Scripted Server Snapshot

Users call and complain and by the time you get to the server, everything looks fine. Even running Profiler sometimes doesn't capture the information. Author Roy Carlson found a solution, a script that you can give to users to dump whatever information you need to an Excel file.

SQL backup encryption

Judging by mainstream news coverage over the past few weeks, the issue of data theft, particularly loss of backup tapes, has reached the tipping point. It might mean that your relatively anonymous existence within your company could come to a screeching halt.
A look at how encrpytion might be if importance to your company.

SQL Server Integration Services - Loop Containers

As we briefly mentioned in the previous installment of this series, among features introduced in the SQL Server 2005 Integration Services there are For and ForEach loops, implemented in the form of containers that can be incorporated into the Control Flow part of a package design.

.NET 2.0 transaction model

The Microsoft .NET 2.0 platform introduces a new namespace called System.Transactions that brings in a lightweight, simplified transaction model. This article discusses the shortcomings of current transaction models and introduces System.Transactions for .NET Framework 2.0 beta 2.

Currently there are two transaction models available in the .NET world, both of which are suited for certain situations. The first is part of the rich ADO.NET data providers. The second is the enterprise services transaction. Before we examine System.Transactions, let’s have a look at the current models.

Worst Practices - Making Databases Case Sensitive (Or Anything Else)

Article number four in this popular series continues exposing Worst Practices! This week Andy continues his tirade by talking about why case sensitive databases should be BANNED from the planet. Is he right or just OUT OF CONTROL? Read the article and join the discussion - your comment may lead to an article, that's what generated this one!

Meta-Data Trends & Technologies

The term “Enterprise Metadata Management” has been in use since the late 1980’s when many of us worked in classic “mainframe environments” using “corporate data dictionaries” to manage our COBOL programs, Job Control Language (JCL), screens, reports, copybooks, and database schema definitions. Fast-forward to 2005 ~ has anything changed? What does “enterprise metadata management” mean today ? I recently surveyed a number of leading metadata management vendors, Global 5000 companies, and industry thought-leaders seeking their input.

A tale of preventable loss

In the race to secure data, one basic measure – encryption – is often overlooked. Philip Basham takes a look at the ramifications of data loss and how it can be prevented.

Another DBA Whoops

Two in a month? Steve Jones brings us another mistake made by a DBA in SQL Server. Everyone makes them and we may not like to admit to them, everyone that we print hopefully helps a few other SQL Server DBAs avoid that particular mistake. This one looks at the dangers of sorting by aliases.

TechTalk: Kimberly L. Tripp on Developing for SQL Server

Kimberly L. Tripp talks about indexing best practices and what developers should know about SQL Server management. She also discusses stored procedure and parameterized queries caching, the new availability features in SQL Server 2005, and the SQL Server CLR.

Should you use a DataReader or DataSet?

In the beginning, there was the recordset, a central feature of classic ADO. Like a Swiss army knife, it wasn’t the perfect tool for every job, but given the correct configuration, it could do whatever you needed it to do.

The recordset wasn’t always pretty to watch, however, and it came into prominence at a time when client/server applications for which it was optimized were being replaced by web applications. Its dark side included an amazing level of complexity and the number of special cases when it was used with particular providers.