Andy B

⚙️ Synapse SQL pools aren't quite like your typical SQL database. 60 distributions. 3 ways to organise your data. There's more to table design than you might expect 👇 andybrownsword.co.uk/2026/10/27/w...

⏳ I've had retries give up too quickly, and others keeping pipelines waiting far too long. Fabric now gives us increasing delays and retry conditions. Here’s a look at where they help 👇🏼 andybrownsword.co.uk/2026/10/20/s...

It is with great regret that I announce my defeat. 🏳️ The heating is on.

🔗 There's more than one way to chain pipelines in Fabric Here's a look at three approaches and the trade-offs around performance, monitoring, and decoupling 👇 andybrownsword.co.uk/2026/10/13/t...

🥈 Silver should be clean. But does it always need to be spotless? A look at when to reject, quarantine, or retain imperfect data, and what each choice means for quality and completeness 👇 andybrownsword.co.uk/2026/10/06/s...

Only a matter of time until Dark Souls is toppled with this... youtu.be/DAn34l_YrUM

🥉 Bronze layer ingestion isn't just about getting data from A to B. Here's how four Fabric options stack up when landing the same file 👇 andybrownsword.co.uk/2026/09/29/c...

🏅 Medallion architecture gives us Bronze, Silver and Gold. The tricky part is deciding what belongs in each layer. Here’s my practical take, including why the work in Silver matters so much 👇 andybrownsword.co.uk/2026/09/22/m...

🔁 Reusing a Spark DataFrame doesn’t always mean reusing its results. Sometimes caching can help stop the same work being done twice 👇🏼 andybrownsword.co.uk/2026/09/15/m...

This month's #tsql2sday is looking at memorable outages 🚨 Here's how a lack of log backups changed my career direction 👇🏼 andybrownsword.co.uk/2026/09/08/t...

🐍 After years of shaping data in SQL Server, PySpark looked like quite a jump. Turns out much of the thinking transfers surprisingly well. Here’s what stays familiar, and what really changes 👇 andybrownsword.co.uk/2026/09/01/t...

🪡 Fabric's been gnawing at me for long enough - so I finally pulled some threads across the platform 👇🏼 andybrownsword.co.uk/2026/08/25/p...

USB-A: third time's the charm 😩

📅 Date logic in SQL Server can get messy fast. There are cleaner patterns for boundaries, buckets, and rebuilding dates 👇 andybrownsword.co.uk/2026/08/18/s...

Spent some time this week reflecting on the graft, gratitude and sacrifices of previous generations. I was left humbled by what they built with so little, and wondering what we lost with so much.

#tsql2sday asks us about Temp Tables. Friend or foe? 🤔 If you need a brew to tackle a query, you might want to give one a try ☕ andybrownsword.co.uk/2026/08/11/t...

🧩 Computed Columns are more versatile than they appear Centralise repeated logic, persist costly calculations, or index expressions for faster searching 👇🏼 andybrownsword.co.uk/2026/08/04/r...

It's good to be back. It's been too long.

🧱 A canonical data model can simplify integrations Getting the organisation to agree on the model is the harder part 👇 andybrownsword.co.uk/2026/07/28/c...

White, pink, red, purple, (dramatic pause)... brown(ish) 🤏🏻 Ah, the evolution of a British holiday tan 🇬🇧

⏱️ Waiting for Power BI refreshes? A simple Power Query parameter can dramatically reduce the amount of data you load during development 👇🏼 andybrownsword.co.uk/2026/07/21/d...

🔍 Schema drift can hide in both your structure and data SSDT can help you compare environments consistently, identify differences that matter, and make those checks reusable 👇🏼 andybrownsword.co.uk/2026/07/14/u...

🎓 Azure Data Fundamentals in the bag (more challenging than I expected!)

🎉 Here for the milestone edition of T-SQL Tuesday #200 🎉 “When I’m looking at a query, I bet it’s bad if I see ____" 🙄 Comma joins #tsql2sday 👇🏼 andybrownsword.co.uk/2026/07/07/t...

