Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year (2021-12-25 DBW)

Database Weekly for December 25, 2021 Problems displaying this newsletter? [View online](. [Database Weekly]( The Complete Weekly Roundup of SQL Server News by SQLServerCentral.com Hand-picked content to sharpen your professional edge Editorial  Celebrate Together Today is Christmas, and hopefully, most of you are busy enough to not read this until Sunday or Monday. This is a time of year where we try to enjoy life and have fun with friends and family. We can enjoy life together, something that has been lacking quite a bit during the pandemic. If you know of someone alone, please invite them over. If you are alone, make an effort to get time with others. One of the amazing and powerful things that I've discovered over the last 20 years with the PASS Summit and SQL Saturdays is how much better life is when we can be together. I hope we get some opportunities in 2022, some virtually, but others in person. My best wishes to you all for a holiday season and a Happy New Year. Steve Jones - SSC Editor [Join the debate, and respond to the editorial on the forums](  The Weekly News All the headlines and interesting SQL Server information that we've collected over the past week, and sometimes even a few repeats if we think they fit. Vendors/3rd Party Products [Exploring the Flyway Schema History Table]( Flyway uses a schema history table to track the version of each database, recording in it every versioned migration file applied to build that version. It's worth understanding exactly how Flyway uses this table, the possible dangers of moving it to a non-default location and how to do it safely, if required. .NET Related Articles [Estimating a Random Distribution in .NET]( From 36 Chambers – The Legendary Journeys Today’s a fairly short post, all about building ... AI/Machine Learning/Cognitive Services [Angles of AI Ethics]( From Dataversity Discussing the rights and wrongs of artificial intelligence (AI) is more urgent than ever before – and more difficult. In the first of a series of articles, I will propose ways... [2021 was the year of monster AI models]( From Technology Review Feed - Tech Review Top Stories It’s been a year of supersized AI models. When OpenAI released GPT-3, in June 2020, the neural network’s apparent grasp of language was uncanny. It could generate convincing sentences, converse with... Administration of SQL Server [Determining the last time your SQL Server instance was restarted]( From Steve Stedman The following query will show the last time your SQL Server instance was started. I used this just today for planning purposes for doing SQL Server updates on a... [Check Your SQL Server Backup Performance & Safety with sp_BlitzBackups]( From Brent Ozar Unlimited Out of all of the scripts in our free First Responder Kit, sp_BlitzBackups is probably the one you’ve used the least. Let’s talk about what comes out of it,... [Sticking with One Log File]( From Callihan Data We’ve had some discussions about multiple data files for a database. Do we get much benefit from setting up databases with multiple log files? Not likely. Let’s discuss why... [Creating a SQL Server Agent Job to Run Python Scripts in a Virtual Environment]( From MSSQL Tips In this article we walk through how you can run Python scripts using SQL Server Agent, so you can setup scheduled jobs to run your Python code. Azure CosmosDB [Continuous Backups in Azure Cosmos DB]( In this article, we will learn what continuous backup is and how to configure it on an Azure Cosmos DB account. [Continuous Backups in Azure Cosmos DB]( From SQLShack In this article, we will learn what continuous backup is and how to configure it on an Azure Cosmos DB account. Introduction Databases come in a variety of flavors... Azure Databricks, Spark and Snowflake [Advent of 2021, Day 22 – Spark in Azure Databricks]( From TomazTsql Series of Apache Spark posts: Dec 01: What is Apache Spark Dec 02: Installing Apache Spark Dec 03: Getting around CLI and WEB UI in Apache Spark Dec 04: Spark Architecture – Local and... [DevOps for Databricks: Databricks Rest API & Python](http://v) In this blog series I explore a variety of options available for DevOps for Databricks. This blog will focus on working with the Databricks REST API & Python. Why you ask? Well, a large percentage of Databricks/Spark users are Python coders. [Data Engineering with Microsoft Azure Databricks, Synapse and Apache Spark]( From MSSQL Tips Microsoft Azure has two services, Databricks and Synapse, that allow the developer to write a notebook that can execute on a Spark Cluster. Today, we are going to