SQL Server Diaries

My national language (Maltese) is described in Maltese language - Wikipedia as “the only Semitic language written in the Latin alphabet in its standard form”.  I was recently asked whether SQL Server can store Maltese characters, or specifically the characters which deviate from the Latin character set. [Read More]

One of the resorces Network specialists use to monitor, troubleshoot, and identify issues with network device (such as routers, switches, firewalls, etc.) is the use of SYSLOG messages. These messages are broadcast on the network via UDP and are captured by specific listener applications and/or devices. One fo these applications... [Read More]

As a DBA, maintaining security of your SQL Server instances is one of the main duties to avoid unauthorised access to data. One of the methods used to gain access to data is to impersonate other users. Some of the weakness are due to end-user setting weak passwords. [Read More]

When creating logins on different environments, such as on development, test and production instances, where SQL Logins are used these are sometimes created using the same password on all environments. The credentials are usually transferred from the Developer’s machine to the DBA’s in a text file using the following syntax:... [Read More]

Organisations depend on data. Internationally, news agencies have reported innumerable times about data theft (one that hit the news recently lead to the closure of a newspaper), data loss, corruption caused by crafted bots using one of the various SQL Injection techniques, and many more. The amount of data generated... [Read More]