Arshad Ali

Introduction Data explosion brought a need to store both structured and un-structured data together in the database so that the benefits of the database system (like transactional support, backup and restore support, integrated security support, Full-Text Search support, etc.) can be leveraged. SQL Server 2008 introduced the FileStream data type to store unstructured data, such […]

Introduction Column Store Index is a new feature in SQL Server 2012 that improves performance of data warehouse queries several folds. Unlike regular indexes or heaps, which store data in B-Tree structure (in row-wise fashion), the column store index stores data in columnar fashion and uses compression aggressively to reduce the disk I/O needed to […]

Introduction Column Store Index is a new feature in SQL Server 2012 that improves performance of data warehouse queries several folds. Unlike regular indexes or heaps, which store data in B-Tree structure (in row-wise fashion), the column store index stores data in columnar fashion and uses compression aggressively to reduce the disk I/O needed to […]

Introduction Master Data Services is a new feature introduced in SQL Server 2008 R2 and further enhanced in SQL Server 2012. Master Data Services is an extensible Master Data Management (MDM) platform, which is built on top of the SQL Server database engine and Windows Communication Foundation (WCF). MDS allows you to create a centralized […]

Introduction When we start creating reports at the enterprise level, we need to ensure the consistency in the look and feel of reports throughout the organization. For example, the header of all reports should have the company logo and address whereas the footer should have other company information or page layout information across all reports […]

Introduction SQL Server Reporting Services allows you to embed indicators and Gauges in your report to analyze the data and its state. Indicators are minimal gauges that convey the state of a single data value at a glance and are mostly used to represent state value of Key Performance Indicator (KPI). In my last article […]

Introduction Introduced in SQL Server 2005, Snapshot Isolation levels improve performance, however, there are some caveats to consider when using this feature. Some people use it frequently, as it minimizes blocking and improves performance/concurrency, without knowing its impact on maintaining versions in tempdb. Others stay away from it because of this extra overhead. Some people […]

Introduction Snapshot Isolation level was introduced in SQL Server 2005 and has been available ever since. Snapshot isolation levels improve performance but there are some things to take into consideration when using this feature. Some people use it frequently as it minimizes blocking and improves performance/concurrency without knowing its impact on maintaining versions in tempdb, […]

Introduction SQL Server Reporting Services provides several ways to analyze the data; a few of them are creating reports with indicators and Gauges. Indicators are minimal gauges that convey the state of a single data value at a glance and are mostly used to represent the state value of Key Performance Indicator (KPI, a measurable […]

Introduction SQL Server Reporting Services provides several ways to analyze data; one of them is creating Chart reports. With Chart reports you can analyze the aggregated information (either on small or large volumes of data) at a glance. But before you start creating Chart reports it’s essential to understand and prepare the data to be […]

Introduction SQL Server 2008 R2 introduced several new features in the SSRS (SQL Server Reporting Services) arena. In the data visualization category, we now have three additional ways to display and visualize/analyze data in the reports. Sparkline and data bars – Sparkline and data bars are normally used inside tables and matrices to analyze the […]

Introduction SQL Server 2008 R2 brought several new features into the SSRS (SQL Server Reporting Services) arena. In the data visualization category, we now have three additional ways to display and visualize/analyze data in the reports: Sparkline and data bars – Sparkline and data bars are normally used inside tables and matrices to analyze the […]