I'd go with GTs advice, though replication has worked pretty well in small situations without worrying about agents.

I'd script the shutdown of the subscriber agents (use SQLCMD) since you'll likely...

yes

and

yes, maybe.

All of this requires testing. Moving to temp tables could help, but you would have to run a lot of tests, probably some on the live system, to...

I think it's a tough one and a toss up. You might not be able to get more/better CPUs easier than disk in an enterprise box. It could easily be...

It's one thing to check for fragmentation, but that's a performance thing, not a space thing. If this is Enterprise, compression should help you. However likely what you need to...

Overall it makes sense to me. I'm sure someone just bought "SQL Server" not knowing about MSDE. If you can live with the performance and limitations pointed out above, use...

Let us know. Typically it's been on the interior case with me, but I don't know how it's applied. I'd assume from MS, but possibly it's the responsibility of the...

They all compress things, but the SQL Server native compression is on/off only (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb964719.aspx). Both Litespeed and Red Gate allow varying levels of compression, which allows you to trade off...

Grant Fritchey (2/19/2010)

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Pretty much holding the book in my hands is the reward I love. It's kind of hard to describe. That and hearing that it was useful. Makes all...

Yeah, ummm, hmmmm, I think I'll pass. Not sure I want...

I'd go to SP3. Sp2 had some issues early on and some hotfixes.

Haven't seen any issues, at least major ones, with Sp3

Go to a job step, properties, advanced. There are places to log, including a table. you can specify a file or a table.

If this is a maintenance plan, the plan...

I would double check this with the admins, as Lynn mentioned. I might also try to add the user to a Windows folder with permissions and make sure that box...

If you manage your file size and grow discretely, you don't need to do this often. Diskeeper works, but I've done this once a quarter or less with the built...

First, you need to realize that SSMS != SQL Server. SQL Server is a server service that starts up independently of SSMS.

SSMS is a program, like notepad. You can run...

Well written, Gary. Your brother is lucky to have you around.