By Anne Grubb, 11/20/2007
The SQL Server Magazine forums have been especially lively lately, with a thoughtful exchange about backup and restore and readers’ feedback. Find out how to join the conversation.
By Jeff James, 11/20/2007
Check out new and improved SQL Server-related products.
By Itzik Ben-Gan, 11/20/2007
Get the solution to November's puzzle "Crazy Sequence," and prepare your mind for December's puzzle, which involves a minimum number of weights.
By Pinalkumar Dave, 11/20/2007
DBAs get answers to basic Structured Query Language (SQL) questions on the difference between FILLFACTOR = 0 and FILLFACTOR = 100; ISNULL and NULLIF; clustered index and ...
By Jeff James, 11/20/2007
Learn which Microsoft and third-party products will have the tools you need to stay on top of SQL Server development, administration, and business intelligence (BI) challenges in ...
By Eli Leiba, 11/20/2007
LoadTraceFileToTable loads the data from a trace file into a trace table so that you can easily sort and analyze that data.
By Kalen Delaney, 11/20/2007
Changes in plan caching over successive versions of SQL Server affect its memory usage.
By Readers, 11/20/2007
Although SQL Server offers a variety of string functions, it doesn't have a function that strips out non-alphanumeric characters. Here's a user-defined function to fill that gap.
By Ron Talmage, 11/20/2007
HP PolyServe Database Utility for SQL Server offers simplified consolidation and failover for SQL Server but requires careful planning to install.
By Michelle A. Poolet, 11/20/2007
Dimensional roles can play many different parts in an accumulating snapshot fact table. Find out how dimensional role-playing can benefit your star schema.
By Tyler Chessman, 11/20/2007
Estimated execution plans are very useful when trying to see how complex and large a query is. However, these plans aren't always generated. Find out why estimated execution plans ...
By Michelle A. Poolet, 11/20/2007
If you ever have rows in the dimension that participate in more than one role, it's best to use indexed views rather than partitioned tables.
By Alan Sugano, 11/20/2007
Follow these guidelines when creating your virtual server base image.
By Michael Otey, 11/20/2007
Many organizations have adopted running multiple VMs on a single hardware platform as a server consolidation method, but virtualization isn’t the only solution. Find out how ...
By Alan Sugano, 11/20/2007
Find out if virtualizing your SQL Server deployment is the right option for your organization.
By Michael Otey, 11/20/2007
Virtualization can prevent server sprawl—but SQL Server workloads can be tricky to virtualize. Here are answers to your virtualization FAQs that can help you tackle this ...
By Readers, 11/20/2007
It used to be difficult to answer questions such as "When was the last time this job was run?" and "What jobs will be affected if we bring down the system for maintenance?" With ...
By Tyler Chessman, 11/20/2007
If you want to be able to see the complexity and size of queries, consider implementing estimated execution plans in your organization.
By Chris Webb, 11/20/2007
Annoyed by the fact that SSRS restricts the structure of the MDX queries you’re allowed to write? We've got a workaround or two that can help.
By Kalen Delaney, 11/20/2007
SQL Server 2005 doesn’t limit plan-cache size but still provides ways to control it. Learn how to keep an eye on cache size and tricks to trim down a bloated cache to improve ...
By Itzik Ben-Gan, 11/20/2007
This two-part series promises to shed some light on the way reads behave in different scenarios, as well as the consistency level you should expect in each scenario.