The restore finished with no errors, yet the app cannot connect. Here are the four settings a restore quietly changes, and how to fix them.
Login vs User in SQL Server: Who Gets In, Who Can Do What
Login vs user is a question of authentication and authorization in SQL Server. A login lets you into the instance, and a user gives you rights inside one database. This post builds both on a demo database, shows the errors that appear when one is missing, and explains how they map.
The SQL Server Permission Hierarchy
Understand the SQL Server permission hierarchy from server to database, schema, and object, including GRANT, DENY, and role paths.
Granular Server Roles: ##MS_ServerStateReader## and Friends
Assign granular server roles in SQL Server 2022, inspect membership, and give monitoring accounts the state access their queries need.
Auditing Failed Logins With the Error Log and Extended Events
Investigate failed logins with the SQL Server error log and a focused Extended Events session, then group attempts and decide what to do.
Logins and Users in SQL Server: Who Gets In and What They Can Do
Logins and users are two different things in SQL Server. A login gets a person or an application into the server, and a user gets them into one database. This post explains Windows and SQL authentication, how a login maps to a user, and how to check the mapping with a query.
Auditing WITH GRANT OPTION: Who Can Hand Out Permissions
Audit WITH GRANT OPTION at database and server scope, trace delegated permissions, and remove delegation with a reviewed CASCADE plan.