If you are near Rhode Island, there's a new user group available with SQL Server Guru Grant Fritchey presenting.

Database Design: A Point in Time Architecture

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SimpleTalk

Advanced

In most relational database implementations. Update and Delete commands destroy the data that was there prior to their issue. However, some systems require that no information is ever physically deleted from or updated in the database. In this article, Arthur Fuller presents a solution to this requirement in the form of a Point-in-Time architecture: a database design which allows a user to recreate an image of the database as it existed at any previous point in time, without destroying the current image.

Using BACKUP and RESTORE in SQL Server

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SQLServerCentral

Administration

This article covers the basics of full backup backups and restores in SQL Server. The examples are from SQL Server 2005 however it applies to SQL Server 2000 and SQL Server 2005. This is a very basic article covering full database backups, database restores and the simple and full recovery models.

Using Plan Guides in SQL Server 2005

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SQLServerCentral

Performance Tuning

In SQL Server 2005, there is a new feature called Plan Guides that can help out in some cases where you discover poorly performing queries that you don't have direct control over. Essentially, a Plan Guide allows you to add or modify query hints to queries on the fly, just before they are executed.

Using OpenXML

by Vasant Raj

SQLServerCentral.com

OpenXML

SQL Server 2000 added XML support awhile back, though it was limited in what is offered and can be a little confusing. SQL Server 2005 will add many more features and functions, but in the meantime, if you are looking to add some XML support to your 2000 server, new author Raj Vasant brings us some basics on using OpenXML.

Retrieving Data as XML from SQL Server

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Other

Basics

All the hype that once surrounded XML is finally starting to die down, and developers are really beginning to harness the power and flexibility of the language. XML is a data descriptive language that uses a set of user-defined tags to describe data in a hierarchically-structured format.

Some Usages for XML

by Yousef Ekhtiari

SQLServerCentral.com

Basics

While SQL Server 2005 has greatly expanded the XML capabilities of the platform, many DBAs are still not familiar with or comfortable
with using XML in their coding. Yousef Ekhtiari brings us a new article that looks at a basic use of XML in inserting data into a table.

Turn XML into relational data with OPENXML

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SQLServerCentral

OpenXML

XML support has been significantly extended for SQL Server 2005. In this article, Tim Chapman takes a look at how you can shred XML data into a relational format with SQL Server's OPENXML function.