It’s been a while since my last entry for Technet Insiders, one reason for the delay is that I’ve been very busy writing and presenting at SQL Server User Groups and organising our forth SQLBits Community Conference on March 28 th at the Manchester Metropolitan University. Anyone who has been to a...

Chris Testa-O'Neill is the Database Product Manager at Remarc Group Ltd. He specialises in SQL Server Business Intelligence Solutions and teaches all Microsoft courses in the SQL 2000, 2005 and 2008 product range. He also conducts closed company sessions and consults on thier business implementations...

Using SSIS, getting data from one SQL Server to another SQL Server is straightforward enough. However, what about getting data from other non-Microsoft data sources? Here, we will discuss the integration of data from an AS400 system with SQL Server 2005, and insertion into a SQL Server 2005 data warehouse...

PowerShell is super, but its documentation is still lousy. You might think that how to test a database field for a null value would be straightforward, and indeed it is, but it ain’t documented anywhere. I’ve just spent the afternoon searching and eventually had to work it out for myself. So here it...

Upgrading from SPS 2003 to MOSS 2003 Recently I have been involved in upgrading our intranet from SPS 2003 to MOSS 2007 and I know this is something that is going to be increasingly important as more and more companies look to take advantage of the benefits of MOSS. With this in mind I have put together...

Martin Bell has been a freelance computer consultant in the UK for over 23 years. He has worked on many relational database systems and since 1998 has specialized in SQL Server. He was first awarded Microsoft MVP (SQL Server) status in June 2003. He runs the Scottish Area meetings of the UK SQL Server...

As a DBA I wear many hats! If I had to choose a hat for my data architect role it would probably be a nice white panama, the sort you see in the Agatha Christie re-runs on ITV3, but I digress!. As a data architect you extol the virtues of “correctly data typing” in your design, such as not using varchar...

At the time of writing SQL Server 2008 is currently at the Community Technology Preview (CTP) stage. CTP 6 was delivered in February 2008 and includes a PowerShell provider. In this article I will explain what PowerShell is, why a PowerShell provider is useful and provide some examples of how you can...

Adrian Beasley General Inspired by recent TechNet sessions and User Group meetings, where I heard expounded the wonders of Windows Mobile 6, and its close integration with Exchange Server 2007, I bought a top-of-the range mobile phone, an HTC TyTN11, (specifically because it ran WM6,) and entered...

The other week I was asked by Colin Mackay of Scottish Developers to do a 15 minute talk on “What’s new in SQL Server 2008” for the Community Launch of Visual Studio 2008 and Windows 2008 in Glasgow. So I set about putting some slides together in Power Point, the first one was obvious a simple table...

Let’s be honest - it can be frustrating and difficult to have conversations with users over things like report colour, graphics and so on. For some very bright technically-focused people, a real pain point is the ‘soft stuff’ regarding the presentation of data in reports. If the data is right, then why...

Recently, I took part in a discussion, where a number of people were debating the need to have a business representative or business-focused Project Manager involved in the design stages of a data warehouse. My own view is that business users should have input at every stage of the development. User...

By Adrian J. Beasley The usual range of IT Security techniques is of little use against injection attacks. They can mitigate some of the effects of such attacks by, for example, setting proper permissions on resources, and ensuring that access from websites is under a user with the appropriate least...

SharePoint Learning Kit also known as SLK is a delivery tool for SCORM compliant documents. Certificated as a SCORM 2004 deliverly tool, SLK will turn a SCORM compatible file and deliver it to a user and track their progress. What is SCORM? SCORM which stands for ‘ Sharable Content Object Reference...

By Richard Siddaway, Microsoft Practice Leader, Centiq Ltd With each new version of the Windows Server Operating System there are new possibilities for automation to help make the administrator’s job easier. Automation brings increased efficiencies but also brings the possibility of bigger mistakes...

Richard Siddaway is Microsoft Practice Leader for Centiq Ltd, a Microsoft partner specialising in optimisation, measurement, management and migration involving Microsoft technologies. With over 20 years experience in various aspects of IT Richard is currently concentrating on the Microsoft environment...

By Chris Dalby The Unified Communications (UC) Launch on 16 October 2007 marks the start of a dramatic change in the way we can all do business. It is clear that Microsoft have been listening to their customers with the release of Live Meeting 2007 which is a huge step in the right direction...

By Paul Vincent Don’t get me wrong, I’m a tecchie. There was a time (and it wasn’t that long ago!) when I could name and identify the function of pretty much every Group Policy Object setting in Windows XP. However, Information Security is more than setting every security related configuration...

By Craig Murphy Actually, that's the wrong question, I really need to know who you are, who you really are, please confirm your identity. How are you going to tell me who you are? I've got an e-mail address, send me an e-mail and I'll reply, then you'll know who I am because I've got a valid e-mail...

By David Harley There has been a certain amount of excitement and irritation in anti-virus research circles about a not-very-good comparative test of antivirus scanners that was conducted at LinuxWorld on 8th August, 2007. I was so exercised personally that I sat down and wrote a long white paper...

By Adrian J. Beasley Health Warning Software Restriction Policies (SRPs) are extremely powerful . They also make it possible for you to foul up big-time - there is no safety barrier. For all that, they are very useful. “With great power comes great responsibility.” The following...

David Harley CISSP has worked in computing since 1986, and first fell semi-accidentally into security and antivirus research in 1989. His background includes systems, applications and network support and administration, and includes PCs, Macs, Unix and VMS. He holds qualifications in security auditing...

Paul is a Cyber-defence consultant who provides technical Information Security advice to Financial Institutions. Having worked in technology and engineering disciplines for 15 years, Paul has tried to develop a logical approach to the field of I.S and is excited to be playing a part in this critical...

Craig Murphy is an author , developer, speaker, podcaster , Microsoft MVP and is a Certified ScrumMaster. He enjoys working with .NET, C#, Borland Delphi, XML/Web Services, XSLT and is a great follower of Test-Driven Development, Extreme Programming, agile methods and Scrum. Craig's IT community activities...

By Adam Vero ...or rather, don’t use poor methods to secure documents (or anything else – this is bordering on Security Theatre). Also, don’t spend valuable IT resources securing things for users on a case-by-case basis by creating a tangled web of folders with arcane permissions on them. You need...