This whitepaper discusses two major points. Following is the abstract from book online:

High Availability and Disaster Recovery Concepts. Provide a brief discussion of the drivers and challenges of planning, managing, and measuring the business objectives of a highly available database environment. This discussion is followed by a brief overview of the high availability and disaster recovery capabilities of SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn and Windows Server solutions.

SQL Server AlwaysOn Layers of Protection. Provide a deeper discussion of the feature capabilities, rationale, and dependencies of the layers of protection offered by a SQL Server AlwaysOn solution. It will cover infrastructure availability, SQL Server instance-level protection, database-level protection, and data tier application capabilities.

Microsoft SQL Server AlwaysOn Solutions Guide for High Availability and Disaster Recovery

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

Download the Whitepaper from here.

Note: Abstract taken from whitepaper.

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

This solution also introduces the concept of ensemble models for data mining, which are sets of multiple related models. For most data mining projects, you need to create several models, analyze the differences, and compare outputs before you can select a best model to use operationally. Integration Services provides a framework within which you can easily generate and manage ensemble models.

Download the whitepaper from here.

Note: Abstract taken from whitepaper.

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 ]]> http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2011/09/18/sqlauthority-news-automation-of-data-mining-using-integration-services/feed/ 0 pinaldave http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2011/09/05/sqlauthority-news-whitepaper-running-sql-server-with-hyper-v-dynamic-memory-best-practices-and-considerations/ http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2011/09/05/sqlauthority-news-whitepaper-running-sql-server-with-hyper-v-dynamic-memory-best-practices-and-considerations/#comments Mon, 05 Sep 2011 01:30:48 +0000 pinaldave http://blog.sqlauthority.com/?p=14224 ]]> I was recently looking for best practices for Hyper-V and SQL Server and I ended up whitepaper which was published in July earlier this year. I really wish I had come across this whitepaper earlier but any way still it is better to be late then never.

Download Running SQL Server with Hyper-V Dynamic Memory – Best Practices and Considerations

Memory is a critical resource to Microsoft SQL Server workloads, especially in a virtualized environment where resources are shared and contention for shared resources can lead to negative impact on the workload. Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 introduced Hyper-V Dynamic Memory, which enables virtual machines to make more efficient use of physical memory resources. Hyper-V Dynamic Memory treats memory as a shared resource that can be reallocated automatically among running virtual machines. There are unique considerations that apply to virtual machines that run SQL Server workloads in such environments. This document provides insight into considerations and best practices for running SQL Server 2008 R2 in Hyper-V Dynamic Memory configurations on Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1.

Download Consolidating Databases Using Virtualization Planning Guide

he purpose of this guide is to provide a description of the technologies and best practices utilized to design a database consolidation solution; guidance will be appropriately defined throughout to prescribe configurations and considerations to implement for best results. Documentation of specific tasks will be very limited.

This white paper consider the following three potential strategies:

• Using a single physical machine to host multiple virtual machines running the Microsoft SQL Server database software
• Using a single machine to host multiple SQL Server instances
• Using a single instance of SQL Server to host multiple databases

Note: Above abstract is from Microsoft Official documentation.

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

In this guide you will find information on how to test and run Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services in SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008, and SQL Server 2008 R2 in a production environment. The focus of this guide is how you can test, monitor, diagnose, and remove production issues on even the largest scaled cubes. This paper also provides guidance on how to configure the server for best possible performance. It is the goal of this guide to make your operations processes as painless as possible, and to have you run with the best possible performance without any additional development effort to your deployed cubes. In this guide, you will learn how to get the best out of your existing data model by making changes transparent to the data model and by making configuration changes that improve the user experience of the cube.

Download SQL Server 2008 R2 Analysis Services Operations Guide

Note: Abstract taken white paper.

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

Download and read this whitepaper.

Note: Abstract is taken from MSDN

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, SQLAuthority News, T SQL, Technology ]]> http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2011/06/19/sqlauthority-news-download-whitepaper-using-sharepoint-list-data-in-powerpivot/feed/ 1 pinaldave http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2011/03/05/sqlauthority-news-fast-track-data-warehouse-3-0-reference-guide/ http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2011/03/05/sqlauthority-news-fast-track-data-warehouse-3-0-reference-guide/#comments Sat, 05 Mar 2011 01:30:54 +0000 pinaldave http://blog.sqlauthority.com/?p=12096 ]]> 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.

