• Learn SSIS in London 12-14 Sep 2012!

    Updated: 2012-05-31 14:30:00
    My friends at TechniTrain , the students, and I had a blast during the March 2012 London delivery of From Zero To SSIS ! We have decided to do it again in September 2012 with my new Learning SSIS 2012 3-day course ! Please find a course outline here . It is difficult to list everything I cover in the course, but the outline hits the high spots. This material grew out of my experiences serving as a consultant on short-term engagements and as a manager (and enterprise ETL architect) for a team of forty...(read more)

  • Smart defaults [SSDT]

    Updated: 2012-05-31 11:55:12
    THE SQL Server Blog Spot on the Web Welcome to SQLblog.com The SQL Server blog spot on the web Sign in Join Help in SSIS Junkie Entire Site Search Home Blogs Downloads Opml SSIS Junkie This is the blog of Jamie Thomson , a freelance SQL Server developer in London Smart defaults SSDT I’ve just discovered a new , somewhat hidden , feature in SSDT that I didn’t know about and figured it would be worth highlighting here because I’ll bet not many others know it either the feature is called Smart Defaults . It gets around the problem of adding a NOT NULLable column to an existing table that has got data in it previous to SSDT you would need to define a DEFAULT constraint however it does feel rather cumbersome to create an object purely for the purpose of pushing through a deployment that’s the

  • Developer Training – Various Options for Maximum Benefit – Part 4

    Updated: 2012-05-31 02:30:27
    Developer Training - Importance and Significance - Part 1 Developer Training – Employee Morals and Ethics – Part 2 Developer Training – Difficult Questions and Alternative Perspective - Part 3 Developer Training – Various Options for Developer Training – Part 4 Developer Training – A Conclusive Summary- Part 5 If you have been reading this series, by now [...]

  • The Strategic Value of Monitoring SQL Servers

    Updated: 2012-05-31 01:00:00
    Why would you ever need to automatically monitor the SQL Servers in your care? What is the business value of doing so? What are the important features that a DBA should look for in a performance-monitoring tool? Rodney gives answers based on long experience.

  • SQL vs. Oracle Live Debate (AKA Smackdown!)

    Updated: 2012-05-30 19:43:08
    A few years ago I was speaking at a conference in Raleigh, NC where Ted Neward and I found a fun way to promote a Java vs. .NET debate that was planned one evening. We stood in the middle of a crowd during one of the breaks and starting “arguing” about Java vs. .NET with one another. Our voice levels quickly raised and we ended it by slapping each other across the face with a glove to request a challenge. It was a great way to segue to our announcing of the actual debate planned later that evening....(read more)

  • Redistribution of sqlpackage.exe [SSDT]

    Updated: 2012-05-30 15:15:51
    THE SQL Server Blog Spot on the Web Welcome to SQLblog.com The SQL Server blog spot on the web Sign in Join Help in SSIS Junkie Entire Site Search Home Blogs Downloads Opml SSIS Junkie This is the blog of Jamie Thomson , a freelance SQL Server developer in London Redistribution of sqlpackage.exe SSDT This is a short note for anyone that may be interested in redistributing sqlpackage.exe . If this isn’t you then no need to keep reading . Ostensibly this is here for anyone that bingles for this . information sqlpackage.exe is a command-line that ships with SQL Server Development Tools SSDT in SQL Server 2012 and its main purpose amongst other things is to deploy dacpac files from the command-line . Its quite conceivable that one might want to install only sqlpackage.exe rather than the full

  • Ghost Records, Backups, and Database Compression…With a Pinch of Security Considerations

    Updated: 2012-05-30 05:12:00
    , , THE SQL Server Blog Spot on the Web Welcome to SQLblog.com The SQL Server blog spot on the web Sign in Join Help in Argenis Fernandez Entire Site Search Home Blogs Downloads Opml Argenis Fernandez Ghost Records , Backups , and Database Compression With a Pinch of Security Considerations Today Jeffrey Langdon jlangdon posed on SQLHelp the following : questions So I set to answer his question , and I said to myself : Hey , I haven’t blogged in a while , how about I blog about this particular topic Thus , this post was . born If you have never heard of Ghost Records and or the Ghost Cleanup Task , go see this blog post by Paul Randal 1 Do ghost records get copied over in a backup If you guessed yes , you guessed right . The backup process in SQL Server takes all data as it is on disk it

  • Developer Training – Difficult Questions and Alternative Perspective – Part 3

    Updated: 2012-05-30 02:30:53
    Developer Training - Importance and Significance - Part 1 Developer Training – Employee Morals and Ethics – Part 2 Developer Training – Difficult Questions and Alternative Perspective - Part 3 Developer Training – Various Options for Developer Training – Part 4 Developer Training – A Conclusive Summary- Part 5 Congratulations!  You are now a fully trained developer!  You [...]

