Featured Article(s)
How to: Parameters and IN Clauses
A quick overview of a problem and solution for using an IN clause with a Stored Procedure that has values populated from a passed parameter
Automated Recovery Tool
Have you seen Acronis’ Recovery for MS SQL Server? This software builds, and documents, a recovery plan for your SQL Servers. It will even complete recovery operations up to the point of failure, making sure your downtime is minimized and that your restore and recovery processes have you back on line with the best possible, and most complete, information and data available. Get more information here.
Server and Tool Application Integration Woes
One thing I’ve been learning more and more about is that the integration between tools with SQL Server and applications that depend on it – even those directly from Microsoft – could be better. In talking with a lot of the people coming through setting up for the conference, it seems a common theme in many challenges getting things going. From SharePoint to SQL Server to BI-related tasks and such, I’ve heard so many times that "well, your normal set up is this, but if you’re trying to use X, you better make sure you disable a few of these standard-type options…." UGH!
How do you keep up? Sure, if you’re installing SharePoint, you can go read the whitepapers on SharePoint installations and pre-existing SQL Server installs. You can even get best practices. But, how do you even know to do this, without going to check? (I know, the READ ME file! Yeah, right.) It seems like there needs to be some sort of tool or point of reference or… something… that can inspect an installing application and help you with any co-contingencies.
It’s funny though – as I write this, I’m thinking "I don’t know if I’d even see the extra dialog box warning me to turn off standard maintenance plans in SQL Server with my SharePoint installation…" So I’m not sure what the answer is. It can’t be during setup – there are too many things going on and I think we’re all distracted with the art of getting the silly thing installed.
Perhaps there’s a "Delta Best Practices" app that is needed. You run this ONLY on the changes since the last run. Look for stuff that’s new, that interacts, that impacts my system. Sort of like going to the pharmacist and having their systems watch for odd drug interactions. Surely we can make this better and more streamlined — and at the same time save some headaches and missed updates, settings and assistance.
Featured Upcoming Conference Sessions – Business Intelligence Conference
Only a few days left to register! Register Here
Charts, Gauges and Beyond Data Visualization in SSRS 2008
Building better Business Intelligence with Excel and SQL Server Analysis Services
Microsoft Office Excel and Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services are an impressive combination for building end-to-end Business Intelligence solutions. In this session we will show you how to create an Analysis Services cube that can be consumed by Excel. From there we will use the new features in Excel 2007 to take advantage of the metadata exposed by Analysis Services. We will explore enhancements such as the new functionality available in PivotTables, and OLAP formulas that can be used to retrieve data from Analysis Services. We will also use conditional formatting to create useful visualizations of the Business Intelligence data.
Check out the Business Intelligence Conference Site – we’ll bring the sessions to you!
Featured White Paper(s)
SQL Server 2005 – Major New Features
This white paper highlights the new features of SQL Server 2005, including the user interface and the architecture changes, a… (read more)
SQL Server Fragmentation Explained
As the data in Microsoft SQL Server tables changes, their indexes change. Over time, these indexes become fragmented. This fr… (read more)