Read white paper on fast track data warehousing.

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

From Book On-Line:

Occurs while waiting for I/O operations to complete. This wait type generally represents non-data page I/Os. Data page I/O completion waits appear as PAGEIOLATCH_* waits.

IO_COMPLETION Explanation:

Any tasks are waiting for I/O to finish. This is a good indication that IO needs to be looked over here.

Reducing IO_COMPLETION wait:

When it is an issue concerning the IO, one should look at the following things related to IO subsystem:

• Proper placing of the files is very important. We should check the file system for proper placement of files – LDF and MDF on a separate drive, TempDB on another separate drive, hot spot tables on separate filegroup (and on separate disk),etc.
• Check the File Statistics and see if there is higher IO Read and IO Write Stall SQL SERVER – Get File Statistics Using fn_virtualfilestats.
• Check event log and error log for any errors or warnings related to IO.
• If you are using SAN (Storage Area Network), check the throughput of the SAN system as well as the configuration of the HBA Queue Depth. In one of my recent projects, the SAN was performing really badly so the SAN administrator did not accept it. After some investigations, he agreed to change the HBA Queue Depth on development (test environment) set up and as soon as we changed the HBA Queue Depth to quite a higher value, there was a sudden big improvement in the performance.
• It is very possible that there are no proper indexes in the system and there are lots of table scans and heap scans. Creating proper index can reduce the IO bandwidth considerably. If SQL Server can use appropriate cover index instead of clustered index, it can effectively reduce lots of CPU, Memory and IO (considering cover index has lesser columns than cluster table and all other; it depends upon the situation). You can refer to the two articles that I wrote; they are about how to optimize indexes:
  • Create Missing Indexes
  • Drop Unused Indexes
• Checking Memory Related Perfmon Counters
  • SQLServer: Memory Manager\Memory Grants Pending (Consistent higher value than 0-2)
  • SQLServer: Memory Manager\Memory Grants Outstanding (Consistent higher value, Benchmark)
  • SQLServer: Buffer Manager\Buffer Hit Cache Ratio (Higher is better, greater than 90% for usually smooth running system)
  • SQLServer: Buffer Manager\Page Life Expectancy (Consistent lower value than 300 seconds)
  • Memory: Available Mbytes (Information only)
  • Memory: Page Faults/sec (Benchmark only)
  • Memory: Pages/sec (Benchmark only)
• Checking Disk Related Perfmon Counters
  • Average Disk sec/Read (Consistent higher value than 4-8 millisecond is not good)
  • Average Disk sec/Write (Consistent higher value than 4-8 millisecond is not good)
  • Average Disk Read/Write Queue Length (Consistent higher value than benchmark is not good)

Read all the post in the Wait Types and Queue series.

Note: The information presented here is from my experience and there is no way that I claim it to be accurate. I suggest reading Book OnLine for further clarification. All the discussions of Wait Stats in this blog are generic and vary from system to system. It is recommended that you test this on a development server before implementing it to a production server.

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

Download Whitepaper Enabling and Securing Data Entry with Analysis Services Writeback.

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

Microsoft has published a white paper on the subject how statistics are useful to Query Optimizer. Here is the abstract of the same white paper from Microsoft.

Statistics Used by the Query Optimizer in Microsoft SQL Server 2008

Writer: Eric N. Hanson and Yavor Angelov

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 collects statistical information about indexes and column data stored in the database. These statistics are used by the SQL Server query optimizer to choose the most efficient plan for retrieving or updating data. This paper describes what data is collected, where it is stored, and which commands create, update, and delete statistics. By default, SQL Server 2008 also creates and updates statistics automatically, when such an operation is considered to be useful. This paper also outlines how these defaults can be changed on different levels (column, table, and database). In addition, it presents how certain query language features, such as Transact-SQL variables, interact with use of statistics by the optimizer, and it provides guidance for using these features when writing queries so you can obtain good query performance.

