Two Methods to Configure SQL Server Aliases Aug 03, 2024

Edition: Saturday, August 3rd, 2024

A few weeks ago I needed to configure replication between two SQL Server 2022 named instances, on separate networks.  In this configuration, the publisher would push data to the subscriber and all related replication jobs would reside at the...

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Ansible By Examples - Simplify SQL Server Patching Jul 13, 2024

Edition: Saturday, July 13th, 2024

On July 9th, 2024, Microsoft released a GDR update for multiple editions of SQL Server.  As a DBA, you may be planning how to install this update in your lower environments (DEV, QA, UAT, etc.), tested, and then deploy to production.

However, you may...

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Ansible By Example - How I Use Ansible Roles Jul 06, 2024

Edition: Saturday, July 6th, 2024

As you begin creating playbooks to automate your work, you'll soon discover they can become many 100s of lines of YAML. 

Ansible Roles, allow you to group tasks, variables, handlers, and other artifacts.  Today, I'll focus on an example role...

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Ansible By Example: Ansible Facts on Windows Jun 15, 2024

Edition: Saturday, June 15th, 2024

No one wants to build a new SQL Server instance, release it to production, and immediately request a maintenance window to fix a configuration issue.

Has this ever happened to you before?  I've experienced it a few times, and it doesn't reflect well on the...

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Ansible By Example: SQL Server Installation on Windows Jun 08, 2024

Edition: Saturday, June 8th, 2024

Are you familiar with the terms DevOps and Platform Engineering?  DevOps is the process of consistently and reliably deploying applications into production environments.  Platform Engineering focuses on building and maintaining the foundational...

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Ansible By Example: Simplifying SQL Server Disk Preparation on Windows Server May 25, 2024

Edition: Saturday, May 25th, 2024

Over the years, I've completed a lot of SQL Server installations.  Some of those resulted in having to move database files around afterward because I failed to ensure the disks were properly formatted and aligned.  I had to move files to a...

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Step-by-Step Guide to Enabling SQL Server Encryption: Using Wireshark to Verify Network Data Security Apr 27, 2024

Edition: Saturday, April 27th, 2024

Over the past several weeks we've implemented a CA, generated a certificate, and enabled SQL Server network encryption.  We validated encryption was being used via the sys.dm_exec_connections dmv.  This week, I'll take the validation one...

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Step-by-Step Guide to Enabling SQL Server Encryption: Generating Certificate Requests Apr 20, 2024

Edition: Saturday, April 20th, 2024

For a DBA, securing SQL Server is a critical aspect of the job.  Securing data at rest, data in motion, and data in use (in memory) are all areas a potential attacker could focus on.  This month, I've focused on "securing data in...

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Step-by-Step Guide to Enabling SQL Server Encryption: Web Enrollment Site Configuration Apr 13, 2024

Edition: Saturday, April 13th, 2024

Last week, we ended after the initial CA configuration.  This week, we'll enable HTTPS for our Web Enrollment site.  I'll cover an issue I encountered when using the Edge browser to request a user certificate via Web Enrollment and a...

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Step-by-Step Guide to Enabling SQL Server Encryption: Certificate Authority Configuration Apr 06, 2024

Edition: Saturday, April 6th, 2024

In the last edition, we concluded after installing Active Directory Certificate Services.  

Today, we'll configure the new Certificate Authority as an Enterprise CA.  We're installing an Enterprise CA because they're integrated with...

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Step-by-Step Guide to Enabling SQL Server Encryption: Installing Active Directory Certificate Services for DBAs Mar 30, 2024

Edition: Saturday, March 30th, 2024

Most new DBAs aren't familiar with certificates, or generating certificate requests, to be used by SQL Server. 

I know I wasn't.  Early in my career, I had worked in environments that didn't require encrypted connections to SQL Server so I...

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Guide to Unattended Windows Server 2025 Preview Edition Installation: Simplify Your Setup Mar 23, 2024

Edition: Saturday, March 23rd, 2024

Today I want to share a quick tip on getting started with Windows Server 2025 Standard Edition (preview).  It seems Server 2022 just came out a few short weeks ago but in reality, it was released on August 18, 2021

As technologists, we sometimes...

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