How-To Guide
How to Audit SQL Server Login Failures with Extended Events
Use Extended Events to capture SQL Server login failures with a low-overhead session, verify the evidence, and cleanly remove the audit when you are done.
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SQL Server
Content about Microsoft SQL Server database administration, deployment, backup, performance tuning, and automation belongs here. It also covers monitoring, security hardening, patching, and operational best practices for SQL Server environments.
How-To Guide
Article
How to Monitor SQL Server Query Performance with DMVs
SQL Server DMVs give you a low-overhead way to identify expensive queries, quantify their impact, and validate whether performance problems are transient or persistent. This article shows how …
Tutorial
How to Back Up and Restore SQL Server Databases Safely
A safe SQL Server backup and restore process is more than running BACKUP and RESTORE commands. This tutorial shows how to prepare, execute, validate, and operationalize backups so …
Tutorial
How to Secure SQL Server with Row-Level Security and Auditing
Build a practical SQL Server security layer using row-level security to restrict data by user or tenant, then add auditing to prove who accessed what. This tutorial covers …
Article
SQL Server Always Encrypted: Secure Sensitive Data at Rest and In Use
SQL Server Always Encrypted protects sensitive columns so the database engine can process data without exposing plaintext to privileged operators. This article explains how it works, when it …
Article
SQL Server Query Performance Tuning with Execution Plans
Execution plans are the fastest way to see why a SQL Server query is slow. This article explains how to read them, identify the real bottleneck, and validate …
Tutorial
How to Secure SQL Server with Transparent Data Encryption
Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) helps protect SQL Server data files and backups at rest, but it only works safely when you plan key management, validate encryption state, and …
Tutorial
SQL Server Index Maintenance Tutorial for Query Performance Optimization
This tutorial shows how to assess SQL Server index health, decide between rebuild and reorganize, run maintenance safely, and validate that the work actually improves query performance.