  • Windows Azure End to End Examples

    Updated: 2012-05-29 14:45:59
    THE SQL Server Blog Spot on the Web Welcome to SQLblog.com The SQL Server blog spot on the web Sign in Join Help in Buck Woody Entire Site Search Home Blogs Downloads Opml Buck Woody Carpe Datum Windows Azure End to End Examples I’m fascinated by the way people learn . I’m told there are several methods people use to understand new information , from reading to watching , from experiencing to exploring . Personally , I use multiple methods of learning when I encounter a new topic , usually starting with reading a bit about the concepts . I quickly want to put those into practice , however , especially in the technical realm . I immediately look for examples where I can start trying out the concepts . But I often want a real” example not just something that represents the concept , but

  • Developer Training – Employee Morals and Ethics – Part 2

    Updated: 2012-05-29 02:30:10
    Developer Training - Importance and Significance - Part 1 Developer Training – Employee Morals and Ethics – Part 2 Developer Training – Difficult Questions and Alternative Perspective - Part 3 Developer Training – Various Options for Developer Training – Part 4 Developer Training – A Conclusive Summary- Part 5 If you have been reading this series of posts [...]

  • Developer Training – Importance and Significance – Part 1

    Updated: 2012-05-28 02:30:46
    Developer Training - Importance and Significance - Part 1 Developer Training – Employee Morals and Ethics – Part 2 Developer Training – Difficult Questions and Alternative Perspective - Part 3 Developer Training – Various Options for Developer Training – Part 4 Developer Training – A Conclusive Summary- Part 5 Can anyone remember their final day of schooling?  This [...]

  • SQL View: Beyond the Basics

    Updated: 2012-05-28 01:00:00
    Following up from his popular article, SQL View Basics, Joe delves into the main uses of views, explains how the WITH CHECK OPTION works, and demonstrates how the INSTEAD OF trigger can be used in those cases where views cannot be updatable.

  • Wordpress Installation (on IIS and SQL Server)

    Updated: 2012-05-27 15:14:59
    THE SQL Server Blog Spot on the Web Welcome to SQLblog.com The SQL Server blog spot on the web Sign in Join Help in Davide Mauri Entire Site Search Home Blogs Downloads Opml Davide Mauri A place for my thoughts and experiences on SQL Server , Business Intelligence and NET Wordpress Installation on IIS and SQL Server To proceed with the installation of Wordpress on SQL Server and IIS , first of all , you need to do the following steps Create a database on SQL Server that will be used by Wordpress Create login that can access to the just created database and put the user into ddladmin , db_datareader , db_datawriter roles Download and unpack Wordpress 3.3.2 latest version as of 27 May 2012 zip file into a directory of your choice Download the wp-db-abstraction 1.1.4 latest version as of 27

  • Executing SSIS 2012 Packages Video is Available!

    Updated: 2012-05-27 02:56:00
    The video for the microTraining session on Executing SSIS 2012 Packages is now available here ! :{>...(read more)

  • SQL SERVER – A Puzzle Part 3 – Fun with SEQUENCE in SQL Server 2012 – Guess the Next Value

    Updated: 2012-05-27 02:30:16
    Before continuing this blog post – please read the two part of the SEQUENCE Puzzle here A Puzzle – Fun with SEQUENCE in SQL Server 2012 – Guess the Next Value and A Puzzle Part 2 – Fun with SEQUENCE in SQL Server 2012 – Guess the Next Value Where we played a simple guessing game about predicting next value. The [...]

