Checking program code into source control is a daily ritual for most developers, but versioning database code is less well-understood. Grant Fritchey argues that getting your databases under source control is not only vital for the stability of development and deployment, but it will make your life easier when something does go wrong.… Read more
SSIS was designed to be extensible. Although you can create tasks that will take data from a wide variety of sources, transform the data is a number of ways and write the results a wide choice of destinations, using the components provided, there will always be occasions when you need to customise your own SSIS component. Yes, it is time to hone up your C# skills and cut some code, as Saurabh explains.… Read more
So you've got your database under source control, and now you want to start running automatic tests and builds with it. Welcome to the world of continuous integration. Rob Chipperfield guides us through the fundamentals of continuous integration servers, with advice on what to think about when choosing one, and insights into how your database and application structures can affect your choice.… Read more
Source control will allow you to maintain branches in the development of your database, but the subsequent merge isn't pain-free. How, from the practical perspective, can the database developer support the rapid development and delivery of features in an application? Versioning, branching and merging is part of the solution, but what about the rest of the solution?… Read more
A SQL migration script is similar to a SQL build script, except that it changes a database from one version to another, rather than builds it from scratch. Although they're simple in essence, it is worth knowing how to use them effectively for stress-free database updates and deployments. It takes care to get them right, but it is worth the trouble.… Read more
The optimistic concurrency model assumes that several concurrent transactions can usually complete without interfering with each other, and therefore do not require draconian locking on the resources they access. SQL Server 2005, and later, implements a form of this model called row versioning concurrency. It works by remembering the value of the data at the start of the transaction and checking that no other transaction has modified it before committing. If this optimism is justified for the pattern of activity within a database, it can improve performance by greatly reducing blocking. Kalen Delaney explains how it works in SQL Server.
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For the rapid delivery of any software application, there must be an effective configuration management system that is scripted. As the application increases in size it becomes more important that configuration information is kept in one place, without repetition, in version control. How to achieve this in practice? Konrad Lukasik explains a working solution.… Read more
It is important to set up SQL Server Agent Security on the principles of 'executing with minimum privileges', and ensure that errors are properly logged and alerts are set up for a comprehensive range of errors. SQL Server Agent allows fine-grained control of every job step that should allow tasks to be run entirely safely even if they occasionally need special privileges.… Read more
In the course of rescuing a development from 'merge misery', it became increasingly apparent that there were a number of practices for managing branches in the Version Control System that would have reduced the pain and effort of the subsequent merge, and made the dream of continuous delivery come closer to reality. From the experience comes some well-tested ways of making branches and merges a stress-free part of application development.… Read more
For efficient team-based database development, and reliable and repeatable database deployments, source control is not optional. This book provides just the right combination of theory and practical example to get you started quickly.… Read more
Just because it is possible to do many configuration jobs 'click by bleeding click', doesn't mean that it is a good idea. It is better to step back, plan, and use the advanced resources provided for managing large network. Printer configuration is the perfect illustration of this, and Joseph demonstrates how the use of Group Policy, PowerShell, and Print Management can turn a time-consuming chore into a pleasure.… Read more
As part of our long-running series of articles where we ask working database developers how database source control improves their work within development teams, we made the mistake of asking Hugh Bin-Haad, Database dev and relational theorist.… Read more
Boxstarter is an open-source application that enables you to do the unattended install of everything required to turn bare metal, Azure VM or Hyper-V VM into a working Windows Server. It is built on top of Chocolatey, Nuget, and PowerShell to make the repeated installation of windows-based machines into an automated error-free process. Matt Wrock, Boxstarter's creator, explains how to use it.… Read more
SQL Server's AlwaysOn Availability Groups provide a very resilient way of providing High-availability for SQL Server databases, but there are inevitable limits to their capacity. How many databases can you reasonably add? It depends on the resources available and the workload, but you can come up with a reasonable estimate as Warwick Rudd explains… Read more
If you have a number of SQL Server instances with versions ranging from 2005 upwards, with a whole host of databases, and you want to be alerted about a number of diverse events that are useful for first-line problem-diagnosis and auditing, then Feodor's homebrew solution, using SSIS and Robocopy is likely to be what you're looking for.… Read more
It is natural for the user to want to browse through data within an application. Until recently, the interfaces with data sources have been ill-equipped to support this. OData, at last, takes the legwork away with some well-considered support for the paging of data, without imposing any particular conventions on the application. Dino explains how to use it.… Read more
Every DBA needs to know about SQLPSX, the PowerShell module library that is built by DBAs for DBAs, and designed to provide intuitive functions around the SMO objects. It makes the automation of database administration easier across all versions of SQL Server since SQL Server 2000. Laerte Junior, who is one of the developers on the open-source project, describes how to use it.… Read more
One of the frustrations of anyone beginning with PowerShell is the simple task of getting data in and out. To help out with this, Michael Sorens begins a series that shows you how to import data from most of the common file formats and sources. He also shows how to export data in a range of formats.… Read more
FitNesse is an automated testing tool for software. based on Ward Cunningham's Framework for Integrated Test. It is designed particularly for acceptance testing and works with both applications and databases. In part 4, Michael Sorens shows you how to debug with Visual Studio, manage control flow and enable tracing.… Read more
SSIS is able to take sorted data from more than one OLE DB data source and merge them into one table which can then be sent to an OLE DB destination. This 'Merge Join' transformation works in a similar way to a SQL join by specifying a 'join key' relationship. This transformation can save a great deal of processing on the destination. Annette Allen, as usual, gives clear guidance on how to do it.… Read more
