"Care and Feeding of the SQL Server Transaction Log" Class – Starts Tomorrow
Thanks to SQL Server MVP Kalen Delaney, you can learn why the transaction log is considered to be one of the most important components contributing to database perforemance.
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Reader Comments – Version Does Matter
Following are a couple of reader comments regarding the previous editorial regarding "Version Does Matter".
Thomas Writes:
I don’t know for sure, on the example in the article, but someone that works for me recently made a similar mistake, and the real cause was misinterpreting what Compatibility Mode does for you.
What it does is it allows you to port code from previous versions to the new version, but this developer thought that it applied the rules of the previous version to the code she was writing and thus allowed her to write backward portable code.
Your steps to prevent this are all good and we have them in place as well. It might be valuable to add an additional step, which is where we caught our version of this problem (Peer Review) which may catch the problems earlier. ( if you have competent peers.) Having someone else look at and comment on your code also helps in making sure that the code that eventually makes it into production is maintainable, since if the code is unreadable it should be sent back from there. (and at least one other person should understand it)
Marty Writes:
Not only am I seeing the issue of multiple database platforms (in SQL Server AND Oracle in my case), but I am also seeing issues with old applications and software, and interfacing issues to later versions of SQL Server and/or Oracle. These issues include things like Access applications using an older version of Access, but needing to interface to a newer version of SQL Server (e.g., linked tables function). Also, I run into a lot of ODBC interface issues now with the advent of multiple database versions AND o/s changes (i.e., 32 bit to 64 bit).
The latter issue is for both Oracle AND SQL Server. It has made me somewhat more ‘valuable’ being the only old-timer (over 36 years in the business) who can ‘flange’ or paste-together the various software involved. Valuable in that they need to keep such people around as new
Is Access Dead?
A while back as asked the question, “Is Access Dead?”, and received a number of replies to the contrary. I don’t intend to start another managed thread on the topic; we pretty much covered the issue.
But then Larry Rockoff comes along with his response. His response was so bit it took an entire book to contain his thoughts, “Data Analysis with Microsoft Access 2010.
One of the uses for MS Access discussed previously was that of a prototyping tool. Because you can quickly define screens and reports using bound controls, Access is a great way to communicate concepts. However, this is also it’s great downfall when using it as a production application for more than a few limited users.
Larry extends the concept of using MS Access as a prototype tool, adding the concept of using it for prototyping Data Warehouse designs, instead of or addition to screen/report designs.
How do you determine what dimensions are valuable when designing your data warehouse? Larry would contend that an Access application connected to a relational data store, such as SQL Server, allows an analyst to test and define meaningful data dimensions, produce prototype reports, etc. that may be later migrated to a production capable data mining tool.
What do you think? Have you used Access in this fashion? Are there concerns users should be aware of when using Access in this fashion? Send your response to btaylor@sswug.org.
Cheers,
Ben
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