  • SQL Server and Pooled vs. Non-pooled connections

    Updated: 2012-05-27 01:08:00
    . Home Syndication Log in SQL Server and Pooled vs . Non-pooled connections A variation of this question came up a few weeks ago on a mail list that I subscribe to and it seems to come up a lot . Can SQL Server distinguish a which connections use connection pooling The answer depends on how you ask the question , and I've tried to ask it in such a way that it's as ambiguous as it usually sounds . Here's what's happening . Connection pooling is implemented almost entirely in the client stack . I'll refer to ADO.NET here because it has some nice , client-side , perfmon counters but this is true of OLE DB , ODBC , and JDBC as well , although ADO.NET uses different code . You can see the code with NET reflector and trace it using the client-side trace . Connection pooling is implemented on a

  • T-SQL User-Defined Functions: the good, the bad, and the ugly (part 2)

    Updated: 2012-05-26 15:56:00
    In a previous blog post , I demonstrated just how much you can hurt your performance by encapsulating expressions and computations in a user-defined function (UDF). I focused on scalar functions that didn’t include any data access. In this post, I will complete the discussion on scalar UDFs by covering the effect of data access in a scalar UDF. Note that, like the previous post, this all applies to T-SQL user-defined functions only. SQL Server also supports CLR user-defined functions (written in...(read more)

  • SQL SERVER – A Puzzle Part 2 – Fun with SEQUENCE in SQL Server 2012 – Guess the Next Value

    Updated: 2012-05-26 02:30:43
    Before continuing this blog post – please read the first part of the SEQUENCE Puzzle here A Puzzle – Fun with SEQUENCE in SQL Server 2012 – Guess the Next Value. Where we played a simple guessing game about predicting next value. The answers the of puzzle is shared on the blog posts as a comment. Now [...]

  • SQL SERVER – A Puzzle – Fun with SEQUENCE in SQL Server 2012 – Guess the Next Value

    Updated: 2012-05-25 02:30:38
    Yesterday my friend Vinod Kumar wrote excellent blog post on SQL Server 2012: Using SEQUENCE. I personally enjoyed reading the content on this subject. While I was reading the blog post, I thought of very simple new puzzle. Let us see if we can try to solve it and learn a bit more about Sequence. Here is the [...]

  • SQL SERVER – A Puzzle – Fun with NULL – Fix Error 8117

    Updated: 2012-05-24 02:30:54
    During my 8 years of career, I have been involved in many interviews. Quite often, I act as the  interview. If I am the interviewer, I ask many questions – from easy questions to difficult ones. When I am the interviewee, I frequently get an opportunity to ask the interviewer some questions back. Regardless of the my [...]

  • List columns where collation doesn't match database collation

    Updated: 2012-05-23 17:58:00
    Below script lists all database/table/column where the column collation doesn't match the database collation. I just wrote it for a migration project and thought I'd share it. I'm sure lots of tings can be improved, but below worked just fine for me for a one-time execution on a number of servers. IF OBJECT_ID ( 'tempdb..#res' ) IS NOT NULL DROP TABLE #res GO DECLARE @db sysname , @sql nvarchar ( 2000 ) CREATE TABLE #res ( server_name sysname , db_name sysname , db_collation sysname , table_name...(read more)

  • SQL SERVER – Standard Reports from SQL Server Management Studio – SQL in Sixty Seconds #016 – Video

    Updated: 2012-05-23 02:30:34
    SQL Server management Studio 2012 is wonderful tool and has many different features. Many times, an average user does not use them as they are not aware about these features. Today, we will learn one such feature. SSMS comes with many inbuilt performance and activity reports, but we do not use it to the full [...]

  • DACFx 3.0 - Import and Export with BACPACs

    Updated: 2012-05-22 18:12:00
    Home Syndication Log in DACFx 3.0 Import and Export with BACPACs The last piece of the DAC puzzle at least for now is import and export . Export makes a non-transactionally consistant copy of database content that uses the BACPAC format schema and data and Import creates a new database with the BACPAC schema and data . Currently , its the most-used method of backing up and restoring a SQL Azure database . To make a transactionally-consistant backup of a SQL Azure database without using third-party tools , you must use CREATE DATABASE AS COPY OF to create a transactionally-consistant copy of a database , then export the copy to a BACPAC . Import and export can be accomplished by using the API directly . In DACFx 3.0, the API contains three overloads of the ExportBacpac method in the

