May 2006 - Blogs - SQLServerCentral

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Archives: May 2006

Two things I wish they'd change about endpoints in SQL Server 2005

I've been playing around with endpoints in SQL Server 2005 looking at how they can be used to enhance security for SQL Servers servicing web servers based in the DMZ. Figure 1 shows a traditional architecture for just such a web server / database combination. The web server exists… Read more

0 comments, 635 reads

Posted in K. Brian Kelley - Databases, Infrastructure, and Security on 27 May 2006

When It Takes Time...

Saw this from Jason Haley's Interesting Finds post for the morning of May 25, 2006:

Project Managing Latency or: How to Make Smart People Look Stupid

I like the point: it isn't easy to ship a complex piece of software. This reminds me of two editorial posts by Steve…

0 comments, 401 reads

Posted in K. Brian Kelley - Databases, Infrastructure, and Security on 25 May 2006

Disaster Recovery and SQL Server, Part II

In a previous post, Disaster Recovery and SQL Server, Part I, I pointed to the Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) article which contains stored procedures that generate scripts to recreate logins and passwords. This sort of thing is extremely useful for disaster recovery, especially when we have to consolidate databases…

0 comments, 449 reads

Posted in K. Brian Kelley - Databases, Infrastructure, and Security on 24 May 2006

The Business Trap

We finally approved the PO for our training center equipment yesterday and along with the order for the tables, we're most of the way there. We went with Dell equipment because it's hard to beat their value, we're familiar and we already have a bunch of Dell servers we've purchased…

0 comments, 414 reads

Posted in The Voice of the DBA on 24 May 2006

SQL Prompt

I downloaded and installed SQL Prompt from Red Gate this morning. If you aren't aware, PromptSQL was bought by Red Gate and renamed SQL Prompt as they are working on improving the product. Several other bloggers have posted about Red Gate offering SQL Prompt free until September 1, 2006. You…

0 comments, 441 reads

Posted in K. Brian Kelley - Databases, Infrastructure, and Security on 23 May 2006

Disaster Recovery and SQL Server, Part I

The last few weeks I've been working on disaster recovery procedures for my organization. We review them at least yearly to ensure we've taken into account new applications, changes to the infrastructure, etc. This sort of thing is supposed to be done after any change, and our change control procedures…

2 comments, 463 reads

Posted in K. Brian Kelley - Databases, Infrastructure, and Security on 20 May 2006

Backing up virtual machines on VMware ESX Server

I know VMware and Virtual Server technology is becoming more and more prevalent in organizations as both packages can greatly reduce hardware costs. We've been testing VMware ESX Server heavily because of its ability to overallocate memory, its very small footprint as a host operating system, and the ability to…

0 comments, 451 reads

Posted in K. Brian Kelley - Databases, Infrastructure, and Security on 17 May 2006

DR in Processes

The list server here at SQLServerCentral.com has a few quirks, one of which is that it doesn't run as a service. During the upgrade to the latest version the services applet part blew up and I gave up after a few hours trying to get it to work. Part of…

0 comments, 409 reads

Posted in The Voice of the DBA on 15 May 2006

Security Myths

It's funny, but most articles in magazines get lost on my desk. I get quite a few subscriptions and rarely get to many of them since life is so busy. TechNet is one of those, but for some reason I did read through part of it, including the Security Myths…

0 comments, 406 reads

Posted in The Voice of the DBA on 15 May 2006

Nice Article on Security Myths in May/June 2006 Issue of TechNet Magazine

The May/Jone 2006 issue of TechNet Magazine has a feature on security. One of the articles is titled Deconstructing Common Security Myths and it's authored by Jesper Johansson and Steve Riley. One of the things which caught my attention was this:

Myth: It's Always Better to Wait for an Official…

1 comments, 393 reads

Posted in K. Brian Kelley - Databases, Infrastructure, and Security on 12 May 2006

Apprenticeships

An interesting post on Database Apprenticeships. I think this is probably something we need in software development more than as DBAs.

The hard part is figuring out who the masters are :)

0 comments, 416 reads

Posted in The Voice of the DBA on 12 May 2006

Review of SQL Server 2005 Integration Services, Part 1 of 4

Back in First Impressions of Professional SQL Server 2005 Integration Services, I indicated I felt the book was worth the buy and I still do. I'm now in the process of posting the more detailed reviews (I've broken the review down into 4 parts) to my website. You can…

0 comments, 431 reads

Posted in K. Brian Kelley - Databases, Infrastructure, and Security on 10 May 2006

Excellent article on cracking SQL Server passwords

The SQLServerAdvisor mailing from SearchSQLServer.com had a link to a very good article on cracking SQL Server passwords. The article, by Kevin Beaver, shows some of the common tools available to detect when the sa password isn't set (he references both SQLPing2 and SQLRecon and shows screenshots of SQLPing2) as…

0 comments, 472 reads

Posted in K. Brian Kelley - Databases, Infrastructure, and Security on 9 May 2006

Share Your OPML

Dave Winer announced bringing back Share Your OPML on Friday. I wasn't keeping up with many RSS feeds back when the original application appeared, so I can't speak much about it. However, it's up, and it's interesting. For instance, once you upload your OPML file, you can take a look…

0 comments, 418 reads

Posted in K. Brian Kelley - Databases, Infrastructure, and Security on 8 May 2006

Security Awareness for Developers - What would you include?

If you were putting together a security awareness training program for developers, what aspects of SQL Server security would you include? Keep in mind that most awareness training classes are 1-2 hours maximum, so "everything" isn't a feasible answer. What would be most important for the developers to understand, in…

1 comments, 532 reads

Posted in K. Brian Kelley - Databases, Infrastructure, and Security on 6 May 2006

SysInternals EULA Updated

The SysInternals licensing has been updated on the SysInternals website. The new licensing is something you'll want to take a look at if you use these tools. There is a change with respect to "embedding" a SysInternals tool within another program, script, etc. You can find the new licensing…

0 comments, 419 reads

Posted in K. Brian Kelley - Databases, Infrastructure, and Security on 5 May 2006

Scaling out SQL Server 2005 article

This article appeared just recently on MSDN:

Scaling Out SQL Server 2005

It's a relatively high level document which covers how to think about the data before going with a scale out solution, what factors impact a scale out solution (such as how often the data is updated), and what…

0 comments, 427 reads

Posted in K. Brian Kelley - Databases, Infrastructure, and Security on 5 May 2006

Going to TechEd 2006 in Boston!

As of right now, it looks like I'm going to TechEd 2006 in Boston. If you're going to be there and want to meet up, let me know!

0 comments, 399 reads

Posted in K. Brian Kelley - Databases, Infrastructure, and Security on 5 May 2006

PromptSQL purchased by Red Gate Software

It appears that PromptSQL has been purchased by Red Gate Software. I haven't seen a news announcement about it, and there's nothing on the acquisition on the Red Gate site itself, but both of the following links indicate Red Gate now produces SQL Prompt (which matches with the naming convention…

0 comments, 435 reads

Posted in K. Brian Kelley - Databases, Infrastructure, and Security on 4 May 2006

SQL Server 2005 Books Online (April 2006)

SQL Server 2005 Books Online has been updated for SP1. The newest version is labeled SQL Server 2005 Books Online (April 2006). If you've updated to SP1, you'll likely want to update to the newest version of Books Online as well. Do note that the SP1 install does not update…

0 comments, 411 reads

Posted in K. Brian Kelley - Databases, Infrastructure, and Security on 4 May 2006