Sql-Server

Well it was great news this morning that SQL Server 2008 RTM has hit the download sites. Also keep an eye out for Visual Studio 2008 SP1 which has been listed as coming August 11th.

2008-08-07

I’ve been doing another performance tuning job today and it highlighted to me once again that problem that a lack of indexes on foreign key columns can bring.

By adding indexes on the foreign keys on three tables, we saw a reduction of 87% in total I/O load on the server. There are other aspects of the system that I’m now working on but it really struck me that having SQL Server do this by default would avoid a lot of apparent performance problems. It would have to be one of the most common indexing issues that I see in my work.

2008-07-28

In the latest podcasts at www.sqldownunder.com , we’re giving away a Visual Studio MSDN Premium Online license for a year, courtesy of our friends at Microsoft. It’s a simple:

* you need to visit Quest’s site for info on Litespeed via the simple link http://shrinkster.com/10fn,

* read the article covering 10 things DBAs often don’t know about Litespeed

* email a description of two of them to questATsqldownunder.com (replacing AT with @) before August 17th 2008

2008-07-28

I’ve also been looking around for a new phone. It became much more urgent last week after I dropped my iMate.

After trying lots of phones, I ended up opting for an iPhone 3G. And after using it for a few days, couldn’t be happier with it. Well, not quite true, if it worked as a NextG modem as well, it would be even better as the data plans are quite costly here in Australia.

2008-07-22

I saw an interesting videopod from Steve Jones the other day where he noted that upcoming processors would have many more cores than now and hoping that DBAs won’t have to learn to write multiprocessor-style code. What was also interesting was the way he described that he learned some of this style of coding but later when he came back to it, he realised how much he thought he knew but didn’t.

2008-07-21

Hi Folks,

SQL Down Under show 38 with guest SQL Server MVP Andy Leonard discussing database testing is now available for download from www.sqldownunder.com .

The show also includes a competition.

Enjoy !

Regards,

Greg

2008-07-19

I caught up with James Luetkehoelter at the PASS Summit in Germany a few months back. He sent me a copy of his new book from APress: Pro SQL Server Disaster Recovery.

I managed to finish reading it while heading back from CodeCampSA in Adelaide today (which was a good solid event again - excellent work Peter Griffiths!). I quite enjoyed the book and I like James’ writing style. It’s quite conversational and I could hear him talking to me as I read it.

2008-07-13

Those that I’ve discussed WPF with over the years will know that I think that Microsoft really struggles to demonstrate *business* value for WPF. I’ve attended many sessions where I’ve been shown things like the ability to show a video in the taskbar while you flip the taskbar around the screen :-(

Congratulations to Billy Hollis for his WPF business application presentation done on Carl Franklin’s DNR TV recently. If you’ve been wondering how WPF might add value to a business application, watch the first 24 minutes or so of this show.

2008-07-10

There are a number of key books that I’ve missed reading over the years, in areas that interest me. Recently, I’ve been fixing that. One that is always discussed is The Microsoft Data Warehouse Toolkit by Joy Mundy and Warren Thornthwaite from the Kimball Group.

I would have to say I enjoyed reading it. It is a large book at over 700 pages and a couple of inches thick so it took a while to get through.

2008-07-09

Well I was called out by Tibor Karaszi, so here goes:

How old were you when you first started programming?

I’d say I was about 19 when I started. I remember in 1976 that I was at University of Queensland. I was doing an honours degree in physics and maths and didn’t have the slightest interest in those computing people that spent their lunch hours looking at great piles of 15x11 listings. By the next year, I was one of them.

2008-07-08