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• SQL SERVER – What is AdventureWorks?

  - by pinaldave

  NOTE: If you know the answer of this question, then I request you to stop reading this post right now. Please do not leave comment about this blog post not being useful to you, if you knew the answer. Few days ago, I received DM asking What is an AdventureWorks database and why in all the examples I use that instead of any other database (e.g. Pubs or  Northwind)? As matter of fact, when I went back to my question list, which I have yet not answered, there were a few more variations of this same question. AdventureWorks is a Sample Database shipped with SQL Server and it can be downloaded from http://codeplex.com site. AdventureWorks has replaced Northwind and Pubs from the sample database in SQL Server 2005. The Microsoft team keeps updating the sample database as they release new versions. Here are some quick links: AdventureWorks SQL Server 2008 SR4 AdventureWorks 2008R2 November CTP AdventureWorks for SQL Azure (December CTP) AventureWorks for SQL Server 2005 SP2A SQL SERVER – 2008 – Download and Install Samples Database AdventureWorks 2005 – Detail Tutorial I have previously written few other articles on the same subject; you can find them easily here: [email protected] Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: Pinal Dave, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Documentation, SQL Download, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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• SQLAuthority News – Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 – PowerPivot for Microsoft Excel 2010

  - by pinaldave

  Microsoft has really and truly created some buzz for PowerPivot. I have been asked to show the demo of Powerpivot in recent time even when I am doing relational database training. Attached is the few details where everyone can download PowerPivot and use the same. Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 – PowerPivot for Microsoft Excel 2010 – RTM Microsoft® PowerPivot for Microsoft® Excel 2010 provides ground-breaking technology, such as fast manipulation of large data sets (often millions of rows), streamlined integration of data, and the ability to effortlessly share your analysis through Microsoft® SharePoint 2010. Microsoft PowerPivot for Excel 2010 Samples Microsoft® PowerPivot for Microsoft® Excel 2010 provides ground-breaking technology, such as fast manipulation of large data sets (often millions of rows), streamlined integration of data, and the ability to effortlessly share your analysis through Microsoft® SharePoint 2010. Download examples of the types of reports you can create. Microsoft PowerPivot for Excel 2010 Data Analysis Expressions Sample version 1.0 Microsoft® PowerPivot for Microsoft® Excel 2010 provides ground-breaking technology, such as fast manipulation of large data sets (often millions of rows), streamlined integration of data, and the ability to effortlessly share your analysis through Microsoft® SharePoint 2010. Download this PowerPivot workbook to learn more about DAX calculations. Note: The brief description below the download link is taken from respective download page. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Documentation, SQL Download, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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• SQLAuthority News – Download SQL Azure Labs Codename “Data Explorer” Client

  - by pinaldave

  Microsoft SQL Azure labs has recently released Data Explorer client. I was looking forward to visualizing tool for quite a while and I am delighted to see this tool. I will be trying out this tool in coming week and will post here my experience. I have listed few of the resources which are related to Data Explorer at the end. Please let me know if I have missed any and I will add the same. With “Data Explorer” you can: Identify the data you care about from the sources you work with (e.g. Excel spreadsheets, files, SQL Server databases). Discover relevant data and services via automatic recommendations from the Windows Azure Marketplace. Enrich your data by combining it and visualizing the results. Collaborate with your colleagues to refine the data. Publish the results to share them with others or power solutions. The Data Explorer Client package contains the Data Explorer workspace as well as an Office plugin that integrates Data Explorer into Excel. Resources: Download Data Explorer Data Explorer Blog Desktop Client Video of  Contoso Bikes and Frozen Yogurt (Data Explorer) Please note that this is not the final release of the product. Please do not attempt this on production server. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Azure, SQL Documentation, SQL Download, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQLAuthority News, T SQL, Technology

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• SQLAuthority News – Downloads Available for Microsoft SQL Server Compact 3.5

  - by pinaldave

  There are few downloads released for Microsoft SQL Server Compact 3.5. Here is quick lists of the same. Microsoft SQL Server Compact 3.5 Service Pack 2 for Windows Desktop SQL Server Compact 3.5 SP2 is an embedded database that allows developers to build robust applications for Windows desktops and mobile devices. The download contains the files for installing SQL Server Compact 3.5 SP2 and Synchronization Services for ADO.NET version 1.0 SP1 on Windows desktop. Microsoft SQL Server Compact 3.5 Service Pack 2 Server Tools SQL Server Compact 3.5 SP2 Server Tools Windows Installer (MSI) file installs replication components on the computer running the Internet Information Services (IIS) for synchronizing data with SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2 November CTP. Microsoft SQL Server Compact 3.5 Service Pack 2 Books Online SQL Server Compact 3.5 is a small footprint in-process database engine that allows developers to build robust applications for Windows Desktops and Mobile Devices. This download contains the Books Online for the SP2 version of SQL Server Compact 3.5. Note: The brief description below the download link is taken from respective download page. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Documentation, SQL Download, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQLAuthority News, T SQL, Technology

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• SQL SERVER – Difference Between ROLLBACK IMMEDIATE and WITH NO_WAIT during ALTER DATABASE

