Category: SQL Server

  DAX Variables Well, DAX variables weren’t actually introduced with Excel 2016; they weren’t even introduced in 2016. Come to think of it, DAX variables aren’t even variables. Nevertheless, DAX variables are one of the most interesting and exciting recent additions to DAX. DAX variables were introduced to the Power Pivot engine in 2015, so […]

Introduction Some of the new features of SQL Server 2016, most notably the Advanced Analytics and Polybase, are unprecedented in earlier versions. In contrast, the Query Store added to SQL Server 2016 doesn’t so much add new features as make the time-honored tasks of query execution monitoring faster, easier, and more convenient. Once turned on […]

Implementing a Data Science Workstation SQL Server Architecture for R and Data Science We have previously seen how to integrate R with SQL Server. While executing R scripts in stored procedures is tremendously valuable, the methods lacks the interactivity required by most analysts. To appreciate how SQL Server’s R services can provide this interactivity, we […]

Integrating R Scripts with Transact-SQL In Part 1, we discussed the installation of Revolution R, and confirmed that the SQL Server integration worked with a simple test. EXECUTE sp_execute_external_script @language = N’R’, @script = N’R_data_frame <- InputDataSet’, @input_data_1 = N’SELECT ”Hello, World!”’, @output_data_1_name = N’R_data_frame’ WITH RESULT SETS((MyColumn char (13))) Now let’s take a closer […]

SQL Server 2016 introduces updatable nonclustered columnstore indexes. The complexity of that phrase should not mask the simplicity and importance of its application. Updatable nonclustered columnstore indexes make possible what Microsoft calls “Real-Time Operational Analytics.” It would be hard to overstate the importance of making real-time transactional data available immediately for data mining and advanced […]