SQL Server Magazine February 2008

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You Asked for It: A Custom DBA Repository
Use SSRS and SSIS to add information for ad-hoc queries, an enhanced SQL Server Agent job schedule, support for SQL Server 2005, and more with this revised DBA Repository solution.
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[Focus]

Use SSRS and SSIS to Create a DBA Repository

This update to the original DBA Repository solution adds support for SQL Server 2005, support for SQL Server authenticated domains, support for server location, information for reports and ad-hoc queries, and an enhanced SQL Server Agent job schedule.




[Features]

Crystal-Clear Reporting on Hierarchical Data

Forget the complicated self-joins. Thanks to new Crystal Reports support in Visual Studio 2005, reporting on hierarchical data has never been easier.

Sharpen Your Basic SQL Server Skills

Server backup doesn’t have to be complex. With these simple commands you can perform full, transaction log or incremental, differential, and file backups. Plus you’ll learn commands for recovering files and when to do a tail-log backup.

Unveiling PerformancePoint Server 2007

PerformancePoint Server 2007 might be in your future, especially if your users find out about its BI features. Get the lowdown before they do about the 3 parts of PerformancePoint Server, what it needs to run, and what exactly it delivers.




[Editorial]

Where SQL Server Should Go from Here

Find out what Michael says is missing from SQL Server 2008 and what Microsoft should include in its next release.




[Reader to Reader]

Create Calculated Members That Are Elegant and Perform Well

It's not uncommon for MDX programmers to create an elegant calculated member, only to discover that it's so slow that it can't be used in queries against a full data set. Learn why performance problems can occur and ways to work around those problems.

Stored Procedure Documents Scheduled Jobs in SQL Server

Using SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) to document job schedules involves a lot of mouse-clicking and cutting and pasting. You can avoid all that hassle by using the sp_ShowJobSchedules stored procedure.




[Inside SQL Server]

Column Statistics Give the Optimizer an Edge

Column statistics—statistics on unindexed table columns—complement index statistics and give the optimizer additional information to use in determining the most efficient query plans.




[Solutions by Design]

Data Warehousing: Rapidly Changing Monster Dimensions

You can manage rapidly changing monster dimensions by splitting the stable and hot attributes or by creating non-overlapping value ranges for each rapidly changing attribute.




[T-SQL Black Belt]

SQL Server Read-Consistency Problems, Part 3

Under both Read Uncommitted and Read Committed isolations, updates running during an index-order scan can result in reading the same row multiple times or skipping rows.




[New Products]

New Products

Check out new and improved SQL Server-related products from Acronis, Dundas, ISC, and TulaSoft.




[SELECT TOP(X)]

SQL Server Videos on YouTube

YouTube.com offers many SQL Server videos—some by SQL Server Magazine authors and Microsoft executives--on topics such as performance tuning, disk optimization, backup types, and the life of a DBA.




[Tool Time with Kevin Kline]

SQLPing

This free tool can help you find SQL Server and MSDE installations that need to be secured.




[Review]

DXtreme for Windows Enterprise

If you’re running virtual machines in a production environment and are experiencing performance problems, check out DXtreme for Windows Enterprise, which can enhance your virtual machine performance.

SQL diagnostic manager 5.0

This monitoring and management product can help you diagnose database performance problems so that you can quickly resolve them.