  - by pinaldave

  Today, we are going to discuss about something very simple, but quite commonly confused two options of ALTER DATABASE. The first one is ALTER DATABASE …ROLLBACK IMMEDIATE and the second one is WITH NO_WAIT. Many people think they are the same or are not sure of the difference between these two options. Before we continue our explaination, let us go through the explanation given by Book On Line. ROLLBACK AFTER integer [SECONDS] | ROLLBACK IMMEDIATE Specifies whether to roll back after a specified number of seconds or immediately. NO_WAIT Specifies that if the requested database state or option change cannot complete immediately without waiting for transactions to commit or roll back on their own, then the request will fail. If you have understood the difference by now, there is no need to proceed further. If you are still confused, continue with the rest of the post. There is one big difference between ROLLBACK and NO_WAIT. In case incomplete Transaction ALTER DATABASE … ROLLBACK rollbacks those incomplete transaction immediately, where as ALTER DATABASE … NO_WAIT will terminate and rollback the transaction of ALTER DATABASE … NO_WAIT itself. I think it can be clearly explained with the help of the following images. Option 1: ALTER DATABASE … ROLLBACK Connection 1 – Simulating some operation using WAITFOR DELAY WAITFOR DELAY '1:00:00' Connection 2 ALTER DATABASE TestDb SET SINGLE_USER WITH ROLLBACK IMMEDIATE; Option 2: ALTER DATABASE … NO_WAIT Connection 1 – Simulating some operation using WAITFOR DELAY WAITFOR DELAY '1:00:00' Connection 2 ALTER DATABASE TestDb SET SINGLE_USER WITH NO_WAIT; Let me know if this example was simple enough. Reference : Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: Pinal Dave, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Documentation, SQL Query, SQL Scripts, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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• SQLAuthority News – Bookmark – Deprecated Database Engine Features in SQL Server 2008

  - by pinaldave

  When anybody asked me if any specific feature is available in SQL Server 2008 or if any feature will be disabled in future versions of SQL Server, I always point everybody to following list where all the deprecated database engine features are listed. Deprecated Database Engine Features in SQL Server 2008 R2 Deprecated Database Engine Features in SQL Server 2008 This list is quite helpful and everybody should refer it once. This list has many important details. For example, it suggests “80 compatibility level and upgrade from version 80.” will not be supported in next version of SQL Server. If you are using SQL Server 2000 still today (by any chance) you will be not able to upgrade that to next version of SQL Server directly. It is very important to note that if you are using any feature of SQL Server in compatibility mode and if you find them in the list above. You need to start working on the replacement suggested in article. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: Bookmark, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Documentation, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQLAuthority News, T SQL, Technology

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• SQL SERVER – Interview Questions & Answers Needs Your Help

  - by pinaldave

  About an year ago, I had posted SQL Server related Interview Questions and Answers. It was very well received in community. I have received many comments, suggestions and emails on this subject. I am planning to upgrade the Interview Questions and Answers and take it to next level. Here, I need your help. Please your comments, suggestions, expectation or potential interview Question (along with answer) here. Your input will be very valuable. As time goes by we all learn and get better. There were few things missing at that time when those interview questions and answers were prepared, now is the time to complete the gap and make this interview questions more useful. If you know all, this Question and Answers are not for you. This are for those who is eager to learn and need help in the area. If you do not want to leave a comment, I suggest to send me email at pinal “at” SQLAuthority.com Following is the reproduction of original consolidation post for quick reference. SQL SERVER – 2008 – Interview Questions and Answers – Part 1 SQL SERVER – 2008 – Interview Questions and Answers – Part 2 SQL SERVER – 2008 – Interview Questions and Answers – Part 3 SQL SERVER – 2008 – Interview Questions and Answers – Part 4 SQL SERVER – 2008 – Interview Questions and Answers – Part 5 SQL SERVER – 2008 – Interview Questions and Answers – Part 6 SQL SERVER – 2008 – Interview Questions and Answers – Part 7 SQL SERVER – 2008 – Interview Questions and Answers – Part 8 Download SQL Server 2008 Interview Questions and Answers Complete List Reference : Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: Pinal Dave, Readers Contribution, Readers Question, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Documentation, SQL Download, SQL Interview Questions and Answers, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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• SQLAuthority News – Fast Track Data Warehouse 3.0 Reference Guide

  - by pinaldave

  http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg605238.aspx I am very excited that Fast Track Data Warehouse 3.0 reference guide has been announced. As a consultant I have always enjoyed working with Fast Track Data Warehouse project as it truly expresses the potential of the SQL Server Engine. Here is few details of the enhancement of the Fast Track Data Warehouse 3.0 reference architecture. The SQL Server Fast Track Data Warehouse initiative provides a basic methodology and concrete examples for the deployment of balanced hardware and database configuration for a data warehousing workload. Balance is measured across the key components of a SQL Server installation; storage, server, application settings, and configuration settings for each component are evaluated. Description Note FTDW 3.0 Architecture Basic component architecture for FT 3.0 based systems. New Memory Guidelines Minimum and maximum tested memory configurations by server socket count. Additional Startup Options Notes for T-834 and setting for Lock Pages in Memory. Storage Configuration RAID1+0 now standard (RAID1 was used in FT 2.0). Evaluating Fragmentation Query provided for evaluating logical fragmentation. Loading Data Additional options for CI table loads. MCR Additional detail and explanation of FTDW MCR Rating. Read white paper on fast track data warehousing. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com)   Filed under: Business Intelligence, Data Warehousing, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Documentation, SQL Download, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQL White Papers, SQLAuthority News, T SQL, Technology

