Louis Davidson

Pro SQL Server 2012 Practices is an anthology of high-end wisdom from a group of accomplished database administrators who are quietly but relentlessly pushing the performance and feature envelope of Microsoft SQL Server 2012. With an emphasis upon performance—but also branching into release management, auditing, and other issues—the book helps you deliver the most value for your company’s investment in Microsoft’s flagship database system.Goes beyond the manual to cover good techniques and best practicesDelivers knowledge usually gained only by hard experienceFocuses upon performance, scalability, reliabilityHelps achieve the predictability needed to be in control at all times

Learn how to combine SQL Server's analytics with Azure's flexibility and hybrid connectivity to achieve industry-leading performance and manageability for your cloud database.Key FeaturesUnderstand platform availability for SQL Server in AzureExplore the benefits and deployment choices offered by SQL IaaSGet to grips with deploying SQL Server on the Linux development ecosystemBook DescriptionDeploying SQL Server on Azure virtual machines allows you to work on full versions of SQL Server in the cloud without having to maintain on-premises hardware. The book begins by introducing you to the SQL portfolio in Azure and takes you through SQL Server IaaS scenarios, before explaining the factors that you need to consider while choosing an OS for SQL Server in Azure VMs. As you progress through the book, you'll explore different VM options and deployment choices for IaaS and understand platform availability, migration tools, and best practices in Azure. In later chapters, you'll learn how to configure storage to achieve optimized performance. Finally, you'll get to grips with the concept of Azure Hybrid Benefit and find out how you can use it to maximize the value of your existing on-premises SQL Server.By the end of this book, you'll be proficient in administering SQL Server on Microsoft Azure and leveraging the tools required for its deployment.What you will learnChoose an operating system for SQL Server in Azure VMsUse the Azure Management Portal to facilitate the deployment processVerify connectivity and network latency in cloudConfigure storage for optimal performance and connectivityExplore various disaster recovery options for SQL Server in AzureOptimize SQL Server on LinuxDiscover how to back up databases to a URLWho this book is forSQL Server on Azure VMs is for you if you are a developer, data enthusiast, or anyone who wants to migrate SQL Server databases to Azure virtual machines. Basic familiarity with SQL Server and managed identities for Azure resources will be a plus.

Dynamic Management Views (DMVs) are a significant and valuable addition to the DBA's troubleshooting armory, laying bare previously unavailable information regarding the under-the-covers activity of your database sessions and transactions. Why, then, aren't all DBAs using them? Why do many DBAs continue to ignore them in favour of tried and trusted tools such as sp_who2, DBCC OPENTRAN, and so on, or make do with the ready made reports built into SSMS? Why do even those that do use the DMVs speak wistfully about good old sysprocesses? There seem to be two main factors at work. Firstly, some DBAs are simply unaware of the depth and breadth of the information that is available from the DMvs, or how it might help them troubleshoot common issues. This book investigates all of the DMVs that are most frequently useful to the DBA in investigating query execution, index usage, session and transaction activity, disk IO, and how SQL Server is using or abusing the operating system. Secondly, the DMVs have a reputation of being difficult to use. In the process of exposing as much useful data as possible, sysprocesses has been de-normalized, and many new views and columns have been added. This fact, coupled with the initially-baffling choices of what columns will be exposed where, has lead to some DBAs to liken querying DMVs to collecting mystic spells. In fact, however, once you start to write your own scripts, you'll see the same tricks, and similar join patterns, being used time and again. As such, a relatively small core set of scripts can be readily adapted to suit any requirement. This book is here to de-mystify the process of collecting the information you need to troubleshoot SQL Server problems. It will highlight the core techniques and patterns that you need to master, and will provide a core set of scripts that you can use and adapt for your own systems, including how to: * Root out the queries that are causing memory or CPU pressure on your system * Investigate caching, and query plan reuse * Identify index usage patterns * Track fragmentation in clustered indexes and heaps * Get full details on blocking and blocked transactions, including the exact commands being executed, and by whom. * Find out where SQL Server is spending time waiting for resources to be released, before proceeding * Monitor usage and growth of tempdb The DMVs don't make existing, built-in, performance tools obsolete. On the contrary, they complement these tools, and offer a flexibility, richness and granularity that are simply not available elsewhere. Furthermore, you don't need to master a new GUI, or a new language in order to use them; it's all done in a language all DBAs know and mostly love: T-SQL.

