So what’s attribute propagation?  expressor’s starting point observation is that in any transformation most values are either copied from the input record to the output record without any changes or dropped from the output record.  What attribute propagation does is transparently perform these operations without a requirement for coding.  Consequently, within an operator performing a transformation, your only responsibility is to manipulate the values that do require modification.  And this is where the rules editor becomes involved.

Let’s consider an example.  A company wants to give any employee whose tenure with the company started before January 1, 1995 a 5% salary increase.  The application will read a list of employees from a SQL Server database table, determine if the employee’s hire date was before January 1, 1995, and if appropriate calculate a new salary.

Of course expressor offers many ways to develop this application, but I’ll just highlight one approach as it’s the rules editor that I want to discuss.

With expressor, this application can be developed using three operators: a SQL Query operator to select the qualified employees from the SQL Server database table, a Transform operator to carry out the salary calculation, and a Write Table operator to write the modified record back to the database table.  The SQL Query operator executes a SELECT statement that limits the result set to only those employees who qualify for the raise.

SELECT * FROM employees WHERE HIRE_DATE < CONVERT(VARCHAR(23), ’1995-Jan-01′ , 121)

To continue developing the application, I open the rules editor of the Transform operator.

In the left-hand panel is a listing of the attributes in each incoming record.  The names of these attributes are identical to the table column names, although expressor allows you to easily rename if desired.

The right-hand panel shows the effect of attribute propagation.  That is, each incoming attribute has been transferred to the outgoing record.  The right-facing arrow before each attribute name indicates that the attribute will be automatically initialized and that no coding is required.

To alter the value assigned to the outgoing record’s SALARY attribute, start by using the mouse to drag a connection between the input and output attributes.  An expression rule is displayed.  The default code simply transfers the incoming value to the output.  Also note that the symbol before the output attribute’s name has changed from the right-facing arrow to a diamond, indicating that this attribute is initialized through code.

All I need to do to complete the application is modify the default code, applying the salary increase and, since all salaries are stored as whole dollars, apply a rounding, which I can easily do by clicking the Math button in the Edit tab of the ribbon bar and selecting round from the drop down list of functions.

But what happens when my processing logic is more complex, for example, I only want to give the raise to employees whose commission percentage is smaller than 0.35%.  Then I replace the expression rule with a function rule, where I have full access to the underlying code and I can use the filter helper function to enrich my logic.

In this example, I demonstrated the use of an expression rule and a function rule in the Transform operator.  These rule types are also available in the Join operator.  Within the Transform operator you can also work with a lookup expression rule and a lookup function rule.  These are the rules you use to access the lookup table artifact, another new feature of expressor Studio 3.4.  And in the Aggregate operator you can use an aggregate expression rule, which allows you to select an aggregating function from a drop down control, or an aggregate function rule that allows you to completely manage the processing logic.

While the example developed in this article was quite simple, I think you will agree that attribute propagation and the new rules editor provide a high level of support when your applications require coding.  I continue to be intrigued by the many innovations expressor is putting into their desktop ETL tool.  You can download their tool by following this link.

Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com)

Inviting all Professional Developers, Project Managers, Architects, IT Managers, IT Administrators and Implementers of Ahmedabad to be a part of Tech•Ed on the Road, on 11th June, 2011. We have put together the best sessions from Tech•Ed India 2011 for you in your city. Focal point will be technologies like Database and BI, Windows 7, ASP.NET.

REGISTER HERE!

Venue:
Venue: Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA)
Dr. Vikram Sarabhai Marg,
University Area,
Ahmedabad, Gujarat 380 015

Time: 9:30AM – 5:30PM

The biggest attraction of the event is session HTML5 – Future of the Web by Harish Vaidyanathan. He is Evangelist Lead in Microsoft and hands on developer himself. I strongly urge all of you to attend his session to understand direction of the web and Microsoft’s take on the subject.

I (Pinal Dave) will be presenting on the session of SQL Server Performance Tuning and Jacob Sebastian will be presenting on T-SQL Worst Practices. Do not miss this opportunity. Those who have attended in the past know that from last two years the venue is jam packed in first few minutes. Do come in early to get better seat and reserve your spot.

We will have QUIZ during the event and we will have various gifts – Watches, USB Drives, T-Shirts and many more interesting gifts.

Refer the agenda today and register right away. There will be no video recording so come and visit the event in person.

Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com)

Here the result of the poll:

Database Administrator 36.6% (254 votes)
Database Developer 63.4% (440 votes)
Total Votes: 694

This is open poll, if you want you can still participate here.

Vote your Voice – DBD or DBA?

I think it is the time when DBD word for Database Developer gets place in our dictionary.

Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com)

Note: If you are just going to say that shrinking database is bad, I agree with you and that is the main point of this blog post. Please read the whole blog post first.

The problem definition of the consultation was to improve the performance of the database server. I usually fly to the client’s location a day before, so the next day I am all fresh upon reaching the client’s office after a relaxing night’s sleep. Due to a fair availability of the flight, I reached the location earlier that day, at around 2 PM. I headed to the client’s location to familiarize myself with the place. I met the resident DBA and we talked for a few minutes. We looked at the index fragmentation during our conversation. It was the heaviest fragmentation that I have ever seen in my life. I asked the DBA if he could rebuild or reorganize indexes. He replied that he has never done it in the past one year. One year is really a long time; I could not believe that they have no maintenance task scheduled. I even wondered how they managed without index maintenance for the entire year. Anyway, I quickly handed my index script over him.

We waited until the end of their business hours, at about 5PM. After this, there are hardly any activities in the database. We executed the task on their production server after checking a few settings. The script ran for about 1.5 hours until it is finished. Afterwards, I checked the fragmentation of the indexes; it was very descent. In fact, some of the large tables were showing the fragmentation near to zero. I was pleased with this while the DBA confirmed that few reports even ran faster than before. Satisfied with the work done on Day 0, I left the location and went to the hotel where I stayed.

When I arrived to the location the next day, I had a meeting with the company director. He mentioned that he was updated by Dr. DBA regarding my de-fragmentation of indexes, and he wanted to see the status of the indexes. I ran my script once again to check the fragmentation of index. To my surprise, it was just like yesterday. I got confused and speechless. I checked the server instances and a few other things, but still nothing. The Sr. DBA also had no explanation at all. He started to mumble something I did not understand. Well, to make the long story short, I had a long face and did not feel comfortable. I was pretty sure that I had run the script of de-fragmentation and it worked fine.