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• SQL SERVER – Where Can YOU Get My Books – SQL Server Interview Question and Answers

  - by pinaldave

  Earlier month I released by third book SQL Server Interview Question and Answers. The focus of this book is ‘master the basics’. If you rate yourself 10 out of 10 in SQL Server – this book is not for you but if you want to learn fundamentals or want to refresh your fundamentals this book is for YOU. Earlier I was overwhelmed by love you all have shown to this book on release date leading our three digit inventory to run out of stock. Read detail blog post about the subject over here A Real Story of Book Getting ‘Out of Stock’ to A 25% Discount Story Available. Well, we learn the lesson from the experience and have made sure that the inventory does not run out any more. Since then we are now available on multiple outlets. Pretty much anywhere in USA and India the book is available. Additionally, where ever Amazon ships internationally. I have created dedicated page where I have listed where one can avail this book from Details of SQL Server Interview Question and Answers. Even though I keep on getting common question like – where one can get this book. You can get this book from: USA: Amazon India: Flipkart | IndiaPlaza | Crossword In India now you can walk into any crossword store and ask this book, if they do not have it, you can ask them get one for you. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: Best Practices, Pinal Dave, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Documentation, SQL Download, SQL Interview Questions and Answers, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQLAuthority Author Visit, SQLAuthority Book Review, SQLAuthority News, T SQL, Technology

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• SQL SERVER – 2012 RC0 Various Resources and Downloads

  - by pinaldave

  Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Release Candidate 0 (RC0) Microsoft SQL Server 2012 RC0 enables a cloud-ready information platform that will help organizations unlock breakthrough insights across the organization. Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Express RC Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Express RC0 is a powerful and reliable free data management system that delivers a rich set of features, data protection, and performance for embedded applications, lightweight Web Sites, applications, and local data stores. Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Semantic Language Statistics RC0 The Semantic Language Statistics Database is a required component for the Statistical Semantic Search feature in Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Semantic Language Statistics RC0. Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Release Candidate 0 (RC0) Manageability Tool Kit The Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Release Candidate 0 (RC0) Manageability Tool Kit is a collection of stand-alone packages which provide additional value for Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Release Candidate 0 (RC0). Microsoft SQL Server 2012 PowerPivot for Microsoft Excel 2010 Release Candidate 0 (RC0) Microsoft PowerPivot for Microsoft Excel 2010 provides ground-breaking technology; fast manipulation of large data sets, streamlined integration of data, and the ability to effortlessly share your analysis through Microsoft SharePoint Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: Database, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Documentation, SQL Download, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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• SQL SERVER – Microsoft SQL Server 2014 CTP1 Product Guide

  - by Pinal Dave

  Today in User Group meeting there were lots of questions related to SQL Server 2014. There are plenty of people still using SQL Server 2005 but everybody is curious about what is coming in SQL Server 2014.  Microsoft has officially released SQL Server 2014 CTP1 Product Guide. You can easily download the product guide and explore various learning around SQL Server 2014 as well explore the new concepts introduced in this latest version. This SQL Server 2014 CTP1 Product Guide contains few interesting White Papers, a Datasheet and Presentation Deck. Here is the list of the white papers: Mission-Critical Performance and Scale with SQL Server and Windows Server Faster Insights from Any Data Platform for Hybrid Cloud SQL Server In-Memory OLTP Internals Overview for CTP1 SQL Server 2014 CTP1 Frequently Asked Questions for TechEd 2013 North America Here is the list of slide decks: SQL Server 2014 Level 100 Deck SQL Server 2014 Mission Critical Performance LEvel 300 Deck SQL Server 2014 Faster Insights from Any Data Level Level 300 Deck SQL Server 2014 Platform for Hybrid Cloud Level 100 Deck I have earlier downloaded the Product Guide and I have yet not completed reading everything SQL Server 2014 has to offer. If you want to read what are the features which I am going to use in SQL Server 2014, you can read over here. Download Microsoft SQL Server 2014 CTP1 Product Guide Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Documentation, SQL Download, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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• SQL SERVER – Migration Assistant Upgraded to Support SQL Server 2014

  - by Pinal Dave

  We all start somewhere when it is about database. There are different reasons, why we go for one database over another database. Usually the reason is cost and convenience. After a period of time when business is successful and traffic is growing, the same two reasons of cost and convenience start to become secondary goals. I have seen quite a lot of companies starting with free databases and after a while switching to another database as they want stability and service from the product company. Microsoft has an excellent product which lets you migrate your database from the alternate database to SQL Server. It is called SQL Server Migration Assistant (SSMA) and earlier this week, it has been upgraded to support SQL Server 2014. Now you can migrate from your database to to all editions of SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 R2, SQL Server 2012 and SQL Server 2014. SQL Server Migration Assistant (SSMA) is a free supported tool from Microsoft. Here is where you can download SSMA v5.3 for various databases. Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant v5.3 for Access Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant (SSMA) for Access is a tool to automate migration from Microsoft Access database(s) to SQL Server Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant v5.3 for Oracle Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant (SSMA) for Oracle is a tool to automate migration from Oracle database to SQL Server. Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant v5.3 for Sybase Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant (SSMA) for Sybase is a tool to automate migration from Sybase ASE database to SQL Server. Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant v5.3 for MySQL Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant (SSMA) for MySQL is a tool to automate migration from MySQL database to SQL Server. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com)Filed under: MySQL, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Documentation, SQL Download, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL

