Loads of SQL Server tips as well as all the latest SQL Server news brought to you by Brisbane's Leading SQL Server Consultants

Newsletter Issue #25
In this issue:

WARDY IT Community Dinner
March QLD SQL Server User Group
Scaleout Solutions
Table Difference
Crosstab Builder
Service Broker
Clustered Index Debate
Advanced TSQL Programming and Query Tuning
Physical Storage Design
SQL Server Virtual DBA

Did you know?

Peter Ward will be presenting at the Sydney SQL Server User Group on Wednesday the 14th March 2007

 

Peter Ward is authoring the book 'Pro SQL Server 2005 System Management Objects in VB 2005'

The big news this month for SQL Server is the release of SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2. It has become a trend in recent times that Service Packs are no longer just a collection of bug fixes but also an opportunity to release new functionality. SQL Server 2005 SP2 is no exception with the Service Pack containing the Data Mining Add-Ins for Microsoft Office 2007. SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 can be downloaded from here and a complete list of bug fixes can be found here

 

So why not contact Brisbane's Leading SQL Server Consultants, WARDY IT Solutions to find out more on how the release of SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 will affect your organisation?

 

In the December SQL Server newsletter we mentioned that WARDY IT Solutions would have several announcements to make in the new year. The first of these announcements is that we have added an aggregator called SQL Server Aggregator to the WARDY IT Solutions SQL Server blog. We are working to make SQL Server Aggregator a one stop shop for all of the best blogs on SQL Server. So if there is a blog you would like added to this aggregation then let me know.

 

Don't forget that Code Camp Oz is being held in Wagga Wagga on Saturday the 31st March and Sunday the 1st April. This is the perfect opportunity to see presentations from the best .Net speakers from around Australia and all for FREE. To find out more and register for this event refer to the Code Camp Oz website.

 

Happy Reading

 

Peter Ward

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WARDY IT Community Dinner

The WARDY IT Community Dinner is a casual event for IT professionals in South East Queensland. It's a fun way to meet some new people and find out how other people are dealing with the challenges that we face every day. The March WARDY IT Community Dinner is on Monday the 19th of March at the New Farm Bistro. The dinner is a week later than usual as I will be in Denmark for the inaugural SQL Server Open World . Add this event to your Outlook Calendar.

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March QLD SQL Server User Group

Virtualisation is one of those buzz words that is currently being touted as the solution to almost all the problems in the IT industry. At the March QLD SQL Server User Group Peter Fitzsimon from the Microsoft Global Solutions Technical Team will be presenting a session on running SQL Server on Virtual Server and some of the things to be aware of before implementing virtualisation.

 

If you are a member of the Australian Computer Society and looking to gain credit towards the Computer Professional Program, did you know that attendance to the QSSUG earns you 1.5 PCP Points?

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Scaleout Solutions

The following white paper from Bob Beauchemin from SQL Skills provides a great comparison of the different scaleout features that are available with SQL Server 2005. This white paper also describes the planning guidelines and administration tasks to consider when implementing a scaleout solution. The white paper can be downloaded from here.

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Table Difference

Table Difference is a SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) component that is designed to simplify the management of slowly changing dimensions by easily allowing you to identify the differences between two tables or flows of data in SSIS. For more details regarding Table Difference refer to here.

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Crosstab Builder

A common question that is asked by people who have used Microsoft Access is how to generate a cross tab query in SQL Server. Crosstab Builder from GeckoWare is an extended stored procedure that provides the ability to generate crosstab results from standard SQL statements, removing the complexity associated with crosstab results. For more information regarding Crosstab Builder refer to here.

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Service Broker

A lot of people are unsure as to where SQL Server Service Broker fits into the whole scheme of things. This article from Roger Wolter clarifies the scenarios where Service Broker is the right solution and how this solution fits in with the other Microsoft messaging products. This article can be found here.

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Clustered Index Debate

One of the most hotly debated topics about SQL Server (apart from plural or singular naming) is the debate on how to appropriately choose the clustered index for a table. Kimberly Tripp has written a great blog post that helps clarify the appropriate key that should be used. The blog post can be found here.

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Advanced TSQL Programming and Query Tuning

Itzik Ben-Gan will be returning to Australia in late June to present the course Advanced Transact-SQL Programming and Query Tuning for SQL Server 2000 and 2005 in Sydney and Melbourne. Even if you think that you know everything that there is to know about developing queries, this course is a must as Itzik is considered to be one of the industry leaders in Transact-SQL Programming. For more details regarding this course refer to here.

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Physical Storage Design

Microsoft has released a great white paper that is designed to assist database architects and administrators with configuring Microsoft SQL Server 2005 systems for optimal I/O performance and space utilization. This white paper can be found here.

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SQL Server Virtual DBA

Virtual DBA is a remote database administration service designed by WARDY IT Solutions to assist organisations with the management of Microsoft SQL Server. Our Virtual DBA service provides a cost effective solution to meet the day-to-day challenges of availability, performance and administration of Microsoft SQL Server databases. To find out more about the benefits of a Virtual DBA refer to here.

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WARDY IT Solutions is a highly regarded IT Solutions provider specialising in Microsoft SQL Server.  You may not be aware though that WARDY IT Solutions is also a registered Microsoft Partner and has an established relationship with numerous hardware and software vendors, enabling us to provide competitive pricing on your next hardware or software acquisition.  For more information on how WARDY IT Solutions can assist with your next acquisition email: contact@wardyit.com.