The following knowledge base article describes the known issues when you install Microsoft SQL Server on a computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 . List of known issues when you install SQL Server on Windows 7 or on Windows Server...

Wow can’t believe it, Teched Australia 2009 is SOLD OUT!!! It must have something to do with those Netbooks with Windows 7 being given away:). I look forward to attending and meeting you there. Please ensure to attend a session I am presenting on SQL...

This white paper complements the existing documentation on planning, implementation, and administration of a SQL Server 2008 failover cluster, which can be found in Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Books Online. There are links to relevant existing content throughout...

Want some FREE training on the new developer features of SQL Server 2008? Download this developer training kit from - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=e9c68e1b-1e0e-4299-b498-6ab3ca72a6d7 . This kit contains...

A best practices whitepaper was recently released discussing the SQL Server 2008 Management Data Warehouse feature.   It can be accessed at: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd939169.aspx

Below are two methods that can be used to determine the default location of data and transaction log files for your installation of SQL Server. This script can come handy when automating the deployment of databases in your environment.   Method 1...

I am going to be presenting a session on SQL Server consolidation at the SQL Server User group on 1st of July 2009. See below for details. Hope to see you there. Date 1st July, 2009 Time 12:00 Agenda 12:00 - 12:30: Registration / Networking / Product...

I know!!! I know!!! What you might be thinking, what has office got to do with SQL Server. Well it doesn’t directly but it is a great product that we all love and use every day of our lives. It helps us to be productive and be creative. So I thought I...

Prior to making this decision I would strongly recommend that you read the following whitepaper - SQL Server vs. Oracle RAC white paper to find out if you do require RAC for your solution. See how SQL Server can help implement your solutions at 1/5th...

Discover how your organisation can do more with less at Dimension Data's SQL Server 2008 Consolidation Seminars. This morning Tech'spresso session, hosted by our Principal SQL Server Consultant, Rolf Tesmer, and Microsoft SQL Server Specialist Shashank...

I was just conducting research for improvements in security in SQL Server 2008 and came across the below whitepapers which are great references if you are looking at improving security of your SQL Server environment.   Engine Separation of Duties...

Just in case you missed it!!! Microsoft Support announced an update to the SQL Server virtualisation support policy.   Guest Failover Clustering is supported for SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2008 in a virtual machine for Windows Server 2008 with...

1. Create FILESTREAM filegroup. 2. Add FILESTREAM column to table 3.   Choose one of: a. Write an app to select data from the BLOB column and stream it into the FILESTREAM column b. UPDATE <table> SET <filestream_column> = <blob...

Summary of the SQL Server Announcements: Official name for the next release of SQL Server:  SQL Server 2008 R2 This is release name for what was announced earlier as code named ‘Kilimanjaro'. This release includes all the great BI enhancements announced...

Finally I found a cool demo of Augmented Reality that is near and dear to me – as it promotes Microsoft SQL Server 2008. I found out about it while searching for Augmented reality demos on Windows Live. The following blog entry - http://blog.mccann.be...

A new white paper on SQL Server 2008 performance troubleshooting is now available and linked from our Technical Articles node in the MSDN Library. This paper is about 100 pages and covers the following in depth: CPU Bottlenecks Memory Bottlenecks I/O...

Following are the links specifically relating to best practices for setting up disk I/O for SQL Server workloads. Predeployment I/O Best Practices - http://sqlcat.com/whitepapers/archive/2007/11/21/predeployment-i-o-best-practices.aspx Complete I/O Best...

Service Pack 1 for SQL Server 2008 will be available today for customers. The Service pack is available via download at: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=66ab3dbb-bf3e-4f46-9559-ccc6a4f9dc19     Version...

In the current economic climate, it is important for IT to be agile and respond to business needs of managing costs. A method that has almost immediate impact on cost savings is to consolidate the servers. SQL Server’s are prime targets for such consolidation...

Pre-registrations for Teched 2009 have begun, so don’t miss out – go to: http://www.microsoft.com.au/teched/tech_ed_2009.aspx   As Australia's premier technical education event, it's a must for all IT professionals. Pre-register your interest now...

Keep your system up to date with the most recent cumulative update package for SQL Server 2008 RTM. This package contains all of the SQL Server 2008 hotfixes that have been released since the initial release of SQL Server 2008. CU#4 KB Article: http:...

When using Filestream data in SQL Server 2008, you may come across what seems like strange behaviour. This is when you issue a DELETE statement to delete the filestream data, it doesnt actually disappear from the file system. You may ask…why is this?...

Regardless of version of SSRS (2005 or 2008), it is not possible to combine different datasets e.g. SQL Server database dataset, SSAS cube dataset, and XML feed. Possible workaround Some ways to achieve this would be to do this in the database during...

Cumulative Update #2 for SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 3 Keep your system up to date with the most recent cumulative update package for SQL Server 2005 SP3. This package contains all of the SQL Server 2005 hotfixes that have been released since the...

SQL Server 2008 System Views - Map just went live and is available for download at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=531c53e7-8a2a-4375-8f2f-5d799aa67b5c&displaylang=en There is a 2005 version link in Related Downloads at the...