To create table from another table in SQL Server, use SELECT INTO with WHERE 1 = 2 or TOP (0) for the structure alone. This post builds a demo table and compares it with its copy column by column. It shows the identity trap, the computed column that becomes plain, and the statements that add keys, defaults and indexes back.
Partition Switch in SQL Server: Move a Million Rows in a Moment
A partition switch moves a whole partition from one table to another without copying a single row. This post builds a partitioned table with a million rows, switches the January partition out and back in, and shows that only metadata changes. It lists the five errors that stop a switch, with the real message numbers, and ends with the sliding window pattern.
Nonclustered Primary Key – SQL in Sixty Seconds #119
I will describe in detail a bit later on during this blog post. Today we are going to learn that it is possible to have a nonclustered primary key.
DEFAULT WITH VALUES: Fill Existing Rows on a New Column
DEFAULT WITH VALUES fills the rows that already exist when you add a column with a default. Without it, a nullable column keeps NULL in every old row. This post shows the three cases side by side, what a default never does, why the constraint needs a name, and how a large table takes the change in a millisecond.
Nonclustered Primary Key Test: Last Page Insert Waits
A nonclustered primary key test shows whether a heap fixes last page insert waits. On SQL Server 2025 it doesn’t, because the key index still rises. A lane layout that spreads the inserts removes the latch wait, and the post shows the cost of that layout.
SQL SERVER – Last Page Insert PAGELATCH_EX Contention Due to Identity Column
Today’s goal is to understand what is the Last Page Insert PAGELATCH_EX Contention Due to Primary Key. Let us start understanding it together.
Loading Only New Rows: INSERT SELECT With NOT EXISTS
Make loading only new rows repeatable with NOT EXISTS, EXCEPT, source deduplication, and a unique key that protects the destination.