Fast Guide: Avoiding data integrity gotchas

When asked to prioritize your job duties as a DBA, you may not immediately think to add "ensure data integrity" to the top of list -- yet it is critical to the success of your SQL Server.

By definition, data integrity assures that information can only be accessed or modified by those authorized to do so. You may protect the physical environment, restrict access, segregate data, maintain a solid set of backups or any number of other tasks for integrity's sake, but improperly performing such tasks can harm integrity as well. In this fast guide, we offers tip and tricks to ensure and maintain data integrity, with a particular focus on avoiding the "gotchas" that can compromise your data.

TABLE OF CONTENTS    Ensuring data integrity    Avoiding data integrity gotchas    Maintaining data integrity   Ensuring data integrity  Return to Table of Contents Step-by-Step Guide: Ensuring data integrity in SQL Server Get detailed steps to enforce and ensure SQL Server data integrity in this guide. Do people really understand data warehousing? A data warehousing initiative shouldn't result in multiple data silos, but too often that's just what happens. One columnist identifies the problem. Building a scalable SQL Server How well SQL Server functions over time depends on how you've built your database, where you put your code and how you handle business logic. Get tips for improved scalability. Transforming data with Microsoft SQL Server 2000 DTS Find out how to use DTS in SQL Server 2000 to ensure data integrity by importing exporting and transforming data from disparate sources into single or multiple destinations.   Avoiding data integrity gotchas  Return to Table of Contents Use caution when backing up or restoring a single table Data integrity may be compromised if a single-table restore isn't properly handled. Find out what precautions you must take. Preserving Unicode data integrity Mixing Unicode's multiple encoding methods can lead to damaged or improperly stored data. Get steps to preserve your Unicode data. Test for hardware problems with PHYSICAL_ONLY SQL Server 2000's PHYSICAL_ONLY helps you find hardware problems before they result in data loss. Learn how to use this option to maintain data integrity. Take caution when cleansing redundant delimiters You'll want to cleanse data of delimiters for storage -- but beware that removing some delimiters can harm data integrity. Difficulty ensuring data integrity when storing XML data Beware the ramifications of storing XML data in SQL Server 2005 using the new XML data type. Worst practices for backup and recovery The success of your backup and restore efforts depends more on small mistakes made than on best practices followed. Find out which backup and recovery worst practices to avoid.   Maintaining data integrity  Return to Table of Contents Maintenance checks for SQL Server Get a list of activities appearing on a typical maintenance plan schedule, and learn how to use DBCC commands and stored procedures associated with each aspect of database maintenance. Troubleshooting triggers in SQL Server Triggers allow you to control how your database responds to INSERTs, DELETEs and UPDATEs, and they can be used to maintain data integrity -- but they may slow or fail to run. Get troubleshooting tips here. Maximize large data with the new MAX data types MAX data types add a great element of flexibility to handling large data in SQL Server 2005. Find out how you can benefit. Digg This!     StumbleUpon     Del.icio.us    RELATED CONTENT SQL Server database design and modeling SQL Server database design disasters: How it all starts Physical data storage in SQL Server 2005 and 2008 SQL Server 2008 data types: Datetime, string, user-defined and more SQL Server and data manipulation in T-SQL Enforcing data integrity in a SQL Server database Supertype and subtype tables in SQL Server SQL Server database design disasters: What not to do Check SQL Server database and log file size with this stored procedure SQL Server tempdb best practices increase performance FAQ: SQL Server databases how-to SQL Server backup and recovery Licensing a standby server for SQL Server replication Can I encrypt and restore a database backup in SQL Server 2005? SQL Server errors, failures and other problems fixed from the trenches Get SQL Server log shipping functionality without Enterprise Edition SQL Server 2008 backup compression pros and cons SQL Server backups using SAN database snapshots Tips for scheduling and testing SQL Server backups Code to restore SQL Server databases in VB.NET Tricking SQL Server into making full database backups SAN considerations for your SQL Server environment SQL Server backup and recovery Research SQL Server ROI and TCO Chapter 2: Planning your SQL Server consolidation Face-off: MySQL, PostgreSQL and SQL Server go head to head Pitfalls of SQL Server sprawl SQL Server consolidation pros and cons Top 10 SQL Server tips of 2005 Step-by-Step Guide: How to spec your SQL Server hardware needs Top 10 SQL Server tips of 2005 SQL Server consolidation pros and cons SQL Server Express a sign of LAMP's success Security is the catch word for SQL Server's sequel SQL Server ROI and TCO Research RELATED GLOSSARY TERMS Terms from Whatis.com − the technology online dictionary binary tree  (SearchSQLServer.com) block  (SearchSQLServer.com) data structure  (SearchSQLServer.com) DDBMS  (SearchSQLServer.com) entity-relationship model  (SearchSQLServer.com) initial extent  (SearchSQLServer.com) primary key  (SearchSQLServer.com) segment  (SearchSQLServer.com) tablespace  (SearchSQLServer.com) view  (SearchSQLServer.com) RELATED RESOURCES 2020software.com, trial software downloads for accounting software, ERP software, CRM software and business software systems Search Bitpipe.com for the latest white papers and business webcasts Whatis.com, the online computer dictionary

	About Us  |  Contact Us  |  For Advertisers  |  For Business Partners  |  Site Index  |  RSS	SEARCH

TechTarget provides enterprise IT professionals with the information they need to perform their jobs - from developing strategy, to making cost-effective IT purchase decisions and managing their organizations' IT projects - with its network of technology-specific Web sites, events and magazines. TechTarget Corporate Web Site  |  Media Kits  |  Reprints  |  Site Map All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2005 - 2008, TechTarget | Read our Privacy Policy