How to Upgrade SQL Server (SQLServerCentral 1/26/2018)

[SQLServerCentral - www.sqlservercentral.com]( A community of more than 1,600,000 database professionals and growing Featured Contents - [How to Upgrade SQL Server]( - [How Can DevOps Concepts Provide Value in Digital Transformation Projects?]( - [The Database DevOps Challenges SQL Clone Solves]( - [Getting Started in a SQL Server 2017 VM in Azure]( (From the SQLServerCentral Blogs) - [Dissecting SQL Server, The Internal Structure of a Row]( (From the SQLServerCentral Blogs) Featured Script - [How to read an audit file]( The Voice of the DBA Are You Always Up? I've had the opportunity to work for and with quite a few companies in my career. In some sense working as a database developer or database administratrator is very similar at many places. The "job's the job," as I've said in more than a few interviews, as I often ask to meet with others and better understand the environment. I'm rarely sold on the technology in use, usually more concerned with management and co-workers, though you might view employment differently. At the same time, it can be amazing how different the environment may be and how varied the requirements are for my application and systems. One employer was a small, but busy and growing import/export company. We stretched the limits of technology at the time, and it was a challenge to meet the desires of management. At the same time, we were primarily a weekday, roughly 9-5 shop and I had the opportunity to bring down systems at night or on weekends for maintenance. This was in contrast to my prior position at a nuclear power plant. There systems were expected to be up 24x7, with (grudgingly) scheduled maintenance once a quarter. That was the environment with the most stringent requirements, though I also learned over time that I preferred to have a bit more latitude in how I could architect systems or manage databases. Though that was when I had children, and I might be willing to work in a similar environment now. Many of you probably have varying requirements by application, but I suspect more of you are expected to keep systems up more often than in the past. It seems the world has moved to a greater dependency on database platforms, with the expectation that the data is always available. When you plan upgrades or maintenance, can you work with a flexible schedule? Or are changes always carefully managed? I'm sure some of you prefer one type of environment over the other, so chime in today with your preferences and restrictions. I'm sure some of you work in less busy organizations, and I'm curious if that's the case. Steve Jones from [SQLServerCentral.com]( Join the debate, and [respond to today's editorial on the forums]( --------------------------------------------------------------- The Voice of the DBA Podcast Listen to the [MP3 Audio]( ( 3.7MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at [iTunes]( and [Libsyn](. [feed]( The Voice of the DBA podcast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. ADVERTISEMENT [ReadyRoll]( Database migrations inside Visual Studio Feeling the pain of managing and deploying database changes manually? Redgate ReadyRoll creates SQL migration scripts you can use to version control, build and release, and automate deployments. [Try it free]( [Redgate Hub]( Watch SQL in the City Streamed 2017 The livestream recording for Redgate's December 2017 virtual event is now available. Technical sessions went into the latest Microsoft SQL Server releases, and covered topical issues such as DevOps, data compliance, protection & privacy. [Watch the recording]( Featured Contents  [] [How to Upgrade SQL Server]( Rudy Panigas from [SQLServerCentral.com]() What steps should you take in upgrading SQL Server to SQL 2014[More »](Server+Upgrade/130968/) ---------------------------------------------------------------  [] [How Can DevOps Concepts Provide Value in Digital Transformation Projects?]( For some of us, DevOps means startups, cloud, fast-moving social media applications and Extreme Programming (XP). What about large corporate IT initiatives, Digital Transformation projects, and business process re-engineering? Can DevOps be relevant and appropriate? Mohammad Rizvi argues from experience that it most certainly can be.[More »]( ---------------------------------------------------------------  [] [The Database DevOps Challenges SQL Clone Solves]( With its PowerShell integration, SQL Clone becomes an important component in a broader database DevOps toolchain - Tony Davis explains in detail.[More »]( ---------------------------------------------------------------  [] From the SQLServerCentral Blogs - [Getting Started in a SQL Server 2017 VM in Azure]( Grant Fritchey from [SQLServerCentral Blogs]( You say you’re ready to dip your toes in the Azure ocean? Come on in, the water’s fine! Oh, you want...