| 1 | What does ACID stand for, and what does each letter represent in the context of database transactions? SQL Server › Transactions & ACID | SQL Server | Transactions & ACID | Beginner |
| 2 | How do long running transactions negatively impact overall system performance, and what strategies help avoid this problem? SQL Server › Transactions & ACID | SQL Server | Transactions & ACID | Advanced |
| 3 | What is a transaction in SQL Server, and why is grouping multiple statements into one important? SQL Server › Transactions & ACID | SQL Server | Transactions & ACID | Beginner |
| 4 | How do you use a SAVE TRANSACTION savepoint within a larger transaction to allow partial rollback of just a portion of the work? SQL Server › Transactions & ACID | SQL Server | Transactions & ACID | Intermediate |
| 5 | What is the difference between an implicit and an explicit transaction in SQL Server? SQL Server › Transactions & ACID | SQL Server | Transactions & ACID | Intermediate |
| 6 | How do you check whether a transaction is currently active and view its properties within a session? SQL Server › Transactions & ACID | SQL Server | Transactions & ACID | Intermediate |
| 7 | How would you design a distributed transaction that needs to span operations across two different database servers, and what additional complexity does this introduce? SQL Server › Transactions & ACID | SQL Server | Transactions & ACID | Advanced |
| 8 | What are the three main types of backups in SQL Server, and what does each one capture? SQL Server › Backup & Recovery | SQL Server | Backup & Recovery | Beginner |
| 9 | How do you restore a SQL Server database from a full backup file? SQL Server › Backup & Recovery | SQL Server | Backup & Recovery | Beginner |
| 10 | How does a TRY CATCH block work in SQL Server, and why is it useful? SQL Server › Error Handling with TRY CATCH | SQL Server | Error Handling with TRY CATCH | Beginner |
| 11 | Does data stored in a memory optimized table get lost if the SQL Server instance restarts? SQL Server › In-Memory OLTP (Memory-Optimized Tables) | SQL Server | In-Memory OLTP (Memory-Optimized Tables) | Beginner |
| 12 | What is a lock in SQL Server, and why does the database engine use locks? SQL Server › Isolation & Locking | SQL Server | Isolation & Locking | Beginner |
| 13 | What are the four standard transaction isolation levels in SQL Server, and what does isolation level actually control? SQL Server › Isolation & Locking | SQL Server | Isolation & Locking | Beginner |
| 14 | What does the MERGE statement do in SQL Server, and why is it called an upsert operation? SQL Server › Merge Statement (Upsert) | SQL Server | Merge Statement (Upsert) | Beginner |
| 15 | What is a deadlock in SQL Server, and why does it happen? SQL Server › Deadlocks | SQL Server | Deadlocks | Beginner |
| 16 | How does SQL Server decide which transaction becomes the deadlock victim? SQL Server › Deadlocks | SQL Server | Deadlocks | Beginner |
| 17 | What is AOF, or append only file, persistence, and how does it differ from RDB snapshots? Redis › Persistence (RDB/AOF) | Redis | Persistence (RDB/AOF) | Beginner |
| 18 | What are the three recovery models available in SQL Server, and how do they affect your backup strategy? SQL Server › Backup & Recovery | SQL Server | Backup & Recovery | Intermediate |
| 19 | How would you perform a point in time restore to recover a database to the exact moment just before an accidental data deletion? SQL Server › Backup & Recovery | SQL Server | Backup & Recovery | Intermediate |
| 20 | How do you combine a TRY CATCH block with a transaction to ensure the database is properly rolled back if an error occurs partway through? SQL Server › Error Handling with TRY CATCH | SQL Server | Error Handling with TRY CATCH | Intermediate |
| 21 | What is the difference between using THROW and RAISERROR to raise a custom error in SQL Server? SQL Server › Error Handling with TRY CATCH | SQL Server | Error Handling with TRY CATCH | Intermediate |
| 22 | How does the concurrency model of In-Memory OLTP differ from traditional disk based tables, and why does this improve performance? SQL Server › In-Memory OLTP (Memory-Optimized Tables) | SQL Server | In-Memory OLTP (Memory-Optimized Tables) | Intermediate |
| 23 | What is a deadlock, and how does SQL Server automatically handle one when it occurs? SQL Server › Isolation & Locking | SQL Server | Isolation & Locking | Intermediate |
| 24 | What is the difference between an optimistic and a pessimistic approach to handling concurrency, and where does SQL Server's snapshot isolation fit into this? SQL Server › Isolation & Locking | SQL Server | Isolation & Locking | Intermediate |
| 25 | What are lock escalation and its potential impact on a busy system? SQL Server › Isolation & Locking | SQL Server | Isolation & Locking | Intermediate |
| 26 | What are some known issues or caveats with the MERGE statement that developers should be aware of before relying on it heavily? SQL Server › Merge Statement (Upsert) | SQL Server | Merge Statement (Upsert) | Intermediate |
| 27 | How do you safely test a MERGE statement before running it against real production data? SQL Server › Merge Statement (Upsert) | SQL Server | Merge Statement (Upsert) | Intermediate |
| 28 | What is the difference between a batch and a transaction in T-SQL, and how does the GO keyword relate to batches? SQL Server › T-SQL Fundamentals & Syntax | SQL Server | T-SQL Fundamentals & Syntax | Intermediate |
| 29 | What error does an application receive when its transaction is chosen as a deadlock victim, and how should the application respond? SQL Server › Deadlocks | SQL Server | Deadlocks | Intermediate |
| 30 | How do you decide between synchronous commit mode and asynchronous commit mode for a specific replica in an Always On Availability Group? SQL Server › Always On Availability Groups | SQL Server | Always On Availability Groups | Advanced |
| 31 | How would you design a comprehensive backup and recovery strategy for a large, business critical database with strict recovery time and recovery point objectives? SQL Server › Backup & Recovery | SQL Server | Backup & Recovery | Advanced |
| 32 | How do cascading actions work with foreign key constraints, such as ON DELETE CASCADE, and what risks come with using them? SQL Server › Constraints (Primary Key, Foreign Key, Check & Unique) | SQL Server | Constraints (Primary Key, Foreign Key, Check & Unique) | Advanced |
| 33 | How would you build a centralized, reusable error logging procedure that captures detailed error information whenever it is called from within a CATCH block? SQL Server › Error Handling with TRY CATCH | SQL Server | Error Handling with TRY CATCH | Advanced |
| 34 | How do nested TRY CATCH blocks work, and when would you use them in a complex stored procedure? SQL Server › Error Handling with TRY CATCH | SQL Server | Error Handling with TRY CATCH | Advanced |
| 35 | How does Read Committed Snapshot Isolation differ from regular Read Committed isolation, and what tradeoff does enabling it introduce? SQL Server › Isolation & Locking | SQL Server | Isolation & Locking | Advanced |
| 36 | How would you design a stored procedure to handle a complex business process involving multiple steps, proper error handling, and transaction management together? SQL Server › Stored Procedures & Functions | SQL Server | Stored Procedures & Functions | Advanced |