Monday, March 27, 2006

Learn how the experts help maximize the uptime—and performance—of SQL Server 2000-based systems.

This chapter has a great deal of information regarding the effect of certain database settings that impact performance and recovery, such as recovery models.

http://yukonizer.com/doclibrary/sqlserver/SQLServerHAChapter9.pdf

 

3/27/2006 5:29:31 PM UTC  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  | 

Sorry guys SQL Server 2005 Express Edition doesn't support HTTP endpoints. If you are really passionate about using HTTP endpoints then you must use Standard Edition.

3/27/2006 5:06:06 PM UTC  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  | 
 Saturday, March 25, 2006

Category Discontinued feature Replacement

Backup and restore

Named pipe backup devices.

Disk or tape devices.

For security reasons, SQL Server does not support backup to named pipes.

Command prompt utilities

isql utility

Use the sqlcmd utility.

Note:
sqlcmd and osql utilities do not support the passing of stored procedure return values to the exit value.

For more information, see sqlcmd Utility.

Configuration options

'allow updates' option of sp_configure.

Option is present but direct updates to system tables are not supported

Configuration options

'open objects' option of sp_configure.

Option is present but its functionality has been deactivated. In SQL Server 2005, the number of open database objects is managed dynamically and is only limited by available memory. The 'open objects' option has been left in sp_configure to ensure backward compatibility with existing scripts.

Configuration options

'set working set size' option of sp_configure

Option is present but its functionality has been deactivated.

Database creation

DISK INIT

DISK RESIZE

Legacy behavior from SQL Server 6.x

Database creation

FOR LOAD option of CREATE DATABASE

RESTORE operations can create a database

DBCC

DBCC DBREPAIR

Use DROP DATABASE to remove a damaged database.

For more information, see DROP DATABASE (Transact-SQL).

DBCC

DBCC NEWALLOC

DBCC CHECKALLOC

For more information, see DBCC (Transact-SQL).

DBCC

DBCC PINTABLE, DBCC UNPINTABLE

None.

DBCC

DBCC ROWLOCK

Row-level locking is automatic.

DBCC

DBCC TEXTALL

DBCC TEXTALLOC

DBCC CHECKDB

DBCC CHECKTABLE

Extended store procedure programming

Use of SRV_PWD field in the SRV_PFIELD structure when there has been an impersonation context switch from the original login.

None.

Network protocols

The following protocols: NWLink IPX/SPX, AppleTalk, Banyan Vines, Multiprotocol.

Configure your application and the instance of the Database Engine to use one of the supported protocols: TCP/IP sockets, named pipes, VIA, or shared memory.

For more information, see Choosing a Network Protocol.

Rebuild master

Rebuildm.exe

Use the REBUILDDATABASE option in Setup.exe.

For more information, see How to: Install SQL Server 2005 from the Command Prompt.

Sample databases

Northwind and pubs

Use AdventureWorks; however, Northwind and pubs are available as downloads, or can be copied from a previous installation of SQL Server.

For more information, see Samples and Sample Databases.

Setup.exe

Remote Setup - the TARGETCOMPUTER parameter - is not supported.

Use a remote connection to run the SQL Server Setup program in user interface mode or from the command prompt.

APIs

SQL-DMO based WMI provider

Managed code: Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo.Wmi

Non-managed code: WMI Provider for Configuration Management

APIs

SQL Namespace API (SQL-NS)

None

Transact-SQL

*= and =* outer join operators

Use the JOIN syntax of the FROM clause.

For more information, see FROM (Transact-SQL).

Virtual tables

syslocks

sys.dm_tran_locks

For more information, see sys.dm_tran_locks.

3/25/2006 1:35:33 PM UTC  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  | 
 Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Writing Extended Stored Procedures and running them inside database is not a new concept. If comparing CLR code which also runs inside database does same but provides much more flexibility over Extended Stored Procedures.

* While Extended Stored Procedures can written in C++, CLR objects can be written in any .Net compliant language (C#, VB.Net, C++ Managed) i.e. much more reliable.
* As we discussed that CLR code can be written in any .Net compliant language so there will no hassles of managing memory and security.
* SQL Server 2005 comes with a new XML datatype and CLR code can use this effectively.
* With Extended Stored Procedures a developer have very limited set of functions while in CLR a developer has an access to a wide range of .Net class libraries.

