Service Pack 2 CTP
Service Pack 2 for SQL Server 2005 has been released as a CTP. Steve Jones installed it and has a few thoughts on this pre-release product.
Writing to a File Using the sp_OACreate Stored Procedure and OSQL: The
SQL Server has extensions to allow one to call COM based objects from within the server using T-SQL. While this is an interesting feature, it's may not be the best way to structure your applications due to performance reasons. New author Zach Nichter of ScalabilityExperts.com brings us an analysis of different ways of writing out to a file from within SQL Server. Read on to see the most efficient method of generating files on your server.
Monitoring File Sizes in SQL Server Part 4
Monitoring in the real world. Roy Carlson concludes his series on space monitoring for your SQL Servers with a real world example of how he found a problem and fixed it.
Think ANSI Standard SQL Is Fully Portable Between Databases? Think Aga
The same ANSI Standard SQL query can run against identical data on SQL Server and Oracle and return different results. So just because your application issues ANSI standard SQL, don't assume it's portable.
Monitoring File Sizes in SQL Server Part 3
Trending the size data for your databases can be crucial when ordering new hardware or just ensuring that you can handle the load. In Part 3, Roy Carlson looks at how you get the sizes needed for your instances into Excel and generate a chart for trending of this important piece of performance data.
Data Validation Sample
This video sample shows how the clustering algorithm can be used to automatically validate data.
Using Excel 2007 with Analysis Services
In this presentation, you'll see how you can use Excel 2007 to view data and create quick reports against data in Analysis Services. Then, you'll see how to conditionally format the data and apply rules to the data.
Monitoring File Sizes in SQL Server Part 2
Continuing with his series on monitoring space, Roy Carlson looks at checking the space in a folder to be sure your SQL Server databases never run out of storage.
SQL Server 2005 Transactional Replication Agents
SQL Server 2005 replication agents are configured optimally out of the box, but occasionally you might need to alter the default behavior by tweaking the agent's parameters. SQL Server 2005 exposes some parameters through graphical interface that were available only from command line or through agent job steps in previous releases. Baya Pavliashvili encourages you to learn the new options available with each replication agent and how to fine-tune these options for your applications.
Monitoring File Sizes in SQL Server Part 1
Monitoring the file sizes and free space on your SQL Server can be done in a number of ways, but it needs to be done or you will get a phone call when you least expect it. In an interesting read, Roy Carlson brings us a great way with code and reporting to setup your own monitoring system.
Blogs
2025 Wrapped for Steve
By Steve Jones
I’ve often done some analysis of my year in different ways. Last year I...
The Book of Redgate: Spread across the world
By Steve Jones
This was Redgate in 2010, spread across the globe. First the EU/US Here’s Asia...
Merry Christmas
By John
Today is Christmas and while I do not expect anybody to actual be reading...
Forums
Finding Motivation
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The Last Binary Value of the Year
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SQL Art, Part 2: New Year Fireworks in SSMS
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Question of the Day
The Last Binary Value of the Year
What does this code return?
SELECT cast(0x2025 AS NVARCHAR(20))Image 1:
Image 2: 
Image 3: 
Image 4: 
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