SQLServerCentral.com Articles tagged Configuring

Disaster In The Real World - #2

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 07:00:00 UT

Back in April Steve Jones wrote up a disaster at work. Andy had one this week and wrote up the story too. Copy cat! Pretty soon everyone will be having a disaster and writing a story about it! Give these guys credit for letting you see what happens when it ALL goes bad. Disaster recovery is hard to sell and hard to do, reading the article might give you an idea that will save you some time and/or data one day.

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The Basics of Sizing a SQL Server Database

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 06:00:00 UT

Sizing a database can be one of the most arduous tasks a DBA, analyst or developer must attend to. It?s time consuming and more hours go into analyzing the database than actually sizing it. This article focuses on how to monitor the database?s growth after its deployed and contains some tips on how to size it before deployment. We will also dive a little into how to benchmark your database against a robust data load.

Configuring SQL Server memory settings

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 07:00:00 UT

Learn about SQL Server memory needs and settings including RAM amounts, how to enable AWE, maximum server memory and the differences of 32- and 64-bit platforms.

Twiddling the knobs: The Default Backup directory

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 06:00:00 UT

What's the best way to change the default backup directory for a server, using SSMS or Enterprise Manager, without changing all the default directories at the same time? What is the TSQL to do it? A prize for the best correct solution.

Exploring SQL Server 2000 Configuration Properties

Fri, 29 Sep 2006 06:00:00 UT

The SQL Server tools are top notch and often other platforms attempt to duplicate their handiness. Enterprise Manager is one that every DBA uses and it can perform a myriad of functions to configure your server. Read this new article by Dale Elizabeth Corey that looks that the wide range of items in the Configuration Properties of this tool.

The Basics of Sizing a SQL Server Database

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 06:00:00 UT

Attach and Detach..Again

Fri, 23 Jun 2006 06:00:00 UT

Attaching and detaching databases is old hat these days right? Do you know how to reattach a database that has more than 16 files? Or do you know what happens if you try to reattach a database that had two log files but one is missing/deleted? And even if you know the answer to that - do you know how to fix it without restoring from backup? Maybe it's not ALL old hat just yet!

Copying DTS Packages To a Different Server

Fri, 05 May 2006 06:00:00 UT

How do you easily copy DTS packages from one server to another? DTS, BCP, T-SQL? Are there advantages to using one method over another? Andy did some research - read the article and see what works and what doesn't!

SQL Server 2000 SP 3: What's New in Security

Fri, 09 Dec 2005 07:00:00 UT

Service Pack 3 for SQL Server 2000 is huge. There are significant changes in it and they apply to all three products: the core SQL Server, MSDE, and Analysis Services. Because there are so many changes, this first article in the series will only focus on the security changes.

SQL Server Security Part 2

Fri, 04 Nov 2005 06:00:00 UT

In part one Chris Kempster covered a variety of security recommendations primarily for production systems. In Part two of this series he continues to explore security at a variety of levels where you may not realize you are vulnerable.

Troubleshooting Cannot Generate SSPI Context Errors

Fri, 19 Aug 2005 06:00:00 UT

As a DBA you do not need to know how to setup an Active Directory domain or a DNS server, but you still need to know how Kerberos, Service Principle Names, and hostnames are used to perform integrated authentication to a SQL Server. This article by new columnist Chad Miller shows you some of the more integral parts of troubleshooting running Windows Authentication security in a SQL Server environmnet.

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Worst Practices - Making Databases Case Sensitive (Or Anything Else)

Fri, 08 Jul 2005 06:00:00 UT

Article number four in this popular series continues exposing Worst Practices! This week Andy continues his tirade by talking about why case sensitive databases should be BANNED from the planet. Is he right or just OUT OF CONTROL? Read the article and join the discussion - your comment may lead to an article, that's what generated this one!

Full Text Search on SQL 2000 Part 4

Wed, 16 Mar 2005 06:00:00 UT

This article concentrates on using Full Text Search to query text located inside Microsoft Office documents. In previous articles, Microsoft Search was introduced as an add-on service to enable advanced text queries. Catalogs, the physical storage units for search, were created and indexed. The TSQL keywords CONTAINS, FORMSOF, and INFLECTIONAL were used to query the newly created Catalogs. Population Schedules along with Change Tracking options were discussed as methods to keep the Catalogs up to date with the underlying database.

SQL Maintenance Plans

Fri, 04 Mar 2005 07:00:00 UT

Do you use the maintenance plans or hate them? Wish they would do more? Curious about how they work under the hood? Cmon, you gotta read this one! Trust us, it's not another "how-to" article! Well, maybe just a little bit!

Full Text Search on SQL 2000 Part 3

Thu, 10 Feb 2005 07:00:00 UT

In the previous month's articles, Full Text Searching was introduced as a way to query strings with more refinement than the usual TSQL "like" or equal operator statements. With Full Text Searching, a new file system structure is created, storing key words from selected fields into Catalogs. In addition to storing typical character fields from databases, Microsoft Office documents that have been saved as binaries can also be entered into the Catalogs. In this month's edition, we will begin with the maintenance issues required to keep these Catalogs current. Once created, these catalogs can be interrogated for key words that are near each other's proximity, the singular and plural versions of a word, or the noun and verb variations of a word. In addition, search result rankings, or weights, that usually accompany internet search engine returns can also be requested.

