Editorials

SharePoint With SQL Server Reinforces Key SQL Server Best Practices

Kalen Delaney, Straight to Your Computer
This week’s virtual workshop is going to be very cool – Kalen Delaney will be teaching about Indexes – and it’s going to be amazing! Kalen is well known for her in-depth approach to teaching workshops, classes, pre-conference sessions and so much more. We’re really jazzed about bringing you more than *4 hours* of detailed information about things you need to know about Indexes and SQL Server. Learn about key aspects of indexes and, perhaps more importantly, how to apply that knowledge to get the best possible performance from your systems. Take a look here at the virtual workshop site – but don’t delay – the workshop is Friday, so be sure to register today.

We’ll even be giving away a copy of her book to one lucky workshop attendee!

>> [Visit the workshop site]
>> [Register for the virtual workshop]

Featured Script
Analyzing SQL Agent Job and Job Step History in SQL Server
–Analyzing SQL Agent Job and Job Step History in SQL Server — Written By: Atif Shehzad … (read more)

SharePoint With SQL Server Reinforces Key SQL Server Best Practices
It’s interesting reading through different blogs, articles and whitepapers about SharePoint and what types of things you need to do to optimize the SharePoint environment.

What I find interesting is that it seems like so many of the suggestions for best performance are those that SQL Server administration folks will find very familiar. I’m not sure where the disconnect is between the lessons learned with SQL Server and applying them to SharePoint, but if you’re administering a SharePoint system, know that the information on SSWUG about SQL Server administration, best practices and disaster recovery, planning and such — all of it is very applicable to your SharePoint installation.

Of particular interest is that I’m seeing a lot of information about file size in your database (keep content databases under 100G) and spindles. Ah spindles. Yes, with SharePoint (and other SQL Server applications as well), it’s best to pay attention to spindles on your storage subsystem. If you’re not familiar with how this works, a quick primer is in order. When you lay out your disk and storage locations, make sure you are splitting databases, transaction logs and the OS across spindles (not logical drives) because spindles are where the performance will be most impacted.

By splitting apart the databases and other storage assets and placing them on different spindles, you’ll be optimizing the access to that information. Let the hardware spread the load as much as possible/feasible and SQL Server won’t be waiting as much on disk access, making for better performance.

Webcasts Tomorrow – Register Now
There are two great webcasts tomorrow – both focusing on backup tuning and optimization – think of it as "disaster recovery day" – and enjoy!

Optimizing Backup and Restore Performance
As databases continue to grow in size, the time it takes for backup and recovery grows in length of time. Attend this session and learn methods to minimize the time it takes for your backups to complete, as well as how to minimize the amount of time it takes to recover.
Presented by: Thomas LaRock

> Register Now
> Live date: 2/10/2010 at 12:00 Pacific

Top 10 Backup Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
You already know that backing up your SQL Server databases is essential to minimize data loss in the event of a failure. However, putting the wrong strategy in place could be just as harmful as having no plan in place at all. Tune in for Idera’s February "Secrets of SQL Server" webcast and discover how to avoid common mistakes when creating and implementing a backup solution.

> Register Now
> Live date: 2/10/2010