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• SQLAuthority News – Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 1 Released (SP1)

  - by pinaldave

  Last week, I was attending SQLPASS 2012 and I had great fun attending the event. During the event long awaited SQL Serer 2012 Service Pack 1 was released. I am pretty excited with SP1 as new service packs are cumulative updates and upgrade all editions and service levels of SQL Server 2012 to SP1. This service pack contains SQL Server 2012 Cumulative Update 1 (CU1) and Cumulative Update 2 (CU2). The latest SP1 has many new and enhanced features. Here are a few for example: Cross-Cluster Migration of AlwaysOn Availability Groups for OS Upgrade Selective XML Index DBCC SHOW_STATISTICS works with SELECT permission New function returns statistics properties – sys.dm_db_stats_properties SSMS Complete in Express SlipStream Full Installation Business Intelligence highlights with Office and SharePoint Server 2013 Management Object Support Added for Resource Governor DDL Please note that the size of the service pack is near 1 GB. Here is the link to SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 1. SQL Server Express is the free and feature rich edition of the SQL Server. It is used with lightweight website and desktop applications. Here is the link to SQL Server 2012 EXPRESS Service Pack 1. Here is the question for you – how long have you been using SQL Server 2012? Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Documentation, SQL Download, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology Tagged: Service Pack

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• SQLAuthority News – 2 Whitepapers Announced – AlwaysOn Architecture Guide: Building a High Availability and Disaster Recovery Solution

  - by pinaldave

  Understanding AlwaysOn Architecture is extremely important when building a solution with failover clusters and availability groups. Microsoft has just released two very important white papers related to this subject. Both the white papers are written by top experts in industry and have been reviewed by excellent panel of experts. Every time I talk with various organizations who are adopting the SQL Server 2012 they are always excited with the concept of the new feature AlwaysOn. One of the requests I often here is the related to detailed documentations which can help enterprises to build a robust high availability and disaster recovery solution. I believe following two white paper now satisfies the request. AlwaysOn Architecture Guide: Building a High Availability and Disaster Recovery Solution by Using AlwaysOn Availability Groups SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn Availability Groups provides a unified high availability and disaster recovery (HADR) solution. This paper details the key topology requirements of this specific design pattern on important concepts like quorum configuration considerations, steps required to build the environment, and a workflow that shows how to handle a disaster recovery. AlwaysOn Architecture Guide: Building a High Availability and Disaster Recovery Solution by Using Failover Cluster Instances and Availability Groups SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn Failover Cluster Instances (FCI) and AlwaysOn Availability Groups provide a comprehensive high availability and disaster recovery solution. This paper details the key topology requirements of this specific design pattern on important concepts like asymmetric storage considerations, quorum model selection, quorum votes, steps required to build the environment, and a workflow. If you are not going to implement AlwaysOn feature, this two Whitepapers are still a great reference material to review as it will give you complete idea regarding what it takes to implement AlwaysOn architecture and what kind of efforts needed. One should at least bookmark above two white papers for future reference. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Documentation, SQL Download, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQL White Papers, T SQL, Technology Tagged: AlwaysOn

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• SQLAuthority News – Download SQL Server 2008 R2 Upgrade Technical Reference Guide

  - by pinaldave

  I recently come across very interesting white paper written for Microsoft by Solid Quality Mentors. A successful upgrade to SQL Server 2008 R2 should be smooth and trouble-free. To do that smooth transition, you must plan sufficiently for the upgrade and match the complexity of your database application. Otherwise, you risk costly and stressful errors and upgrade problems. SQL Server 2008 R2 Upgrade Technical Reference Guide is one of the best and comprehensive reference guide I have seen on the subject of SQL Server 2008 R2 upgrade. There are so many various subjects discussed about upgrade which one would always wanted to see. You can find the link of why one has to upgrade to SQL Server 2008 R2 over here: Why upgrade to SQL Server 2008 R2. White paper to upgrade to SQL Server 2008 R2 Upgrade Guide. Here is the quick list of content of the white paper. 1. Upgrade Planning and Deployment 2. Management and Development Tools 3. Relational Databases 4. High Availability 5. Database Security 6. Full-Text Search 7. Service Broker 8. Transact-SQL Queries 9. Notification Services 10. SQL Server Express 11. Analysis Services 12. Data Mining 13. Integration Services 14. Reporting Services 15. Other Microsoft Applications and Platforms Appendix 1: Version and Edition Upgrade Paths Appendix 2: Upgrade Planning Deployment and Tasks Checklist This white paper is indeed huge with 490 pages and 151,956 words.As I said, this is one of the most comprehensive white paper ever published on the subject. Just reading this white paper one can learn a lot about SQL Server. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Documentation, SQL Download, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQLAuthority News, T SQL, Technology

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• SQLAuthority News – Scaling Up Your Data Warehouse with SQL Server 2008 R2