talk... [Advent of 2021, Day 21 – Spark GraphX operators]( From TomazTsql Series of Apache Spark posts: Dec 01: What is Apache Spark Dec 02: Installing Apache Spark Dec 03: Getting around CLI and WEB UI in Apache Spark Dec 04: Spark Architecture – Local and... [Advent of 2021, Day 18 – Time windows for Spark streaming]( From TomazTsql Series of Apache Spark posts: Dec 01: What is Apache Spark Dec 02: Installing Apache Spark Dec 03: Getting around CLI and WEB UI in Apache Spark Dec 04: Spark Architecture – Local and... [Advent of 2021, Day 19 – Data engineering for Spark Streaming]( From TomazTsql Series of Apache Spark posts: Dec 01: What is Apache Spark Dec 02: Installing Apache Spark Dec 03: Getting around CLI and WEB UI in Apache Spark Dec 04: Spark Architecture – Local and... Azure Synapse (SQL Data Warehouse and Data Lake) [Synapse CICD – Manage Triggers]( Manage the Synapse pipeline triggers as part of your CICD DevOps process. [Indexes, Distributions, and Partitions in Dedicated SQL Pools]( From 36 Chambers – The Legendary Journeys Not too long ago, I ended up taking the DP-203 certification exam for sundry reasons. On that exam, they ask a lot about Azure Synapse Analytics, including indexing, distribution,... Computing in the Cloud (Azure, Google, AWS) [Why Some Types of Parallel Scans can be Slow on Cloud Storage]( From Erik Darling Data Upon reading the title, you may be thinking that o... [Use ARM templates to deploy Azure container instances with SQL Server Linux images]( From SQLShack The Azure Resource Manager (ARM) template is a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) file for deploying Azure resources automatically. You can use a declarative syntax to specify the resources, their... [Building a Data Mesh Architecture in Azure – Part 2]( From Paul Andrew Data Mesh vs Azure –Theory vs practice Use the tag Data Mesh vs Azure to follow this blog series. As a reminder, the four data mesh principals: domain-oriented decentralised... Database Design, Theory and Development [Wholesale and retail execution in composite models]( From SQLBI In composite models, any query can be executed on the remote model (wholesale execution) or by mixing local and remote engines together (retail execution). This video describes the differences... [Tales of Data Modelers]( From Dataversity Reading Larry Burns’ “Data Model Storytelling” (TechnicsPub.com, 2021) was a really good experience for a guy like me (i.e., someone who thinks that data models are narratives). I agree... DevOps and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) [What Is DevOps?]( From IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools DevOps combines software development and IT operations to speed the delivery of applications while improving their quality. This article breaks down what DevOps is as well as its pros... ETL/SSIS/Azure Data Factory/Biml [SSIS Catalog Reports – Operations Report]( From AndyLeonard.blog() I recently added an Operations Report to DILM Suit... [SSIS Catalog Execution Ended Unexpectedly]( From AndyLeonard.blog() There are a handful of reasons for an “Ended Unexpectedly” package execution status in the SSIS Catalog. One reason is: the SSIS package was reporting a “Running” status when... Hardware [Samsung Announces First PCIe 5.0 Enterprise SSD: PM1743, Coming In 2022]( From AnAndTech Even though CES 2022 is technically still a couple of weeks away, CES-related announcements are already starting to roll in. Among these are Samsung, who is announcing their first... [Intel Alder Lake DDR5 Memory Scaling Analysis With G.Skill Trident Z5]( From AnAndTech One of the most agonizing elements of Intel's launch of its latest 12th generation Alder Lake desktop processors is its support of both DDR5 and DDR4 memory. Motherboards are... MDX/DAX [EARLIER, EARLIEST – DAX Guide]( From Sqlbi EARLIER: Returns the value in the column prior to the specified number of table scans. EARLIEST: Returns the value in the column for the very first point at... [CROSSFILTER – DAX Guide]( From Sqlbi CROSSFILTER: Specifies cross filtering direction to be used in the evaluation of a DAX expression. Microsoft Resources [Find Out if a PC Will Meet Windows 11 TPM 2.0 Requirement]( From IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools Organizations can potentially upgrade to Windows 1... Performance Tuning SQL Server [Software Vendor Mistakes With SQL Server: Not Using An Optimistic Isolation Level]( From Erik Darling Data The Champ Is Here For developers who have worked with, or who write applications that work across multiple database platforms, working with SQL Server can often be a jarring experience. Problems... [Software