Before I continued, I tried to check all the existing stored procedures and jobs. Finally, just like magic, I found the following code.

Before running the following code. Read the whole blog post.

EXEC sp_MSForEachDB 'DBCC SHRINKDATABASE (''?'' , 0)'


This code shrinks the whole database on a single SQL Server Instance. I instantly figured out where this code was used, and then I removed it. After I got rid of the code, I rebuilt and reorganized indexes. For the next 5 days, I faced no problem at all. Well, this is another reason not to shrink the database. Shrinking the database causes heavy fragmentation of the tables and reduces the performance. After shrinking, it seems that rebuilding indexes is necessary. But again, there should not be any real need to shrink the database. Do NOT shrink your database.

Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com), Image source unknown.

I am going to clean up my personal servers as well and finish a few tests, as well as complete my benchmark projects. My personal data is also stored in one gigantic database. Because it is my personal server, no one pays me and thus I hardly maintain it.

Today I am going to do the following maintenance tasks on it:

1. Backup Master. I am going to have a backup of the database using script; however, the backup script has not been updated for a long time now. Last time, I noticed that I was not getting the master database’s backup. And no matter what one suggests, I still think it is very important to have a backup of the master database. I am going to alter the script to have a correct backup of the master database.
2. Online Indexing. I have upgraded my server from SQL Server 2005 Standard to SQL Server 2008 Enterprise. On the other hand, I never changed the index rebuilding script. One of the tables is very huge and when indexes are rebuilt in it, it often gets broken. I plan to change the index rebuild script to include the option of (ONLINE = ON). This will be good to avoid the time outs.
3. Restarting the Server. I have the server connected to UPS and even though we have lots of very short power outages, my server is not affected, fortunately. I almost forgot when I really restarted it. Although, it is not necessary to restart server at all, this procedure is intended for my windows box, which has many updates installed but I have not rebooted it in order for these updates to take effect. This may not be the best technique, but it works enough for me because my data is not that critical. If you are maintaining a high-availability solution, I suggest that you have fail over solution implemented before restarting the server.
4. Wait Stats. I recently learned about Wait stats. I am eager to know what Wait Statistics really are, and what they can do for my server. Due to the fact that I have not upgraded the hardware for many years now (although I have upgraded the OS, SQL Server version and huge data growth), I could find out which of my hardware needs an upgrade.
5. Fresh Air. I will make sure that after all of the above tasks are completed I am going to go out with my family and breathe some fresh air.

Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com)

Techinsights is a major technology conference to network with like-minded peers and also up-skill your knowledge on latest technologies. An event that offers opportunity to dabble in hardcore technologies with in-depth and hands-on demonstration by Microsoft MVPs and industry experts local and abroad. This three-day event will challenge what you think you already know. You’ll return to the office with cutting-edge insights and expertise that will make life easier for you (and everyone else) at work. This round, we have a special highlight on new technologies such as SharePoint 2010, Visual Studio 2010, SQL Server 2008 R2, Silverlight 4, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 and many more. TechInsight is an event created by techies for techies. There is no marketing involved. It is indeed an experience to rediscover the uber-geek within you. Sign up today to secure your seat.

I presented two sessions there. Both of my sessions were in the TOP 5 sessions of Development track. Additionally, my session on Join got the highest ranking ever in Dev Track.

1) My Join, Your Join and Our Joins – The Story of Joins

Joins are very mysterious; there are many myths and confusions. This session will address all of them and also tell the story of how they act when it is about performance. Does the order of table in Join matter? Does the right or left join any different to each other? Does the Join increase IO? When is an outer join not an outer join and inner join? All these questions are answered and many more stories of Joins are included. Learn the simple tricks to get the maximum out of this tool.

Session Evaluations

Overall session rating 7.5
How valuable was the content presented 7.467741935
How effectively did the presenter communicate the content 7.596774194

2) Spatial Database – The Indexing Story

The world was believed to be flat but no more. Now SQL Server supports the spatial datatypes and many more functions. This session addresses the most vital part of Spatial datatypes and talks about how to improve the performance for the application, which is already blazing fast. We will look at how indexes are behaving with different spatial datatypes and how they can help to improve the performance and also learn the pitfalls to avoid them affecting performance.

Session Evaluations

Overall session rating 7.237288136
How valuable was the content presented 7.322033898
How effectively did the presenter communicate the content 7.457627119

I must express my special thanks to all the organizers of the event – Ervin, Walter, Raymond, and Patrick (in no particular order). They did an excellent job, and all the attendees of the event had great time as well. The food was awesome, and the response was excellent. After one month, when I am writing this review, I am still thinking of the wonderful experience I had from this event. This makes me want to not miss this event any year.

This one event is truly TechEd quality event in Malaysia. Kudos to the organizers and Microsoft.

Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com)

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)

Up to SQL Server 2005, Microsoft’s main focus on SQL Server was to build a platform to efficiently store, manage, and retrieve data. However, now, Microsoft enhanced SQL Server to accept, monitor, and respond to complex and high number of events in near zero latency. For this, Microsoft introduced StreamInsight using the following approaches:

1. Continuous and incremental processing of unending sequences of events.
2. Lightweight streaming architecture that supports highly parallel execution of continuous queries over high-speed data.
3. The use of in-memory caches and incremental result computation provide excellent performance with high data throughout and low latency.
4. Low latency is achieved because the events are processed without costly data load or storage operations in the critical processing path.
5. All processing is automatically triggered by incoming events. In particular, applications do not have to incur any overhead for event polling.
6. Static reference or historical data can be accessed and included in the low-latency analysis.

In StreamInsight, the events are processed by a CEP (complex event processing) Server. CEP Server has its own optimizer and standing queries to handle events optimally in real time. In simple terms, we can understand it as given below:

This architecture is designed to process up to 100,000 or even more events per second.

Following are few areas where this new platform would help in monitoring, mining, and analyzing the data in motion and in providing significantly more informed business decisions in real-time:

• Manufacturing process monitoring and control
• Clickstream analysis
• Financial services
• Power utilities
• Health care
• IT monitoring
• Logistics
• Telecom

Another important thing about StreamInsight is that the developers do not have to learn any new language to implement it. Its CEP Server (standing queries) can be created in LINQ (Language Integrated Queries), while the event Source application and Target application can be written in Microsoft .Net language. By using LINQ, developers familiar with SQL will be able to quickly write queries in a declarative fashion. Its deployment is also simple with flexible methods such as integrating in an application as a hosted DLL or running as a stand alone server through a wrapper such as an executable or windows service.

Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com)

Today, as this is my 1200th post and last day of 2009, we will go over few but very important milestones of this year (of course, in my life).

Instead of longer list, I have decided to list only the most important events. Event listed event are in order of its occurrence and not necessarily ordered as their importance.

Top 7 Community and Personal Events

1) SQLAuthority News – Author Visit – Complete Wrapup of Microsoft MVP Summit 2009 Trip
2) SQLAuthority News – Summary of TechEd India 2009 – A Grand Event
3) SQLAuthority News – SQL Server Energy Event with Rushabh Mehta – May 20, 2009
4) SQLAuthority News – Business Intelligence Training Roadshow August September 2009
5) SQLAuthority News – Community TechDays in Ahmedabad – A Successful Event
6) SQLAuthority News – Notes of Excellent Experience at SQL PASS 2009 Summit, Seattle
7) SQLAuthority News – Notes from TechDays 2009 at Infosys, Bangalore

Top 5 Personal Events

1) SQLAuthority News – 1000th Article Milestone – 8 Millions Views – Solid Quality Mentors
2) SQLAuthority News – MVP Award Renewed
3) SQLAuthority News – Baby SQLAuthority is here!
4) SQL Authority News – Advanced T-SQL with Itzik Ben-Gan – Solid Quality Mentors
5) SQLAuthority News – An Year of Personal Events – A Life Outside SQL

Top 7 Blog Articles by Readers’ Choice (In order of Popularity)

1) SQL SERVER – 2008 – Interview Questions and Answers Complete List Download
2) SQL SERVER – Insert Data From One Table to Another Table – INSERT INTO SELECT – SELECT INTO TABLE
3) SQL SERVER – Insert Multiple Records Using One Insert Statement – Use of UNION ALL
4) SQL SERVER – 2005 – Create Script to Copy Database Schema and All The Objects – Stored Procedure, Functions, Triggers, Tables, Views, Constraints and All Other Database Objects
5) SQL SERVER – Import CSV File Into SQL Server Using Bulk Insert – Load Comma Delimited File Into SQL Server
6) SQL SERVER – Retrieve Current Date Time in SQL Server CURRENT_TIMESTAMP, GETDATE(), {fn NOW()}
7) SQL SERVER – TRIM() Function – UDF TRIM()

Year 2009 was great year and I wish all of you that next year of 2010 brings more prosperity and happiness in all of yours life.

Reference : Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com)

Posted in About Me, Database, DBA, MVP, Pinal Dave, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQLAuthority News, T SQL, Technology ]]> http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2009/12/31/sqlauthority-news-1200th-post-an-important-milestone/feed/ 9 pinaldave http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2009/12/22/sqlauthority-news-meeting-sql-expert-imran-at-hyderabad/ http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2009/12/22/sqlauthority-news-meeting-sql-expert-imran-at-hyderabad/#comments Tue, 22 Dec 2009 01:30:15 +0000 pinaldave http://blog.sqlauthority.com/?p=7594 ]]> I was very fortunate to meet the SQL Server Expert and one of the top participants of this blog Imran Mohammed. Imran has been very active on this blog and have previously contributed with few articles as well. I have been communicating with Imran for a long time; he is always very active and quick to reply. Many times, he has solved various difficult problems of readers which. He always goes an extra mile to resolve such problems – once I happened to see him spend more than 10 hours to solve a problem posed by a reader.

When I met Imran, I was totally surprised!! Seriously, I was expecting a very old person with a huge experience in SQL. He is one of the very young SQL enthusiasts with extremely smart brains. We had wonderful dinner together, wherein we discussed SQL. While talking to Imran, I realized that he is a very matured person with a great attitude towards life, particularly towards technology. He is a patient listener who imbibes information with a very open mind. Our discussion covered different technologies. Please note that even though he is very young due his in-depth knowledge on SQL was at par with that of someone who was in this industry for  very long time. I asked him to share some tips from his real-life experience.

Here are few tips I have gathered from him while we discussed SQL. Some are generic to life, and few are very specific to SQL as well.

• I do not take a chance, I always take backup.
• If I am answering a question to anybody, my first goal is to solve the problem and second is to find it right and optimal solution for the first goal.
• If I come across any problem with answer – first I solve it, then only I look at the given answer Advance feature of T-SQL regarding ranking, query guide, and filtered indexing are really helpful to improve the performance.
• Before leaving a comment at a blog post, I always read original post and all the comments left before.
• I do not remember syntax, but I do not forget them if I use them once.
• I work sometimes more than 16 hours as I enjoy working with SQL.

I must say that I always have a great time meeting experts like Imran Mohammed; all my best wishes for his success!

Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com)

A. Microsoft development platforms are generally more error-prone and full of bugs.

This (unfairly) projects the weaknesses of earlier versions of Windows onto its other products such as SQL Server, which is a very stable and secure platform in its own right.

B. Oracle has been around for longer than SQL Server and must therefore be more stable and secure.

Well, this does not count for anything. Being around longer does not mean that you are necessarily wiser. Need more proof? – look at General Motors.

Let us look at the comparisons between Oracle’s DB platform and SQL Server:

Number of reported vulnerabilities for per product

In my opinion, this is the most basic test for stability and security – the number of errors and bugs reported for a product is roughly proportional to its security and stability. Note that this number is usually compiled by independent information-security companies; so, there is no question of “hiding the numbers.”

In this regard, Oracle fares poorly as compared with SQL Server. Oracle Corporation releases an amazingly large number of patches and Critical Patch Updates (CPUs) for its DB platform. To be fair, following are some of the arguments that support Oracle DB (together with answers for those same arguments):

Oracle runs on several platforms, while SQL Server only runs on Windows

Answer: No, the patches and bugs reported are almost all cross-platforms, which implies that they are OS-independent.

Oracle DB also includes several other components, so we are not comparing like with like

Answer: Here, I considered only the database server components. This implies that any problem arising from components such as the Intelligent Agent or the Oracle Application Server has not been included.

Let us compare the Nov 2009 vulnerability reports of the both Oracle11g [1] and SQL Server 2008 [2].

This is not only for the latest DB platforms: Oracle 11g and SQL Server 2008. No, if we take a historical perspective, Microsoft patched 59 vulnerabilities in its SQL Server 7 – 2000 and 2005 databases in the past 6 years, while for the same period Oracle issued 233 patches for software flaws in its Oracle 8, 9 and 10g databases. Moreover, in 2006, Microsoft SQL Server 2000 with Service Pack 4 was ranked as the most secure database in the market together with the PostgreSQL open source project. Oracle10g was placed at the very bottom of the same list.