  • SSIS Reporting Pack v0.4 – Execution Report updated

    Updated: 2012-05-22 09:22:38
    THE SQL Server Blog Spot on the Web Welcome to SQLblog.com The SQL Server blog spot on the web Sign in Join Help in SSIS Junkie Entire Site Search Home Blogs Downloads Opml SSIS Junkie This is the blog of Jamie Thomson , a freelance SQL Server developer in London SSIS Reporting Pack v0.4 Execution Report updated SSIS Reporting Pack is a suite of reports that I maintain at http : ssisreportingpack.codeplex.com that provide visualisation over the SSIS Catalog in SQL Server 2012 and attempt to add value over the reports that ship in the box . Work on the reports has stalled my last SSIS Reporting Pack blog post was on 4th September 2011 as I’ve had rather more important things going on my life of late however I have recently checked-in a fix that couldn’t really be . delayed I discovered a

  • SQL SERVER – SmallDateTime and Precision – A Continuous Confusion

    Updated: 2012-05-22 02:30:33
    Some kinds of confusion never go away. Here is one of the ancient confusing things in SQL. The precision of the SmallDateTime is one concept that confuses a lot of people, proven by the many messages I receive everyday relating to this subject. Let me start with the question: What is the precision of the SMALLDATETIME datatypes? [...]

  • Cumulative Updates available for SQL Server 2008 SP2 & SP3

    Updated: 2012-05-21 20:35:00
    Today Microsoft has released two new cumulative updates for SQL Server 2008. Cumulative Update #10 for SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 2 Knowledge Base Article: KB #2696625 At the time of writing, there is one fix listed The build number is 10.00.4332 Cumulative Update #5 for SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 3 Knowledge Base Article: KB #2696626 At the time of writing, there are four fixes listed The build number is 10.00.5785 As usual, I'll post my standard disclaimer here: these updates are NOT for SQL...(read more)

  • Extracting GPS Data from JPG files

    Updated: 2012-05-21 20:14:27
    I have been very remiss in posting lately. Unfortunately, much of what I do now involves client work that I cannot post. Fortunately, someone asked me how he could get a formatted list (e.g. tab-delimited) of files with GPS data from those files. He also added the constraint that this could not be a new piece of software (company security) and had to be scriptable. I did some searching around, and found some techniques for extracting GPS data, but was unable to find a complete solution. So, I did...(read more)

  • SQL SERVER – Renaming Index – Index Naming Conventions

    Updated: 2012-05-21 02:30:46
    If you are regular reader of this blog, you must be aware of that there are two kinds of blog posts 1) I share what I learn recently 2) I share what I learn and request your participation. Today’s blog post is where I need your opinion to make this blog post a good reference [...]

  • SSIS Basics: Setting Up Your Initial Package

    Updated: 2012-05-21 01:00:00
    When working with databases, the use of SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) is a skill that often needs to be acquired quickly, from scratch. Up until now, it has been a curiously frustrating search to find out the basics, fast, in order to get up and running quickly. No longer, as Annette comes up with a simple introduction for the rest of us.

  • SQL Server Prefetch and Query Performance

    Updated: 2012-05-21 01:00:00
    Prefetching can make a surprising difference to SQL Server query execution times where there is a high incidence of waiting for disk i/o operations, but the benefits come at a cost. Mostly, the Query Optimizer gets it right, but occasionally there are queries that would benefit from tuning.

  • A first look at SQL Server 2012 Availability Group Wait Statistics

    Updated: 2012-05-21 01:00:00
    If you are trouble-shooting an AlwaysOn Availability Group topology, a study of the wait statistics will give a pointer to many of the causes of problems. Although several wait types are documented, there is nothing like practical experiment to familiarize yourself with new wait stats, and Joe Sack demonstrates a way of testing the sort of waits generated by an availability group under various circumstances.

  • T-SQL User-Defined Functions: the good, the bad, and the ugly (part 1)

    Updated: 2012-05-20 15:08:00
    So you thought that encapsulating code in user-defined functions for easy reuse is a good idea? Think again! SQL Server supports three types of user-defined functions. Only one of them qualifies as good. The other two – well, the title says it all, doesn’t it? The bad: scalar functions A scalar user-defined function (UDF) is very much like a stored procedure, except that it always returns a single value of a predefined data type – and because of that property, it isn’t invoked with an EXECUTE statement,...(read more)

  • SQL SERVER – New Look for CodePlexProject – Hosting for Open Source Software

    Updated: 2012-05-20 02:30:35
    Codeplex is my favorite site. CodePlex is Microsoft’s free open source project hosting site. You can create projects to share with the world, collaborate with others on their projects, and download open source software. It is great place to find so many open source project available to explore. All the softwares are free and open source. [...]

