We have a new author at SQLServerCentral.com, Muthusamy Anantha Kumar AKA The MAK, who starts a new series on the basics that a DBA needs to know. This installment walks over basic backup and restore.  Read more...

Part 2 in this upgrade series lists the steps to point application traffic at a transition server while the primary cluster is rebuilt to Windows Server 2003 and SQL Server 2005.  Read more...

SQL Management Objects(SMO)can be used for customized automation of various database.This article gives an implementation for SMO using C#.  Read more...

Mirrored backup commands in SQL Server 2005 work with media sets to minimize data loss. They can also restore a mirrored backup from a different media family.  Read more...

Running short of disk space? One way to solve that is to keep fewer backups on disk, or write a routine that will compress them to conserve space. Or you could try SQLZip, an add in that creates compressed backups. Read the review, see if it's something you should consider!   Read more...