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 #26
In this issue:

Hyperbac for SQL Server
WARDY IT Community Dinner
Permissions through Stored Procedures
Database Schema Samples
Clustering
Troubleshooting Performance
Security Best Practices
BI Certifications
TEMPDB in SQL Server 2005
SQL Server Virtual DBA

Did you know?

Peter Ward will be presenting at the Sydney SQL Server User Group on Wednesday the 11th April 2007

 

Peter Ward will be presenting at the Canberra SQL Server User Group on Wednesday the 9th May 2007

In last month's SQL Server newsletter we announced the release of SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2. Subsequent to this release, it was identified that a bug was introduced with the maintenance plan cleanup tasks.  For more details on this refer to   KB933508. As a result, Microsoft has released an updated build of SQL Server 2005 SP2 which replaces the originally released service pack. The updated release is available from here. KB933508 contains details of how to check whether you are affected by this issue or not. It is recommended that if you downloaded SQL Server 2005 SP2 before the 5th of March 2007 and are affected by this issue that you apply the critical update which can be downloaded from here.

 

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

 

I am extremely proud to announce that I have recently been awarded a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (Windows Server System - SQL Server).   Microsoft MVPs are a highly select group of experts that represents the technical community's best and brightest, and they share a deep commitment to community and a willingness to help others . Currently, I am one of only a handful of recipients of this award for SQL server in Australia. To find out more about the MVP program refer to here.

 

Don't forget to check out SQL Server Aggregator, your one stop shop for all of the best blogs on SQL Server.

 

Happy Reading

 

Peter Ward

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Hyperbac for SQL Server

In most enterprises today it is no longer uncommon for a database to have more than 100GB of data with many databases containing terabytes of data. As the size of databases increase so does the duration for backup and restore operations. WARDY IT Solutions was lucky enough to recently see a demonstration of Hyperbac for SQL Server , a new backup Compression and Encryption solution for SQL Server. We were so impressed by this solution and how this product does not require any changes to existing SQL Server backup processes that we have become a reseller for Hyperbac. Why not contact WARDY IT Solutions today to find out more about how you too can reduce your backup sizes by up to 90% and even more importantly, the time to restore your databases.

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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 is a fun way to meet new people and find out how other IT professionals are dealing with the challenges that we face every day. The April WARDY IT Community Dinner is on Monday the 16th of April at the The Fox Hotel at South Brisbane. The dinner is a week later than usual due to Easter Monday. Add this event to your Outlook Calendar.

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Permissions through Stored Procedures

Erland Sommarskog has written a definitive article on how Stored Procedures can be used to limit access to underlying database objects and help protect the integrity of the database. The article can be downloaded from here.

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Database Schema Samples

If you are designing a new application and are trying to determine the best model for your particular database schema then you should make sure that you have a look at the following library of database schema models. The models range from airline booking systems through to pizza delivery systems and can be found here.

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Clustering

Business continuity is becoming essential in many industry sectors and as a result clustering is once again becoming a hot topic. The following article provides some great tips on SQL Server clustering and how clustering can be used to increase the availability of critical operations. The clustering article can be found here .

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Troubleshooting Performance

When there is a performance problem with SQL Server there is a need to be able to quickly identify the cause of the issue. The following whitepaper provides step-by-step guidelines for diagnosing and troubleshooting common performance problems with SQL server 2005 by using tools such as SQL Server Profiler, System Monitor and the new Dynamic Management Views. The whitepaper can be downloaded from here.

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Security Best Practices

Bob Beauchemin from SQL Skills has just released a white paper covering some of the operational and administrative tasks associated with SQL Server that help ensure a more secure SQL Server system. The whitepaper can be downloaded from here .

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BI Certifications

Two new Microsoft certifications for SQL Server 2005 Business Intelligence have recently been made public: Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Business Intelligence and Business Intelligence Developer. To find out more about these certifications and other new Generation Microsoft certifications refer to here.

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TEMPDB in SQL Server 2005

A number of new features have been introduced to SQL Server 2005 that utilise the TEMPDB database. As a result, the configuration of the TEMPDB database is critical to ensure that the performance of SQL Server is not reduced. A white paper has been released that shows how to manage and troubleshoot TEMPDB resources. The white paper can be downloaded from 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.