SQL Server has a rock solid backup and restore routine. However, it is not the most efficient way of handling the backups and restores. Neither in terms of time or space required. A number of software vendors have developed their own additions to SQL Server that accelerate or compress the backups (or both). Wesley Brown has taken four of these products into his environment and run some comparisons. Read about large databases in part 2 of this series.

Boost Your Performance - Bad Index Detection

by Andre Vigneau

SQLServerCentral.com

Indexing

SQL Server depends heavily on good indexing to perform well. The optimizer requires relevant and intelligent indexing in order to do its job well. Author Andre Vigneau brings us a script that he uses to detect possible index problems in the database design as well as a number of hints to ensure that your database is performing optimally.

Four of a Kind - Backup Software Shootout

by Wesley Brown

SQLServerCentral.com

Product and Book Reviews

SQL Server has a rock solid backup and restore routine. However, it is not the most efficient way of handling the backups and restores. Neither in terms of time or space required. A number of software vendors have developed their own additions to SQL Server that accelerate or compress the backups (or both). New Author Wesley Brown has taken four of these products into his environment and run some comparisons. Read part one of his review.

What's SQLServerCental.com All About

by Steve Jones

SQLServerCentral.com

With some recent hubub and questions, Steve Jones decided to spend a few moments welcoming everyone to the community and give some background on what this site is all about.

Scheduled MS Cluster Failovers using Automation Server Objects

by Anthony Bressi

SQLServerCentral.com

Administration

SQL Server clusters are great tools to ensure that your servers are highly available. However there are some times when you'll want to manually perform a failover for testing, maintenance, etc. New author Anthony Bressi brings you a technique and code to allow you to use VB 6.0 to build a small program to automatically do this.

An Enterprise-Class Plan for Securing Microsoft SQL Server Databases

by Additional Articles

It Toolbox

Security

If you are running Microsoft SQL Server databases to support critical enterprise applications, you are part of a growing trend. The cost/performance benefits of Microsoft SQL Server on the Microsoft Windows NT and Windows 2000 platforms have fueled the growth of SQL Server as a platform for enterprise-class applications.

All About Transactions - Part 3

by Don Peterson

SQLServerCentral.com

Advanced Querying

Transactions in SQL Server are probably no more complicated than those in other RDBMS products, which is to say they are fairly complex. Don Peterson continues with part 3 of his series and takes a look at transaction isolation levels and how they interact with multiple connections and their impact on locking.

MDX Essentials: Logical Functions: The IsEmpty() Function

by Additional Articles

Database Journal

Analysis Services (SSAS)

This is the twenty-fifth article of the series, MDX Essentials. The series is designed to provide hands-on application of the fundamentals of the Multidimensional Expressions (MDX) language, with each tutorial progressively adding features designed to meet specific real-world needs.

Unifed Database Toolkit - Connection Definition

by Andre Vigneau

SQLServerCentral.com

Administration

SQL Server 2000 is easy to administer relative to other RDBMS, but there is still plenty of room for improvement. Author Andre Vigneau has built a database toolkit to allow him to manage his cross platform databases. This is the second article in his series and deals with establishing connections to any database platform.

Submitting A Stored Procedure Asynchronously

by Gregory Larsen

Database Journal

Advanced Querying

Have you ever wondered if you could start the execution of a stored procedure (SP) asynchronously from some T-SQL code? What I mean is starting the SP in the background and continuing on with the next line of code in your T-SQL script without waiting for the execution of the SP to complete. If so, then this article might be of some interest to you.

Four of a Kind - Backup Software Shootout Part 2

Boost Your Performance - Bad Index Detection

Four of a Kind - Backup Software Shootout

What's SQLServerCental.com All About

Scheduled MS Cluster Failovers using Automation Server Objects

An Enterprise-Class Plan for Securing Microsoft SQL Server Databases

All About Transactions - Part 3

MDX Essentials: Logical Functions: The IsEmpty() Function

Unifed Database Toolkit - Connection Definition

Submitting A Stored Procedure Asynchronously

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