column Cannot Point at Many Tables
One column that points at many tables cannot be enforced by SQL Server. Here is the demo, the orphans it allows, and a design that says no to bad rows.
Bitmap Filters in Parallel Hash Joins: Reading Them in a Plan
Read bitmap filters in parallel hash join plans, compare fact scan output, and distinguish early row rejection from guaranteed savings.
What Is NewSQL? Distributed SQL Databases Explained
What is NewSQL? It’s the name for relational databases that spread data over many servers and still give you SQL and ACID transactions. This post walks one orders table through key ranges, replicas and a majority vote.
DevReach 2013: Presenting in Sofia, Bulgaria
I presented my Database Worst Practices session at DevReach 2013 in Sofia, Bulgaria, on October 1, 2013. It was my first time presenting in Europe. Here is my recap of the conference and my day in Sofia, with photographs.
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