2012
Minimize the impact of DBCC CHECKDB

I discuss several aspects of DBCC CHECKDB and offer suggestions to minimize the impact this crucial operation can have.

Trimming time from datetime – a follow-up

I follow up on an earlier post about trimming time from datetime, this time examining the performance characteristics of various methods without data access.

Is the sp_ prefix still a no-no?

I show several reasons why you should stop using the sp_ prefix on stored procedures in SQL Server, including a (minor) performance hit.

Using named instances? Test your DAC connection!

Playing around today, I discovered that I was locked out of my local named instance using the Dedicated Administrator Connection. This post shows why and explains how you can avoid getting shut out of your own instance.

Splitting strings: Now with less T-SQL

Some interesting discussions always evolve around the topic of splitting strings; here I show splitting on the database side may not be necessary in the first place.

Conditional Order By

See how you can dynamically drive sort column and sort order.

Splitting strings: A follow-up

There were a lot of comments following my post last week about string splitting, and I have tried to address those here.

2011, a year in review

In early 2012, I review some of my community contributions and travels from 2011.