Vendor Mistakes With SQL Server: Modifying Millions of Rows At A Time]( From Erik Darling Data But Why? I often see people get stuck hard by this. Even worse, it happens when they’re using a merge statement, which are like throwing SQL Server a knuckleball. It has... [Software Vendor Mistakes With SQL Server: Mistaking NOLOCK For Concurrency]( From Erik Darling Data Corner Boppin’ I totally understand the Cult Of NOLOCK. Blocking sucks. Fixing it is annoying. Read Committed is a garbage isolation level. Then along comes some beleaguered colleague who whispers the... PowerPivot/PowerQuery/PowerBI [Power BI DirectQuery Query Labels For SQL Server-Related Sources]( From Chris Webb's BI Blog If you’re using Power BI in DirectQuery mode against a SQL Server-related data source (ie SQL Server on-prem, Azure SQL DB or Synapse) you may have noticed a new... [Making sense of the Power BI Premium Gen2 Metrics App]( From Guy in a Cube Struggling ramping up on the Power BI Premium Gen2... [Integrated Sparklines for the Native Matrix and Table Visuals in Power BI]( From Havens Consulting Video by: Reid Havens Learn how to add and configu... [Answering questions: another option for many to many relationships in Power BI – Unplugged #39]( From SQLBI Analyze and measure the performance of an alternat... Product Reviews and Articles [Testing a Flyway Database Migration]( From Product learning – Redgate Software Often, we want to test the new version of a database, produced by a Flyway migration, before committing the new migration file, or to test the same migration run... Product Upgrades and Releases [Released: SCOM Management Packs for SQL Server, RS, AS, Azure SQL Managed Instance (7.0.34.0)]( From MS SQL Server Blog Updates to SQL Server, Reporting Services, Analysis Services, and Azure SQL Managed Instance Management Packs are available (7.0.34.0). You can download the MPs from the links below. Majority of... [Early technical preview of JDBC Driver 10.1.0 for SQL Server released]( From MS SQL Server Blog We have released a new early technical preview of the JDBC Driver for SQL Server which contains a few additions and changes.  Precompiled binaries are available on GitHub and also on Maven Central.  Encrypt... [Azure Key Vault Managed HSM support for TDE BYOK now available for Azure SQL]( From Azure SQL Transparent data encryption (TDE)?in Azure SQL Database and Managed Instance helps protect against the threat of malicious offline activity by encrypting data at rest.?Azure SQL?TDE?with Customer-Managed Key (CMK) enables... [User-Assigned Managed Identity support for TDE BYOK for Azure SQL is in preview!]( From Azure SQL Transparent data encryption (TDE)?in Azure SQL Dat... [Microsoft Announces Secured-Core Hardware for Windows Server 2022 and Azure Stack HCI]( From Petri IT Knowledgebase Earlier this year, Microsoft unveiled its plans to expand the Secured-Core initiative to its server products to help protect organizations from firmware attacks. The company has recently unveiled its... Python [Python Regular Expressions Explained with Examples]( From MSSQL Tips In this article we cover in depth how Regular Expressions (RegEx) works along with several examples using Python to explain RegEx. [Interactive Plots Using Plotly Express (Part 1): Line Plot And 3D Scatter Plot]( This blog series is a beginners’ tutorial on how you can make interactive plots in a Jupyter notebook using Plotly Express. In this first blog post on this topic, we will go through the steps needed for creating a basic line Python plot and a 3D scatter plot. R Language [Verifying a stat from The Athletic NBA Show]( From Statistical Odds & Ends A few weeks ago, I was listening to The Athletic NBA Show podcast (Episode 581: “5 Players I was wrong about, 20 Games in Contenders, and Sam Vecenie on... Replication [What for do you yearn? Watch that Replication Burn!]( Replication is not my favorite, it is kind of far from my favorite. No further than that. Little further. Reporting Services [SSRS Interview Questions and Answers]( From MSSQL Tips In this article we cover some questions and topics that may come up in an interview related to SQL Server Reporting Services along with many links for further learning. SQL Server on Linux [How to Move SQL Server System Databases to a different directory on Linux]( From MSSQL Tips In this article we cover the steps on how to move SQL Server system databases to a new location when SQL Server is running on Linux. Security News and Issues [CISA's New Log4j Scanner Aims to Find Vulnerable Apps]( From Dark Reading: Dark Reading News Analysis The open-sourced scanner was derived from scanners