Simon Says

Most of us have probably worked with some third party tool at some point in our SQL Server career. But how many tools have been written by a rocket scientist? Steve Jones had a chance to interview Red Gate Software's Simon Galbraith about a variety of topics. An interesting look at the software world through Simon's eyes.

SQL Server 2005 Roadshows

Ongoing now, the SQL Server 2005 Roadshows in conjunction with PASS. Read Robert Pearl's notes from the show and if you are in Dallas or Houston or Europe, there is still time to attend on of these events.

Identifying Long Running SQL Server Agent Jobs

In my article last month, I wrote about different methods you could use to identify the state of a SQL Server Agent job. One of the methods I discussed was using the undocumented extended stored procedure (XP) "xp_sqlagent_enum_jobs." In this article, I will show you how to use the "xp_sqlagent_enum_jobs" XP to help identify long running jobs.

Controlling Unusually Long Running Jobs

The SQLAgent scheduler in SQL Server 2000 is an amazing tool that allows you to schedule many different kinds of jobs with a great deal of flexibility. However, it doesn't have great facilities for handling jobs that may take longer than expected. And about which you'd like to be notified. Leo Peysakhovich brings us his code and technique for detecting when a job step runs long.

SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 4

It's now available!! Find out what's in there and where you can get it.

Why bother with backup?

Backing up SQL Server data is like many of the things we do because we figure we need to. It is good for you, like eating a good diet and getting exercise. Unfortunately, folks are often about as successful with SQL Server backups as they are with diet and exercise.

This is the first in a series of articles covering SQL Server database backup. The series starts from the very basics of why database backup is important. The question of why to backup a database can inform many other decisions.

How to Check the Status of a File Before Processing

SQL Server Database administrators often copy(refer Fig 1.0) huge files, such as Full backup files and transaction log backup files from production to QA or from production to development environment and so on. Sometimes they need to copy source data files for importing. If they want to restore those Full backups or transaction log backup files or import those huge source files, they have to wait until the copy is complete.

Notes from Software Developements Expo 05

Our own Andy Warren recently spent a week in Santa Clara at the Software Development Magazine's SExpo 05. He shares a few notes on the experience. This conference is for all platforms and might be something for you if you are a software developer.

Steel City SQL

If you're in the Birmingham area, a new SQL Server users group, affiliated with PASS is forming. User groups are a great way to meet people and do some networking in your area. The first meeting is later this month, so if you can, drop by.

A Call to Arms

Long anticipated, the arrival of radically restructured database architectures is now finally at hand. By Jim Gray of Microsoft Research.