DBAs are wary and tired of patching the Oracle DB

A survey conducted in January 2008 [3] showed that two-thirds of Oracle DBA’s do not apply security patches. The underlying cause of this is that Oracle Corporation releases a huge number of patches and fixes for various bugs, which itself leads to this secondary problem. There is a lot of fatigue and effort involved in tracking, testing and installing several patch releases every year. In 2009 alone, Oracle released 33 patches for its DB.

However, I am not at all suggesting that Oracle DBAs are lazy or do not take database security seriously. The main reason why many DBAs are very wary of patching Oracle databases is the complexity involved. First, note that patch testing, and also CPU testing is a long and intensive process. Because of the large numbers of bug fixes and CPUs released by Oracle, many application vendors whose products run on an Oracle DB simply do not have the time to test a patch, or as soon as they do so, another one is released. This, in turn, implies that if their clients risk installing unapproved patches, then the vendor can rightfully refuse to support them in case that patch then causes an error in the application.

Slavik Markovich, the Chief Technology Officer of database vendor Sentrigo Inc, said at a conference:  “To apply the CPU, you need to change the binaries of the database. You change the database behavior in some ways that may affect application performance. So applying security patches to a database typically involves testing them against the applications that feed off the database. This is a very long and very hard process to do, especially if you are in enterprises with a large number of databases and applications. Applying these patches means months of labor and sometimes significant downtime, both of which most companies can’t afford.”

Microsoft has a working system of patch testing and rollout, whereas Oracle does not have such a system

Trustworthy Computing is a Microsoft tool that proactively identifies and allows you to install missing patches. When Microsoft launched this initiative, many people did not take it seriously. But now it has proven to be a lifesaver for many busy DBAs and system administrators who simply do not have the time to worry about installing patches. Oracle does NOT have an equivalent tool.

Also, Oracle also does not make life easier for companies who want to keep their databases secure, making it complex to download and install patches. With SQL Server, you can schedule automatic installation of updates and patches. Moreover, if it causes an undesired effect on your application, you can simply uninstall it, leaving the database at it was prior to the update. This is somewhat similar to the System Restore feature of Windows. With Oracle DB, both the installation and removal of patches are complex events that are not easy to do and undo, except for a seasoned DBA.

However, the single most crucial factor in Microsoft’s DB-security-management success is its Security Development Lifecycle (SDL). The use of SDL [4] implies that knowledge obtained after resolving the problems is never lost; instead it is ploughed back into the cycle. Therefore, instead of repeating the same mistakes every time, you can at least ensure that the new code is more secure than the old code, even though it is not completely secure. For instance, the mistakes that were committed and resolved while developing SQL Server 2005 were not repeated during the development of SQL Server 2008. However, there is one issue that bothers developers and DBAs who use Oracle DB: they come across the same mistakes in every version used by them. Eventually, when one problem is resolved, many a time the results are not problem-free and in turn, a new error or problem is created – overall, there is no consistent and reliable problem-solving technique for correcting bugs and fixes. In fact, database consultant Karel Miko estimates that Oracle Corp. is about 5 years behind Microsoft in patch management.

Summary

I hope this article helps to debunk the myth that SQL Server is a less stable and less reliable platform than Oracle DB. As many researchers and security consultancy firms worldwide have pointed out, SQL Server is consistently more secure and much less prone to errors and bugs than Oracle DB.

Sources:

[1] http://secunia.com/advisories/product/18050/?task=statistics_2009

[2] http://secunia.com/advisories/product/21744/?task=statistics_2009

[3]http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9057226/Update_Two_thirds_of_Oracle_DBAs_don_t_apply_security_patches

[4] http://www.infoworld.com/d/security-central/database-expert-oracle-trails-microsoft-patch-management-166

Reference : Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com)

Module 1: Database and Instance
Module 2: Database Architecture
Module 3: Instance Architecture
Module 4: Data Objects
Module 5: Data Access
Module 6: Data Protection
Module 7: Basic Administration
Module 8: Server Management
Module 9: Managing Schema Objects
Module 10: Database Security
Module 11: Data Transport
Module 12: Backup and Recovery
Module 13: Performance Tuning
Module 14: Scalability and High Availability
Module 15: Monitoring

Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com),

I have previously documented my four-day experience of SQL PASS 2009 Summit at Seattle. There were many reasons for SQL enthusiasts to attend the SQL PASS event; I am listing my own reasons here in order of importance to me.

• Networking with SQL fellows and experts
• Putting face to the name or avatar
• Learning and improving my SQL skills
• Understanding the structure of the largest SQL Server Professional Association
• Attending my favorite training sessions

During these four days, there was so much happening that it is difficult to document everything. I had tried to cover this event briefly on a daily basis in the following blog posts:

SQLAuthority News – SQL PASS Summit, Seattle 2009 – Day 1
SQLAuthority News – SQL PASS Summit, Seattle 2009 – Day 2
SQLAuthority News – SQL PASS Summit, Seattle 2009 – Day 3
SQLAuthority News – SQL PASS Summit, Seattle 2009 – Day 4

I will list a few of the additional details that I have not included in the earlier post. Keynotes were the best part of the event, and I have covered major points of the keynote in above mentioned posts. I had met many SQL Legends during this event and included information regarding them. However, there were few things I still missed and I am listing them here. Seattle is great city, and I am visiting it the second time. This time I got an opportunity to take the Underground city tour and I had really enjoyed.

It was great to meet SQL Server MVP Glenn Berry at the MVP Summit. He is a very kind and friendly person. You will always find him hanging around with people from different organizations and countries. If you try to eavesdrop his conversation, you will hear terms like ‘dmv’, ‘performance’, and ‘optimized query’ very often. He is very much known for his excellent optimization script known as “SQL Server 2008 Diagnostic Information Queries“. If you have never taken a look at that, I urge you to go there and check this out. I believe that even if he blogs once a year only with this script, his fans will not complain. I have previously published his interview on my blog. Please note that he is the only person ever featured in an interview on this blog.