  - by pinaldave

  Data Warehouses are suppose to be containing huge amount of the data from the beginning. However, there are cases when too big is not enough. Every Data Warehouse Admin will agree that they have faced situation where they will need to scale up their data warehouse. Microsoft has released white paper discussing the same. Here is the abstract from the Microsoft Official site: SQL Server 2008 introduced many new functional and performance improvements for data warehousing, and SQL Server 2008 R2 includes all these and more. This paper discusses how to use SQL Server 2008 R2 to get great performance as your data warehouse scales up. We present lessons learned during extensive internal data warehouse testing on a 64-core HP Integrity Superdome during the development of the SQL Server 2008 release, and via production experience with large-scale SQL Server customers. Our testing indicates that many customers can expect their performance to nearly double on the same hardware they are currently using, merely by upgrading to SQL Server 2008 R2 from SQL Server 2005 or earlier, and compressing their fact tables. We cover techniques to improve manageability and performance at high-scale, encompassing data loading (extract, transform, load), query processing, partitioning, index maintenance, indexed view (aggregate) management, and backup and restore. Scaling Up Your Data Warehouse with SQL Server 2008 R2 Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com)   Filed under: PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Documentation, SQL Download, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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• SQLAuthority News – Whitepaper Download – Using Star Join and Few-Outer-Row Optimizations to Improve Data Warehousing Queries

  - by pinaldave

  Size of the database is growing every day. Many organizations now a days have more than TB of the Data in their system. Performance is always part of the issue. Microsoft is really paying attention to the same and also focusing on improving performance for Data Warehousing. Microsoft has recently released whitepaper on the performance tuning subject of Data Warehousing. Here is the abstract about the whitepaper from official site: In this white paper we discuss two of the new features introduced in SQL Server 2008, Star Join and Few-Outer-Row optimizations. These two features are in SQL Server 2008 R2 as well.  We test the performance of SQL Server 2008 on a set of complex data warehouse queries designed to highlight the effect of these two features and observed a significant performance gain over SQL Server 2005 (without these two features). The results observed also apply to SQL Server 2008 R2.  On average, about 75 percent of the query execution time has been reduced, compared to SQL Server 2005. We also include data that shows a reduction in the number of rows processed and improved balance in parallel queries, both of which highlight the important role the Star Join and Few Outer-Row features played. I encouraged all of those interested in Data Warehouse to read it and see if they can learn the tricks. Using Star Join and Few-Outer-Row Optimizations to Improve Data Warehousing Queries Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Documentation, SQL Download, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQLAuthority News, T SQL, Technology

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• Tender vs. Requirements vs. Solution Design

  - by Tom Tom

  Conventionally, which of the above documents is deemed to hold the most weight when it comes to system acceptance? I recently had a conversation along these lines: It was argued that the initial requirements / tender documentation should be used to determine system acceptance. It was said that the solution design only serves to describe the way in which the system will solve the problem, not the problem it will solve. Furthermore, it was argued that if requirements are missed during solution design, the requirements should be referenced during system acceptance and that if any requirements were missed then the original tender should be referenced. Conversely, I suggested that - while requirements may be based on the original tender - they supersede it once agreed with the stakeholders. Furthermore, during solution design, analysis is performed to address and refine these initial requirements, translating them into a system capable of meeting the actual requirements. Once signed off by the relevant users, this solution design should absolutely represent the requirements (by virtue of the fact that it's designed upon them) but actually supersedes them as the basis for system acceptance. Is one of the above arguments more valid than the other?

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• Modelling work-flow plus interaction with a database - quick and accessible options

  - by cjmUK

  I'm wanting to model a (proposed) manufacturing line, with specific emphasis on interaction with a traceability database. That is, various process engineers have already mapped the manufacturing process - I'm only interested in the various stations along the line that have to talk to the DB. The intended audience is a mixture of project managers, engineers and IT people - the purpose is to identify: points at which the line interacts with the DB (perhaps going so far as indicating the Store Procs called at each point, perhaps even which parameters are passed.) the communication source (PC/Handheld device/PLC) the communication medium (wireless/fibre/copper) control flow (if leak test fails, unit is diverted to repair station) Basically, the model will be used as a focus different groups on outstanding tasks; for example, I'm interested in the DB and any front-end app needed, process engineers need to be thinking about the workflow and liaising with the PLC suppliers, the other IT guys need to make sure we have the hardware and comms in place. Obviously I could just improvise in Visio, but I was wondering if there was a particular modelling technique that might particularly suit my needs or my audience. I'm thinking of a visual model with supporting documentation (as little as possible, as much as is necessary). Clearly, I don't want something that will take me ages to (effectively) learn, nor one that will alienate non-technical members of the project team. So far I've had brief looks at BPMN, EPC Diagrams, standard Flow Diagrams... and I've forgotten most of what I used to know about UML... And I'm not against picking and mixing... as long as it is quick, clear and effective. Conclusion: In the end, I opted for a quasi-workflow/dataflow diagram. I mapped out the parts of the manufacturing process that interact with the traceability DB, and indicated in a significantly-simplified form, the data flows and DB activity. Alongside which, I have a supporting document which outlines each process, the data being transacted for each process (a 'data dictionary' of sorts) and details of hardware and connectivity required. I can't decide whether is a product of genius or a crime against established software development practices, but I do think that is will hit the mark for this particular audience.