  • SQL SERVER – Saturday Fun Puzzle with SQL Server DATETIME2 and CAST

    Updated: 2012-05-19 02:30:42
    Note: I have used SQL Server 2012 for this small fun experiment. Here is what we are going to do. We will run the script one at time instead of running them all together and try to guess the answer. I am confident that many will get it correct but if you do not get [...]

  • SSAS DMVs: useful links

    Updated: 2012-05-18 15:47:42
    : THE SQL Server Blog Spot on the Web Welcome to SQLblog.com The SQL Server blog spot on the web Sign in Join Help in Davide Mauri Entire Site Search Home Blogs Downloads Opml Davide Mauri A place for my thoughts and experiences on SQL Server , Business Intelligence and NET SSAS DMVs : useful links From time to time happens that I need to extract metadata informations from Analysis Services DMVS in order to quickly get an overview of the entire situation and or drill down to detail level . As a memo I post the link I use most when need to get documentation on SSAS Objects Data : DMVs SSAS : Using DMV Queries to get Cube Metadata http : bennyaustin.wordpress.com 2011 03 01 ssas-dmv-queries-cube-metadata SSAS DMV Dynamic Management View http : dwbi1.wordpress.com 2010 01 01

  • Azure Trust Services

    Updated: 2012-05-18 15:35:00
    Microsoft recently launched Trust Services for Windows Azure, an application-level encryption framework that can be used to protect sensitive data stored on the Windows Azure Platform. Read more......(read more)

  • SQL SERVER – Thinking about Deprecated, Discontinued Features and Breaking Changes while Upgrading to SQL Server 2012 – Guest Post by Nakul Vachhrajani

    Updated: 2012-05-18 02:30:12
    Nakul Vachhrajani is a Technical Specialist and systems development professional with iGATE having a total IT experience of more than 7 years. Nakul is an active blogger with BeyondRelational.com (150+ blogs), and can also be found on forums at SQLServerCentral and BeyondRelational.com. Nakul has also been a guest columnist for SQLAuthority.com and SQLServerCentral.com. Nakul presented a [...]

  • DACFx 3.0: The new file formats

    Updated: 2012-05-17 19:58:00
    : Home Syndication Log in DACFx 3.0 : The new file formats In the last posting I talked about the differences between DACFx 3.0 and previous versions from an API point of view . This time , I'll look at the files in a DACPAC and see how those differ . DACPAC really stores a database model , that can be used to recreate the database and server 3.0 only objects in the model , in an XML format . Note also that I've seen it written the a DACPAC is a simple zip file and you can unzip it to produce the same files that the Unpack Windows explorer shell extention i.e . right-click on a DACPAC on a machine where DAC is installed and you'll see an Unpack context menu entry . This is not exactly true , as unzipping a V1.1 DACPAC on my system produces the following : files DacMetadata.xml

  • 'Backup Completed' is NOT an Error Message

    Updated: 2012-05-17 14:40:00
    I recommend that you set your SQL Server to use the startup traceflag DBCC TRACEON (3226) to disable backup success message......(read more)

  • Flexibility When Waiting on Locks

    Updated: 2012-05-17 14:29:00
    An attendee at a recent performance tuning session wanted ideas to more flexibly react to locks on blocks than using the WITH (NOLOCK) hint....(read more</a)

  • SQLAuthority News – SQL Server 2012 Upgrade Technical Guide – A Comprehensive Whitepaper – (454 pages – 9 MB)

    Updated: 2012-05-17 02:30:35
    Microsoft has just released SQL Server 2012 Upgrade Technical Guide. This guide is very comprehensive and covers the subject of upgrade in-depth. This is indeed a helpful detailed white paper. Even writing a summary of this white paper would take over 100 pages. This further proves that SQL Server 2012 is quite an important release from [...]

