A recent Visual Studio outage has been largely blamed on the cardinality estimator, but I think the query itself has a share of the blame.

I describe a few different causes for a symptom you might describe as a "runaway" query in SQL Server.

As part of a new series, I take a look at what happens to the structure of a page when an INT column needs to be upsized to a BIGINT.

I compare the performance of different UDFs and raw queries used for splitting and reassembling a delimited string.

I discuss a few counterpoints to a very thorough and useful post on database naming standards.

I revisit an older post about SQL Server pagination to see if any implementation of ColumnStore indexes can improve performance.

Tip : Removing Duplicates from Strings in SQL Server

Tip : Advanced JSON Techniques in SQL Server 2016 – Part 3

A hefty introduction to common table expressions (CTEs).

I've stopped supporting ancient versions of SQL Server, and you should, too. I've cleaned up a lot of old, no longer relevant information.

I reveal details about the changes to Availability Groups that will ship in SQL Server 2016.

I highlight a handful of Connect items aimed at improving SQL Server showplan diagnostics and query tuning in general.

I walk through a solution that allows you to achieve some of the benefits of partitioning, without the Enterprise Edition price tag.

I share a few of the queries I use to quickly hone in on changes that have been implemented between SQL Server CTPs.

I list out the changes to In-Memory OLTP ("Hekaton") that will make the feature even more appealing in SQL Server 2016.

Tip : Phase out CONTEXT_INFO() in SQL Server 2016 with SESSION_CONTEXT()

I highlight three Connect items that will address some pretty important shortcomings in SQL Server statistics.

For this T-SQL Tuesday, I treat some of the most memorable data modeling sins from over the years.

Tip : Advanced JSON Techniques in SQL Server 2016 – Part 2

Tip : SQL Server 2016 Advanced JSON Techniques – Part 1

I show some interesting maintenance opportunities for Service Broker queues available in SQL Server 2016.

I talk about new arguments to SERVERPROPERTY() that make @@VERSION even more obsolete (and changes that make @@VERSION problematic).

I show how to map all of those CONVERT style numbers to specific formats.

I show the most efficient way to return a grouped running MAX or MIN.

In this tip, I dynamically generate msiexec /x commands to use when add/remove programs fails.

I explain how SQL Server 2016 improves tempdb configuration and performance.

Tip : Search all string columns in all SQL Server databases

I add a few tidbits to follow up on a popular post on default cursor options in SQL Server.

Tip : SQL Server 2016 Always Encrypted

Tip : SQL Server 2016 Row Level Security Limitations, Performance and Troubleshooting

Tip : SQL Server 2016 Row Level Security Introduction

Tip : Understand the Limitations of SQL Server Dynamic Data Masking

I follow up on Always Encrypted posts from T-SQL Tuesday with improved code and more information on performance and space usage.

Tip : Identify Candidate Tables for Stretch Databases

I investigate the observable overhead involved with using a new SQL Server 2016 security feature, Always Encrypted.

For this T-SQL Tuesday, I talk about a few of the limitations of Always Encrypted.

I discuss a couple of potential problems that can occur when you are inconsistent about case sensitivity.

These two things stop me in my tracks whenever I try to install SQL Server on a new VM.

Tip : Prepare for an Upgrade with the SQL Server 2016 Upgrade Advisor

I suggest a different approach to providing more data about service packs and cumulative updates than messing with @@VERSION.

I look at the tempting All Features With Defaults installation choice for this T-SQL Tuesday.

Tip : Use Dynamic Data Masking in SQL Server 2016 CTP 2.1

I share the settings file for the dark theme I use for presentations in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS).

I compare multiple date formatting techniques, demonstrating again that FORMAT() is not worth the convenience.

A new feature introduces function statistics very similar to what we've had for procedures for ages.

For T-SQL Tuesday #67, I describe a new way to track backup and restore operations using Extended Events in SQL Server 2016.

I take a quick look at a couple of things you should be careful about when calling natively-compiled Hekaton stored procedures in SQL Server 2014.

Tip : Protecting Yourself from SQL Injection in SQL Server – Part 2