I've been keen on MySQL ever since I first started using it heavily more than a decade ago.  In fact, I liked it well enough to include it as one of the four main database platforms, over and above the ANSI-ISO SQL standard, in my popular book SQL in a Nutshell. However, with the advent of NoSQL data platforms in the last few years, ...

Relational?!? Move On, Geezer!Maybe you're thinking that relational databases management systems (RDBMSs), like Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle, are going the way of punched cards and rotary phones.  After all, there's been a lot of hype these days in the IT media about the rise of so-called NoSQL (Not Only SQL) databases. ...

I read too much, and that, my friends, is an entirely separate topic for a blog post. But I thought I'd share with you a little more about what I'm reading because sometimes, if I'm lucky, it might be something you'd enjoy too. So I'm going to start sharing what I'm reading at least once per week, partly so that I don't firehose too many ...

There are so many great tools out there for data professionals using Microsoft SQL Server.  I really like to see all of these great tools made free to the public.  On the other hand, I'm bummed that the tools are cast about in a very decentralized fashion. If you haven't done migrations before, you might want to start with these ...

I read a comment in a Connect suggestion today that implied that implementing their suggestion would allow SQL Server to ''keep up with MySql.''  Regardless of the actual suggestion, that made me laugh out loud... and since I was on the train, that got me some weird looks. The actual suggestion was to add row constructors, e.g. INSERT ...

Hello, there!  You’ve somehow managed to navigate your way through the blogosphere and into the 21st edition of Log Buffer.   It’s fitting that this is the 21st edition, because that just so happens to be the legal drinking age here in the United States. And the folks over at Oracle sure need a drink or three this week. Computerworld’s ...