(Mike Chapple) SQL Server constraints allow you to enforce rules in your database. These rules may affect business logic, database integrity and/or table structures. Each one plays an important role in your database architecture. The six types of constraints supported by Microsoft SQL Server include

(Dipanjan) Recently I faced two cases in which we can see slow query performance when we run a SQL Server query from a Windows Server 2008 client machine. The query takes more time to complete when we run it from a Win2K8 machine as compared to a Win2K3 or WinXP machine.

(Atif Shehzad) In a previous tip we discussed how to register servers in SQL Server Management Studio. Now that I have my registered servers setup the way I like, I need to setup other computers the same way that are used to manage my SQL Servers. Instead of having to manually add the registered s

(Jorge Segarra) As database administrators, we are charged with not only protecting our data but also being able to recover it in case of emergencies. For that reason, knowing the different types of backups that are available to you in SQL Server, how they work, and how to properly manage them is a

(Andy Novick) This article summerizes my experience using Solid State Disk boards with SQL Server. The performance can be impressive for the right loads.

(Bipin Joshi) Sometimes, your data is not limited to strings and numbers. You need to store a large amount of data in a SQL server table. Documents, raw files, XML documents and photos are some examples. SQL sever provides special data types for such large volumes of data. In this article, I will di

(Ashish Kumar Mehta) Finding a good reporting mechanism for your SQL Server Agent can be tedious and time consuming. You can either write your own reporting application or choose a third-party solution. You may also have to install an instance of Reporting Services in your environment, depending on

(Mike Chapple) Log shipping allows you to keep two SQL Server databases synchronized for high availability. In a log shipping relationship, the primary server transfers copies of its transaction logs to the secondary server on a periodic basis. The secondary server receives those logs and uses them

(Bob Pearson) This is a handy little batch file that I have been using for years to deploy multiple SSIS packages to a SQL Server. It is pretty basic; it copies all of the *.dtsx files in a specified folder to the SQL Server.

(Sriram Ganapathy) SQL Server 2008 introduces File Stream data type that lets you store BLOB data in an efficient manner. One of the issues with this data type is there is no easy way to do space management. What happens if you run out of space on the drive that you designated for storing the BLOBs