January 2013 - Posts

• Backup TO DISK, TAPE and now URL - Backup On-Premises SQL Server Databases to Azure Storage

  There has been a lot of discussion over the years about whether or not it's a good idea to introduce new functionality in service packs (for SQL Server, the OS, and others). The concern is that it can invalidate testing, invalidate documentation, books, Read More... Posted Sunday, January 27, 2013 10:39 AM by Greg Low | 0 Comments

• SQL Down Under show 53 with Grant Paisley - PowerPivot, Power View, SSAS Tabular and Multidimensional

  I promised there would be a bunch of shows this year. The second one is now published. In this show, SQL Server MVP Grant Paisley describes PowerPivot, Power View, Analysis Services Tabular vs Multidimensional and shares the lessons he's learned when Read More... Posted Tuesday, January 22, 2013 12:14 PM by Greg Low | 1 Comments

• Working with Aliases for Windows Azure SQL Databases in SQL Server Management Studio

  One of the issues that is often raised with Windows Azure SQL Database is that you don't get to pick the name of your server, so you end up with a bizarre name such as: yy2l95dk1k.database.windows.net. I can understand why the team did this. Apparently Read More... Posted Monday, January 21, 2013 12:17 PM by Greg Low | 4 Comments

• Windows Azure SQL Database, GETDATE, SYSDATETIME, SYSUTCDATETIME and Rounding

  When I've been putting data into Windows Azure SQL Database (WASD) in the past, I'd normally been providing the dates from my own system. This week, I had the first time where I wanted to put a column default that provided a date in WASD. It suddenly Read More... Posted Sunday, January 20, 2013 9:11 AM by Greg Low | 0 Comments

• New SQL Down Under Podcast: Allan Hirt - SQL HA & Server Core

  Hi folks, I'm back into the swing with a bunch of new podcasts coming, featuring SQL Server 2012. First up is Clustering MVP Allan Hirt discussing SQL Server HA with AlwaysOn. Allan also discusses the deployment of SQL Server on Windows Server Core. Thanks Read More... Posted Sunday, January 13, 2013 1:36 PM by Greg Low | 0 Comments

• New Azure Mobile Services Samples

  Hi Folks, I have to say that I’m really impressed by the rate at which the Windows Azure Mobile Services team is rolling out updates and samples. In particular, it’s good to see a new sample for using Geolocation, given how common a requirement that is Read More... Posted Friday, January 11, 2013 3:15 PM by Greg Low | 0 Comments

• How full is my Windows Azure SQL Database?

  While the level of compatibility of Windows Azure SQL Databases is high, there are a number of things that need to be dealt with differently, compared with how they are done with on-premises SQL Server. An example of this, today I needed to know how full Read More... Posted Thursday, January 03, 2013 1:58 PM by Greg Low | 1 Comments