Tag: Microsoft Azure

Make data security your new years resolution

New Year Resolution: Recommitting to Data Security and Lessons from the Xfinity Breach

As we ring in 2024, many are reflecting on the past year and making resolutions for the future. For businesses, one resolution should stand out: recommitting to data security. The late-2023 Xfinity breach, where 36 million customers had their personal information compromised, serves as a stark reminder of the ever-present threat of cyberattacks. What happened?…
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SEROShield SQL Server dashboard

Coming Soon: The All-New SQL Server Daily Health Check and Dashboard

SQL Server is a critical component for many businesses, and its health and performance can have a significant impact on operations. If SQL Server is having a bad day, a lot of people are having a bad day. Users, patients, loan officers, etc, and of course, IT. That’s why we recommend performing a SQL Server…
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Secure Azure SQL Database

Recent Attacks on SQL Server VMs in Microsoft Azure

Poorly secured SQL Server VMs in Microsoft Azure are being attacked. And they are being used as a beachhead for additional exploits. According to a recent Microsoft warning, these attacks allow the bad actors to gain access to cloud resources without having to compromise the underlying infrastructure. How the attack works In the warning, Microsoft…
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enhanced data security

5 Reasons You Should Use SQL Audit to Enhance Database Security

We know better than to click a link from the son of an unfairly deposed Nigerian Prince who needs our help. Yet, according to Deloitte’s 2023 Global Risk Management Survey, 91% of all cyberattacks begin with a phishing email. And many of them are successful. No business or industry is off limits. So, it’s important…
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Are Information and Data Lifecycle Management Processes Different…and Who Cares?

Are Data Lifecycle Management (DLM) and Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) just fancy terms for the exact same thing – namely, data management? Will understanding these terms actually impact your data strategy in any meaningful way? Will knowing this distinction affect your business at all? Recently, we began a series of posts on data strategy by…
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Why is SQL Server slow?

Why is My SQL Server Slow? 14 Common Reasons

“Why is my SQL Server slow?” Have you ever asked that question? Have your users? Unfortunately, that’s a commonly asked question. Fortunately, though, something can usually be done about it. Here are fourteen reasons a SQL Server instance could be underperforming. I’ve divided them into four broad categories. Slowness due to resource constraints Often the…
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sql server data storage strategy

10 Data Storage Considerations for Growing Companies

As the business world becomes more and more data-centric, what questions does your growing company need to ask about its data storage? Recently, we began a series of posts on data strategy by asking whether your company data is an asset or a utility. In this post, we will look at 10 key data storage…
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try sql server 2022 new features

Use a Docker Container to Explore SQL Server 2022’s New Features

There’s a lot of hype surrounding the next version of SQL Server. And for good reason. SQL Server 2022 is packed with some long awaited niceties, improvements, and enhancements. Here are a few of the SQL Server 2022’s new features we are excited about. Contained Availability Groups Enhancements to Availability Groups and Distributed Availability Groups…
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SQL Server sysadmin has the keys to the kingdom

Who Has sysadmin Access to your SQL Servers?

Phishing attacks account for more than 80% of all security incidents according to this CSO article Top cybersecurity facts, figures and statistics. And the resulting data breaches cost an average of $3.92 million. With security incidents and data breaches making the news daily, it’s important to secure your networks, including your SQL Servers. That’s not…
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SQL Server FCI or AG?

What’s the Difference in SQL Server FCIs and AGs?

“What’s the difference in SQL Server FCIs and AGs?” That question comes up frequently when talking High Availability and Disaster Recovery (HADR). It’s especially important when “Everything stops and people can’t do their jobs if SQL Server is unavailable.” There are a lot of how-to articles on the internet for setting up Always On Failover…
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