It depends! This is one most loved (or hated) phrase in the world of programmers or DBA. It is quite common to start answering question using this phrase. Mostly, this phrase initiates humor but rarely, people take this as offence. Again the intent of speaker is not always conveyed properly, it depends on how the phrase is used (I could not resist to use this phrase as well :P). I had very interesting discussion with Michelle Ufford and Jason Strate when we were waiting for coffee at one afternoon. We discussed both the sides of this phrase. Michelle suggested many good points when and why this phrase is valid. Jason also suggested that this phrase is commonly used a) when the presenter does not have sufficient information to answer or b) when the presenter does not know the answer. We discussed that it would be really interesting to start the conversation answering the most possible answer and then talking about special cases (for which it depends is quite commonly used.) Let us see one example.

Q: Does index improve performance?
A1: It depends on query and data you have.
A2: Usually YES; however, there are cases when it reduces performance, for which the query and data needs to be examined carefully.

There are times when it depends totally make sense. I use it several times; I love the blog of Andy Warren which talks is branded as it depends. This discussion between three of us was just a friendly discussion, and if you think we are talking about you, it is wrong!

During this event, I had great conversation with SQL Legend Buck Woody. This man is full of energy and may be the most loved person in this summit. His session was the funniest session I have ever attended. At the end of his session, I had more than 2 pages of my notebook filled with notes. If I have wrote down how many times, I have laughed loudly, I would have no time to do anything else. Buck had a good hour of discussion with me. We discussed many different topics, ranging from Community to Microsoft and Collage Students to SQL. I am very thankful to Buck for spending his valuable time with me – I am honored.

Joe Celko – this name is very popular in SQL world, and I admit that I was always afraid of him. Every time I see his photo, I just felt nervous. I never thought that I should meet him. Honestly, for the same reason, I did not attend his session. I was absolutely wrong. I met him right after his session was over. He is one of the most friendly people I have met in my life. He is very soft spoken. He gauges the level and understanding of other person and speaks at the same level. He made me laugh and taught many good techniques for how to become good speaker and presenter. When I said I was sorry that I was scared of him, he laughed and said that he knows this. Boy, what a mistake I did!! I should have attended his session. Well, at least I am accepting my mistake here. He is indeed a very friendly soul. He promised me that one time he will come to India.

Brian Moran is the newly elected board member; I would like to call him as ‘the Man with 1000 successful ideas‘. You have to come across him to know what I am talking about. I had the great opportunity to meet him and discuss few things, besides SQL. Brian had many excellent ideas about how to build the community, how to help SQL PASS and few excellent ideas about how to take PASS to the next level. I am glad that he is one of the board members for PASS. PASS is all about passion, and Brian clearly demonstrates the same.

I met all of them and had a great conversation with them. It was great to meet Ed Hackney; he is a wonderful person and very easily approachable. He talked about SQL community in India and how any community cannot be restrained within geographical boundaries.

I was waiting to meet Thomas LaRock. He is an excellent SQL Master, and he talked in detail about outsourcing SQL technology and SQL community. I really enjoyed meeting him and spending some time with him during the summit. I plan to learn more from him when I meet him next time.

Robert Cain, he is one of the very few SQL masters, who have expertise in .net and Business Intelligence at the same time. I have previously wrote about him in Big Thinkers – Robert Cain. He has given approval that I can write about his BI presentation on this blog. I will write about it soon.

I have previously written a lot about Greg Low on this blog. However, I just can not resist to put this excellent photo once again here. He has great respect for the international community; and he had spent some quality time with me discussing how to enhance and grow the global community. Greg gave his insight and few plan cache tips as well. You can read my review of his book ‘Book Review – The Rational Guide to Building Technical User Communities (Rational Guides)‘. You can also read our discussion on plan cache ‘SQL SERVER – Plan Caching and Schema Change – An Interesting Observation‘.

Following image is for sure very interesting! Can you recognize the person? Well, just go here and read about Mr. Denny. And I do have permission from him to publish this photo!

PASS 2010 dates are announced; this event will take place between 8 and 12 November 2010.

Following image is my favorite as it brings the future and past of PASS together. Kevin Kline, a hero of PASS summit, (as he dedicated 10 years of his life to serve PASS board) is in same frame with Rushabh Mehta, who is President Elect for 2010.

Now I am coming to the most interesting part of my experience. I want to introduce to all of you the youngest SQL PASS fan and follower. Her name is Shaivi Dave, and she is big fan of SQL PASS! Shaivi suggests that save your money and register right away for PASS. There is no other conference which is as valuable as SQL PASS.

She had conveyed her wish to SQL PASS President Elect Rushabh Mehta when she was just 19 days old. May be one of following years, we will see her at summit.

This is note is addendum to my four original posts. I strongly suggest you all to read my earlier posts for details on keynote and other SQL legends.

SQLAuthority News – SQL PASS Summit, Seattle 2009 – Day 1
SQLAuthority News – SQL PASS Summit, Seattle 2009 – Day 2
SQLAuthority News – SQL PASS Summit, Seattle 2009 – Day 3
SQLAuthority News – SQL PASS Summit, Seattle 2009 – Day 4

If you have visited this event and have something more to add to what I have written, please feel free to add it here as a comment. I am looking forward for you all to add more details and information here. Follow me on twitter.

Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com)

When providing the script, Imran asked me if I knew of any specific circumstances in which this kind of query could be useful, as he could not think of an instance where it would be necessary to find a missing identity. I was unable to think of a single reason for listing missing identities in a table. I posted Imran’s script on the assumption that someone would come up with an improved script, but as mentioned earlier, nobody did. Instead, we have been able to follow a very interesting discussion on subject of the need, if any, for listing Missing Identity values.

So, the question is this: “Do you know a real-world scenario where a Missing Identity value in any table can create problems?“

I have already received some extremely interesting comments from many experts, and all have posed the above question in one form or another. At this moment, I am still trying to think of an example from my own experience, but have yet to find one. Imran has since come up with one good example. Here is what he and other experts have suggested so far.

Jacob Sebastian – IDENTITY values are not expected to be sequential and there are all chances of having missing identity values, the most common cause is transaction rollbacks.

Simon Worth – The identity column is basically just a random number – even though they come sequentially. A developer making an assumption that the next record inserted will have an identity that is 1 more than the last inserted record. And if this is the case – then there are flaws in the logic of the developer.

Jacob Sebastian – What if the value in my table is 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 etc where “4″ is missing from the sequence. So what is the importance of knowing whether a table has missing identity values or not?

Imran Mohammed – If you use Identity property as your most unique column and Transaction Identifier, then definitely you would want to know why few transaction did not completely, Is there any specific fashion these transaction fails (Can be found out looking at missing values of identity)… Could be helpful to debug.

