To detect performance problems in SQL Server, start with four suspects and a few dynamic management views that show CPU waits, memory use and the system_health session. This guest post by Eduardo Castro explains where to look first.
SQL SERVER – Becoming a More Effective DAX Developer with DAX Studio – Notes from the Field #134
Bill Anton walks through DAX Studio, the tool that makes writing, testing and tuning DAX easier for Power BI, Power Pivot and Tabular developers.
Encrypt PII Data in SQL Server 2016: Notes from the Field #132
To encrypt PII data in SQL Server, first decide where each value must stay readable. Mike Lawell’s guest lesson is kept, and tested examples now show what masking hides, what cell-level encryption protects, and why Always Encrypted rejects plaintext sent from a query window.
Getting Started With R Services and Forecasting
R Services and forecasting meet when a data scientist’s R script has to run next to the data. This guest post by Eduardo Castro shows how to enable external scripts, install packages and run a forecast with sp_execute_external_script.
Zip Files in SSIS With a Script Task and ZipFile
To zip files in SSIS you don’t need a third-party tool. This guest post by Kevin Hazzard shows how a Script Task and the .NET ZipFile class zip a whole folder in a few lines of C#, and which errors to expect.
Pester the Tester: PowerShell Bugs, Beware! – Notes from the Field #129
Pester the Tester: Robert Cain shows how Pester, an open source testing framework for PowerShell, helps you catch bugs before they catch you.
SQL SERVER – Database Mail Breaks with TLS 1.0 Disabled Discovery – Notes from the Field #128
Ryan Adams sent a test email and it never arrived. He explains why Database Mail breaks when TLS 1.0 is disabled and how he tracked down the cause.