ISNULL versus COALESCE can preserve different string widths. Make the intended replacement type explicit before characters are truncated.
SQL Server emergency? Email pinal@sqlauthority.com with URGENT in the subject line.
SQL SERVER – Simple Example of Snapshot Isolation – Reduce the Blocking Transactions
Snapshot Isolation has been in SQL Server since 2005, yet many shops still skip it. A simple example shows how it can reduce blocking transactions.
SQLAuthority News – Professional Development and Community
Hyderabad Techies asked me to open their 16-day online event, TECH THUNDERS, with a keynote. My first talk on Professional Development, in just 15 minutes.
Indexing Foreign Keys
Indexing foreign keys can speed joins and parent deletes when child-side indexes are missing; learn how to find gaps and test write tradeoffs.
What a DBA Actually Does All Day
Understand what a DBA does across incidents, prevention, projects, and automation, with practical checks that connect daily work to business risk.
What Is Compatibility Level in SQL Server?
Compatibility level in SQL Server is a per-database setting, and upgrading the server does not change it. Why a restored database keeps the old level, what the setting really controls, and how to raise it without breaking a report.
Sizing a New SQL Server
Sizing a new SQL Server starts with workload evidence, growth, and recovery goals to estimate CPU, memory, storage, and headroom.
SQL Server slow? Let's fix it together in about four hours.
In my Comprehensive Database Performance Health Check, you share your screen, I guide you, and we fix your biggest performance troublemakers. No passwords. No remote access.
You keep every script, and the know-how to fix it yourself next time.
Want your whole team to learn it?
My Practical Workshop has no PowerPoint, just live demos. My AI Enablement Workshop shows your team where AI saves hours, and where it quietly costs them.
Over 400 customers have worked with me this way, and not one shared a password. See all consulting options.