Since version 2016 of SQL Server, the “Perform Volume Maintenance Tasks” right can be assigned during the installation of SQL Server in order to activate the “Instant File Initialization” functionality. But which account receives the right? We took a closer look at the topic in a customer project and share the results here. So let's start from the ...

Keyless authentication in the Google Cloud. How Workload Identity Federation replaces the use of service account keys in API authentication. Starting Point In an increasingly digitalized working world, cloud-based infrastructures and the automation of workflows are indispensable. Concepts such as Infrastructure as Code (IaC) or version management s...

With the brand-new Innovation Release 8.1.0, Oracle has once again given the MySQL InnoDB Cluster a new “feature”: “Read Replicas”. This allows an InnoDB cluster to be supplemented with additional read-only instances. This article explains how this works and why it can make sense. A, B, C An InnoDB cluster usually consists of three nodes that provi...

We frequently experience situations where PowerShell scripts need to be run as local system (NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM). For one of our customers, we wanted to use this method to store a password encrypted by Export-Clixml with the key of the local system, so that another process can decrypt and use it again with Import-Clixml. What are the options? Seve...

One of the typical requirements for new software is a prescribed minimum level of code coverage, i.e., the proportion of the source code that is executed by automated tests. Especially in areas such as medical technology, the automotive industry, or financial systems, 100 % code coverage is often required. But even code that is completely covered b...

A few days ago, I changed the service account of the SQL Server instances in my lab environment for Always On Availability Groups and now use a group Managed Service Account (gMSA). In the following, I present the necessary adjustments. Which service account do we recommend? As a service account for Microsoft SQL Server, we now generally recom...