Azure

When I attend events like TechEd, like many people I usually find the networking time more valuable than the session time. There is a pretty tight limit on the number of sessions you can attend, no matter how hard you try. So I often watch the sessions later when I can.

At one of the earliest TechEd Australia events that I attended, they gave us DVDs of the TechEd USA sessions. That was great because that TechEd had around 250 sessions, and there were over 150 that I would have loved to attend. Clearly that wasn’t possible.

2026-06-19

BACKUP TO URL was introduced as an add-on in Cumulative Update 2 for SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 1 and as a built-in feature for SQL Server 2014. I’ve talked about it in previous blog posts.

We have been using this in a variety of ways from on-premises systems:

For example, it is an easy way to distribute a backup of a database to a large number of systems. Imagine you have a chain of retail stores that needs product and other reference information updated regularly. You can keep this data in a separate database at the head office, back it up to an Azure Storage account, and have each store download it separately.  This has major bandwidth and reliability improvements over other solutions such as having each store maintain a VPN connection to the head office.

2026-06-05

In Azure SQL Database, a database server is a logical concept that’s used to keep details of connected databases. It does have a master database but it’s not like the on-premises equivalent.

It’s pretty much a container for logins. And it won’t let you create objects in it. I wish it would as there is occasionally code that I’d like to store at the server level. An example is code that I use to control scaling of databases from within T-SQL.

2026-05-22

We work with many customers that are moving some of their applications to cloud-based systems, and mostly on Azure. One message that I often hear about using Azure SQL Database (ASD) is that all you need to do is point your application’s connection string to the cloud and all will be good. While there are occasional cases where that is true, that generally isn’t going to give you a great outcome. And it’s generally very misleading. To really get a great outcome, you generally will need to check out how your application has been designed.

2026-05-18

More Microsoft Fabric love !

Turn data into insights the moment it happens because yesterday’s data is already too late !

We’ve added more Microsoft Fabric love to our courses. We’re pleased to announce that our new course Mastering Microsoft Fabric Real-Time Intelligence is now available. This is another course that we’ve had so many requests for. You can find details of it here:

Mastering Microsoft Fabric Real-Time Intelligence

Do you need to master Real-Time Intelligence in Microsoft Fabric?

2025-12-14

Learn to design, automate, and optimize data pipelines across Azure and Microsoft Fabric environments !

We’re pleased to announce that our new course Azure Data Factory and Fabric Data Factory: Data Integration for Data Professionals is now available. This is another course that we’ve had so many requests for. You can find details of it here:

Azure Data Factory and Fabric Data Factory: Data Integration for Data Professionals

Are you ready to master modern data integration with Azure and Fabric Data Factory?

2025-08-11

Want to work with Power BI and have no idea where to start? Let us show you in this straightforward and low cost course with easy to follow practical exercises !

We’re pleased to announce that this course is now available. This is another course that we’ve had so many requests for. You can find details of it here:

Power BI Core Skills

Do you need to get started with Power BI?

2025-07-09

Unlock your potential with Analysis Services !

We’re pleased to announce that this course is now available. We had so many requests for this course. You can find details of it here:

Analysis Services for Data Professionals

Are you ready to elevate your skills in working with Analysis Services?

Our comprehensive course is your gateway to becoming proficient at working with both SQL Server Analysis Services, and with Azure Analysis Services.

Ask Yourself:

2025-07-06

I’ve heard several people complaining that Azure Data Factory (ADF) is expensive to use, and yet I’ve seen many others talking about it as a really low cost service.

So which is true?

Our experience

We’re very careful about which features of ADF that we use as there are a few that can increase the cost substantially. And without those, it becomes a very low cost service.

None of my current clients has any issue with ADF costs. The people that I hear complaining about the cost are using one or both of:

2025-07-05

One of the events that I try to take part in each year is the Hack Summit. I’ve always enjoyed it.

The next edition of the The Hack Summit is on October 17th online and October 18th in Warsaw at Stadion PGE Narodowy. It’s a conference fully dedicated to cybersecurity.

I so wish I could have been there, but unfortunately, that’s not possible for me this year. The organizers describe it as having “a diverse and rich agenda, featuring more than 15 thematic tracks, over 150 presentations, networking opportunities, an afterparty, and much more….”.

2024-09-20