Link to white paper Statistics Used by the Query Optimizer in Microsoft SQL Server 2008

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

Understanding and Controlling Parallel Query Processing in SQL Server

Data warehousing and general reporting applications tend to be CPU intensive because they need to read and process a large number of rows. To facilitate quick data processing for queries that touch a large amount of data, Microsoft SQL Server exploits the power of multiple logical processors to provide parallel query processing operations such as parallel scans. Through extensive testing, we have learned that, for most large queries that are executed in a parallel fashion, SQL Server can deliver linear or nearly linear response time speedup as the number of logical processors increases. However, some queries in high parallelism scenarios perform suboptimally. There are also some parallelism issues that can occur in a multi-user parallel query workload. This white paper describes parallel performance problems you might encounter when you run such queries and workloads, and it explains why these issues occur. In addition, it presents how data warehouse developers can detect these issues, and how they can work around them or mitigate them.

To review the document, please download the Understanding and Controlling Parallel Query Processing in SQL Server Word document.

Note: Above abstract has been taken from here.

The real question is what does the parallel queries has made life of DBA much simpler or is it looked at with potential issue related to degradation of the performance?

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

Before we continue the resolution, let us understand what CXPACKET Wait Stats are.

The official definition suggests that CXPACKET Wait Stats occurs when trying to synchronize the query processor exchange iterator. You may consider lowering the degree of parallelism if a conflict concerning this wait type develops into a problem. (from BOL)

In simpler words, when a parallel operation is created for SQL Query, there are multiple threads for a single query. Each query deals with a different set of the data (or rows). Due to some reasons, one or more of the threads lag behind, creating the CXPACKET Wait Stat. Threads which came first have to wait for the slower thread to finish. The Wait by a specific completed thread is called CXPACKET Wait Stat. Note that CXPACKET Wait is done by completed thread and not the one which are unfinished.

“Note that not all the CXPACKET wait types are bad. You might experience a case when it totally makes sense. There might also be cases when this is also unavoidable. If you remove this particular wait type for any query, then that query may run slower because the parallel operations are disabled for the query.”

Now let us see what the best practices to reduce the CXPACKET Wait Stats are.

The suggestions, with which you will find that if you search online through the browser, would play a major role as and might be asked about their jobs In addition, might tell you that you should set ‘maximum degree of parallelism’ to 1. I do agree with these suggestions, too; however, I think this is not the final resolutions. As soon as you set your entire query to run on single CPU, you will get a very bad performance from the queries which are actually performing okay when using parallelism.

The best suggestion to this is that you set ‘the maximum degree of parallelism’ to a lower number or 1 (be very careful with this – it can create more problems) but tune the queries which can be benefited from multiple CPU’s.

You can use query hint OPTION (MAXDOP 0) to run the server to use parallelism.

Here is the two-quick script which helps to resolve these issues:

Change MAXDOP at Server Level

EXEC sys.sp_configure N'max degree of parallelism', N'1'
GO
RECONFIGURE WITH OVERRIDE
GO


Run Query with all the CPU (using parallelism)

USE AdventureWorks
GO
SELECT *
FROM Sales.SalesOrderDetail
ORDER BY ProductID
OPTION (MAXDOP 0)
GO

Below is the blog post which will help you to find all the parallel query in your server.

SQL SERVER – Find Queries using Parallelism from Cached Plan

Please note running Queries in single CPU may worsen your performance and it is not recommended at all. Infect this can be very bad advise.

I strongly suggest that you identify the queries which are offending and tune them instead of following any other suggestions.

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

I referred following white paper from Microsoft before I move further in the project and found it very helpful and it helped me understand the implication of various data refresh methods and its capacities.

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About PowerPivot Data Refresh but Were Afraid to Ask

Following is the summary of the whitepaper.

The purpose of PowerPivot for SharePoint is to allow users to share their PowerPivot workbooks in a secure and scalable environment. To ensure that you are sharing and collaborating on the most recent data available to you, PowerPivot for SharePoint provides a data refresh feature that lets you automatically update PowerPivot data in an Excel workbook. This white paper describes in detail the data refresh feature in PowerPivot for SharePoint. It starts by explaining the steps for setting up a data refresh schedule in SharePoint, and then it continues with an in-depth view on how data refresh works on a SharePoint farm. Both administrators and the business analysts who author and manage PowerPivot workbook data can benefit from learning more about setting up and using data refresh in a SharePoint environment.

