Any SQL Server monitoring tool must gather the metrics that will allow a DBA to diagnose CPU, memory or I/O issues on their SQL Servers. It should also provide a set of accurate, reliable, configurable alerts that will inform the DBA of any abnormal or undesirable conditions and properties, as well as specific errors, on any of the monitored servers. This article provides an in-depth guide to the monitoring and alerting functionality available in one such tool, Redgate SQL Monitor. It focuses on the latest edition (5.0), which includes several key new features, such as performance diagnosis using wait statistics, the ability to compare to baselines, and more.

Database Design Follies: NULL vs. NOT NULL

by Edward Pollack

SQLServerCentral.com

NULL

It sounds simple enough. Either your column will always have a value or it may not. Yet somehow such a seemingly simple decision can become a never-ending debate where database schema begins to resemble superstition and designing effective tables seems more contentious than you expected it to be.

Getting Big Data

by Steve Jones

SQLServerCentral.com

Editorial

Steve Jones talks about where you can get data sets to work with.

Public Data Sets

by Steve Jones

SQLServerCentral.com

Data Sets

A list of data sets you can download and play with for practice, demos, or your own analysis.

Connected Development with SQL Server Data Tools

by Additional Articles

SimpleTalk

SSOX

Although SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT) encourages 'disconnected' database development, it also provides the SQL Server Object Explorer (SSOX) tool in SSDT’s Visual Studio shell to connect to a live development instance or view an SSDT project once all references have been resolved.

Unique Records In Oracle

by Additional Articles

Database Journal

Oracle

Defining unique records in an Oracle table is necessary for employee data, and manufacturing part numbers and user names, to name a couple of examples. David Fitzjarrell looks at the various ways uniqueness can be defined, and which method may not be acceptable to third-party applications.

A Good Use for Hadoop

by Steve Jones

SQLServerCentral.com

Editorial

Netflix has a good use for Hadoop. Loading PB of data.

The Top 4 Job Tasks DBAs Forget

by Additional Articles

Brent Ozar Blog

It’s easy to get caught up in daily incidents, tickets, and special projects. Like a good scout, though, a core task in a DBA’s job is to be prepared.