SQL MCP: Local to Fabric Lakehouse

Let's be honest, you thought of doing this yourself. Connecting two tools that seem to serve very different purposes. But, as I had a day to fool around, I thought to myself, let's see if I can make this work. In the previous blog post on MCP Local, I described how to run your MCP … Continue reading SQL MCP: Local to Fabric Lakehouse

SQL and MCP, the local edition

In the previous blog posts, I've written about installing MCP and how it works, followed by how to use it with an Azure SQL Database through an Azure Container Instance and Microsoft Foundry. But, you can also use your favourite local database (SQL Server ;)) and Visual Studio Code. The reason Visual Studio Code is … Continue reading SQL and MCP, the local edition

SQL and MCP, Azure SQL Edition

In part one, I covered the basics of your Data API Builder setup. Now, it's time to get into the real stuff :). For the demo, I'm using the Stack Overflow 2013 database on an Azure SQL General Purpose Serverless 8-core database. It's not a very large dataset (making it less expensive to host on … Continue reading SQL and MCP, Azure SQL Edition

SQL, Azure SQL and MCP, the Introduction

This three-part series of blog posts will take you along my first experiments, trials and errors using the MCP Service for SQL. This first blog will focus on the technology behind it; part 2 will focus on Azure SQL options; and the last part will dig a bit deeper into running this on your local … Continue reading SQL, Azure SQL and MCP, the Introduction

DP-700 training: Orchestration

"tap tap tap". Your attention please, we're going to orchestrate our ETL/ELT process! Yes, it's time to unleash your inner Herbert von Karajan and make sure your BI orchestra performs at its best. Why? Well, unless you enjoy waking up every night to start your Extract-Transform-Load (ETL) process and manually running each process to do … Continue reading DP-700 training: Orchestration

Exploring SSMS 22 Preview 3: New GitHub Copilot Features

A few minutes ago, I came across a post on LinkedIn by Erin Stellato, highlighting the post from Makena Barickman on the release of SSMS 22, preview 3. If you've been following my blogs, you've read that I'm a keen follower of the latest editions of SSMS, especially now that Copilot is integrated. From very … Continue reading Exploring SSMS 22 Preview 3: New GitHub Copilot Features

DP-700 training: implement database projects

Some of you might recognise database projects from either Synapse Analytics or SQL Server. Yay for the latter ;). A long story, very short, database projects are a way to develop and deploy your databases using a CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Development) approach. For each database, the code you've written is saved in a specific project … Continue reading DP-700 training: implement database projects

SSMS 22 preview 1 first impressions

We're almost used to SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) 21, and now 22 is already in preview. So, let's see where it's available for download, install it and see what's different. Download and release notes. The most important part, of course, is the download of the binaries. Click here for the download. Click here for … Continue reading SSMS 22 preview 1 first impressions

SQL Server 2025: time-bound Extended Events explained

In a previous blog post, I discussed my initial impressions of SQL Server and the key features that are relevant to my work in Business Intelligence. This time, I want to focus on a specific and improved feature of SQL Server, namely extended events. What are they? To provide some context, let's begin by defining … Continue reading SQL Server 2025: time-bound Extended Events explained

My top features of SQL Server 2025 for Business Intelligence

Some time ago, Microsoft announced the release of a new version of SQL Server. This made me happy, mainly because in the storm of everything Fabric, Copilot, and cloud, sturdy technology still has a place, and Microsoft hasn't forgotten that. Companies still rely on on-premises systems that require databases. And running everything on-premises is still … Continue reading My top features of SQL Server 2025 for Business Intelligence