I suggest if you are facing situation like me download this whitepaper and read it before moving ahead in project.

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

Application Platform Optimization SQL Server Migration QuickStart

The SQL Server Migration QuickStart includes a comprehensive set of technical content including presentations, whitepapers and demos that are designed to help you get details about how to approach your customers who want to improve the return on investment from their data platforms by migrating to SQL Server from their existing Oracle or Sybase platforms.

Application Platform Optimization SQL Server Consolidation QuickStart

The SQL Server Consolidation QuickStart includes a comprehensive set of technical content including presentations, whitepapers and demos that are designed to present to customers who want to improve the manageability and security of their SQL Server environment while reducing the associated hardware and software cost

Getting Started with SQL Azure

SQL Azure Database is a cloud based relational database service from Microsoft. SQL Azure provides relational database functionality as a utility service. Cloud-based database solutions such as SQL Azure can provide many benefits, including rapid provisioning, cost-effective scalability, high availability, and reduced management overhead.

Note: Description courtesy Microsoft.

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

SQL Azure vs. SQL Server by Dinakar Nethi, Niraj Nagrani

SQL Azure Database is a cloud-based relational database service from Microsoft. SQL Azure provides relational database functionality as a utility service. Cloud-based database solutions such as SQL Azure can provide many benefits, including rapid provisioning, cost-effective scalability, high availability, and reduced management overhead. This paper compares SQL Azure Database with SQL Server in terms of logical administration vs. physical administration, provisioning, Transact-SQL support, data storage, SSIS, along with other features and capabilities.

The content of this white paper is as following:

• Similarities and Differences
  • Logical Administration vs. Physical Administration
  • Provisioning
  • Transact-SQL Support
  • Features and Types
• Key Benefits of the Service
  • Self-Managing
  • High Availability
  • Scalability
  • Familiar Development Model
  • Relational Data Model

The above summary text is taken from white paper itself.

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

• Gather storage and SQL Server space and I/O requirements
• Choose SQL Server version and edition
• Design storage architecture based on capacity and IO requirements
• Determine memory requirements
• Understand network topology requirements
• Configure SQL Server
• Validate storage performance and reliability

Read the original article published by Microsoft here: Storage and SQL Server Capacity Planning and configuration – SharePoint Server 2010.

The question to all the SharePoint developers and administrator that if they use the whitepapers and articles to decide the capacity or they just start with application and as they progress they plan the storage? Please let me know your opinion.

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

Filed under: SharePoint, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Data Storage, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQL White Papers, SQLAuthority News, T SQL, Technology ]]> http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2010/05/16/sqlauthority-news-storage-and-sql-server-capacity-planning-and-configuration-sharepoint-server-2010/feed/ 0 pinaldave http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2010/05/07/sqlauthority-news-list-of-master-data-services-white-paper/ http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2010/05/07/sqlauthority-news-list-of-master-data-services-white-paper/#comments Fri, 07 May 2010 01:30:02 +0000 pinaldave http://blog.sqlauthority.com/?p=8891 ]]> Since my TechEd India 2010 presentation I am very excited with SQL Server 2010 MDS. I just come across very interesting white paper on Microsoft site related to this subject. Here is the list of the same and location where you can download them. They are all written by Top Experts at Microsoft.

Master Data Management from a Business Perspective

- Download a PDF version or an XPS version

Master Data Management from a Technical Perspective

- Download a PDF version or an XPS version

Bringing Master Data Management to the Stakeholders

- Download a PDF version or an XPS version

Implementing a Phased Approach to Master Data Management

- Download a PDF version or an XPS version

SharePoint Workflow Integration with Master Data Services

- Read it here.

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

In February 2008, Microsoft announced a record-breaking data load using Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS): 1 TB of data in less than 30 minutes. That data load, using SQL Server Integration Services, was 30% faster than the previous best time using a commercial ETL tool. This paper outlines what it took: the software, hardware, and configuration used. We will describe what we did to achieve that result, and offer suggestions for how to relate these techniques to typical scenarios. Even for customers who don’t have needs quite like this benchmark, such efforts can teach a lot about getting optimal performance.