Now it is your turn. Let us have your thoughts.

Reference : Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com)

My first plan is that I am going to take a break from blogging on anything technical today and spend more time with my family.

Let me tell you about my second plan. I am very much pleased and encouraged with active participation from many of you on this blog. I have received so far more than 10s of thousands of comments on my blog. These comments are open for you all to read and you can use them in any fashion that can help you out. Without good participation there is no life in any community, whether it is offline or online.

For the same reason, I have introduced Top 7 Commenters section in the side bar of SQLAuthority.com. There are many active users who have been participating for a long time. One of them I just recognized is Imran Mohammed. This SQL Expert has been extremely helpful to the community and has been providing comprehensive answers to hundreds of questions. Hats Off to you Imran! I totally appreciate your knowledge and dedication to SQL community. Without passion and love toward helping community, this is absolutely not possible.

You can subscribe to SQLAuthority.com feed, which will display all the new posts of my blog as they are published.

You can subscribe to SQLAuthority.com comments, which will show all the new comments posted on the blog as they are published.

If you prefer to receive SQLAuthority.com articles in email, you will get all the fresh posts in email.

There is no automated feature for top commenters where I host, so I will have to calculate this manually. I will keep it updated on weekly basis. Every week we will see new names there. First column is number of post, and second column is number name with link to experts website or blog or email.

Every day I receive a couple of emails about starting a forum on SQLAuthority.com. I do plan to start the forum in future. Currently, there are plenty of very good forums on the web. SQLAuthority.com is a blog and below every blog post there is a discussion related to the subject discussed in the blog post.

SQLAuthority.com is all about community and people who are passionate about SQL. Everyone is welcome to participate here. There are many ways to participate.

• Discussing blog post
• Helping user who have posted their issues on blog
• Asking questions
• Writing Guest Post
• Submitting useful SQL Scripts
• Reviewing any Microsoft-related products
• Reviewing Books

Let me know if you have any other useful and interesting suggestions on how I can involve YOU more in my efforts to take SQL community to the next level.

If you are interested in participating in volunteer program do send me email at pinal ‘at’ SQLAuthority.com and we can discuss something out.

Reference : Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com)

Let us take a look at an example where we will generate script database. In our example, we will just take one table for convenience.

Right Click on Database >> Tasks >> Generate Scripts >>

This will pop up Generate SQL Server Scripts Wizards >> Click on Next >> Select Database >> This will bring up a screen that will suggest to Choose Script Option.

On Choose Script Option Screen of Script Wizard under section Table/View Options Look at Script Data row and Turn the Option to True.

The Next Screen will ask about object types. Select all the objects that are required in the generated script. Depending on the previous screen it will show few more screen requesting details about the objects required in script generation.

On the very last screen it will request output options. Select the desired output options of Script to file, Script to Clipboard or Script New Query Window.3

Clicking on Finish button will generate a review screen containing the required objects along with script generating data.

Clicking on Finish button one more time will generate the requested output.

Similarly, if you want to generate data for only one table, you can right click on the table and follow almost a similar wizard. I am sure this neat feature will help everybody who has been requesting for it for a long time.

Reference : Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com)

Anyway, number one news is that Bing has been finally released a couple of days back. I am very much excited as something is finally challenging Google – The Search Engine King. Google has been my preferred search engine for many years and my home page too. However, I am quite impressed with Bing which has a clearer and more organized interface. The navigation on the left side does make sense. My opinion is that there is no other option for Google but to improve to retain its popularity. In the search engine race Google has always been a clear winner for many years now, and people have always appreciated its simplicity and most importantly, its accurate results. But now, for the very first time I think Bing is going to challenge Google on two fronts – accuracy of search and simplicity of interface. Only time will decide who will rule, but I would like to give Bing a fair chance to improve itself.

Another major improvement I have done is that I have finally upgraded 3 of my 4 computers to Windows 7. I have never hated Vista for its shortcomings. I have seen people and media pointing negative things about it. In fact I think it has now become a trend to just bad mouth Vista. I thoroughly believe that Vista was a significant improvement over XP. There was a time when XP was everywhere and every software was designed in keeping with its compatibility with it. Then, Vista emerged in the market. XP required less hardware while Vista necessitated upgradation of hardware of most of the computer systems. This was not appreciated by many users as they had to spend money on hardware apart from spending on Vista. Additionally, it took a good amount of time for companies to come out with drivers of Vista. Today, Win 7 is out and getting loudly applauded by the same people who criticized it. Win 7 is definitely better and I love it! It has everything what Vista had and even more. If people hated Vista for some of its drawbacks, in that case Win 7 will not disappoint them and it will exceed their expectations with its additional features. Slowly and steadily, Win 7 is coming out as a winner. It took sometime for Vista to get accepted, which was entirely hardware companies fault as they did not release its driver. But today almost all the companies have Vista compatible drivers which work fine with Win 7, thereby making Win 7 more acceptable.

There is one more reason why Win 7 has become my favorite OS. My wife – Nupur Dave has an old laptop, which is single core (when we purchased it there was no concept of double core) and had XP so far. Since the past one month, my wife kept on complaining that her laptop takes forever to start. As her laptop is 6 years old with 1.6 GHz, Single Core and 1 GB RAM, we decided to purchase a new one. However, I decided to give it a shot and see if I can install Win 7 on this old machine. To my surprise, it took only 25 mins to install the whole operating system and it works better than XP. Now this is something really good about it and it saved my bucks!

What else is keeping me busy? There are so many things to say. I am reading a plethora of books and blogs. I have a collection of over 500 books in my home library and have almost the same number of feeds in my RSS reader. I recently finished a book Pro T-SQL 2008 Programmer’s Guide. It is written by one of the most popular book authors Michael Coles. You can read his interview here. His interview was taken by a dear friend of mine who is a .NET expert Vijaya Kadiyala. He is not only writing about .NET but also writing on SQL. Besides, whenever I have free time I try to solve T-SQL Challenges written by my fellow MVP Jacob Sebastian.

Well, my friend Abhishek Kant suggested me to start using twitter but not to forget my blog. Every time I spend too much time on twitter, I remember his saying: Hats Off! Thanks Abhishek for giving me these golden words. I will keep on blogging.

Thanks John-Wu Zioa for sending this cartoon. I’m flattered!

Now you know what I think of the latest technologies and what I have been doing. I will appreciate your comments for the same and please feel free to share your experience here.

