Azure SQL Database Compatibility with SQL Server

A long time ago, in early days of the Azure SQL Database in 2015, I wrote this article in which I tried to compare the SQL Server and Azure SQL Database in terms of versions and compatibility levels. Over the years, that article has attracted many readers and comments through search engines and referrals and

Take off with the new Flight Simulator

On August 18th 2020, Microsoft launched the newest version of the most successful flight simulator ever developed. The program was first released in 1982 and is the longest-running, best-known, and most comprehensive home flight simulator programs on the market. The first flight simulator that I ever played was on ZX Spectrum in 1984. The graphic

The value of mentoring

I’ve spent my whole career working with databases which is over 20 years and counting. I work for a great company and I love what I do. The job is insanely dynamic and requires continuous personal and professional development. Even though my company provides tons of learning resources, when you’re confronted with too many options

Connect() live stream for Developers around the World

Connect() is a yearly, Microsoft-hosted developer event that is broadcast live from New York City to developers worldwide. The Connect(); 2017 Live Stream will begin at 9:45am US Eastern (15:45 Central Europe) with a pre-show and the Keynotes will start at 10:00am Eastern (16:00 CET) on November 15th and stream live 15th and 16th. Watch

Windows Tips and Tricks – Why do I Have Trouble Ejecting USB Hard Drives?

External USB drives should be safely detached from Windows instead of just unplugging them from the computer. Most of us know that by now. But sometimes a safe eject is not possible for no obvious reason. There are some weird situations when we think we closed all the programs that access the drive but there

SQL Server 2017 is coming

It’s official: the next version of SQL Server, planned to be released this year, will be called SQL Server 2017. It is currently in the Community Technology Preview (CTP) 2.0 stage which is the first production-quality preview of the product. Even though it’s coming just a year after SQL 2016, it’s bringing some game-changing features.

Windows Tips and Tricks – Quick Screen Clipping

It’s quite easy to hit the PrintScreen key and capture the whole screen. But how do we quickly capture a part of the screen ? If you are using OneNote, there’s a very cool trick I want to share with you:

Here I go again

About two years ago I wrote my first blog post. About a year ago I paused my blogging activity. That’s when I joined Microsoft…

Dynamic Data Masking

Here’s a new feature that I like very much: Limiting exposure of sensitive data like user emails, phone numbers, addresses, credit card numbers and so on. This feature has been available in the Azure SQL Database for a while and now it is included in the new SQL Server 2016 . So let’s see it in action…

SQL Server 2016: configure TempDB during installation

Proper configuration of the TempDB system database is crucial for optimal performance of a SQL Server instances during heavy loads. The recommended strategy is to create multiple data files, one per CPU core (logical processor), but not more than 8.  Those files should be equal in size and with the same autogrowth settings. In past, this had to