This Piecemeal Restore Quiz asks what happens when a query reads a table whose filegroup is still offline. The answer is an error for that table only, while everything else keeps working. A tested script shows the error and then brings the last filegroup online.
Resource Database Quiz: Where Do the System Objects Live?
This Resource Database Quiz asks where SQL Server stores the definition of sys.objects and whether BACKUP DATABASE can protect it. The answer is the hidden Resource database. A tested script shows its version, its date and the system objects every database sees.
SQL Server for Oracle DBAs: The Vocabulary
SQL Server for Oracle DBAs translates instance, database, schema, tablespace, undo, and redo without pretending the two architectures are identical.
SQL Server CLR: The Common Language Runtime Inside the Engine
SQL Server CLR means running .NET code, such as C# stored procedures, inside SQL Server. A diagram shows how the pieces fit, and why CLR helps with the cursors and loops that slow down T-SQL.
SQL Server Layers: Protocols, Query Processor, Storage Engine and SQLOS
SQL Server layers run from the network protocols down to SQLOS and the data and log files. Here is what each layer does, and how physical architecture differs from logical architecture.