I've been using the "left, right, left" method for years. Works every time 🚶🏼‍♂️ www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

💡 Query Folding turns Power Query transformations into SQL, handing the performance reins back to database developers Here's how it works and why it matters 👇🏼 andybrownsword.co.uk/2026/06/30/q...

🖐🏼 SQL Server limits INSERT ... VALUES to 1000 rows You don't need to split your script into batches though - a small tweak is all it takes 👇 andybrownsword.co.uk/2026/06/23/a...

SSMS 22.7 finally introduces T-SQL formatting 🧹 No more extensions needed, simply Ctrl + K, Ctrl + Q, and you're away 👇🏼 andybrownsword.co.uk/2026/06/16/f...

💭 This month's #tsql2sday considering the move back to on-prem. Should we sacrifice capability for control? andybrownsword.co.uk/2026/06/09/t...

Long week. Busy weekend. It's 11pm. Jobs are done. I've got pizza 🍕 Time to catch up on the Xbox showcase and see what the teams have been cooking for its 25th anniversary 🎮

💡 KQL isn't SQL. But it isn't as different as people think either. Here's a first look from a SQL Developer's perspective 👇 andybrownsword.co.uk/2026/06/02/k...

Most useful AI use-cases aren't replacing people. They're removing friction: 🌼 Plant care 🔨 DIY 🍛 Meal ideas 💡 Faster thinking A few thoughts on the practical side of AI 👇 andybrownsword.co.uk/2026/05/26/e...

⚠️ Cross database queries confusing your Database Projects? ✅ Project, DACPAC, and Package References solve the problem Here's how 👇🏼 andybrownsword.co.uk/2026/05/19/s...

"Added the column data type to the tooltip when hovering over a column in the results grid" Without length, scale, or precision, you're just teasing me 😏 learn.microsoft.com/en-us/ssms/r...

💬 This month's #tsql2sday looking at Change Detection Figuring out the right time and approach to detection can save a lot of unnecessary work 👇🏼 andybrownsword.co.uk/2026/05/12/t...

Most database projects focus on schema deployment. The real magic? SQLCMD variables 🪄 One project, environment-specific configuration, and reusable publish profiles 👇🏼 andybrownsword.co.uk/2026/05/05/s...

Database Projects have landed in SSMS 🚀 …but they’re not complete (yet) Here's what you need to know 👇 andybrownsword.co.uk/2026/04/28/d...

Only in Britain 🇬🇧 "A ban to address a long-running issue of pony-and-trap racing on roads" www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Still writing deployment scripts by hand? 🤔 💡 There's a better option (and it's been around for years...) Database Projects 👇🏼 andybrownsword.co.uk/2026/04/21/d...

Failover groups replicate data... ...but logins are your issue 😬 Here's how to keep them in sync 👇🏼 andybrownsword.co.uk/2026/04/14/s...

TOP (1) returning multiple rows? ✅ Cleaner syntax ⚠️ Worse plan 👇🏼 You'll be paying the syn-tax 💰 andybrownsword.co.uk/2026/04/07/w...

🤔 Can you search a billion row table efficiently without an index? 👇🏼 Yep - and it can be faster than using one 🔥 andybrownsword.co.uk/2026/03/24/b...

⚡ Faster than a scan 👀 Faster than an index (+ lookups) 🤯 No schema changes needed Binary search over correlated data massively reduces the work needed to query large tables 👇🏼 andybrownsword.co.uk/2026/03/17/b...

Adaptive Cards provide a richer and more interactive experience for your notifications in Teams 👇🏻 andybrownsword.co.uk/2026/03/10/e...

Email alerts work... until they become noise 🙉 A simple Logic App brings pipeline notifications to Teams - with threads, replies, and tagging built in 👇🏻 andybrownsword.co.uk/2026/03/03/b...

Simple, consistent, and effective failure tracking for SSIS using package-level Event Handlers 👇🏻 andybrownsword.co.uk/2026/02/24/s...