  • DACFx 3.0: The new programming API

    Updated: 2012-05-16 20:10:00
    : Home Syndication Log in DACFx 3.0 : The new programming API Looking at the API and at the serialized form i.e . the DACPAC it turns out that DACFx 3.0 is not just DAC V-next It's an entire quantum change from all other versions , including DAC 2.0, the version that introduced the BACPAC serialized schema and data This has some interesting repercussions with compatibility . Let's start with the native API meaning , programming over the DLL directly , I'll leave the REST API used by SQL Azure Portal's Import Export for another time The DACFx 3.0 API lives in a different DLL than previous versions of DAC . The old DAC 2.0 and below lives in Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Dac DACFx 3.0 lives in Microsoft.SqlServer.Dac . The API is quite different with respect to classes and methods then the

  • SQL SERVER – SQL in Sixty Seconds – 5 Videos from Joes 2 Pros Series – SQL Exam Prep Series 70-433

    Updated: 2012-05-16 02:30:15
    Joes 2 Pros SQL Server Learning series is indeed fun. Joes 2 Pros series is written for beginners and who wants to build expertise for SQL Server programming and development from fundamental. In the beginning of the series author Rick Morelan is not shy to explain the simplest concept of how to open SQL Server [...]

  • MicroTraining: Executing SSIS 2012 Packages 22 May 10:00 AM EDT (Free!)

    Updated: 2012-05-16 01:00:00
    I am pleased to announce the latest (free!) Linchpin People microtraining event will be held Tuesday 22 May 2012 at 10:00 AM EDT. The topic will be Executing SSIS 2012 Packages. In this presentation, I will be demonstrating several ways to execute SSIS 2012 packages. Register here ! Interested in learning about more microtraining from Linchpin People – before anyone else? Sign up for our newsletter ! :{>...(read more)

  • Book Review (Book 11) - Applied Architecture Patterns on the Microsoft Platform

    Updated: 2012-05-15 17:50:34
    THE SQL Server Blog Spot on the Web Welcome to SQLblog.com The SQL Server blog spot on the web Sign in Join Help in Buck Woody Entire Site Search Home Blogs Downloads Opml Buck Woody Carpe Datum Book Review Book 11 Applied Architecture Patterns on the Microsoft Platform This is a continuation of the books I challenged myself to read to help my career one a month , for year . You can read my first book review here and the entire list is here The book I chose for April 2012 was : Applied Architecture Patterns on the Microsoft Platform I was traveling at the end of last month so I'm a bit late posting this review . here Why I chose this book : I actually know a few of the authors on this book , so when they told me about it I wanted to check it out . The premise of the book is exactly as it

  • Messages do not always appear in [catalog].[event_messages] in the order that they occur [SSIS]

    Updated: 2012-05-15 16:07:00
    THE SQL Server Blog Spot on the Web Welcome to SQLblog.com The SQL Server blog spot on the web Sign in Join Help in SSIS Junkie Entire Site Search Home Blogs Downloads Opml SSIS Junkie This is the blog of Jamie Thomson , a freelance SQL Server developer in London Messages do not always appear in catalog event_messages in the order that they occur SSIS This is a simple heads up for anyone doing SQL Server Integration Services SSIS development using SSIS 2012. Be aware that messages do not always appear in catalog event_messages in the order that they occur , observe In the following query I am looking at a subset of messages in catalog event_messages and ordering them by event_message_id SELECT event_message_id event_name message_time message_source_name FROM catalog event_messages em WHERE

  • SQL SERVER – Get Schema Name from Object ID using OBJECT_SCHEMA_NAME

    Updated: 2012-05-15 02:30:21
    Sometime a simple solution have even simpler solutions but we often do not practice it as we do not see value in it or find it useful. Well, today’s blog post is also about something which I have seen not practiced much in codes. We are so much comfortable with alternative usage that we do [...]

  • How SQL Saturday could be better

    Updated: 2012-05-15 01:58:00
    I've been to a lot of SQL Saturdays. They are great events to attend - from a community standpoint, from a learning standpoint, and from a speaker growth standpoint. Who could ask for more, right? Great sessions, from passionate speakers willing to both teach and learn, fantastic networking opportunities and lunch. All for free, or at a very low cost - some events need to recover costs and charge $10 for lunch. Still a phenomenal bargain IMHO. But we all know that these events aren't perfect... there...(read more)

  • SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn

    Updated: 2012-05-15 01:00:00
    SQL Server AlwaysOn provides a high-availability and Disaster-recovery solution for SQL Server 2012. It makes use of existing SQL Server features, particularly Failover Clustering, and provides new capabilities such as availability groups. Warwick Rudd explains the basics and shows you how to implement it.

