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Update statistics in parallel

Federico Iori from SQLServerCentral.com

This articles shows a technique that generates and launches an SSIS package to update statistics in parallel. More »

SQL Server 2012 Build List

Steve Jones from SQLServerCentral.com

A list of the builds of SQL Server 2012 through CU#4. More »

Beating Backup Corruption

Additional Articles from SQLServerCentral.com

The most critical task for all DBAs is to have a Backup and Recovery strategy that ensures, every day, that in the event of a disaster they can restore and recover any database, within acceptable limits for data loss and downtime. Even with all the required backups in place, it's easy to miss subtle failings in the overall plan that can, and eventually will, defeat your recovery plans.  More »

From the SQLServerCentral Blogs - Adding new data files to a log shipped database

Wayne Sheffield from SQLServerCentral.com

I ran into an interesting problem recently. There is a 4TB database that is log shipped to a DR site,... More »

From the SQLServerCentral Blogs - Why is My New Server Under CPU Pressure?

@DBA_ANDY from SQLServerCentral.com

Signal waits frequently translate to the amount of time that SQLOS is under pressure for CPU resources, as outlined in... More »

I was listening to a presentation recently and the presenter talked about some of the restrictions in working with 32 bit SQL Server on 64 bit Windows hosts. Another person joked that any companies still running 32 bit software were way behind the times. I heard a comment that surely everyone runs 64 bit hardware these days, don't they?

Do they? How many servers in large companies are still running on the x86 architecture? I know I have old laptops still running those processors, though I'd like to think that most companies have a hardware refresh rate that's no longer than 5 years, and most laptops and servers would be x86.

The platform architecture, however, doesn't necessarily imply our software has been upgraded to 64 bit. There are problems with various drivers that won't run under 64-bit architectures. Excel is often a problem as SQL Server moves to 64-bit versions. There are 64-bit drivers, but the change, testing, etc. effort for many companies may not be worth pursuing. It can be annoying for us data professionals, but it's a valid business decision. The same argument often applies to those companies running SQL Server 2000 (or older versions).

Five or six years ago I heard a presenter that worked for a large Fortune 100 company say that their policy was for applications to last ten years. That included the hardware and software, since the cost of change, whether through new software or major upgrades, was significant. With many companies still running SQL Server 2000, I suspect that many companies have a similar, unofficial, policy. 

I don't know whether the majority of software we use in our careers is 32 bit or 64 bit, but I am sure that we will have to deal with the former for years to come. You can complain about it, but you better learn to work with it.

Steve Jones from SQLServerCentral.com

» Join the debate, and respond to today's editorial on the forums

The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

We publish three versions of the podcast each day for you to enjoy.

• Watch the Windows Media Podcast - 18.3MB WMV
• Watch the iPod Video Podcast - 19.8MB MP4
• Listen to the MP3 Audio Podcast - 3.9MB MP3

The podcast feeds are available at sqlservercentral.mevio.com. Comments are definitely appreciated and wanted, and you can get feeds from there. Overall RSS Feed: or now on iTunes!

Today's podcast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. Support this great duo at www.everydayjones.com.

You can also follow Steve Jones on Twitter:

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Today's Question:

Using SQL SERVER 2012

/* Version:
Microsoft SQL Server 2012 - 11.0.2218.0 (X64)
 Jun 12 2012 13:05:25
 Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation
 Developer Edition (64-bit) on Windows NT 6.1 <X64> (Build 7601: Service Pack 1) */

USE AdventureWorks2012

SET ANSI_NULLS ON
GO
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON
GO

I create the following temporary table

CREATE TABLE #Seasons(Hdate DATE,Season VARCHAR(10))

I then execute the following T-SQL:

INSERT INTO #Seasons(Hdate,Season)  

   SELECT HireDate, CHOOSE(MONTH(HireDate),'Winter','Winter', 'Winter','Spring',   'Spring','Summer','Summer','Summer','Fall','Fall','Fall','Winter') AS Season_Hired  FROM  [HumanResources].[Employee] 

SELECT COUNT(Season),Season 
 FROM #Seasons 
 GROUP BY Season.

The questions are:  Which season has the least number of hires? Which season has the largest number of hires? (select 2)

By bitbucket

Think you know the answer? Click here, and find out if you are right.

This question is worth 1 point in this category: CHOOSE. We keep track of your score to give you bragging rights against your peers.