I will write more on CLR integration in the future posts, Inshallah.

Happy CLRing,

3/21/2006 5:40:52 PM UTC  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  | 
 Wednesday, March 15, 2006

An English teacher was explaining the concept of gender association in the English language.

He stated how hurricanes at one time were given feminine names, and how ships and planes were usually referred to as "she." One of the students raised their hand and asked, "What gender is a computer"?

The teacher wasn't certain which it was, so he divided the class into two groups,
males
in one, females in the other, and asked them to decide if a computer should be masculine or feminine. Both groups were asked to give four reasons for their recommendation. The group of women concluded that computers should be referred to in the masculine gender because:

1.
In order to get their attention, you have to turn them on.
2.
They have a lot of data, but are still clueless.
3. They are supposed to help you solve your problems, but half the time they are
the problem.
4.
As soon as you commit to one, you realize that, if you had waited a little longer, you could have had a better model.

The men, on the other hand, decided that computers should definitely be referred to in the feminine gender because:

1.
No one but their creator understands their internal logic.
2.
The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else.
3.
Even the smallest mistakes are stored in their long-term memory for later retrieval.
4.
As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.

3/15/2006 7:53:53 PM UTC  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  | 
 Tuesday, March 14, 2006

These are the selective sections I found quite usefull for .Net enthusiasts, not only for the beginngers but also for the pros.

.Net Framework Technology Overview

Microsoft .NET is software that connects information, people, systems, and devices. It spans clients, servers, and developer tools http://msdn.microsoft.com/netframework/technologyinfo/overview/

Designing .Net Class Libraries

The Designing .NET Class Libraries series presents design guidelines for developing classes and components that extend the .NET Framework. http://msdn.microsoft.com/netframework/programming/classlibraries/

.Net Framework Class Library Reference

A quick reference http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms306608.aspx

 

3/14/2006 10:38:08 PM UTC  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  | 
 Monday, March 13, 2006

People have asked me several times on CLR enabling the SQL Server 2005. So first of all CLR is not enabled by default on SQL Server 2005 and to enable it you have issue following command on SQL prompt.

EXEC sp_configure 'show advanced options', '1' ;
GO
reconfigure ;
EXEC sp_configure 'clr enabled', '1' ;
GO
reconfigure ;

The sp_configure displays the global configuration for the current server. Where the reconfigure updates the configured value of a configuration option in this case with sp_configure. In our case clr enabled is the parameter to pass to the sp_configure.

Happy Enabling.

3/13/2006 10:55:02 AM UTC  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  | 
 Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Visual Studio .NET is a complete set of development tools for building ASP.NET Web applications, XML Web Services, desktop applications, and mobile applications. Visual Studio .NET provides the same integrated development environment (IDE) for Visual Basic .NET, Visual C++ .NET, and Visual C# .NET, which allows them to share tools and facilitates in the creation of mixed-language solutions. In addition, these languages leverage the functionality of the .NET Framework, which provides access to key technologies that simplify the development of ASP.NET Web applications and XML Web services. The Microsoft® .NET Framework transforms application development with a fully managed, protected, and feature-rich application execution environment; simplified development and deployment; and seamless integration with a wide variety of languages.

If you are really passionate about developing applications with Arabic support, then this tutorial is for you. Read more...

3/7/2006 10:08:49 PM UTC  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  | 
 Thursday, March 02, 2006

Software engineering is a messy sport in general, but game development has the rep for being the worst of the worst, probably due in combination to the insularity of the industry, youth of the workforce, and established crunch-time practices. After reading Richard Rouse's book Game Design: Theory and Practice, I applied the principles in that book to game production management as a thought exercise. The result may appeal to game developers, but I think it's applicable to software development projects in general. Read more...

3/2/2006 10:32:31 AM UTC  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  | 
 Wednesday, March 01, 2006
As a software engineer, you might want any number of things out of your job - a steady paycheck, the opportunity to work on interesting projects, a springboard to the next better job, or maybe you just like hanging out with other programmers. But by "effective", I mean the ability to complete projects in a timely manner with the expected quality. After working on dozens of software releases, I believe the following practices will bring you there, and while they may involve sticking your neck out, I'd like to think they will also advance your professional reputation, career longevity, and personal satisfaction. Read more...
3/1/2006 11:46:59 AM UTC  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  |