Full Text Search on SQL 2000 Part 2

Wed, 09 Feb 2005 07:00:00 UT

In last month's article, Full Text Searching was introduced as a way to query strings with more refinement than the usual TSQL "like" or equal operator statements. With Full Text Searching, a new file system structure is created, storing key words from selected fields into Catalogs. In addition to storing typical character fields from databases, Microsoft Office documents that have been saved as binaries can also be entered into the Catalogs. Once created, these catalogs can be interrogated for key words that are near each other's proximity, the singular and plural versions of a word, or the noun and verb variations of a word can all be searched for. In addition, search result rankings, or weights, that usually accompany internet search engine returns can also be requested.

Full Text Search on SQL 2000 Part 1

Tue, 08 Feb 2005 07:00:00 UT

Full Text Searching is a free, optional component of MS SQL 2000. When installed, it offers a vast array of additional string querying abilities. Full Text Searching allows for string comparisons similar to internet search engines, returning both results and a matching score or weight. With regular TSQL, string matching is usually limited to an exact match, or a wildcard match with the keyword "LIKE." Full Text Searching exceeds this by searching for phrases, groups of words, words near one another, or different tenses of words, such as run, running, and ran. In addition, if Microsoft Office Word or Excel documents are saved in the database, their contents can be searched like a typical varchar field. Full Text Searching is accomplished by installing a new service (Microsoft Search), and using key words in TSQL designed specifically for text searching. This article will demonstrate installing, configuring and using the Full Text Search engine.

Data Dictionary from within SQL Server 2000

Fri, 04 Feb 2005 07:00:00 UT

Mindy explores the metadata stored in SQL 2000 to show you how to produce a simple and useful data dictionary!

Setting up a reboot cycle for Active/Passive Cluster SQL Server

Thu, 03 Feb 2005 07:00:00 UT

Every organization has a system of weekly reboots or monthly reboots etc., for all their servers. When it comes to clustered servers, the reboot cycle would be little different. Usually the active node in the cluster will always be active, unless there is a failover initiated manually or when there is a hardware failure etc. In this article, I am going to explain how to reboot cluster nodes.

Getting the Most Out of SQL Server 2000's Query Analyzer, Part III

Fri, 07 Jan 2005 07:00:00 UT

In this article, Brian Kelley continues his series on Query Analyzer for SQL Server 2000. Query Analyzer offers a highly configurable integrated development environment (IDE). Some of the areas Brian looks at are how to modify the fonts and colors, set connection settings, choose scripting options, and customizing file and result set options. Learn how to make the most of the IDE and make it work for you.

Common QA for deploying SQL Server in a SAN Environment

Tue, 04 Jan 2005 07:00:00 UT

Detailed question/answer paper on deploying SQL Server in a Storage Area Network (SAN) Environment.

Best Practices are always the Best

Thu, 11 Nov 2004 07:00:00 UT

On this site, we have taken a contrarian approach to looking at the ways to configure SQL Server with our Worst Practices series. However Microsoft still looks at it from the other side and release a tool called the Best Practices Analyzer for SQL Server. Author Dinesh Asanka brings us a short look at this tool.

Exploring SQL Server 2000 Configuration Properties

Fri, 29 Sep 2006 06:00:00 UT

Review of SQL2K Resource Kit

Tue, 13 Apr 2004 06:00:00 UT

Good enough for your bookshelf? This one meets that requirement for Brian, click the link to find out why.

The Need For Speed - Upgrading Your Servers

Tue, 30 Mar 2004 06:00:00 UT

Do you have the need for more speed on your servers? How do you go about squeezing more speed out of the database when faced with an upgrade? Steve Jones walks through some of his thought process when looking at ugprade for one of his servers.

SQL Server Security Part 2

Fri, 04 Nov 2005 06:00:00 UT

Snapshot Replication for the Beginner

Tue, 27 Jan 2004 07:00:00 UT

Andy continues writing about replication, this week discussing the many options available when creating a snapshot publication. As we noted on his last article, this one may take longer than usual to load due the large number of images but we think the readability of having it all one page is worth while.

Getting Ready to Replicate

Tue, 20 Jan 2004 07:00:00 UT

We've asked Andy to put together some articles that tackle replication from a beginner perspective, a tutorial type approach PLUS comments on what you should or should not do. This week he covers the steps needed to set up a server for replication. More images than usual so the page may take a little longer to load, but we think worthwhile so that you can see every step along the way. Let us know what you think.

Building a Demo Server

Wed, 14 Jan 2004 07:00:00 UT

Everyone does demos. Selling software relies upon people viewing your software in action and being confident it will work. Managing a demo server can be a challenge and this series will look at different problems and options you have.

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Using WMI

Tue, 23 Dec 2003 07:00:00 UT

Get started with using WMI (Windows Mgmt Instrumentation) by seeing two good scripts to start with, one to reboot the server, another to list all the services.