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• SQL SERVER – Weekend Project – Experimenting with ACID Transactions, SQL Compliant, Elastically Scalable Database

  - by pinaldave

  Database technology is huge and big world. I like to explore always beyond what I know and share the learning. Weekend is the best time when I sit around download random software on my machine which I like to call as a lab machine (it is a pretty old laptop, hardly a quality as lab machine) and experiment it. There are so many free betas available for download that it’s hard to keep track and even harder to find the time to play with very many of them.  This blog is about one you shouldn’t miss if you are interested in the learning various relational databases. NuoDB just released their Beta 7.  I had already downloaded their Beta 6 and yesterday did the same for 7.   My impression is that they are onto something very very interesting.  In fact, it might be something really promising in terms of database elasticity, scale and operational cost reduction. The folks at NuoDB say they are working on the world’s first “emergent” database which they tout as a brand new transitional database that is intended to dramatically change what’s possible with OLTP.  It is SQL compliant, guarantees ACID transactions, yet scales elastically on heterogeneous and decentralized cloud-based resources. Interesting note for sure, making me explore more. Based on what I’ve seen so far, they are solving the architectural challenge that exists between elastic, cloud-based compute infrastructures designed to scale out in response to workload requirements versus the traditional relational database management system’s architecture of central control. Here’s my experience with the NuoDB Beta 6 so far: First they pretty much threw away all the features you’d associate with existing RDBMS architectures except the SQL and ACID transactions which they were smart to keep.  It looks like they have incorporated a number of the big ideas from various algorithms, systems and techniques to achieve maximum DB scalability. From a user’s perspective, the NuoDB Beta software behaves like any other traditional SQL database and seems to offer all the benefits users have come to expect from standards-based SQL solutions. One of the interesting feature is that one can run a transactional node and a storage node on my Windows laptop as well on other platforms – indeed interesting for sure. It’s quite amazing to see a database elastically scale across machine boundaries. So, one of the basic NuoDB concepts is that as you need to scale out, you can easily use more inexpensive hardware when/where you need it.  This is unlike what we have traditionally done to scale a database for an application – we replace the hardware with something more powerful (faster CPU and Disks). This is where I started to feel like NuoDB is on to something that has the potential to elastically scale on commodity hardware while reducing operational expense for a big OLTP database to a degree we’ve never seen before. NuoDB is able to fully leverage the cloud in an asynchronous and highly decentralized manner – while providing both SQL compliance and ACID transactions. Basically what NuoDB is doing is so new that it is all hard to believe until you’ve experienced it in action.  I will keep you up to date as I test the NuoDB Beta 7 but if you are developing a web-scale application or have an on-premise app you are thinking of moving to the cloud, testing this beta is worth your time. If you do try it, let me know what you think.  Before I say anything more, I am going to do more experiments and more test on this product and compare it with other existing similar products. For me it was a weekend worth spent on learning something new. I encourage you to download Beta 7 version and share your opinions here. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Documentation, SQL Download, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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• Beyond core java

  - by Paul

  Coming to the end of the first year of my CS degree, we've done some Java but just the core stuff; manipulating strings and arrays, inheritance, implementing logic etc. I visit this website daily and I see so much stuff that is beyond me; using frameworks; managing databases etc. It makes me feel like I've just learned the syntax of Java, and there is so much more to do with it. My question is though, how do I get there? I don't think I'm advanced enough to join an open source project, which seems to be suggested often (though I'd love to) and I've looked at other similar questions on here (like this one) but even then I don't think that'd work for me.. firstly, could somebody try give me some commonly used frameworks etc and how and what they are used for? Where would be a good place to start? How did you get started in using the things you do? Or perhaps you think I'm going down the wrong route. Should I learn another language, and just wait until the moment occurs where it's clear what I should be doing? I'm only in the first year of my degree, so far we've lightly covered Haskell and Java, and I've done a little HTML and CSS in my free time. I know that next year we cover python, so perhaps I should just wait till then and see if I prefer that? I feel like I also risk learning something in depth and then never using it... I suppose I'm also asking for personal experiences; was there a point where you felt you'd exceeded the basic grasp of a language (does not necessarily have to be Java related) and reach a more "advanced" level? I guess I'll put subjective tag on this, but really I just want to know how to get beyond the basic understanding of a language.

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• SQL SERVER – Developer Training Kit for SQL Server 2012

  - by pinaldave

  Developer Training Kit is my favorite part of any product. The reason behind is very simple because it give the single resource which gives complete overview of the product in nutshell. A developer can learn from many places – books, webcasts, tutorials, blogs, etc. However, I have found that developer training kits are the best starting point for any product. Start with them first, see what are the new features as well what is the new message a product is coming up with. Once it is learned the very next step should be to identify the right learning material to explore the preferred topic. The SQL Server 2012 Developer Training Kit includes technical content including labs, demos and presentations designed to help you learn how to develop SQL Server 2012 database and BI solutions. New and updated content will be released periodically and can be downloaded on-demand using the Web Installer. Download SQL Server 2012 Developer Training Kit Web Installer. This training kit was available earlier this year but it is never late to explore it if you have not referred it earlier. Additionally, if you do not want to download complete kit all together I suggest you refer to Wiki here. This wiki contains all the same presentations and demo notes which web installer contains. Refer to SQL Server 2012 Developer Training Kit Wiki Wiki contains following module and details about Hands On Labs Module 1: Introduction to SQL Server 2012 Module 2: Introduction to SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn Module 3: Exploring and Managing SQL Server 2012 Database Engine Improvements Module 4: SQL Server 2012 Database Server Programmability Module 5: SQL Server 2012 Application Development Module 6: SQL Server 2012 Enterprise Information Management Module 7: SQL Server 2012 Business Intelligence Hands-On Labs: SQL Server 2012 Database Engine Hands-On Labs: Visual Studio 2010 and .NET 4.0 Hands-On Labs: SQL Server 2012 Enterprise Information Management Hands-On Labs: SQL Server 2012 Business Intelligence Hands-On LabsHands-On Labs: Windows Azure and SQL Azure As I said, if you have not downloaded this so far, it is never late to explore it. Trust me you will atleast learn one thing if you just explore the content. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: Developer Training, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Documentation, SQL Download, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQLAuthority News, T SQL, Technology