Read the white paper here.

Abstract courtesy Microsoft

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

The white paper describes load strategies for achieving high-speed data modifications of a Microsoft SQL Server database.

“Bulk Load Methods” and “Other Minimally Logged and Metadata Operations” provide an overview of two key and interrelated concepts for high-speed data loading: bulk loading and metadata operations.

After this background knowledge, white paper describe how these methods can be used to solve customer scenarios. Script examples illustrating common design pattern are found in “Solving Typical Scenarios with Bulk Loading” Special consideration must be taken when you need to load and read data concurrently in the same table. The section “Bulk Load, NOLOCK Queries, and Read Committed Snapshot Isolation” describes methods you can use to achieve concurrent loading and reading.

This white paper concludes with troubleshooting hints in “Optimizing Bulk Load”.

SQL Server Technical Article – The Data Loading Performance Guide

Abstract courtesy : Microsoft

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

It’s not uncommon to experience the occasional slowdown of a database running the Microsoft SQL Server database software. The reasons can range from a poorly designed database to a system that is improperly configured for the workload. As an administrator, you want to proactively prevent or minimize problems; if they occur, you want to diagnose the cause and take corrective actions to fix the problem whenever possible. This white paper provides step-by-step guidelines for diagnosing and troubleshooting common performance problems by using publicly available tools such as:

• SQL Server Profiler
• System Monitor (in the Windows Server 2003 operating system) or Performance Monitor (in the Windows Vista operating system and Windows Server 2008), also known as Perfmon
• Dynamic management views (sometimes referred to as DMVs)
• SQL Server Extended Events (Extended Events) and the data collector, which are new in SQL Server 2008.

Download “Troubleshooting Performance Problems in SQL Server 2008” from the Microsoft Download Center.

Abstract courtesy : Microsoft

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

Remote BLOB Store (RBS) is designed to move the storage of large binary data (BLOBs) from database servers to commodity storage solutions.

With RBS, BLOB data is stored in storage solutions such as Content Addressable Stores (CAS), commodity hardware with data integrity and fault-tolerance systems, or mega service storage solutions like MSN Blue. A reference to the BLOB is stored in the database. An application stores and accesses BLOB data by calling into the RBS client library. RBS manages the life cycle of the BLOB, such as doing garbage collection as and when needed.

RBS is an add-on that can be applied to Microsoft SQL Server 2008 and later. It uses auxiliary tables, stored procedures, and an executable to provide its services. A reference to the BLOB (provided by the BLOB Store) is stored in RBS auxiliary tables and an RBS BLOB ID is generated. Applications store this RBS BLOB ID in a column in application tables. These columns in application tables are called RBS Columns in this specification. The RBS Column is not a new data type; it is just a simple binary(20).

Above words are quoted from original Microsoft White Paper Please read complete white paper for excellent notes on what are exact specification for Remote BLOB Store Provider Library.

Abstract courtesy : Microsoft

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

Database systems must go beyond the traditional realm of relational data by covering an increasing amount and variety of unstructured and semistructured information, be it speech, documents, XML, bioinformatics, chemical, or multimedia. Search is a key technology capable of working with vast amounts of data: it is scalable, low-latency, and very user-friendly. It is just what is needed to make a database the best place to store all types of data.

SQL Server 2008 introduces a new Full-Text Engine that is integrated into the relational database. Full-text search is now as fully integrated as any other database service. The main goal for full-text search in SQL Server 2008 was to introduce a new integrated Search platform. In addition to the improvements and gains that come with this integration, this platform provides a strong base for delivering, in the near future, innovative new features and capabilities that combine the strengths of searching and querying.