  • Backups, What Are They Good For?

    Updated: 2012-05-15 01:00:00
    Pixar recently confessed, in an engaging video, that Toy Story 2 was almost lost due to a bad backup, but sometimes there is no 'almost'. Grant Fritchey casts a sympathetic eye over some catastrophic data losses, and gives advice on how to avoid what he has termed an RGE (résumé generating event).

  • SQL Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 2 CTP is available

    Updated: 2012-05-14 19:23:00
    You can download the Service Pack 2 CTP from the following URL: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=29848 The build # is 10.50.3720. This service pack contains all of the fixes from Service Pack 1 & Cumulative Updates 1 through 5, and a couple of other minor fixes (a couple of SSRS bugs and a bug about an ALTER TABLE batch not being cached correctly). It does not include fixes from Service Pack 1 Cumulative Update #6, which I mentioned recently . You should *NOT* install this...(read more)

  • SQL SERVER – Columnstore Index and sys.dm_db_index_usage_stats

    Updated: 2012-05-14 02:30:03
    As you know I have been writing on Columnstore Index for quite a while. Recently my friend Vinod Kumar wrote about  SQL Server 2012: ColumnStore Characteristics. A fantastic read on the subject if you have yet not caught up on that subject. After the blog post I called him and asked what should I write [...]

  • SQLAuthority News – Download Whitepaper – Choosing a Tabular or Multidimensional Modeling Experience in SQL Server 2012 Analysis Services

    Updated: 2012-05-13 02:30:59
    Data modeling is the most important task for any BI professional. Matter of the fact, the biggest challenge is to organizing disparate data into an analytic model that effectively and efficiently supports the reporting and analysis. SQL Server 2012 introduces BI Semantic Model (BISM), a single model that can support a broad range of reporting and analysis [...]

  • SQL SERVER – Developer Training Kit for SQL Server 2012

    Updated: 2012-05-12 02:30:09
    Developer Training Kit is my favorite part of any product. The reason behind is very simple because it give the single resource which gives complete overview of the product in nutshell. A developer can learn from many places – books, webcasts, tutorials, blogs, etc. However, I have found that developer training kits are the best [...]

  • Why to avoid SELECT * from tables in your Views

    Updated: 2012-05-11 15:10:51
    Jeff's SQL Server Blog Random Thoughts Cartesian Products with Microsoft SQL Server posts 157, comments 2737, trackbacks 64 My Links Home Contact Blog RSS Feed Login SQLTeam.com SQLTeam.com Weblogs Advertisement News Welcome to my weblog . My name is Jeff Smith , I am software developer in Boston , MA and I was recently named a 2009 SQL Server MVP . Check in frequently for tips , tricks , commentary and ideas on SQL Server and NET programming . Subscribe Archives May , 2012 1 August , 2010 1 November , 2009 2 October , 2009 1 December , 2008 1 October , 2008 2 August , 2008 3 July , 2008 3 June , 2008 3 May , 2008 4 April , 2008 2 March , 2008 2 February , 2008 9 January , 2008 3 December , 2007 3 November , 2007 2 October , 2007 8 September , 2007 4 August , 2007 5 July , 2007 11 June ,

  • SQL Rally Presentations

    Updated: 2012-05-11 14:48:00
    As I drove to Dallas for this year's SQL Rally conference (yes, I like to drive) I got a call asking if I could step in for another presenter who had to cancel at the last minute. Life happens, and it's best to be flexible, and I said sure, I can do that. Which presentation would you like me to do? (I'd submitted a few presentations, so it wasn't a problem.) So yesterday I presented "Gathering Performance Metrics With PowerShell" at 8:45AM, and my newest presentation, "Manage SQL Server 2012 on Windows...(read more)

  • SQL SERVER – Quiz and Video – Introduction to Discovering XML Data Type Methods

    Updated: 2012-05-11 02:30:42
    This blog post is inspired from SQL Interoperability Joes 2 Pros: A Guide to Integrating SQL Server with XML, C#, and PowerShell – SQL Exam Prep Series 70-433 – Volume 5. [Amazon] | [Flipkart] | [Kindle] | [IndiaPlaza] This is follow up blog post of my earlier blog post on the same subject - SQL SERVER – Introduction [...]

