Featured Article(s)
MySQL Table Constraints
Let’s take a look at Primary Keys, NOT NULL constraints, and Foreign Keys and how they effect table data for inserts, deletes, and cascading deletes.
Webcast Today
SQL Server Database Snapshots: Are They Right for Me?
In this webcast SQL Server expert Tom LaRock will discuss SQL Server database snapshots and how you can implement them in your environment. He will outline the advantages and limitations of using these snapshots and investigate common use cases where they can successfully be deployed. Tom is a DBA manager with ING Investments and a member of Quests Association of SQL Server Experts.
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> 9/9/2008 at 12pm Noon Pacific
Virtualization In Your (Near) Future?
Probably. There are big changes that Microsoft is doing to help support the movement toward more virtualized offerings, and of course the tools you need to manage that type of solution are really solid. Microsoft is releasing both free and paid tools and environments and there is clearly interest from many folks looking to deploy environments that you can both control and isolate. There are some huge advantages with this – ranging from better server utilization by adding more responsibilities to the server, to management and even cost and power savings. Licensing is also getting updated from Microsoft, easing the way to deploying software as you need to.
What are your plans for virtualization? We’ve talked before about some of the risks – and the environments that are more or less adaptable to the virtual configurations. But overall, what are your plans for virtualization with Hyper-V and other tools in your environment? Do you have best practices defined yet? Are you testing this in your own environment?
Let me know your thoughts – I know I’ve been receiving more email about people asking whether it’s the right way to go. In most cases, it’s the dreaded "it depends" kind of answer – it depends on your workload, on your configuration, on your server capacity…
One place I see people not even hesitating to deploy virtual tools is on test and development servers. It’s a solid way to roll out distinct, controlled environments without the need for physically separate servers. It’s a great application, but it’s certainly not the intent to only run virtual servers in a test or development environment – the end-goal is production servers, maximizing the physical servers on-hand and helping in the management of those instances.
Business Intelligence Conference – Get More Information Here
Featured session examples:
Validating and Testing SQL Server Data Mining Models
A statistician wisely said that all models are wrong, but some are useful. In this session, we will explore the various techniques available in SQL Server 2008 Data Mining for validating mining models. This will include familiar techniques such as the lift chart, but will also include new features from SQL Server 2008 including Cross Validation. We will include useful tips on managing multiple models throughout their lifecycle. Examples will cover both the Business Intelligence Development Studio and the Data Mining Add-ins for Excel.
What’s new in SSRS in SQL Server 2008
In this session, attendees will learn about the new features available in SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) for 2008, including the new hosting environment and new report visualization tools. This session will also discuss the new SSRS scalability and deployment feature set.
Featured White Paper(s)
The Keys to Recoverability, from ESG
ESG Analyst, Lauren Whitehouse, discusses Double-Take Software’s concept of “recoverability” – which involves layers of prote… (read more)
Addressing the Insider Threat
This paper discusses the current state of database security, and the importance of activity monitoring and vulnerability asse… (read more)