Reference : Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com)

SQL Server 2008 offers an impressive array of capabilities for developers that build upon key innovations introduced in SQL Server 2005. The  SQL Server 2008 Developer Training Kit  will help you understand how to build web applications which deeply exploit the rich data types, programming models and new development paradigms in SQL Server 2008. The training kit is brought to you by Microsoft Developer and Platform Evangelism.

The training kit includes the following content:

• Presentations (6)
  • Filestream
  • Spatial
  • T-SQL
  • Date and Time Types
  • SQLCLR
  • Reporting Services
• Demos (12)
  • AdventureWorks Racing All-Up SQL Server 2008 Demo
  • SQL Server 2008 All-Up Spatial Demo
  • Spatial Types Demo
  • Intro to Filestream Demo
  • SQL CLR Nullable Types Demo
  • Programming with Filestream Demo
  • Reporting Services Web Application Integration Demo
  • Date and Time Support in SQL Server 2008 Demo
  • T-SQL Table-Valued Parameters Demo
  • T-SQL Row Constructors Demo
  • T-SQL Grouping Sets Demo
  • T-SQL Merge Demo
• Hands-on Labs (3)
  • Using Spatial Data in TSQL
  • Using Spatial Data in Managed Code
  • Using SQL CLR in SQL Server 2008

Download SQL Server 2008 Developer Training Kit

Abstract courtesy : Microsoft

Reference : Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com)

For my personal use, I created one handy SQL Cheat Sheet, which I hang on my desk always. Even though I have a sound knowledge of SQL Syntax there are many occasions when I need to quickly refer to syntax. This cheat sheet helped me quite a bit and saved my time. Besides, it saved me from getting annoyed of looking up for same syntax again and again. This experience gave me the idea of creating a proper SQL Server Cheat Sheet, which was until now in a simple excel document.

I often received numerous requests from my friends, UG members and blog readers to covert the SQL Server Cheat Sheet into a more presentable one. Well, my designing skills are limited and also I never undertook this creative task. I was inspired by Rushabh Mehta of SolidQ as well the directors of Digicorp to create PDF printable version of this cheat sheet. Designers at Digicorp created this professional looking cheat sheet and then it was printed on a high quality glossy paper. When I had the first glimpse of the final SQL Server Cheat Sheet, I realized that I should do something for my community and share this useful cheat sheet with more and more SQL developers. TechEd India 2009 was one such opportunity where I was able to achieve my goal; I distributed several SQL Server Cheat Sheets among the participants.

SQL Server Cheat Sheet acquired so much popularity at TechEd that I ran out of all the copies around noon on the third day of the event. I had promised many attendees that I will put this online and also I will send it to them using physical email.

Now, you can download SQL Server Cheat Sheet and print it on a glossy paper yourself. I request you all to spread the words and pass this cheat sheet to your friends. Bookmark it, reprint it, and distribute it! Due to copyright issues you are not allowed to host it online anywhere other than its original location listed below.

Download SQL Server Cheat Sheet

Reference : Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com)

Update : If you visit SQL Server Energy Event, you will get free printed copy of SQL Server Cheat Sheet

Original post : http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2009/05/20/sql-server-download-pdf-sql-server-cheat-sheet/

While you may feel that your IT material is safe and handled effectively within your own company, these reasons may give you some perspective on why you may want to consider other options.

Cost Reduction – Perhaps the most popular reason to outsource your database is the overall reduction in cost that would benefit your company.  No longer do you have to pay people to check up and maintain your servers, verify that they have uninterrupted power supplies, and ensure their security from hackers.  By going with an IT company that does this exclusively, you can save money on your end because they make money by volume.

Bigger Can Mean Better – Larger IT outsourcing companies are experts at what they do; there’s a reason they have made it to the top of the data storage field.  Not only will they have the resources to back up your data, perhaps multiple times, but they do business by serving many clients, which meant they have the power and money to get the latest technology.

Newer Technology – Firms that specialize in storage can’t afford to let their systems go out of style or date because that could jeopardize their business.  Going with them means you won’t have to worry about constantly updating your systems.

Reduction in Liability – Turning over this task to an expert also means a lot less worrying on your part.  All you have to do is make sure you are operating within a solid contract that protects you in the case of data loss.  Agree to a contract that puts you ahead in the case of a loss and you can sleep soundly knowing that your data is safe.

Competition means Lower Prices Elsewhere as Well – Now that you are in a market where others are competing for your business, you’ll get to shop around and find the best deal in town.  In addition to the number one reason of lowering your overhead, competition also means that if you find you have gone with a company that doesn’t meet your needs you can switch.  Imagine making that mistake if you owned all your own equipment!

More Effective Communication – If your company runs a database that needs to be accessed by multiple points, it will be easier for others to access and probably be faster for them to access as well.  Once again a good contract is key, but in most cases you can get more bandwidth access for your money by outsourcing, than you could by providing your own database connection.

Better Security – On the other hand you will know your data is backed up by competition driven upgraded safeware.

Standardization – What if your resource manager suddenly quits or is fired?  Outsourcing virtually guarantees that your information will be stored in a standard way, accessible consistently and without fear of security leaks.

Cross-referencing with Third Party Information – In many cases it may be possible to have your information collated and cross-referenced with other information for a variety of needs.  Once again get a solid contract and fully understand your security requirements first.

Removal of Duplicate or Incorrect Data – A final way outsourcing can help your database is a common option many companies will offer, which is the examination of your data in various ways as it is transferred.  Think of this as your businesses opportunity to ‘clean house,’ and set out again with a fresh start.

This post was contributed by Claire Webber, who writes about the schools online. She welcomes your feedback at Claire.Webber1223 at gmail.com

Reference : Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com)

Future of Business Intelligence and Databases

The term business intelligence (BI) was coined by Howard Dresner in the early 1990s. He defined Business Intelligence as “a set of concepts and methodologies to improve decision making in business through use of facts and fact-based systems.” In a time when data warehousing was considered leading-edge he created the vision that led to the development of business intelligence, as it is known today.  The once visionary BI is now commonplace and in near future a momentous transformation is about to take place.

BI is all set to bring information democracy where end users across an organization will be able to view information related to their segment. Further, with the rising consumer expectations there will be demand for capability requirements of BI as well.

