Category: SQLServer

  • Initial impressions of SQL Server v.Next Public Preview

    Microsoft announced its SQL Server on Linux public preview yesterday. I’m really excited to check it out. Here are some interesting things I found during my testing. I’ll write more as I play with it further. If you want to play it on Ubuntu, it needs to be 16.04 or above. I didn’t pay attention […]

  • Changing non-nullable column to nullable in SQL Server is quick and painless

    In T-SQL, you can only ALTER COLUMN one at a time. Initially I was worried about operational cost of this change, but it turned out this change is instantaneous. Mind you, I’m not suggesting you should do this without a good reason.

  • No 32-bit for SQL Server 2016 Express

    I’ve learned that SQL Server 2016 Standard and Enterprise Editions no longer provide 32-bit. But I do wonder about SQL Server 2016 Express Edition. It’s different in that it’s free, and mostly geared toward lightweight usage, people who are learning, etc. So perhaps it still offers 32-bit? After some upgrade work to one SQL Server […]

  • SQL Server best practice: grant permissions to per-service SID

    Since Windows Server 2008/Windows Vista, from SQL Server 2008 onward, SQL Server installation process automatically generates per-service security identifier (SID). Whenever possible, it is recommended to grant rights to this service SID for security reasons, instead of your SQL Server’s startup account, which typically is domain user account. For example, for performance reasons, I always […]

  • Grant full permission to Windows folders and files

    For a Windows application or service, it is often necessary for either the user or service startup account to have full control to its folders and files. In most cases, this is transparent to the user. It is generally being taken care of by various delegation mechanisms behind the scene. However, this can be a […]