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• SQLAuthority News – SQL Server 2012 Upgrade Technical Guide – A Comprehensive Whitepaper – (454 pages – 9 MB)

  - by pinaldave

  Microsoft has just released SQL Server 2012 Upgrade Technical Guide. This guide is very comprehensive and covers the subject of upgrade in-depth. This is indeed a helpful detailed white paper. Even writing a summary of this white paper would take over 100 pages. This further proves that SQL Server 2012 is quite an important release from Microsoft. This white paper discusses how to upgrade from SQL Server 2008/R2 to SQL Server 2012. I love how it starts with the most interesting and basic discussion of upgrade strategies: 1) In-place upgrades, 2) Side by side upgrade, 3) One-server, and 4) Two-server. This whitepaper is not just pure theory but is also an excellent source for some tips and tricks. Here is an example of a good tip from the paper: “If you want to upgrade just one database from a legacy instance of SQL Server and not upgrade the other databases on the server, use the side-by-side upgrade method instead of the in-place method.” There are so many trivia, tips and tricks that make creating the list seems humanly impossible given a short period of time. My friend Vinod Kumar, an SQL Server expert, wrote a very interesting article on SQL Server 2012 Upgrade before. In that article, Vinod addressed the most interesting and practical questions related to upgrades. He started with the fundamentals of how to start backup before upgrade and ended with fail-safe strategies after the upgrade is over. He covered end-to-end concepts in his blog posts in simple words in extremely precise statements. A successful upgrade uses a cycle of: planning, document process, testing, refine process, testing, planning upgrade window, execution, verifying of upgrade and opening for business. If you are at Vinod’s blog post, I suggest you go all the way down and collect the gold mine of most important links. I have bookmarked the blog by blogging about it and I suggest that you bookmark it as well with the way you prefer. Vinod Kumar’s blog post on SQL Server 2012 Upgrade Technical Guide SQL Server 2012 Upgrade Technical Guide is a detailed resource that’s also available online for free. Each chapter was carefully crafted and explained in detail. Here is a quick list of the chapters included in the whitepaper. Before downloading the guide, beware of its size of 9 MB and 454 pages. Here’s the list of chapters: Chapter 1: Upgrade Planning and Deployment Chapter 2: Management Tools Chapter 3: Relational Databases Chapter 4: High Availability Chapter 5: Database Security Chapter 6: Full-Text Search Chapter 7: Service Broker Chapter 8: SQL Server Express Chapter 9: SQL Server Data Tools Chapter 10: Transact-SQL Queries Chapter 11: Spatial Data Chapter 12: XML and XQuery Chapter 13: CLR Chapter 14: SQL Server Management Objects Chapter 15: Business Intelligence Tools Chapter 16: Analysis Services Chapter 17: Integration Services Chapter 18: Reporting Services Chapter 19: Data Mining Chapter 20: Other Microsoft Applications and Platforms Appendix 1: Version and Edition Upgrade Paths Appendix 2: SQL Server 2012: Upgrade Planning Checklist Download SQL Server 2012 Upgrade Technical Guide [454 pages and 9 MB] Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: Database, DBA, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Documentation, SQL Download, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQL White Papers, SQLAuthority News, SQLServer, T SQL, Technology

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• SQL SERVER – Free eBook Download – EPUB, MOBI, PDF Format

  - by pinaldave

  Microsoft has released recently free eBooks on various Microsoft Technology. The best part is that all these books are available in ePub, Mobi and PDF. You can download them to your local machine or eBook reader and read them. This is a great start as many important subjects are now covered and converted into an eBook. I personally read through a few of the books and found they are very comprehensive and and detailed. The goal is not to cover complete technology in a single book but rather pick a single topic and discuss it in detail. The source of the book is white paper, Technet wiki as well book online and it is clearly listed right bellow the book title. Following are the books available for SQL Server Technology and I encourage all of you to have a look at them as they are great resources. Master Data Services Capacity Guidelines Microsoft SQL Server AlwaysOn Solutions Guide for High Availability and Disaster Recovery Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services Multidimensional Performance and Operations Guide QuickStart: Learn DAX Basics in 30 Minutes SQL Server 2012 Transact-SQL DML Reference You can download above eBooks from here. This is indeed a great attempt as each book talks about the a single subject in depth keeping author focus on the single and simple subject. I have previously written two books by focusing on the same subject and I had great pleasure writing it as well. Writing on focus subjects gives complete freedom to author to explore the a single subject without having burden to cover everything which is associated with that technology at large. Just like eBooks mentioned earlier my SQL Server Wait Stats was inspired from my article series on SQL Wait Stats. The latest book SQL Server Interview Question and Answers was derived from my article series on SQL Interview Q and A. Writing book is an absolutely different concept than writing blog posts. When I was converting my blog posts to books, I ended up writing 50% new material and end up removing many repetitive content which shows up in blog series. It was indeed fun to focused book at the same time it was a great learning experience as an individual. Reference: TechNet Wiki, Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Documentation, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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• SQL SERVER – Enumerations in Relational Database – Best Practice

