Recently I posted an entry explaining that you can develop in Windows Azure without having to connect to the main service on the Internet, using the Software Development Kit (SDK) which installs two emulators - one for compute and the other for storage. That brought up the question of the same kind of thing for SQL Azure. The short answer is that ...

I love them three-letter acronyms! An “ROI” is a Return On Investment – it’s a basic financial calculation that places investments in a standard number so that they can be compared. If the number is positive, then it has a “good” return on investment, and if it’s negative, you probably shouldn’t make the investment. The basic form of the ...

Most data professionals I’ve met work in two modes: we plan for our day, and we react to the situations around us. I’m staring at my list of things that I need to do today right now, which is my planned work. Of course, I have no idea how much of that will really get done – it’s optimistic to be sure. On the other hand I have several systems I ...

I need your help. I know how I create databases, and I’ve watched a lot of other data professionals follow their own processes for that, but I want to know how YOU do it.   I’ve written about the process I follow for a complete database design on InformIT (use the ''Next'' button at the bottom of these to see them all). Beyond starting ...

I'm kind of a type ''A'' person. OK, I'm a VERY type ''A'' person. I even cook by setting things up ahead of time. I'm definitely more in the ''Plan and Prepare'' camp than the ''Just Do It'' camp. But I do realize that there are times when you just can't stop and prepare. Sure, it would be great to know that server is going to melt down just ...

SQL Server contains many “Wizards. Wizards are simply programs that collect information based on user choices. The Wizard’s screens explain each step and the choices on that screen. Based on those answers collected from the user, the Wizard performs some task. What could possibly be wrong with helping a user this way? Well, plenty. Wizards hide ...