SQL Server is essential for BizTalk Server. To support BizTalk pub/sub architecture a database is key to publish messages and to cater for subscriptions. I recently sat down with database administrators at a customer explaining the role of SQL Server in a BizTalk group. When all the BizTalk features are installed and configured the following databases are provisioned in SQL Server:

• BizTalkMsgBoxDb – Messages
• BizTalkMgmtDb – Configuration
• BizTalkDTADb – Tracking
• BAMArchive, BAMPrimairyImport, BAMStarSchema – Business Activity
• BAMAlertsApplication, BAMAlertsNSMain – BAM Alerts
• SSODB – Single Sign On
• BizTalkRuleEngineDb – Business Rule Engine

On TechNet Wiki you can find a database survival guide that provides links to all kinds of resources related to BizTalk databases. The health of these databases is very important for a sustainable BizTalk Server messaging environment.

With provisioning of the BizTalk databases during the configuration of BizTalk Server databases jobs are being created. These jobs play an important role in keeping the BizTalk databases healthy. The role of each of these jobs is explained in TechNet Wiki article BizTalk Server 2010: SQL Agent Jobs.

Other aspects of SQL Server regarding BizTalk are backup/restore, tracking and availability of its databases. You can find articles on these subjects on TechNet Wiki:

• BizTalk Server 2010: Database BizTalkDTADb - Tracking
• Aspects of Backup for Your BizTalk Databases - Backup/Restore
• BizTalk Server: High Availability - Availability

TechNet wiki is a great resource for Database Administrators that are responsible for SQL Server instances that have the BizTalk databases. I pointed these resources out to the database administrators I talked to. They can benefit from the information provided for in the articles and the references to MSDN. So can you if you are responsible for BizTalk databases on SQL Server or like to learn about them.

 - Ninja Steef-Jan (Blog, Wiki, Twitter, Profile)

Hello and welcome everybody to our TNWiki Article Spotlight on Tuesday.

The last week has been an amazing week for Windows Azure fans. First we had the AzureConf on Tuesday and then on Saturday the Global Windows Azure Bootcamp has been an enormous success.
One of the great features of Windows Azure are the HDInsight Services, which are currently in preview. Additionally to Windows Azure HDInsight is also available for Windows. But what are the HDInsight Services? They are Microsofts answer to the current Big Data discussion. If you want to become familiar with it I have an article which I highly recommend - Microsoft HDInsight (Big Data) Solution.

Why I recommend this article? You will find a lot of information about Big Data, upcoming events, downloads, videos, etc. in it. All in all, anything you will need to get started. If you think something is missing in this article, just add it to it. Also, if you find other great articles about HDInsight let me know and leave a comment to this post.

- German Ninja Jan (Twitter, Blog, Profile)

Hello and welcome everybody to our TNWiki Article Spotlight on Tuesday.

Some time ago I found some articles from Margriet Bruggeman about SharePoint best practices. It was a perfect example how a community can work and win together. Since this time Margriet posted a lot of articles about SharePoint.

Today I want introduce you to one of her newer articles about best practices for SharePoint 2013. What can you expect from this article? You will find a lot of information of best practices for SharePoint installation, upgrade and migration, apps, every day usage, etc. But, is that everything you can expect from it? No! You will also find links to the top ten blogs you should follow and training material. In summary, everything you will need to run a smooth SharePoint installation.

Do you like best practices articles? If so, please let me know if you know other best practices articles on the wiki with a comment to this post.

- German Ninja Jan (Twitter, Blog, Profile)

For today's Interview with a Wiki Ninja, I'm interviewing...

Rafael Mantovani - Profile

Rafael has written 73 TechNet Wiki articles, has made 364 article edits, and has commented on the Wiki 213 times! He is an incredibly valuable contributor to the TechNet Wiki community! And it's far more impressive once you find out all the Microsoft technologies that Rafael helps lead the communities for. Let's get started on our interview...

Who are you, where are you, and what do you do? What are your specialty technologies?

English - My name is Rafael Mantovani, I´m from São Paulo and live in Curitiba, Brazil. Currently working at a Microsoft Partner as Support Enginneer, where i am responsible for troubleshooting Exchange issues. My specialty technologies are Directory Services, Exchange, and Office 365.

Português - Meu nome é Rafael Mantovani, sou de São Paulo moro em Curitiba. Atualmente trabalho em um parceiro Microsoft como Support Enginneer, onde sou responsável por solucionar problemas relacionados ao Exchange. Especialista em Directory Services, Exchange e Office 365.


What are your big projects right now?

English - Studying for Office 365 certifications and maintaining my personal blog: http://rafaelmantovani.net/

Português - Estudando para certificações de Office 365 e mantendo meu blog pessoal http://rafaelmantovani.net


Besides your work on TechNet Wiki, where do you contribute?

English - I contribute at TechNet Forums answering questions and as a moderator, creating MVA courses like Introdução ao Active Directory http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/training-courses/introducao-ao-active-directory, Noções básicas sobre instalação de servidores https://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/training-courses/nocoes-basicas-sobre-instalacao-de-servidores, and Webcasts.

Português - Contribuo nos Fóruns TechNet respondendo perguntas e como moderador, criando cursos MVA como Introdução ao Active Directory http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/training-courses/introducao-ao-active-directory, Noções básicas sobre instalação de servidores https://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/training-courses/nocoes-basicas-sobre-instalacao-de-servidores e Webcasts.


What is TechNet Wiki for? Who is it for?