Information Democracy with Business Intelligence

BI plays a crucial role in providing cost-effective, comprehensive insights into business processes that help organizations make informed, strategic decisions that assure enhanced business results. Not long ago, BI was the domain of statisticians and corporate analysts. Only the selected few could access BI. Today, BI is spreading to nearly every strata of organization, as companies attempt to provide critical data to business users who need it to perform their jobs. It is quite evident that BI is instrumental in bringing information democracy and it provides everyone the insights they require – delivering information to the right people at the right time across the enterprise. More and more organizations are expected to empower their employees with BI for productivity and operational gains.

Business Intelligence and Performance Management for competitive advantage

Today, when economic downturn is adversely affecting the world market, making insightful decisions about major changes in their business and markets has become crucial for organizations. They need to reconsider their strategies and operating plans. Only companies that can anticipate emerging trends and opportunities, refocus business strategy and vision, and align resources to maximize performance can effectively deal with the adversities of economic downturn and gain competitive advantage. BI and Performance Management brings business sensibility with enhanced visibility and insights, by delivering accurate and latest information to the right people for faster, improved, strategic and tactical decision making. Companies have increasingly starting realizing the importance of timely performance information to improve results, which will further make way for the rising demand for BI and Corporate Performance Management Solutions.

Business Intelligence via Software As A Service (SaaS)

It is being anticipated that in the coming years a number of organizations will have an industry-specific analytic application delivered via software as a service (SaaS) as a standard component of their BI portfolio. Information aggregators will bank on SaaS to deliver domain-specific analytic applications, which are made from industry data they assemble, and bring the balance of power in the BI platform market in their favor. Organizations will share their data with only those aggregators that can assure security as well as confidentiality. Thus, countless information aggregators offering SaaS analytic applications might appear; however, a virtual monopoly is expected to remain within each vertical niche owing to the high barricade that blocks the entry for others.

Business Intelligence and Social Software

Collaborative decision making will soon become the norm, which amalgamates social software with BI Platform capabilities. With social software users can tag assumptions made in the decision-making process to the BI framework, which significantly enhances the business value of BI as it ties all the good. Take for instance, in order to decide how much to invest in marketing a new product, users can tag their assumptions about the future sales of that product to a key performance indicator (KPI) that measures product sales. Whenever the KPI surpasses a threshold the BI platform would send alerts to the user to inform the decision makers about assumptions that no longer hold true.

With the advent of social software it has become easier to utilize the upsurge of interest in informal collaboration. As an alternative to the advancing of the usual top-down decision-making initiative, social software will be employed to collaborate and make decisions.

Business Intelligence Across All Sectors

BI is on its way to become an integral component of every type and size of organization across all sectors, including Real estate, IT, mobile devices, governmental agencies, scientific and engineering communities and R&D labs, banking and insurance, to name a few. BI can effectively deal with industry-specific constraints, operations and objectives thereby helping organizations better understand their customers, optimize their operations, minimize risk, manage revenue, and ultimately improve their results. More importantly, it is expected that in a couple of years BI will soon replace the gut-feel management with real data-based decision-making.

Business Intelligence For Real-Time Data

Today, consumers are demanding faster and improved services from businesses. As it has become imperative for companies to pay attention to consumer satisfaction in order to stay competitive they are depending even more on BI. They now demand near real-time analysis for intelligent decisions for business success. The rising demand for near-real-time data analysis is making way for a new framework for business intelligence. BI 2.0 is the recently-coined term to describe the acquisition, provision and analysis of real- time data, which was earlier lacking in BI. BI 2.0 is a part of the constantly developing business intelligence industry and indicates the next step for BI.

In near future, companies will switch from the traditional model of making business adjustments on a quarterly basis to business intelligence and performance management tools to make real-time shifts in strategy to respond to changes in the marketplace.

Over the coming years, business intelligence will undergo transformation that will have a broad and lasting impact. It will revolutionize the way that we think about business and the way business decisions are made. It’s only when thoughtful analysis supersedes gut feeling and conventional perception, we will enter the next level of business intelligence that will empower businesses with the capacity to reason, prepare, forecast, resolve issues and innovate.

Reference : Nupur Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com)

Download SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1

Build of SP1 is SP1 is build 10.00.2531.00.

Abstract courtesy : Microsoft

Reference : Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com)

Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 provides a trusted, productive, and intelligent data platform that enables you to:

• Run your most demanding mission-critical applications.
• Reduce time and cost of development and management of applications.
• Deliver actionable insight to your entire organization.

Your Data, Any Place, Any Time.

Download SQL Server 2008 Brochure

Reference : Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com)

Click on Image to go to Poll

Additionally, Gandhinagar SQL Server User Group has launch event today. I suggest all of you from surrounding area to show up at this User Group meeting. We have price for best participation in UG as well. Please read more my post for agenda, time and location SQLAuthority News – Announcement – Gandhinagar SQL Server User Group – March 27, 2009.

You can follow me on twitter for latest updates. My tweets will be a mix of fresh product news, database optimization tips, interesting links, upcoming events, and possibly even some giveaways.

Reference : Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com)

First let us go over 9 Best Practices List.

1. Auto Shrink runs at regular interval (30 mins) in background of SQL Server and it is cause performance dropping fragmentation. It should be turn off.
2. All the statistics should be updated at regular interval.
3. Compressed backup should be used instead of regular backup as it improves speed and performance. Restoring compressed backup is faster than regular restore.
4. Always take full database backups along with differential and log backups. Log backups can be very much useful for point-in-time recovery.
5. Pay attention to “Activity Monitor” – a new feature which displays current activity of a) Process Time, b) Waiting Tasks, c) Database I/O, d) Batch Requests/Sec.
6. Control the configurations as well enforces policies using Policy Based Management.
7. Utilize new datatypes DATE and TIME instead of conventional DATETIME.
8. Keep database updated with latest SPs and Cumulative Updates.
9. Use Dynamic Management Views to figure out longest running queries as well most popular queries.

I really had great time at Microsoft MVP Summit 2009 at Seattle, you can read about my trip to Seattle here. I have recently updated my resume with my latest activities.

Social Media is new thing and I am really enjoying to be part of it. Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Feedreader are my latest interests. Here is my web presence in social media.

Twitter: http://twitter.com/pinaldave
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/profile.php?id=654862451
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/pinaldave
SQLAuthority Feed: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/SQLAuthority
SQLAuthority Email: http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=872428

Search@SQLAuthority: http://search.sqlauthority.com/
Job@SQLAuthority: http://jobs.sqlauthority.com
Resume:

You can hire me through my company, read the details of here.

Best thing about my job is I can work from office as well as from home office. Find me in action at home office.

Pinal at Home Office

Reference : Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com)