A question I often get asked by customers is which edition of SQL Server do I use? I then based on the workload, high availability/disaster recovery, scalability, BI and other requirements do walk the customer down to the decision. You can also work through...

A Principal Data Engineer at Microsoft (Saleem Hakani) had authored the below SQL Server Tips & Trick and I thought it would be one that would be found handy by many. Keep this one handy you never know when you may need it (Hopefully not too many...

Download the attached "SQL Server 2008 ScreenSaver Setup.zip", it is highly recommended for all SQL DBA's.

I often get asked about upgrading SQL Server 2008 Evaluation Edition to a retail edition such as Standard or Enterprise Edition. This is very well documented at the below SQL Server books online link: How to: Upgrade to a Different Edition of SQL Server...

My colleague Alan Eldridge, BI Technology Specialist at Microsoft, put together a great post on incorporating Reporting Services reports in Word and PowerPoint. With his permission I am making it available to you. This post talks about incorporating the...

  HP Business Decision Appliance Quick Start Offer - Make better, faster, more relevant business decisions with the HP Business Decision Appliance The HP Business Decision Appliance, optimized for SQL Server 2008 R2 and SharePoint Server 2010, has...

Since the release of SQL Server Denali CTP3 I have been talking more and more to customers and partners about this release and one of its great new capability called AlwaysOn. The AlwaysOn feature basically provides an easy way for DBAs to enable High...

Three of the six RTM SQL Server 2008 R2 e-clinics are ready; the final three will arrive in mid-April: · Introduction to Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 R2 Master Data Services / This two-hour clinic describes the capabilities of Microsoft SQL Server 2008...

I had a chance to attend a talk by Senior SQL Server PM about SQL Server 2008, and following were some of the key takeaways: The key tenants in SQL Server 2008 are: Trusted - provide mechanisms to secure data (such as database encryption), ensure...

Today the Fifth Cum ulative Update (CU) for SQL Server 2005 SP2 released. This CU is not released as a public download but can be requested through Microsoft Support or submit an online request form here . Following is the link to the KB article...

As much as possible, I do not recommend virtualisation of SQL Server or any other RDBMS system, due to the impact on performance, and the availability of other alternatives such as multiple-instances. However following is documentation from RC0 of SQL...

Microsoft announced today the release of the first version of SQL Server Migration Assistant (SSMA) for MySQL! Along with this release, Microsoft refreshed the existing SSMA family of products for Oracle, Sybase and Access with the latest v4.2 release...

This year I thought I would do something different, since I had some time on my hand (rare) . I created the below greeting card using SQL Server Reporting Services and data from SQL Azure. You will see that the gauge indicating the safe speed limit of...

To even make it easier to migrate your databases from Oracle, Sybase, MySQL, Access to SQL Server or SQL Azure, we have released SSMA v5.0. In this release, SSMA family of products has been improved to further to reduce the cost and the risk of migration...

There is a new transform component available for SQL Server Integration Services. It’s called the Balanced Data Distributor (BDD) and the download is available here . Note Downloading the BDD transform can be a bit tricky as when you go to the above site...

If you really have a requirement for scaling out your database workload today then an option that is available to you is the public cloud with SQL Azure. This enables you to future proof your architecture and manage the scale without the complexity and...

  In case you missed this announcement, I am including the link s below to free ebooks from Microsoft Press. Don't worry just because they are free they are not about out dated technologies, they are actually current versions such as Windows Server...

Self service BI is getting lot of attention, and there are lot of tools out there in the market from multiple vendors. Some with real great visualization and leveraging the new in-memory processing models. Remember that when it comes to Self-service BI...

Just in case you missed it, at the Strata Conference, Microsoft Technical fellow Dave Campbell did the keynote and during this revealed a case study on how Studio 343, maker of Halo 4 uses Big Data to improve gamer retention along with other benefits...

This document takes you through the essential technical details for planning and testing an upgrade of existing SQL Server 2005, 2008, and 2008 R2 instances to SQL Server 2012. You will be presented with best practices for preparation, planning, pre-upgrade...

Planning for TechEd Australia 2012! is well underway, and this year I have the opportunity be technical track owner for the Database & BI track along with my colleagues Raja and Simon Brown. Teched wouldn’t be a success without great content from...

Klout ( www.klout.com ) measures influence across the social web by analyzing social network user data. Klout uses the impact of opinions, links, and recommendations to identify influential individuals. Every day Klout scans 15 social networks, scores...

I have not had the opportunity to blog in the last month and this has partly been due to a busy work schedule, however the greater reason was a technological one. This of course was the release of the Surface . I had pre-ordered mine and it was always...

Come and hear about the Microsoft Application platform at the upcoming briefing seminars in a city near to you: Date City Venue 28th March 2011 Sydney Vibe Hotel Ballroom A, 88 Alfred St, Milsons Point 29th March 2011 Melbourne Microsoft Office, Level...

  It has been a while since I have blogged and this has been due to my recent involvement with the Big Picture event that took place in Melbourne and Sydney. I was busy with the technical setup and developing a demo scenario for the Insights 24/7...