We'd love to give you credit for your own question and answer. To submit a QOD, simply log in to Contribution Center.

Securing SQL Server

Written by Denny Cherry, a Microsoft MVP for the SQL Server product, a Microsoft Certified Master for SQL Server 2008, and one of the biggest names in SQL Server today, Securing SQL Server, Second Edition explores the potential attack vectors someone can use to break into your SQL Server database as well as how to protect your database from these attacks. In this book, you will learn how to properly secure your database from both internal and external threats using best practices and specific tricks the author uses in his role as an independent consultant while working on some of the largest and most complex SQL Server installations in the world. This edition includes new chapters on Analysis Services, Reporting Services, and Storage Area Network Security.

Get your copy from Amazon today.

What is the difference between COALESCE and ISNULL? (choose 2)

By Siddharth Tandon

Answer:

• Coalesce can take more than two parameters, and IsNULL takes exactly two parameters
• The result returned by coalesce depends on data type precedence

Explanation: COALESCE can use a variable number of paramters, where ISNULL takes just two parameters. The return type of COALESCE does depend on the data type precedence rules and only COALESCE is an ANDI standard function.

Ref: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sqltips/archive/2008/06/26/differences-between-isnull-and-coalesce.aspx

» Discuss this question and answer on the forums

SQL Server 2012 T-SQL Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach

SQL Server 2012 T-SQL Recipes is an example-based guide to the Transact-SQL language that is at the core of SQL Server 2012. It provides ready-to-implement solutions to common programming and database administration tasks. Learn to create databases, insert and update data, generate reports, secure your data, and more. Tasks and their solutions are broken down into a problem/solution format that is quick and easy to read so that you can get the job done fast when the pressure is on. Get your copy from Amazon today.

List Database Users and their Corresponding Roles

Venkat Kesavarapu from SQLServerCentral.com

Database Users and their Corresponding Roles and type login. More »

Here's a few of the new posts today on the forums. To see more, visit the forums.

SQL Server 2005 : Business Intelligence

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SQL Server 2005 : T-SQL (SS2K5)

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SQL Server 7,2000 : T-SQL

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SQL Server 2008 : SQL Server 2008 - General

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SQL Server 2008 : T-SQL (SS2K8)

WHERE vs. GROUP BY again - The following two T-SQL statements return exactly the same row set whatever data is: [font="Courier New"]SELECT [i]something [/i]FROM [i]somewhere[/i] WHERE [i]condition[/i]...

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Case sensitivity when declaring paramters - My server is case sensitive (CS) My DataBase is no (CI) The smss query editor works fine for this kind of query...

Update works on some systems but on few others - Hi All, I have some update and insert queries to update GEO location data, which when I execute on my system...

sql trigger problem - I am trying to write my first trigger on a sql server 2008 r2 database. I keep getting a procedure error...

Stuck with PIVOT - Hi, To simplify the problem, I have JOINed 3 tables together to create a new table with the following output: [img]https://sites.google.com/site/facesmapicons/PIVOT.jpg[/img] I...

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How To Validate in Procedure - I Created a one Procedure ..its given Below... [code="sql"]create procedure [dbo].[USP_Reliance_Master_Upload] as begin declare @dt datetime , @Mnth varchar(10) BEGIN TRY SELECT @dt...

SQL Server 2008 : Working with Oracle

Oracle 9i to sql server 2008 migration - I want to migrate from Oracle 9i to Sql server 2008 using SSMA. Please let me know what steps will...

SQL Server 2008 : SQL Server Newbies

Property Collation is not available for Database - Backup job failed last night - viewing the history logs gave the following message "Could not find database ID 15. Database...

how to attach database with variable path by storedprocedure?? - please help me, how to attach database with variable path??

SQL Server 2008 : SQL Server 2008 Administration

migrating dts 2000 packages to ssis 2008 packages - can please any one tell me that step by step process of how to migrate dts 2000 packages to ssis...

Career : Certification

Would using the MS Press books be sufficient? - After being an MS SQL DBA for over a decade I'm finally looking at getting some certifications. Unfortunately though it'll...

Reporting Services : Reporting Services

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Data Warehousing : Integration Services

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where to install the new warehouse SQL Server - I’m starting to build the DM design for BI data warehouse; I have two SQL server 2008 databases that will...