built by members across the open source community, CISA reports. [Researchers Discover Four New Security Flaws Affecting Microsoft Teams]( From Petri IT Knowledgebase Security researchers have revealed several new sec... [Preemptive Strategies to Stop Log4j and Its Variants]( From Dark Reading: Dark Reading News Analysis Zero trust is key to not falling victim to the next big vulnerability. [93% of Tested Networks Vulnerable to Breach, Pen Testers Find]( From Dark Reading: Dark Reading News Analysis Data from dozens of penetration tests and security assessments suggest nearly every organization can be infiltrated by cyberattackers. [Microsoft’s Response to CVE-2021-44228 Apache Log4j 2]( Microsoft continues our analysis of the remote code execution vulnerabilities related to Apache Log4j (a logging tool used in many Java-based applications) disclosed on 9 Dec 2021. Currently, Microsoft is not aware of any impact, outside of the initial disclosure involving Minecraft: Java Edition, to the security of our enterprise services and has not experienced any degradation in availability of those services as a result of this vulnerability. [Four Out of Five Organizations Are Increasing Cybersecurity Budgets for 2022]( From Dark Reading: Dark Reading News Analysis Half of security decision makers also say the cyber skills gap will significantly impact their 2022 strategy, according to new research from Neustar. [Cybersecurity in 2021: ITPro Today’s Top 10 Stories]( From IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools Our most-read articles about cybersecurity explore how organizations evolved to meet IT challenges of the COVID era. Software Development [Version control for SQL Server Management Studio templates using Azure Repos]( From Kevin Chant Reading Time: 6 minutes In this post I want to cover how to do version control for SQL Server Management Studio templates using Azure Repos. I wanted to... T-SQL [TOP CLAUSE VS SET ROWCOUNT](20a%20recent%20talk%20with%20the%20Sacramento%20SQL%20Server%20User%20Group%20(@SACSQLUG),%20a%20question%20was%20asked%20I%20wanted%20to%20address,%20and%20the%20answer%20seemed%20more%20like%20a%20short%20blog%20than%20a%20tweet.%20%20I%20was%20presenting%20on%20how%20to%20use%20the%20TOP%20clause%20to%20break%20down%20large%20operations%20into%20short,%20fast,%20bite-sized%20operations.%20The%20mechanics%20are%20things%20I%20learned%20from%20writing%20processes%20that%20do%20garbage%20collection,%20backfill%20new%20columns,%20and%20anonymizing%20PII%20data%20on%20existing%20tables.) In a recent talk with the Sacramento SQL Server User Group (@SACSQLUG), a question was asked I wanted to address, and the answer seemed more like a short blog than a tweet. I was presenting on how to use the TOP clause to break down large operations into short, fast, bite-sized operations. The mechanics are things I learned from writing processes that do garbage collection, backfill new columns, and anonymizing PII data on existing tables. [How to return the character values based on ASCII character number values]( From SQLServer-DBA.Com I want to view the character values based on the ASCII character number values Tech News [KQL - The Next Query Language You Need to Learn | Data Exposed: MVP Edition]( From Azure SQL Azure is the leading platform for many companies, and to manage your databases and other infrastructure you need to have insights into what is happening.  You need to be able... [Managing IT Operations in 2021 Went Beyond Just the Tools]( From IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools Managing IT operations for DevOps, CloudOps and AIOps workloads became increasingly important in 2021, and while the technology is critical, so too are culture and processes. Virtualization and Containers/Kubernetes [The container throttling problem]( From Dan Luu This is an excerpt from an internal document David...  [RSS Feed]([Twitter]( This email has been sent to {EMAIL}. To be removed from this list, please click [here](. If you have any problems leaving the list, please contact the webmaster@sqlservercentral.com. This newsletter was sent to you because you signed up at SQLServerCentral.com. Note: This is not the SQLServerCentral.com daily newsletter list, and unsubscribing to this newsletter will not stop you receiving the SQL Server Central daily newsletters. If you want to be removed from that list, you can follow the instructions on the daily newsletter. ©2019 Redgate Software Ltd, Newnham House, Cambridge Business Park, Cambridge, CB4 0WZ, United Kingdom. All rights reserved. webmaster@sqlservercentral.com  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -