If you work with SQL Server 2000, then you know how painful it is to triage a server that has "gone astray". Eric Brown thinks that the new Dynamic Management Views in SQL 2005 are a big step forward.… Read more
SQL Server provides several "standard" techniques by which to read and write to files but, just occasionally, they aren't quite up to the task at hand - especially when dealing with large strings or relatively unstructured data. Phil Factor provides some T-SQL stored procedures, based on use of the FileSystem Object (FSO), that may just get you out of a tight corner...… Read more
The most important thing you can do as a database administrator is perform regular database maintenance. This includes regular backups, database integrity checks and optimizations. In Part 1 of a three article series, Allen White shows how to automate the backup of all of your databases, using SQL Server Management Objects (SMO) and either native backup or Red Gate's SQL Backup tool.… Read more
For those times when you absolutely, positively got to perform a cross tab query in SQL, Keith Fletcher's T-SQL stored procedure will allow you to do it "on the fly". You can add it to your database and start cross tabbing immediately, without any further setup or changes to your SQL code. Check it out, and then take the cross tab challenge. If you can compile a cross tab report that displays the order value by customer, by quarter, using the stored procedure, you may win a much-coveted prize!… Read more
A process in a complex database occasionally, and apparently randomly, manages to put table locks on vital tables. Several applications are brought to a complete halt. Armed with a T-SQL stored procedure, a violin and a keen investigative spirit, Pop Rivett tracks down the rogue SPIDs that are causing all the problems...… Read more
Measuring what is actually happening is always the best course of action when investigating performance issues on databases, rather than relying on cache hit ratios, or best practices, or worst of all, guesswork. This article introduces some techniques that will allow you to pinpoint exactly where the performance issues are in your system, so you'll know exactly where to spend your time (and money) in solving them.
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Cursors and iterations are both renowned for slowing down Transact SQL code, but sometimes seem unavoidable. In this workbench, Robyn Page and Phil Factor demonstrate some set-based techniques for string manipulation and time interval-based reporting, which use helper tables rather than the dreaded cursor.… Read more
In part 3 of Dan Sullivan's in-depth exploration of PowerSMO, the versatile command line utility for managing SQL Server databases, he describes how to control the identity that SMO uses to login to SQL Server, how to set up Server activity monitoring, and how to create standalone PowerSMO scripts, suitable for use in a production environment.… Read more
Never a man to walk away from a challenge, Phil Factor set himself the task of automating the production of Word reports from SQL Server, armed only with OLE automation and a couple of stored procedures.… Read more
Robyn Page and Phil Factor present practical T-SQL techniques for controlling access to sensitive information within the database, and preventing malicious SQL injection attacks.… Read more
If database design is done right, then the development, deployment and subsequent performance in production will give little trouble. A well-designed database 'just works'. There are a small number of mistakes in database design that causes subsequent misery to developers, managewrs, and DBAs alike. Here are the ten worst mistakes
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In most relational database implementations. Update and Delete commands destroy the data that was there prior to their issue. However, some systems require that no information is ever physically deleted from or updated in the database. In this article, Arthur Fuller presents a solution to this requirement in the form of a Point-in-Time architecture: a database design which allows a user to recreate an image of the database as it existed at any previous point in time, without destroying the current image.… Read more
Grant Fritchey steps into the workbench arena, with an example-fuelled examination of catching and gracefully handling errors in SQL 2000 and 2005, including worked examples of the new TRY..CATCH capabilities.… Read more
If you've ever had brain meltdown trying to understand SQL Server users, roles, permissions, logins etc. then Robyn Page's security cribsheet might be just be your Panacea.… Read more
Dan Sullivan delves deeper into PowerSMO, the versatile command line utility for managing SQL Server databases. Using a certificate strategy, he provides a step-by-step guide to creating and deploying secure, signed DBA scripts. He then describes how to use PowerSMO functions to manage the extended properties of SQL Server objects.… Read more
The long-awaited final instalment of Steve Joubert's popular 4-part "from the ground up" guide to SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services. Here, he dissects the Report Definition Language and provides a practical demonstration on the use of Report Builder, an ad-hoc reporting tool that allows end users to build and customize their own reports.… Read more
The need to produce Excel reports from SQL Server is very common. Here, Robyn Page and Phil Factor present practical techniques for creating and manipulating Excel spreadsheets from SQL Server, using linked servers and T-SQL. The pièce de résistance is a stored procedure that uses OLE Automation to allow you full control over the formatting of your Excel report, and the ability to include sums, ranges, pivot tables and so on.… Read more
Most DBAs don't have time to perform routine processes manually. Everything has to be scripted, automated and scheduled. Here, Dan Sullivan describes how a combination of PowerShell and SMO ("PowerSMO") can provide a familiar but powerful command line tool for managing common SQL Server tasks.… Read more
