SQL Server 2005 - Encryption without the Confusion - simple-talk.com

Encryption without the Confusion - simple-talk.com
In this article, we take a look at how database encryption, a new feature in SQL Server 2005, can be used to protect database objects as well as your data. The first question is why would you bother with encrypting the database? From the perspective of Microsoft product development, providing database encryption is a checklist item for being certified by the common criteria organization. From the perspective of the end user, one can simply scan the recent news to find articles about databases that have been compromised, thru either stolen computers or hacking- database encryption is the last line of defence.
The SQL Server product team didn't re-invent the wheel to implement encryption in SQL Server; the feature is based on the Windows encryption API, which is robust and powerful.

SQL Server 2005 - Partitioned Tables - simple-talk.com

Partitioned Tables in SQL Server 2005
Partitioned tables are a new feature available in SQL Server version 2005, aimed mainly at improving the performance of large database systems. The feature is only available for enterprise and developer edition. For other editions you can get a similar functionality with a partitioned view.
This article focuses on how to create a partitioned table and manipulate the partitions, rather than exploring the performance aspects.

Find Missing Date Ranges / TSQL

Find Missing Date Ranges in SQL (Simple-Talk.com)

Missing Date Ranges - the Sequel / TSQL

Missing Date Ranges - the Sequel (Simple-Talk.com)

Reading and Writing Files in SQL Server using T-SQL

Reading and Writing Files in SQL Server using T-SQL (simple-talk.com)
SQL Server provides several "standard" techniques by which to read and write to files but, just occasionally, they aren't quite up to the task at hand – especially when dealing with large strings or relatively unstructured data. Phil Factor provides some T-SQL... Read more...