I received this error the other day when trying to process a particular SSAS cube:

Error      18           File system error: The following file is corrupted: Physical file: file:///\\%3f\E:\SQL\OLAP\Data\Options”>\\?\E:\SQL\OLAP\Data\Options BI QA.0.db\Dim Date.0.dim\1.Year No.bstore. Logical file .                                0              0

I also could not process or browse any cubes at all, even cubes… Read more

Thanks to everyone who attended my presentation “Scaling SQL Server to HUNDREDS of Terabytes” at Houston SQLSaturday.

Here is the PowerPoint presentation: Scaling SQL Server to HUNDREDS of Terabytes

Scaling SQL Server to HUNDREDS of Terabytes

Learn how SQL Server 2008 can scale to HUNDREDS of terabytes for BI… Read more

As a follow-up to my SQL Server 2012: New Certification Info, Microsoft Learning has announced the certification tracks for the SQL Server 2012 exams.  There are new names for the certifications:

Your first step is to achieve Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA).

If you are new to certification you… Read more

I will be speaking at the Houston SQLSaturday this upcoming Saturday (April 21st).  Below is info on my session, which is at 4pm.  I hope you can be there!

Scaling SQL Server to HUNDREDS of Terabytes

Learn how SQL Server 2008 can scale to HUNDREDS of terabytes for BI solutions.… Read more

SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT) is a Business Intelligence Development Studio (BIDS) replacement, meaning it has a suite of Visual Studio 2010 add-in tools for building Integration Services (SSIS), Analysis Services (SSAS) & Reporting Services (SSRS) solutions (let’s call that suite SSDT-BIDS).  It is also a suite of Visual Studio… Read more

I blogged previously that when you are a consultant or contractor, you can sometimes be faced with the decision when taking a new contract of whether to go 1099 or W-2 (Consultants: 1099 or W-2?).  However, some staffing firms or clients don’t do 1099, but instead do Corp-to-Corp… Read more

When creating a new cube in SSAS, you are frequently making changes that cause the whole cube to reprocess when you use the “Deploy” option (such as structure changes or aggregation design changes).  This means a lot of sitting around and waiting for the cube to process if you have… Read more

Now that SQL Server 2012 RTM is out, I have an update to my blog post SQL Server 2012 (“Denali”): Installing on a Virtual Machine, which was for CTP3.  Here is the version for the RTM:

The steps below are what I took to create a virtual machine to… Read more

To expand on what I talked about in SQL Server 2012 (“Denali”): Details on the next version of SSAS, there is a new data model called Tabular.  So when you are creating a new project, which model should you use, Multidimensional vs Tabular?  Well, there is no clear-cut answer,… Read more

My previous blog, SQL Server 2012 (“Denali”): Details on the next version of SSAS, talked about the major new feature in SSAS, which is BISM.  But what other changes are there?  Well, not much.  Here are details on the few changes I have found:

• All development work is now…

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