Continuing with my takeaways from SQLCon and FabCon Europe in Barcelona, let’s talk about something almost every SQL Server DBA uses: SQL Server Management Studio.There were several SSMS announcements during the keynote, but the one that’s probably going to get the most attention is this: GitHub Copilot Agent Mode in SSMS is generally available. Now, before you roll your eyes and say…“Great. Another AI tool that can write a SELECT statement.” This is a little more interesting than that. It’s Not Just Generating T-SQL. What caught my attention about Agent Mode is the ability to work through multi-step database problems. According to the announcement, Agent Mode can use context across…
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Every Scooby-Doo mystery starts with a haunted house, a strange villain, and a trail of clues. With SQL Server 2025 now reaching its first Release Candidate (RC0), it feels just like stepping into that creepy old mansion—except this time the mystery isn’t about ghosts, it’s about uncovering the powerful new features that go way beyond AI hype. And trust me, the clues are worth following. But before Mystery Inc. starts sleuthing, you’ve got to make sure the clue generators are turned on. Many of these new features are controlled through database scoped configurations. Think of it like Scrappy-Doo charging into the room—if you don’t let him loose, you’ll miss the…
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(Continuing my Scooby theme 😊, I am on a roll) Zoinks! I feel like I’ve been chasing this ghost for years, and Microsoft finally pulled off the mask. With SQL Server 2025, we finally have what so many of us have been asking for forever: a free Standard Developer Edition. Up until now, if you wanted a dev copy of SQL Server, your only choice was Developer Edition—which is basically Enterprise Edition dressed up for testing. Sounds great, right? Except here’s the problem: most production environments don’t run Enterprise. They run Standard Edition. And that mismatch has caused more mysteries than the Creeper sneaking around the amusement park. (yes, I…
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I am very excited and lucky to be speaking once again at SQLBits along with my DCAC colleagues. SQLBits, the largest Data Platform conference in Europe, held this year in Newport Wales March14th – 18th. It is a conference for leading data professionals with over 300 sessions from speakers all over the world. It is a huge honor to have been selected to share my performance tuning knowledge with attendees. My session, Performance Tuning Azure SQL Database Have you moved to a cloud database like Azure SQL Database and are having performance issues? While the Azure SQL services running in Azure are similar to SQL Server, they are key differences…
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As you know, I spoke to 12 Chapter Leaders and 4 Regional Mentors yesterday. All are very upset with PASS right now and feel slighted, which as a volunteer myself, I empathize. I have given the feedback, to you. After talking with them here is where the problem lies IMHO: communication and transparency. We received an email taking away our token of appreciation PASS gives us for all our yearlong hard work that helps to build and amplify this community. In the email we also were asked to please promote and encourage Summit registrations among other things. You cannot take something away and then turn around and ask the leaders…
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I am honored to be a Guest Blogger at SQLPerformance.com. As a member of the SentryOne Product Advisory Council (PAC) I will be writing occasionally for the site. You can catch my first blog post It’s Not You It’s Me (I/O Troubleshooting) through simple changes. SQLPerformance.com is about providing innovative and practical solutions for improving SQL Server performance. Whether you are running a 3rd party application database where very little can be changed, or you are a DBA at a site where getting the application developers to change anything is next to impossible, they cover both the “how” and the “why.”
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Last week, Bill Wolf aka @SQLWareWolf and I somehow got onto the topic of High School pictures. So in jest, I decided to post mine and hash tagged it with #SQLHSPics on Twitter. I challenged others to do the same, only really expecting @SQLWareWolf to respond in kind. I was floored with over 100 picture responses from #SQLFamily. Many of them went searching through attics, yearbooks, called relatives, and other great lengths to be part of it. As always the response was heartwarming and hysterical to say the least. The reason why I am taking the time to blog about it is to reiterate how great it is to be part of this…
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My first time speaking at a SQL Saturday is now behind me. I cannot wait to do it again. The support from the SQL Family leading up to and after the event was nothing I expected, it was beyond AMAZING. From high fives in the halls to virtual hugs. I had my own cheering section. I was a little nervous and talked probably too fast at times, I am sure, but I hear everyone does on their first time out, right? (Evidently, I say that a lot) The good part was that the audience looked to be truly engaged and listening to what I had to say. I even had…
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As most of you know, I have been a Lone DBA for 15+ years and during that time I have learned a thing or two about how to survive on my own in relatively large environments. One of those things is knowing when to admit you cannot do it all. Working alone on 56 servers you can imagine how the workload can seem insurmountable. There are times when in one week I will do 70+ tasks, not including project work and daily monitoring. To manage and get this type of workload accomplish you have to learn to work smarter not harder. That’s when you have to enlist help and hire…
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I will be speaking at my first SQL Saturday on September 26th in Spartanburg SC. I am so excited to have been selected to give my session on Survival Techniques for the Lone DBA. After a year of, not so subtle hints from the SQL Family (John Morehouse (b|t), Rie Irish (t), Melody Zacharias (b|t), Mike Fal (b|t), Argenis Fernandez (b|t) , Kirsten Benzel (b|t), Andy Yun (b|t), Lindsay Clark (t)), I submitted my first session and got selected. I will be finally standing up before a room of colleagues and talking about my experience as a lone DBA for the last 15+ years. What did I just do? Unless…