SQL Server 2005 is a dramatically expanded and enhanced version of SQL Server 2000 that not only makes SQL Server a true enterprise-level RDBMS, but also changes how SQL Server professionals design databases and develop database applications. Pro SQL Server 2005 provides in-depth coverage of new SQL Server features and enhancements. It focuses on what experienced SQL Server database administrators, developers, and business intelligence practitioners need to know to get up to speed with SQL Server 2005 as quickly as possible. It carefully presents each new feature and precisely illustrates the feature with examples that show you how to use it effectively. The authors provide practical, in-depth coverage of the core topics that they specialize inall supported by realistic examples, so you'll be able to design and implement your own SQL Server 2005 solutions quickly and painlessly. This book is a roadmap for exploring and exploiting SQL Server 2005. So fasten your seatbelts, start your computers, and race to mastery of SQL Server 2005!

Conquer SQL Server 2022 and Azure SQL administration from the inside out! Dive into SQL Server 2022 administration and grow your Microsoft SQL Server data platform skillset. This well-organized reference packs in timesaving solutions, tips, and workarounds, all you need to plan, implement, deploy, provision, manage, and secure SQL Server 2022 in any environment: on-premises, cloud, or hybrid, including detailed, dedicated chapters on Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL Managed Instance. Nine experts thoroughly tour DBA capabilities available in the SQL Server 2022 Database Engine, SQL Server Data Tools, SQL Server Management Studio, PowerShell, and much more. You'll find extensive new coverage of Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL Managed Instance, both as a cloud platform of SQL Server and in their new integrations with SQL Server 2022, information available in no other book. Discover how experts tackle today's essential tasks and challenge yourself to new levels of mastery. Identify low-hanging fruit and practical, easy wins for improving SQL Server administrationGet started with modern SQL Server tools, including SQL Server Management Studio, and Azure Data StudioUpgrade your SQL Server administration skillset to new features of SQL Server 2022, Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance, and SQL Server on LinuxDesign and implement modern on-premises database infrastructure, including KubernetesLeverage data virtualization of third-party or non-relational data sourcesMonitor SQL instances for corruption, index activity, fragmentation, and extended eventsAutomate maintenance plans, database mail, jobs, alerts, proxies, and event forwardingProtect data through encryption, privacy, and auditingProvision, manage, scale and secure, and bidirectionally synchronize Microsoft's powerful Azure SQL Managed InstanceUnderstand and enable new Intelligent Query Processing features to increase query concurrencyPrepare a best-practice runbook for disaster recoveryUse SQL Server 2022 features to span infrastructure across hybrid environments

Use the graph table features in Azure SQL that were introduced in SQL Server 2017 and further refined in SQL Server 2019. This book shows you how to create data structures to capture complex connections between items in your data. These connections will help you analyze and draw insights from connections in your data that go beyond classic relationships. The graph examples in the book are useful for analyzing social media relationships, complex product-to-customer relationships, and any other type of data analysis in which indirect connections that otherwise might be missed using conventional techniques can be mined for their insight and business value. Tree structures are covered, with emphasis on a structure commonly used by organizations to aggregate data at different levels of an organization. The book provides code examples of SQL Graph objects as well as an alternate tree implementation technique. Included is sample data (and data generators) for you to test for performance and choose the implementation approach that best suits your needs and that of your application.If your job involves analyzing or storage of data elements that are connected in a networked topology, then this is the book that will help you bring the power of SQL Server to bear on that data and take advantage of your existing knowledge. What You Will LearnUnderstand the graph model and the associated terms used in graph analysisStore highly connected data in SQL Server and Azure SQL alongside existing relational dataMake full use of the graph table feature that is refined and enhanced in SQL Server 2019Implement high performance tree structures that will make storing and querying tree data possibleReport on data associated with a tree structure to aggregate results at different levelsWho This Book Is For

