SQL Server Administration

HIGHLIGHTS

		SQL Server virtualization pros and cons: Weigh the performance impact TIP - Virtualizing SQL Server has pros and cons. Learn the performance impacts of virtualization on SQL Server I/O, RAM and memory to decide if it is a fit for your SQL Server system.
	Hardening the network and OS for SQL Server security TIP - To help prevent a major breach of your DBMS, it's important to secure all individual systems in an environment, including the network and operating system.
	Performance implications of transaction log autogrowth in SQL Server TIP - Take a closer look at the performance implications of shrinking transaction log files in SQL Server.
	Working with sparse columns in SQL Server 2008 TIP - Sparse columns can provide significant storage benefits to those working with SQL Server 2008. Learn the proper way to implement sparse columns, column sets and filtered indexes.
	Microsoft SQL Server Tools Guide LEARNING GUIDE - Whichever SQL Server hammer or nail you may be looking for, there's a good chance you'll find the tool or utility you need in this guide.

SUBTOPICS

	Performance Tuning From testing and monitoring to indexing and troubleshooting, you're sure to find a resource to help resolve your Microsoft SQL Server performance problems. To ensure your SQL Server databases and applications run at their full potential, you must continually identify performance problems ...
	Installation There is a lot to keep in mind when installing Microsoft SQL Server, whether it is SQL Server 2000, 2005, or an upgrade to 2008. Installation considerations include hardware requirements, clustering, default collation, file locations, number of instances, service accounts and more. This ...
	Security Protect your database and SQL Server environment with these tips and articles. Have you considered database attack vulnerabilities? SQL Server security issues discussed here include SQL injection, how to lock down SQL Server and how to meet compliance laws. Learn how to improve database ...
	T-SQL Transact SQL, often called T-SQL, is Microsoft's implementation of the SQL language. Developers for SQL Server database management systems are using T-SQL statements for any application communicating with an instance of SQL Server. They do so by sending T-SQL statements to the server. ...
	Stored Procedures Stored procedures are intended to make SQL Server development easier. Why rewrite a query, when you can just save it in the database? Efficiently writing and executing stored procedures in T-SQL and CLR are covered here, as is querying and debugging stored procedures.
	Replication Implementing and maintaining replication within a Microsoft SQL Server database is not a simple task, particularly if you have numerous database servers that need to be involved in various types of replication. such as transactional, merge and snapshot. This topic page features tips and ...
	Availability and Scalability High availability and reliability is a must for most large enterprises, and that doesn't exclude the database. There are several different high availability database solutions for Microsoft SQL Server, such as failover clustering, replication, and database mirroring. This topic page ...
	Backup and Recovery Having a reliable and well-tested backup and recovery procedure is essential to protecting your SQL Server data when things go wrong. Get help establishing, maintaining, testing and verifying your backup and restore plan from the SQL Server best practices in this section. Learn about areas ...
	Tools and Utilities Having the right tools at your disposal means everything to the SQL Server DBA. This Microsoft SQL Server tools and utilities topic page features information on a variety of free tools for database admins designed to make their lives easier while at the same time improving SQL Server ...
	Interoperability Many businesses store data across heterogeneous database servers or in various storage systems, formats and locations. Database adminsitrators using Microsoft SQL Server with other platforms often need to resolve these dissimilarties for the data to be used. This topic page provides help ...

	SEE ALSO - Topics Related to SQL Server Administration:  Microsoft SQL Server Management Issues, Microsoft SQL Server Database Development, Microsoft SQL Server Platforms