I've mostly used SQL and it works great on 2012. You can even use the Availability Groups to do log backups or COPY_ONLY backups in addition to the normal backup...

That number does seem high, but only because I've primarily worked on systems with stored procedures. If you're working with lots of dynamic or ad hoc SQL, then that number...

Also, if the NOLOCK hint is applied to any kind of data modification queries, SQL Server just ignores it. It has to do locks in order to modify data.

I'll try. I might be...

Oops. Missed the missing 'IO' & responded too quickly.

You might want to take a look at Central Management Servers. It's a way to control & report back on multiple servers from a single location. Here's the BOL entry:...

User the value here, request_owner_id , to look at sys.dm_exec_requests. From there you can join to sys.dm_exec_sql_text or whatever else you need to understand what's happening with that lock.

Normally, I completely prefer a side-by-side upgrade. Get 2012 on a different server then move things to it. I find it to be a much safer and more consistent operation....

You're experiencing I/O waits during I/O operations... The only way to speed that up is to get faster/more disks.

I've been very happy (mostly) with my Toshiba tablet. But if the Surface comes out at $199, and it's a good form factor, plenty of memory, I think I'll upgrade...

After you run RECOVERY, SQL Server rolls forward or rolls back transactions and puts the database into normal state. You can't then start applying transaction logs again. You need to...

Same answer as Anthony, but since you're on 2008, I'd strongly suggest using extended events instead of trace. They cause much less impact on the server and you can do...

Full backups and transaction log backups are disconnected after the very first time you run a transaction log backup. You can pick any given full backup and use any set...

To get an ERD diagram and do it automatically, I'd take a look at Embarcadero DBArtisan. It has a command line utility, reporting mechanisms, and a scripting language, that will...

Plan on restoring them one at a time. You can open multiple windows and start multiple restores, but you'll see very poor performance. Better to know the order that you...