Swiss IT Professional & TechNet Blog : SQL Server

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 JDBC Driver 1.1 Community Technology Preview June 2006

MJDorner — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 15:11:00 GMT

Download the Community Technology Preview (CTP) version of the SQL Server 2005 JDBC Driver 1.1, a Type 4 JDBC driver that provides database connectivity through the standard JDBC application program interfaces (APIs) available in J2EE (Java2 Enterprise Edition).

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=f914793a-6fb4-475f-9537-b8fcb776befd&displaylang=en

New Virtual Lab available: SQL Server 2005 Upgrade

MJDorner — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 09:20:00 GMT

Increase your confidence and reduce your upgrade risks by performing detach and attach, in-place, and side-by-side upgrades from SQL Server 2000 / 7.0 to SQL Server 2005. By completing these 7 labs, you will learn proven techniques and gain valuable experience in performing upgrades involving both the relational database engine and business intelligence components.

Webcasts on Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence with SQL Server 2005 presented by the Kimball Group

mtruempy — Mon, 29 May 2006 08:36:00 GMT

Over the last two decades, the Kimball Group has pioneered a method for successfully defining and implementing an enterprise data warehouse / business intelligence system. The Kimball Group’s The Microsoft Data Warehouse Toolkit, specifically applies this method to the SQL Server 2005 platform.

Please join us at the upcoming webcasts as the experts from the Kimball Group demonstrate, step-by-step, how the SQL Server 2005 platform solves the tough issues faced in implementing Data Warehouses and Business Intelligence applications.

TechNet Webcast:

Microsoft Business Intelligence (BI) Using the Kimball Method (Level 200)

When: June 6, 2006

9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time

Presenter: Warren Thornthwaite

Real success in business intelligence (BI) is defined by both short and long-term results. For the short term, you can win with top priority, data quality, appealing to broad interest and high value. Long-term success however, requires constant growth and expansion, as well as a solid, well-designed foundation. Join this webcast to learn how to build a strong, scalable Microsoft BI architecture. Learn about the basic Kimball Method, the data warehousing/BI Lifecycle, the three tracks of the development phase, and many more details and issues you would be hard-pressed to anticipate on your own. http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032297084&Culture=en-US

TechNet Webcast:

Designing a Scalable Data Warehouse / Business Intelligence (DW/BI) System (Level 200)

When: June 20, 2006

9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time

Presenter: Joy Mundy

When you are building a data warehouse / business intelligence (DW/BI) system, scale is likely to be a major concern. Either you have a large system now, or you hope to grow to have a large system; or you have a small system but a tight budget, and you want to do more with less. What does large scale even mean? Is it determined by data volume, the number of users, complexity, or something else? What are the most important factors to consider? Join this webcast to learn techniques for addressing these and many other DW/BI issues. The session introduces and explains the Kimball Method lifecycle, and shows how to apply it to a scalable DW/BI system.

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032297070&Culture=en-US

MSDN Architecture Webcast:

Using SQL Server 2005 Integration Services to Populate a Kimball Method Data Warehouse (Level 200)

When: July 11, 2006

11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time

Presenter: Joy Mundy

How do you combine the tasks and transforms offered by Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Integration Services (SSIS) into a real extraction, transformation, and loading (ETL) system? In this webcast, we present design patterns for building an application that is maintainable, auditable, and scalable to populate your dimensional Kimball Method data warehouse and Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services database. Learn best practices for overall system design, for populating dimension and fact tables, and for populating the audit dimension.

http://msevents.microsoft.com/cui/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032297072&EventCategory=4&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US

TechNet Webcast:

Getting Started with Data Mining (Level 200)

When: July 17, 2006

11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time

Presenter: Warren Thornthwaite

Join this webcast for a comprehensive overview of data mining from a database development perspective. We begin with a discussion of the business value and uses of data mining, such as prediction and forecasting. Learn how to detect anomalies, and how to recognize scenarios for which Microsoft data mining technology is best suited. Using a typical business-driven approach to data mining, we show how to identify data mining opportunities, and cover the practical elements needed to make it work well, such as data preparation, model building, and validation. We then examine the output, consider different implementation methods, and conclude with recommendations on how to maintain your data mining solution.

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032297086&Culture=en-US

Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 RPC over HTTP Deployment Scenarios

MJDorner — Mon, 08 May 2006 09:00:00 GMT

Exchange Server 2003 and Microsoft Office Outlook 2003, combined with Microsoft Windows Server 2003, support the use of RPC over HTTP to access Exchange servers. Using the Microsoft Windows RPC over HTTP feature to enable your users to connect to their Exchange mailbox eliminates the requirement for remote office users to use a virtual private network (VPN) to connect to their Exchange servers. Users who are running Outlook 2003 on client computers can connect directly to an Exchange server in a corporate environment from the Internet. This guide includes information about deploying RPC over HTTP in Exchange Server 2003.

