SQL Server Performance Tuning Expert - SQL Authority with Pinal Dave

SQL Server emergency? Email pinal@sqlauthority.com with URGENT in the subject line.

May27

SQL SERVER – A Puzzle Part 3 – Fun with SEQUENCE in SQL Server 2012 – Guess the Next Value

My SEQUENCE puzzle part 3 involves some service related steps, so run it only on a test machine, never on production. Can you guess the next value?

May26

SQL SERVER – A Puzzle Part 2 – Fun with SEQUENCE in SQL Server 2012 – Guess the Next Value

Pinal Dave

SQL Puzzle

Part 2 of fun with SEQUENCE: the same script as before, but without MINVALUE. Now guess the next value SQL Server 2012 returns after the cycle.

May25

SQL SERVER – A Puzzle – Fun with SEQUENCE in SQL Server 2012 – Guess the Next Value

Pinal Dave

SQL Puzzle

SQL Scripts

A fun puzzle on SEQUENCE in SQL Server 2012: a sequence starts at 3 and cycles with a maximum of 5. Can you guess the next value it returns?

May24

SQL SERVER – A Puzzle – Fun with NULL – Fix Error 8117

Pinal Dave

SQL Puzzle

SQL NULL, SQL Scripts, SQL Server

NULL is fun to ask about in interviews, since every answer I get is different. A short puzzle on NULL that raises Error 8117, and how to fix it.

May23

Standard Reports in SSMS: SQL in Sixty Seconds #016

Pinal Dave

SQL Video

SQL DMV, SQL in Sixty Seconds, SQL Reports, SQL Server Management Studio

Standard Reports in SSMS put activity, space and performance information a few clicks away. This post adds T-SQL queries for the same questions, tested on SQL Server 2025, and shows the permission error a reader without VIEW SERVER PERFORMANCE STATE receives.

May22

SQL SERVER – SmallDateTime and Precision – A Continuous Confusion

Pinal Dave

SQL Tips and Tricks

SQL DateTime, SQL Scripts, SQL Training

SmallDateTime and precision confuse a lot of people. I explain what the precision really is, using a Facebook question from Raghavendra.

May21

SQL SERVER – Renaming Index – Index Naming Conventions

Pinal Dave

SQL Tips and Tricks

SQL Index

Tables got renamed to a new standard, but what about the indexes? Tell me which index naming conventions you follow when renaming an index.

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Who We Are

Pinal Dave is an SQL Server Performance Tuning Expert and independent consultant with over 24 years of hands-on experience. He holds a Masters of Science degree and numerous database certifications.

Pinal has authored 19 books and 125 Pluralsight courses. To freely share his knowledge and help others build their expertise, Pinal has also written more than 5,800 database tech articles on his blog at https://blog.sqlauthority.com.

Pinal is also a CrossFit Level 1 Trainer (CF-L1) and CrossFit Level 2 Trainer (CF-L2).

Nupur Dave is a social media enthusiast and an independent consultant. She primarily focuses on the database domain, helping clients build short and long-term multi-channel campaigns to drive leads for their sales pipeline.

Shaivi Pinalkumar Dave is a book author and a women’s artistic gymnast.