  • Scripting SQL Server databases sans SMO Scripter

    Updated: 2012-05-10 19:38:00
    Home Syndication Log in Scripting SQL Server databases sans SMO Scripter I can script out a database schema and optionally data from SQL Server databases . Any version from 2005 and beyond , as well as SQL Azure Database . nbsp And most all instance level objects . nbsp And I'm not the SMO scripter object . Or a DBA . Who am I I would be DACFx 3.0. And I can do some things unlike SMO scripter , or a busy DBA like script out deltas schema only given any two databases or DACPACs . Or any combination of SSDT project , nbsp database , and DACPAC . nbsp When DAC that's data-tier applications , not dedicated administrator connection was introduced back around SQL Server 2008 R2, there were a subset of most likely candidate database objects it could script . This increased over time to include

  • SQL SERVER – Quiz and Video – Introduction to SQL Error Actions

    Updated: 2012-05-10 02:30:26
    This blog post is inspired from SQL Programming Joes 2 Pros: Programming and Development for Microsoft SQL Server 2008 – SQL Exam Prep Series 70-433 – Volume 4. [Amazon] | [Flipkart] | [Kindle] | [IndiaPlaza] This is follow up blog post of my earlier blog post on the same subject - SQL SERVER – Introduction to SQL Error [...]

  • The PoSh DBA: Grown-Up PowerShell Functions

    Updated: 2012-05-10 01:00:00
    Laerte goes step-by-step through the process of tidying up and making more reusable an untidy collection of PowerShell routines, showing how pipelines and advanced functions can make PowerShell more effective in helping to automate many of the working DBA's chores.

  • SQL VIEW Basics

    Updated: 2012-05-10 01:00:00
    SQL Views are essential for the database developer. However, it is common to see them misued, or neglected. Joe Celko tackles an introduction to the subject, but there is something about the topic that makes it likely that even the experienced developer will find out something new from reading it.

  • Handling Deadlocks in SQL Server

    Updated: 2012-05-10 01:00:00
    In this excerpt from his book Troubleshooting SQL Server: A Guide for the Accidental DBA, Jonathan Kehayias provides a guide to identifying the causes, reacting to, and ultimately preventing the dreaded deadlock.

  • SQL SERVER – Quiz and Video – Introduction to Basics of a Query Hint

    Updated: 2012-05-09 02:30:42
    This blog post is inspired from SQL Architecture Basics Joes 2 Pros: Core Architecture concepts – SQL Exam Prep Series 70-433 – Volume 3. [Amazon] | [Flipkart] | [Kindle] | [IndiaPlaza] This is follow up blog post of my earlier blog post on the same subject - SQL SERVER – Introduction to Basics of a Query Hint – [...]

  • SQL SERVER – Quiz and Video – Introduction to Hierarchical Query using a Recursive CTE

    Updated: 2012-05-08 02:30:29
    This blog post is inspired from SQL Queries Joes 2 Pros: SQL Query Techniques For Microsoft SQL Server 2008 – SQL Exam Prep Series 70-433 – Volume 2.[Amazon] | [Flipkart] | [Kindle] | [IndiaPlaza] This is follow up blog post of my earlier blog post on the same subject - SQL SERVER – Introduction to Hierarchical Query using [...]

  • SQL SERVER – Quiz and Video – Introduction to SQL Server Security

    Updated: 2012-05-07 02:30:25
    This blog post is inspired from Beginning SQL Joes 2 Pros: The SQL Hands-On Guide for Beginners – SQL Exam Prep Series 70-433 – Volume 1. [Amazon] | [Flipkart] | [Kindle] | [IndiaPlaza] This is follow up blog post of my earlier blog post on the same subject - SQL SERVER – Introduction to SQL Server Security – [...]

  • SQL Scripts Manager and IronPython

    Updated: 2012-05-04 01:00:00
    As well as running TSQL and PowerShell, the free SQL Scripts Manager tool can also run Python scripts. This allows even more sophisticated scripting possibilities for managing automated database tasks.

Current Feed Items | Previous Months Items

Apr 2012 | Mar 2012 | Feb 2012 | Jan 2012 | Dec 2011