SQL Server 2005 Books Online (April 2006)

MJDorner — Fri, 05 May 2006 19:08:00 GMT

Download an updated version of the documentation and tutorials for Microsoft SQL Server 2005. See the "Additional Information" section for an update on SQL Server Express Books Online.

Download SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 1

MJDorner — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 10:20:00 GMT

SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 1 with Database Mirroring, SQL Server Management Studio Express, additional options for ISVs, and feature fixes is now available for download.

The Identity Management Seminar (by Rafal Lukawiecki)

MJDorner — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 12:13:00 GMT

Make sure you're there. Book now

Date: May 4, 2006
Time: 09:00 - 17:00
Event Location: Casino Zug, CH-6300 Zug
Attendance Fee: CHF 90.00 excl. VAT / Person
More information: Click here
Registration: Click here

8 New SQL Server 2005 Report Packs!

mtruempy — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 10:58:00 GMT

SQL Server’s presence at Convergence represents how Dynamics is committed to enabling their customers to improve business insight through the SQL Server BI platform. In addition to providing information about SQL Server 2005 and its BI technologies, the team announced several new and updated Report Packs to help customers quickly design and deploy reports.

Based on the successful release of SQL Server 2000 Report Packs (more than 147,000 downloaded), the team has released six updated and three new Report Packs for SQL Server 2005.

They are available today as a free Web download at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=D81722CE-408C-4FB6-A429-2A7ECD62F674&displaylang=en.

We are also launching a new site designed to solicit customer and partner feedback: http://codegallery.gotdotnet.com/sqlrptpack (membership is free).

Customer/Partner Benefits:

Allow customers to kick start creating reports for applications and speed up report design and deployment
Greater productivity and efficiency for all users from the platform to the application
Enable partners to accelerate development of their solutions and help their customers take advantage of advanced business insight to drive business success

The 8 new/updated Report Packs include:

SQL Server 2005 Integration Services
SharePoint Portal Server 2003
Internet Information Services (IIS) Logs
Microsoft Axapta 3.0
Microsoft Great Plains 8.0
Microsoft Dynamics Great Plains 9.0
Microsoft Dynamics Navision 4.0
Financial Reporting

Installing MS Office Business Scorecard Manager on SQL Server 2000 -or- SQL Server 2005

mtruempy — Mon, 06 Mar 2006 10:54:00 GMT

Getting started quickly with creating Scorecards and Dashboards with Microsoft Office Business Scorecard Manager 2005 is possible in leveraging both SQL Server 2000 or SQL Server 2005 - there is one exception though: If you want to use the BSM Alerts you need SQL Server 2000 Notification Services. BSM Alerts currently don’t work with SQL Server 2005.

step-by-step installation instructions for BSM with SQL 2005 are available here:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA101056881033.aspx

Installation instructions for BSM with SQL 2000 are available here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=D2F8C636-602D-4744-BA7D-D3821F8920D5&displaylang=en (download the Admin Guide for details)

FREE e-learning (90 days subscription) on SQL Server 2005 BI services

mtruempy — Mon, 06 Mar 2006 10:06:00 GMT

Course 2942: New Features of Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2005 Analysis Services

Summary:
This course is a technically deep learning experience for architects, systems engineers, systems administrators, solution developers, or application developers. The course is designed for either the planning/design phase of technology adoption, or on implementation issues specific to the build, deployment and management phases. The course provides detailed reference content and in-depth practical and hands-on activities.

Audience:
IT Pro

Available Offline:
Yes

Price:
~~$99.00~~ NOW FREE (90-day subscription)

Course 2943: Updating Your Data ETL Skills to Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2005 Integration Services

Course 2944: Updating Your Reporting Skills to Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2005 Reporting Services

Summary: This course is a technically deep learning experience for architects, systems engineers, systems administrators, solution developers, or application developers. The Course is designed for either the planning/design phase of technology adoption, or on implementation issues specific to the build, deployment and management phases. The Course provides detailed reference content and in-depth practical and hands-on activities.

Audience:
IT Pro

Available Offline:
Yes

Price:
~~$99.00~~ NOW FREE (90-day subscription)

SQL Server 2000 Management Pack for MOM 2005

MJDorner — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 10:52:00 GMT

The Microsoft SQL Server Management Pack monitors SQL Server 2000 and 2005 for critical conditions indicating potential operational problems.

Download

Released: Microsoft SQL Server 2005 JDBC Driver

MJDorner — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 22:16:00 GMT

Download the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 JDBC Driver, a Type 4 JDBC driver that provides database connectivity through the standard JDBC application program interfaces (APIs) available in J2EE (Java2 Enterprise Edition).

Download