  - by pinaldave

  Marko Parkkola This article has been submitted by Marko Parkkola, Data systems designer at Saarionen Oy, Finland. Marko is excellent developer and always thinking at next level. You can read his earlier comment which created very interesting discussion here: SQL SERVER- IF EXISTS(Select null from table) vs IF EXISTS(Select 1 from table). I must express my special thanks to Marko for sending this best practice for Enumerations in Relational Database. He has really wrote excellent piece here and welcome comments here. Enumerations in Relational Database This is a subject which is very basic thing in relational databases but often not very well understood and sometimes badly implemented. There are of course many ways to do this but I concentrate only two cases, one which is “the right way” and one which is definitely wrong way. The concept Let’s say we have table Person in our database. Person has properties/fields like Firstname, Lastname, Birthday and so on. Then there’s a field that tells person’s marital status and let’s name it the same way; MaritalStatus. Now MaritalStatus is an enumeration. In C# I would definitely make it an enumeration with values likes Single, InRelationship, Married, Divorced. Now here comes the problem, SQL doesn’t have enumerations. The wrong way This is, in my opinion, absolutely the wrong way to do this. It has one upside though; you’ll see the enumeration’s description instantly when you do simple SELECT query and you don’t have to deal with mysterious values. There’s plenty of downsides too and one would be database fragmentation. Consider this (I’ve left all indexes and constraints out of the query on purpose). CREATE TABLE [dbo].[Person] ( [Firstname] NVARCHAR(100), [Lastname] NVARCHAR(100), [Birthday] datetime, [MaritalStatus] NVARCHAR(10) ) You have nvarchar(20) field in the table that tells the marital status. Obvious problem with this is that what if you create a new value which doesn’t fit into 20 characters? You’ll have to come and alter the table. There are other problems also but I’ll leave those for the reader to think about. The correct way Here’s how I’ve done this in many projects. This model still has one problem but it can be alleviated in the application layer or with CHECK constraints if you like. First I will create a namespace table which tells the name of the enumeration. I will add one row to it too. I’ll write all the indexes and constraints here too. CREATE TABLE [CodeNamespace] ( [Id] INT IDENTITY(1, 1), [Name] NVARCHAR(100) NOT NULL, CONSTRAINT [PK_CodeNamespace] PRIMARY KEY ([Id]), CONSTRAINT [IXQ_CodeNamespace_Name] UNIQUE NONCLUSTERED ([Name]) ) GO INSERT INTO [CodeNamespace] SELECT 'MaritalStatus' GO Then I create a table that holds the actual values and which reference to namespace table in order to group the values under different namespaces. I’ll add couple of rows here too. CREATE TABLE [CodeValue] ( [CodeNamespaceId] INT NOT NULL, [Value] INT NOT NULL, [Description] NVARCHAR(100) NOT NULL, [OrderBy] INT, CONSTRAINT [PK_CodeValue] PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED ([CodeNamespaceId], [Value]), CONSTRAINT [FK_CodeValue_CodeNamespace] FOREIGN KEY ([CodeNamespaceId]) REFERENCES [CodeNamespace] ([Id]) ) GO -- 1 is the 'MaritalStatus' namespace INSERT INTO [CodeValue] SELECT 1, 1, 'Single', 1 INSERT INTO [CodeValue] SELECT 1, 2, 'In relationship', 2 INSERT INTO [CodeValue] SELECT 1, 3, 'Married', 3 INSERT INTO [CodeValue] SELECT 1, 4, 'Divorced', 4 GO Now there’s four columns in CodeValue table. CodeNamespaceId tells under which namespace values belongs to. Value tells the enumeration value which is used in Person table (I’ll show how this is done below). Description tells what the value means. You can use this, for example, column in UI’s combo box. OrderBy tells if the values needs to be ordered in some way when displayed in the UI. And here’s the Person table again now with correct columns. I’ll add one row here to show how enumerations are to be used. CREATE TABLE [dbo].[Person] ( [Firstname] NVARCHAR(100), [Lastname] NVARCHAR(100), [Birthday] datetime, [MaritalStatus] INT ) GO INSERT INTO [Person] SELECT 'Marko', 'Parkkola', '1977-03-04', 3 GO Now I said earlier that there is one problem with this. MaritalStatus column doesn’t have any database enforced relationship to the CodeValue table so you can enter any value you like into this field. I’ve solved this problem in the application layer by selecting all the values from the CodeValue table and put them into a combobox / dropdownlist (with Value field as value and Description as text) so the end user can’t enter any illegal values; and of course I’ll check the entered value in data access layer also. I said in the “The wrong way” section that there is one benefit to it. In fact, you can have the same benefit here by using a simple view, which I schema bound so you can even index it if you like. CREATE VIEW [dbo].[Person_v] WITH SCHEMABINDING AS SELECT p.[Firstname], p.[Lastname], p.[BirthDay], c.[Description] MaritalStatus FROM [dbo].[Person] p JOIN [dbo].[CodeValue] c ON p.[MaritalStatus] = c.[Value] JOIN [dbo].[CodeNamespace] n ON n.[Id] = c.[CodeNamespaceId] AND n.[Name] = 'MaritalStatus' GO -- Select from View SELECT * FROM [dbo].[Person_v] GO This is excellent write up byMarko Parkkola. Do you have this kind of design setup at your organization? Let us know your opinion. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: Best Practices, Database, DBA, Readers Contribution, Software Development, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Documentation, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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