Read white paper SQL Server 2008 Full-Text Search: Internals and Enhancements

Abstract courtesy : Microsoft

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

Posted in Pinal Dave, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Documentation, SQL Query, SQL Scripts, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQL White Papers, SQLAuthority News, T SQL, Technology Tagged: Full Text Search ]]> http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2009/12/26/sql-server-whitepaper-sql-server-2008-full-text-search-internals-and-enhancements/feed/ 0 pinaldave http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2009/12/20/sqlauthority-news-migrating-dts-packages-to-integration-services/ http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2009/12/20/sqlauthority-news-migrating-dts-packages-to-integration-services/#comments Sun, 20 Dec 2009 01:30:10 +0000 pinaldave http://blog.sqlauthority.com/?p=7573 ]]> Migrating DTS Packages to Integration Services
Writer: Brian Knight
Published: July 2008

SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) brings a revolutionary concept of enterprise-class ETL to the masses. The engine is robust enough to handle hundreds of millions of rows with ease, but is simple enough to let both developers and DBAs engineer an ETL process. In this whitepaper, you will see the benefits of migrating your SQL Server 2000 Data Transformation Services (DTS) packages to Integration Services by using two proven methods. You will also see how you can run and manage your current DTS packages inside of the SQL Server 2005 and 2008 management tools.

Ready white paper Migrating DTS Packages to Integration Services

Abstract &  courtesy : Microsoft

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

Posted in Business Intelligence, Data Warehousing, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQL White Papers, SQLAuthority News, T SQL, Technology Tagged: DTS ]]> http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2009/12/20/sqlauthority-news-migrating-dts-packages-to-integration-services/feed/ 6 pinaldave http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2009/12/19/sqlauthority-news-migrating-to-sql-server-from-other-database-products/ http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2009/12/19/sqlauthority-news-migrating-to-sql-server-from-other-database-products/#comments Sat, 19 Dec 2009 01:30:49 +0000 pinaldave http://blog.sqlauthority.com/?p=7571 ]]> Guide to Migrating from MySQL to SQL Server 2008
In this migration guide you will learn the differences between the MySQL and SQL Server 2008 database platforms, and the steps necessary to convert a MySQL database to SQL Server.

Guide to Migrating from Oracle to SQL Server 2008
This white paper explores challenges that arise when you migrate from an Oracle 7.3 database or later to SQL Server 2008. It describes the implementation differences of database objects, SQL dialects, and procedural code between the two platforms. The entire migration process using SQL Server Migration Assistant (SSMA) 2008 for Oracle is explained in depth, with a special focus on converting database objects and PL/SQL code.

Guide to Migrating from Informix to SQL Server 2008
This white paper explores challenges that arise when you migrate from an Informix 11 database to SQL Server 2008. It describes the implementation differences of database objects and procedural code between the two platforms. Emulation of system functions is also discussed.

Guide to Migrating from Sybase ASA to SQL Server 2008
This white paper explores challenges that arise when you migrate from a Sybase Adaptive Server Anywhere (ASA) database of version 9 or later to SQL Server 2008. It describes the implementation differences of database objects, SQL dialects, and procedural code between the two platforms.

Guide to Migrating from Sybase ASE to SQL Server 2008
This white paper covers known issues for migrating Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise database to SQL Server 2008. Instructions for handling the differences between the two platforms are included. The paper describes how SQL Server Migration Assistant, the best tool for this type of migration, can help resolve various migration issues.

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

To date, the implementation of a true hub-and-spoke architecture for a data warehouse environment has been an idealized and elusive goal. Although building a centralized “hub,” or enterprise data warehouse (EDW) that supports company-wide detail data is achievable, building and maintaining “spokes,” or dependent departmental data marts has proved to be the challenge. Most data warehouse environments have evolved to one of two architectures: a centralized EDW or a series of distributed and/or federated data marts.

In response to a few crucial problems with federated approaches to data warehousing, vendors and pundits alike began to promote a centralized, monolithic EDW approach. This approach has historically helped some vendors differentiate themselves from competitors and justify unreasonably high Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for their products.

Centralization is seldom scalable or easy to manage. Conflicting end-user and management-use cases, demanding performance requirements, increasing user sophistication, and on-going demands for scalability and flexibility all work to defeat even the most efficiently managed monolithic system. In many cases, these issues cause departments and business units to create their own independent data marts.

Read the white paper here

Abstract courtesy : Microsoft

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

Posted in SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQL White Papers, SQLAuthority News, T SQL, Technology ]]> http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2009/12/17/sqlauthority-news-hub-and-spoke-building-an-edw-with-sql-server-and-strategies-of-implementation/feed/ 3 pinaldave