Operations | Monitoring | ITSM | DevOps | Cloud

The SQL Server GETDATE() function grabs the current date and time of the server down to the millisecond. This makes it perfect for general timestamping, logging events, and simple date/time math. But what about time zones or when you need a rock-solid, consistent timestamp? Is GETDATE() enough, or do you need something else, like CURRENT_TIMESTAMP? In this article, we’ll show you how and when to use GETDATE() in SQL.

Working with large datasets often involves searching for patterns buried deep in your data. Whether you’re validating entries, cleaning records, or identifying errors, pinpointing specific text within strings, these tasks can quickly become overwhelming without the right tools. That’s where the PATINDEX() function in SQL Server comes in, offering a powerful solution for locating patterns quickly and accurately.

Developers often find it slow and difficult to search for specific parts of a string in SQL. Searching through large text can be time-consuming and make work more complicated. SQL Server CHARINDEX function helps by quickly finding the position of a SQL Server substring. This makes it easier and faster to work with text in SQL. In this guide, we’ll explain how CHARINDEX() works, highlight its uses, and walk you through a few simple examples to help you grasp it easily.

The recent introduction of the DeepSeek R1 (DeepSeek) Large Language Model (LLM) has shaken up the AI landscape, suggesting that new low-cost and open-sourced providers could enter the market. This disruption creates huge opportunities for service providers to drive innovation and for their vendors and suppliers to enhance or innovate in economically feasible ways.

As software grows ever more complex, the growing trend of Internal Development Platforms (IDPs) is becoming undeniable. It doesn't matter if you are the next AI super company or a small tech startup—if you are building software, you should consider having a repeatable set of practices and tooling in place to remove developer friction and supercharge operations. IDPs can be used to solve a number of issues, from context switching and lack of collaboration to lack of visibility and security risks.

Nginx is widely known for its high performance and reliability. However, just like any software running in production, it requires continuous monitoring to ensure smooth operation. Issues such as high latency, unexpected crashes, or overwhelming traffic spikes can lead to performance degradation or even complete outages. Therefore, implementing a robust monitoring strategy is crucial to maintaining the health and stability of your Nginx deployment.

If you’re reading this, chances are you’re already familiar with OpenTelemetry (OTel)—the open-source standard for collecting observability data. But what about OpenTelemetry agents? How do they work, and why do they matter? This guide unpacks everything you need to know about OTel agents—where they fit in your stack, how to set them up, and common pitfalls to watch out for. Let’s get into it.

When evaluating CI/CD platforms, it can be easy to view them as commodities — interchangeable tools that accomplish the same basic tasks. But as development teams scale, small differences in platform performance can be compounded, significantly impacting development velocity and resource utilization. To better understand these differences, we conducted a head-to-head comparison between CircleCI and GitHub Actions, focusing specifically on performance at enterprise scale.