English - TechNet Wiki is a source of information related to Microsoft Products, which can assist us quickly on a specific subject. Everyone can contribute by creating new articles, and also can edit/add information to existing articles.

Português - TechNet Wiki é uma fonte de informação relacionada aos produtos Microsoft, que podem nos ajudar rapidamente em um assunto específico. Todos podem contribuir com a criação de novos artigos, e também editar/adicionar informações aos já existentes.


What do you do with TechNet Wiki, and how does that fit into the rest of your job?

English - Contribute to the TechNet Wiki to build my personal Knowledge Base and help people solve issues in their environment (sometimes I use the Wiki to find and solve issues that already have a written article, but I can't remember how to fix them and can't find them when I search for them).

Português - Contribuir para o TechNet Wiki para construir a minha base de dados de conhecimento pessoal e ajudar as pessoas a resolver problemas em seus ambientes (as vezes pego alguns problemas que já escrevi artigos mas não lembro como corrigir e procuro por eles).
 
 
On what Wiki articles do you spend most of your time?

English - Everything related to Active Directory, Exchange, and Office 365.

Português - Tudo relacionado ao Active Directory, Exchange e Office 365.
 
 
What are your favorite Wiki articles you´ve contributed?

Delegando Controle: Usuário Perde a Permissão Após Aproximadamente 01 Hora (AdminSDHolder e Protected Groups)
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/5253.aspx
 
 
What are your top 5 favorite Wiki articles?

Preparação para o exame 70-662
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/pt-br/contents/articles/13304.preparacao-para-o-exame-70-662.aspx

Guia de Sobrevivência: Office 365
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/pt-br/contents/articles/12537.guia-de-sobrevivencia-office-365.aspx

Removendo Alertas de Segurança do cliente Outlook
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/pt-br/contents/articles/15647.removendo-alertas-de-seguranca-do-cliente-outlook.asPx

Solucionando Problemas: Não é possível acessar o OWA apresentando Acesso Negado (Access is denied)
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/pt-br/contents/articles/12479.solucionando-problemas-nao-e-possivel-acessar-o-owa-apresentando-acesso-negado-access-is-denied.aspx

Solucionando Problemas: Não é possível realizar tracking de mensagens utilizando o Message tracking do Exchange Server 2010, aparecendo sem resultado “No Results”
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/8162.solucionando-problemas-nao-e-possivel-realizar-tracking-de-mensagens-utilizando-o-message-tracking-do-exchange-server-2010-aparecendo-sem-resultado-no-results-pt-br.aspx
 
 
Who has impressed you in the Wiki community, and why?

English - Yuri Diogenes at a Community Zone, where he lectured on how to contribute to the TechNet Wiki and general questions. Friends from community with their dedication and amount of contributions.

Português - Yuri Diogenes em um Community Zone, onde palestrou sobre como contribuir para o TechNet Wiki e questões gerais. Amigos da comunidade com sua dedicação e quantidade de contribuições.
 
 
Do you have any comments for product groups about TechNet Wiki?

English - Thanks so much for this opportunity; continue with this great work.

Português - Muito obrigado por esta oportunidade, continue com este grande trabalho.

  

Thank you to Rafael for the interview! Please ask Rafael any more questions in the comments below!

   - Ninja Ed

The latest Wiki Life articles have been guiding you into some design principles on the Technet Wiki.
I hope you have enjoyed last week's Wiki Life: Design Principles.
Ana Paula de Almeida has put together a useful series of baseline design principles.
In that perspective, also check the techiques used by Markus Vilcinskas in the WIki toolbox (See: Wiki Life: Introduction to the Wiki Toolbox).

In this blogpost I would like to highlight a few advanced design tips & techniques.

Using and Fixing TOC

The Wiki Toolbox has some templates on board to build a basic article with advanced layout, using headers and TOC.

The use of the TOC is explained in this article How to Automatically Add a Table of Contents (TOC) to Your Wiki Article .
Other Wiki Ninjas have put considerable effort to explain the TOC in other languages too.

Important note:
When you plan to use the TOC, avoid using numbers in the header text, as the TOC auto-generation risks to fail.

See: Tips & Tricks to fix the Wiki article [TOC] (Table of Contents)

Using and Fixing color

To make your article more attracive, the use of colors is an interesting technique.
But sometimes the use of the default color codes in hexadecimal or RGB values in HTML doesn't deliver a stable result.

A practical hint I wish to highlight is the use of color names, see WIKI: Troubleshooting color issues in your Wiki articles

Using the "Back to top" Link

The use of the "↑ Back to top" link in an article is a useful technique to ease navigation.
There are 2 components you need to make it work.

1. Use a "TOP" Anchor, on the first line of your HTML code:

• Go into HTML Edit mode of your article.
• The first line of HTML code must be :

<a name="Top"></a>

2. After every large paragraph use the "↑ Back to top" link

In HTML code it looks like:

<p>↑&nbsp;<a href="#Top">Back to top</a></p>

Using and fixing tables

It still requires some further investigation, but one of the items Wiki authors seems to struggle with is the use of tables.
One of the articles I would like to refer to is TechNet Wiki: Technology Tags.

Lots of people have been contributing to this article.
But the use of the table in the article has not always the required result.

The use of relative column width  (in %, not fixed px), seems to stabilize the table layout when the articles is published.
More on this topic to follow later on.

[Ka-jah Shakaah!]
The Security & Identity Ninja.

Peter Geelen     
peter@fim2010.com
Premier Field Engineer - Security & Identity at Microsoft
CISSP, CISA, MCT