Azure SQL Database and SQL Server 2016 introduced a new security feature for SQL Server databases called Always Encrypted. Always Encrypted is a feature designed to protect sensitive data, such as national/regional identification numbers (Social Security numbers for those in the USA), credit card numbers, and other highly sensitive types of data. Always Encrypted allows […]
Tag: sql server
Dynamic Data Masking – SQL Server
Use Dynamic Data Masking to protect your data
What is Azure SQL
I get asked about Azure SQL very often. This is a topic that I’ve written about and taught many times. To be honest, this is a rather large topic that can go in many different directions. For this post, I want to cover what I consider the basics of Azure SQL. For me, that is […]
SQL Server Patching
Why should you patch your SQL Server instances? Compliance, stability, security, reliability, functionality, and more. Microsoft regularly releases updates to SQL Server known as Cumulative Updates (CUs). Cumulative updates often contain security updates that address vulnerabilities in additional to performance and reliability improvements to SQL Server. There are also bug fixes that are often included […]
Why You Should Test Your SQL Server Backups
My number one reason that you should test your backups is to make sure you know how to restore/recover. The absolute worst time to learn how to restore is when a restore is needed. By regularly testing your backups, you build up muscle memory in how to recover. By regularly validating your restore solution, you’ll […]
Why Aren’t You Monitoring SQL Server
I repeat the phrase “If you aren’t monitoring it, you can’t measure it” all the time. Through my IT career, this has been a constant. If you don’t have a baseline or know what normal looks like, then how can you quantify what isn’t normal when a user starts complaining of performance issues. For SQL […]
Stop Using Balanced Power with SQL Server
The OS default Power Plan for Windows is Balanced Power. This can cause degraded overall performance for SQL Server. Balanced Power is a great concept to help conserve energy by scaling the processor performance based on current CPU utilization, however it isn’t conducive to SQL Server workloads. For SQL Server, I always ask organizations to […]
Reasons Why SQL Servers Don’t Get Configured to Industry Best Practices
Throughout my career, I’ve worked on a LOT of different SQL Servers. Many that were installed and configured by application administrators, developers, vendors, and data professionals. I’ve seen servers with straight defaults and others with various industry accepted best practices applied. One of my favorite sessions I present is “Common SQL Server Mistakes and How […]