I have been testing out Database Mirroring in SQL Server 2008. There are numerous enhancements in 2008, mainly under the hood in the name of performance and reliability but still worth testing out. I had done this before using Windows Server 2003 SP2 but this was the first time I had tested using Windows Server 2008. It was an educational experience, I can tell you…

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Last month I attended a session on Failover Clustering at the SQL PASS Summit Conference and it was very enlightening. I have not done too much with SQL Server Failover Clustering except in test mode with Virtual Server and VMWare. This session was packed with experienced professionals who had seen it all. And the Microsoft developers responsible for the code were there leading the session. This is what the SQL PASS Conference is all about.

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At the SQL PASS Summit conference last month, Microsoft hosted a lab room so that attendees could test out the latest version of SQL Server 2008 for themselves. There were mixed reviews on the setup for this room but I gave it a big thumbs up. If you are anything like me, then you never learn something unless you actually do it, so hands-on is the key to any training in my book.

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When I am teaching a class I always emphasize the importance of SQL Server Books Online. This Help system is, in my opinion, the best in the business. The proof is that even the experts use it on a regular basis. It is not just a beginner’s tool. It is full of valuable information, especially working examples. Let’s take a look….

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OK, we’ve had the Christmas break and if you are anything like me you will need some serious exercise strategies for the New Year. Soon we will all be making our New Year resolutions, joining health clubs or purchasing Wii Fit to supplement the soccer, football, Super Mario or Guitar Hero games we’ve been playing over the holidays.  Whoops! This is a Microsoft blog so I should be talking about the XBox 360.

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OK, so it’s one week to Christmas and I have to resort to a holiday theme of some sort. Things are a bit laid back this year. Our family has resorted to the Secret Santa thing to reduce the number of presents under the tree so they can actually fit under the tree itself. Times are tough but maybe that makes us a bit more sensible in our priorities. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. That applies to Data Storage too. (Flagrant contrived segue…). Let’s take a look…

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I was asked by a colleague recently about the next SQL Release being called Krakatoa. Well, I have heard about Kilimanjaro, Madison and Gemini but not Krakatoa. I remember an immense movie called “Krakatoa East of Java” (1969) directed by Bernard Kowalski.

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With SQL Server 2005 SP2, Microsoft introduced Reporting Services with Sharepoint Integrated mode. The idea was to integrate SSRS 2005 with WSS 3.0 and MOSS 2007. Prior to SP2, there was already some integration; it consisted of 2 web parts, Report Explorer and Report Viewer, which allowed reports to be selected and launched while remaining in the Sharepoint portal.  But SSRS and Sharepoint were two distinctly separate systems with separate storage and security models.

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SQL Server Reporting Services 2008 had a great many enhancements which I have talked about before. Much of the new functionality came from the Dundas nursery, a company that has extended Reporting Services very effectively in the past with its Charts, Gauges and Maps. Microsoft made a move for the Dundas components in 2007 but came away with only a subset of the code base.

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My last day in Seattle started with the key note session with David Dewitt of Microsoft who gave us an interesting lesson on “Shared Nothing” partitioning using distributed database strategies. This is the paradigm being used in Project Madison using the DATAllegro tools slated for 2010.

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Another day at the SQL PASS Summit in Seattle started with a keynote speech from Tom Casey, General Manager of SQL Server Business Intelligence at Microsoft. We found out more about Project Madison which will provide scalability to the current solution via the DATAllegro technology acquired recently.

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I recently attended the PASS Summit conference and while I was there they announced that next year's Summit will be back in Seattle which I'm actually happy about it even though it is a long way for me to come. Yes, I know I am a big advocate of the virtual technology that reduces travel and enables remote access but there is something special about being here in person. The presenters seem to benefit from a live audience too, with live interactive questions and answers. And the presenters here are the best in the business.

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Last week I attended the SQL PASS Summit conference in Seattle and enjoyed every minute. "A kid in a candy store" is how I describe it. Where else can we find out about new features, hidden features, future features, hints and tips and then network with database professionals from all over the world as well as many of the local Microsoft developers? Let's look at day 1...

My first session was presented by Itzik Ben-Gan on the T-SQL enhancements in SQL Server 2008.

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I made the long trek across the country this week to attend my favorite conference, the SQL PASS Community Summit, this year in Seattle, and so far it's been well worth it. I usually arrive early to attend a pre-conference session or two to get the most out of the week. This year I attended Kalen Delaney's session on SQL Server Data Storage Formats: Internals, Performance and Best Practices and I was not disappointed.

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I have been testing SQL Server 2005 SP3 CTP this week. This Beta version of SP3, which is due out for official release before the end of the year, includes all of the previous cumulative updates for SQL Server 2005 since its release in Nov 2005. It's been almost a year since SP2 so this is welcome news. In addition to the previously issued updates, there are some enhancements in SP3 which are outlined in the associated What's New document. These are classified as "new or improved features". Let's take a look...

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In my previous blog entry, I talked about index fragmentation and some of the tools that could be used to monitor and remove the fragmentation. The general rule to follow, according to Microsoft best practices, is to rebuild an index with more than 30% fragmentation.  In a recent class I was teaching, we used the SSMS built-in reports to find out which indexes to rebuild. Using SQL Server Management Studio 2008, right-click on your database, select Reports then Standard Reports then choose Index Physical Statistics.

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When I was young we used to go to see our local football, sorry, soccer team and cheer them on rain or shine on a Saturday afternoon in England. In those days the cheapest way to watch the game was "standing on the terraces" - no seats for the weary, but we would always stand in the same place so friends knew where we would be in the crowd. Yes, this was long before the cell phone revolution. I remember there was always an old man there that would criticize the team week in week out. No cheers from him when they scored a goal, but plenty of abuse when they didn't.

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As I mentioned in my previous blog, I attended the SSWUG Virtual Conference last week. I am really getting into it.

I enjoyed the session on "Intro to Scripting with SSIS" with Matthew Roche in Room A. It didn't seem to matter that I missed the earlier "101" sessions. It was good to see the demos done with SQL Server 2008 although there were some performance problems with his machine. We all get the demo gremlins from time to time. It was good to see the new support for C#.NET in SSIS 2008.

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I attended the first day of the SSWUG Virtual Conference this week and I was pleasantly surprised. In a previous blog entry I had mentioned that I would be attending both this virtual conference on the web and the SQL PASS conference in Seattle in November. Here I will review the online version and will report on Seattle later. Let's take a look...

First of all, signing in was easy. An email was sent the day before and the morning of the conference with links to test your system and to attend the conference itself.

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As of 27th Oct 2008, the latest service pack for SQL Server 2005 has been made available for Beta testing with the CTP (Community Technology Preview) program. This is good news as most customers are waiting on an upgrade decision for SQL Server 2008 but still want the latest updates for 2005. It's almost been a year since SP2 so this is well overdue. It's a great part of the process that Microsoft releases the Service Pack as a CTP. That way, users can report issues straight away that may need to be fixed before official release.

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