[More »]( ---------------------------------------------------------------  [] From the SQLServerCentral Blogs - [Dissecting SQL Server, The Internal Structure of a Row]( david.fowler 42596 from [SQLServerCentral Blogs]( I’m sure that most of us know that SQL Server stores all it’s data in 8Kb pages. But what do...[More »]( Question of the Day Today's Question (by Steve Jones): I've got this table and data: CREATE TABLE TheCounts ( intcol INT , charcol CHAR(10) , varcharcol VARCHAR(100) , datecol datetime2 ) GO INSERT TheCounts VALUES (1, 'West', 'Denver Broncos', '2018-01-01') , (2, 'West', 'Oakland Raiders', '2018-01-01') , (3, 'West', 'Los Angeles Chargers', '2018-01-01') , (4, 'West', 'Kansas City Chiefs', '2018-01-01') , (5, 'South', 'Jacksonville Jaguars', NULL) , (5, 'South', NULL, '2018-01-02') , (6, NULL, 'Indianapolis Colts', NULL) , (7, NULL, 'Houston Texans', NULL) , (NULL, 'North', 'Pittsburgh Steelers', NULL) , (NULL, 'North', 'Baltimore Ravens', '2018-01-03') , (NULL, 'North', 'Cincinnati Bengals', NULL) , (NULL, 'North', 'Cleveland Browns', NULL) , (13, 'East', 'Cleveland Browns', '2018-01-04') , (13, 'East', 'Cleveland Browns', '2018-01-04') , (14, 'East', 'Cleveland Browns', '2018-01-04') , (14, NULL, 'Cleveland Browns', NULL) What do I get when running this code? SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT 'North') FROM dbo.TheCounts AS tc Think you know the answer? [Click here](, and find out if you are right. --------------------------------------------------------------- We keep track of your score to give you bragging rights against your peers. This question is worth 1 point in this category: count(). We'd love to give you credit for your own question and answer. To submit a QOTD, simply log in to the [Contribution Center](. ADVERTISEMENT [Securing SQL Server: DBAs Defending the Database]( tag=redgatsof-20 linkCode=as2 camp=1789 creative=9325 creativeASIN=1484222644) Protect your data from attack by using SQL Server technologies to implement a defense-in-depth strategy, performing threat analysis, and encrypting sensitive data as a last line of defense against compromise. The multi-layered approach in this book helps ensure that a single breach doesn't lead to loss or compromise of your data that is confidential and important to the business. [Get your copy from Amazon today](. Yesterday's Question of the Day Yesterday's Question (by Steve Jones): I've got a table with the points scored by every NBA player in their career. I decide I want to find out the ranking of various players. I have this query: WITH cteLeaders AS (SELECT prs.firstname , prs.lastname , totalpts = SUM(CAST(prs.pts AS INT)) FROM dbo.player_regular_season AS prs GROUP BY prs.firstname , prs.lastname ) SELECT TOP 10 cteLeaders.firstname , cteLeaders.lastname , cteLeaders.totalpts, PERCENT_RANK() OVER (ORDER BY cteLeaders.totalpts) FROM cteLeaders ORDER BY cteLeaders.totalpts desc In the resul;ts, Kareem Abdul-Jabber shows as the highest point total player. What is his percent rank? Answer: 1 Explanation: Percent_Rank() returns a decimal number that is between 0 and 1, determining where the row is in relative rank with others. The highest value, which is at the top of the ranking, gets a 1. The lowest gets a 0. Ref: PERCENT_RANK() - [click here]( Nast Fast PERCENT_RANK - [( --------------------------------------------------------------- [» Discuss this question and answer on the forums]( Featured Script [How to read an audit file]( Evgeny Garaev from [SQLServerCentral.com]() The script reads data from audit files for a particular audit in a tabular form. That is an answer for a question from our fellow member - . But I have decided to share it because it may be useful for other members. In order to use it you have to replace {NameOfYourAudit} with the name of the audit on your SQL Server instance. That audit must be a file target audit. You also can filter the events which you are interested in by uncommenting the where clause and changing {MyStatement}. You can apply your own filters as well, for example you can use: client_ip, application_name, server_principal_name, and many other fields for filtering. Apart from custom filtering you can apply the custom ordering by changing the order by clause. You can find more information about sys.fn_get_audit_file on the Microsoft web site - [click here]( [More »]( Database Pros Who Need Your Help Here's a few of the new posts today on the forums. To see more, [visit the forums](. --------------------------------------------------------------- [SQL Server 2017]( : [SQL Server 2017 - Development]( [A Different Problem with Full Details]( - Hey guys, I have a SQL problem. 1-) Firstly mine sql design ; 2-) Default SQL query [Strange Problem ???]( - Hi guys, My code : Select A.price1, B.price2 from (SELECT Top 100 tarih, coin, MIN(price) AS price1 FROM dbo.cointahmin GROUP BY tarih, coin order... [Is learning Python/R an advantage for SQL Server Developers? Need an expert advice.]( - Hello Guys, Is it time for SQL Server Developers to start learning R/Python to excel in their career? 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