SQL Server 2016 Always Encrypted: Easy to Implement, Tough to Crack
Security has always been a primary concern for database experts, and with the advent of new, decentralized services, it’s become even more crucial. Microsoft addressed the need for an added level of security in SQL with the introduction of Always Encrypted functionality in SQL Server 2016.
In this blog post, Toptal Freelance Software Engineer Josip Saban explains how Microsoft’s Always Encrypted concept works, how it’s implemented, and why developers can’t afford to ignore it.

Josip Šaban
The Definitive Guide to NoSQL Databases
Limited SQL scalability has prompted the industry to develop and deploy a number of NoSQL database management systems, with a focus on performance, reliability, and consistency. The trend was driven by proprietary NoSQL databases developed by Google and Amazon. Eventually, open-source systems like MongoDB, Cassandra, and Hypertable brought NoSQL within reach of everyone.
In this post, Senior Software Engineer Mohamad Altarade dives into some of them and explains why NoSQL will probably be with us for years to come.

Mohammad Altarade
SQL Database Performance Tuning for Developers
Database tuning can be an incredibly difficult task, particularly when working with large-scale data where even the most minor change can have a dramatic (positive or negative) impact on performance.
In mid-sized and large companies, most database tuning will be handled by a Database Administrator (DBA). But there are plenty of developers who have to perform DBA-like tasks; meanwhile, DBAs often struggle to work well with developers.
In this article, learn database tuning tips and how developers and DBAs can work together effectively.

Kevin Bloch
How to Tune Microsoft SQL Server for Performance
To retain its users, any application or website must run fast. For mission critical environments, a couple of milliseconds delay in getting information might create big problems. As database sizes grow day by day, we need to fetch data as fast as possible, and write the data back into the database as fast as possible. To make sure all operations are executing smoothly, we have to tune Microsoft SQL Server for performance.

Sripal Reddy Vindyala
MetaDapper: Data Mapping and Conversion Made Easy With the Right Tools
Data conversion, translation, and mapping is by no means rocket science, but it is by all means tedious. This article introduces MetaDapper, a .NET library that strives to simplify, streamline, and automate the data conversion process to the greatest extent possible.
Richard Rozsa
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