T-SQL Tuesday #078 – Learn Something New

Invitation  from Wendy Pastrick.

Plenty of heads-up for this installment of #tsql2sday because this time, I’m challenging you to learn something new and blog about it!

There are so many new things to play around with, some brand-spanking newly released, and others that have been around for a bit, but you’ve probably still not taken any time to try it out.

Here’s a short list of ideas to get you started:

  • PowerBI
  • Azure (remember you can get $150 monthly credit just for trying it out!)
    • Virtual Machines
    • SQL Database
    • Stretch tables
  • SQL Server on Linux
  • SQL 2016
    • Always Encrypted
    • Query Store
    • Row Level Security

T-SQL Tuesday #077 – Favorite SQL Server Feature

Invitation and roundup from Jens Vestergaard.

This month I get to pick the topic, and I am going to go with:

My favorite SQL Server Feature

This can be anything from Reporting Services as a report creating tool, down to the Columnstore Indexes. Anything goes!
I selected this topic precisely to illustrate the breadth and depth of what SQL Server has evolved into over the last decade+. Starting out as a RDBMS (w/ DTS), adding Analysis Services, then Reporting Services, following a myriad of auxiliary services and tools. So please, share your story about a specific SQL Server feature close to your heart. So please, share precisely what you think makes SQL Server such an awesome tool.