Make sure that you have tempdb sized correctly and that SQL is using the memory. Also ensure that all database options are the same, to avoid file autogrowth and fragmentation.

If you can get the disk with the database backups and tran log backups onto another machine then it should just be a case of

a) installing SQL and SP's on...

I've been a CTO and think that these are some of the necessary attributes IMO:

- good all round technical knowledge

- good people m'ment skills

- respect from peers and upper m'ment 

-...

What account are your SQL Services running under? Make sure that you login as this account an create your Outlook profile and use this profile for SQL Mail.

Excellent resonse from David.

I think that if you meet the requirements for MSDE then it may be an excellent choice. But if you install MSDE remember that you should...

Only use "n" for double byte languages - most of these are asean based charcters (Japanese, Chinese, Korean etc) and only use then in places that you need to store a double...

A primary key is implemented as a unqiue index not allowing nulls - which is a constraint. Not elegant in its execution, but acceptable by the ANSI standard as a...

Really it depends on the budget and most RAID controllers are dual channel. Remember to assign disks to thr ight channel and don't cross mix them. I like

RAID 1 -...

Create a clustered index on the table and start moving in the rigt direction from a logical desigb perspective.

Do an sp_lock whilst running the showcontig. I bet with such a lareg table that it is taking a tablockx.

Try to do a reindex, update stats and then recompile the SP's

Is the backup file being backed up by a network backup process, or is the disk full?

I avoid using the DB maintenance wizard and use scripts or procs to...

I would stop using the maintenance wizard and write your own scripts to do the backups. The backups should be with init and teh first trab log backup to a...

I usually advise clients not to use the backup agents. They are intrusive and can cause issues ( I had a client with a tape drive failure whilst backing up...

Be aware the an nvarchar of 5000 actualluy uses 1000 bytes and exceeds the max row size - you may hit truncation issues in very long files