What regular maintenance tasks should I schedule to ensure a smooth-running SQL Server environment?

This question is common for novices and experienced SQL Server administrators alike. Microsoft's SQL Server 2000 Operations Guide is a best-practices handbook that contains a wealth of helpful information about this topic. Unfortunately, many people in the SQL Server community don't know that the guide exists. You can find the SQL Server 2000 Operations Guide at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/TechNet/prodtechnol/sql/maintain/operate/opsguide/default.asp.

As this h...