Can you give someone near DBA rights without full sysadmin access? Here is how to create a database administrator group using user-defined server roles.
SQL SERVER – Three Simple Guidelines for System Maintenance – Notes from the Field #098
Notes from the Field #098: three simple guidelines for system maintenance. Automate what you can, document the rest, and always validate.
SQL SERVER – Security Considerations for Contained Databases
Security considerations for contained databases: how contained authentication works, the initial catalog it needs, and the fallback to server logins.
SQL SERVER – Who Dropped Table or Database?
Who dropped table or database objects on your server? I show how the default trace, which runs in every SQL Server install, can answer these who questions.
SQL SERVER – Transparent Data Encryption and Frequently Asked Questions
A banking DBA quizzed me about TDE on SQL Server 2008 R2. Here are the Transparent Data Encryption questions and answers from that 30 minute chat.
SQL SERVER – SPID is KILLED/ROLLBACK state. What to Do Next?
Your SPID shows KILLED/ROLLBACK and never seems to finish. Here is what that state means, why SQL Server sometimes cannot undo the work and what to do next.
Test Data That Looks Like Production
Test data that looks like production matches distributions, relationships, and volume without copying sensitive values into development.