Learn effective and scalable database design techniques in SQL Server 2019 and other recent SQL Server versions. This book is revised to cover additions to SQL Server that include SQL graph enhancements, in-memory online transaction processing, temporal data storage, row-level security, and other design-related features. This book will help you design OLTP databases that are high-quality, protect the integrity of your data, and perform fast on-premises, in the cloud, or in hybrid configurations. Designing an effective and scalable database using SQL Server is a task requiring skills that have been around for well over 30 years, using technology that is constantly changing. This book covers everything from design logic that business users will understand to the physical implementation of design in a SQL Server database. Grounded in best practices and a solid understanding of the underlying theory, author Louis Davidson shows you how to "getit right" in SQL Server database design and lay a solid groundwork for the future use of valuable business data.What You Will LearnDevelop conceptual models of client data using interviews and client documentationImplement designs that work on premises, in the cloud, or in a hybrid approachRecognize and apply common database design patternsNormalize data models to enhance integrity and scalability of your databases for the long-term use of valuable dataTranslate conceptual models into high-performing SQL Server databasesSecure and protect data integrity as part of meeting regulatory requirementsCreate effective indexing to speed query performanceUnderstand the concepts of concurrencyWho This Book Is ForProgrammers and database administrators of all types who want to use SQL Server to store transactional data. The book is especially useful to those wanting to learn the latest database design features in SQL Server 2019 (features that include graph objects, in-memory OLTP, temporal data support, and more). Chapters on fundamental concepts, the language of database modeling, SQL implementation, and the normalization process lay a solid groundwork for readers who are just entering the field of database design. More advanced chapters serve the seasoned veteran by tackling the latest in physical implementation features that SQL Server has to offer. The book has been carefully revised to cover all the design-related features that are new in SQL Server 2019.

Direct from Microsoft, this bundle contains the following two study guides at a $15 discount: Exam Ref 70-761 Querying Data with Transact-SQL, 9781509304332, offers professional-level preparation that helps candidates maximize their exam performance and sharpen their skills on the job. It focuses on the specific areas of expertise modern database professionals need to succeed with T-SQL database queries. Exam Ref 70-762 Developing SQL Databases, 9781509304912, offers professional-level preparation that helps candidates maximize their exam performance and sharpen their skills on the job. It focuses on the specific areas of expertise modern database professionals need to succeed with SQL database development. These are the two exams necessary for the MCSA certification in SQL Server 2016 Database Development.

Prepare for Microsoft Exam 70-762, Developing SQL Databases –and help demonstrate your real-world mastery of skills for building and implementing databases across organizations. Designed for database professionals who build and implement databases across organizations and who ensure high levels of data availability, Exam Ref focuses on the critical-thinking and decision-making acumen needed for success at the MCSA level. Focus on the expertise measured by these objectives: • Design and implement database objects • Implement programmability objects • Manage database concurrency • Optimize database objects and SQL infrastructure This Microsoft Exam Ref: • Organizes its coverage by exam objectives • Features strategic, what-if scenarios to challenge you • Assumes you have working knowledge of Microsoft Windows, Transact-SQL, and relational databases About the Exam Exam 70-762 focuses on skills and knowledge for building and implementing databases across organizations and ensuring high levels of data availability. About Microsoft Certification Passing this exam earns you credit toward a Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA) certification that demonstrates your mastery of modern database development. Exam 70-761 (Querying Data with Transact-SQL) is also required for MCSA: SQL 2016 Database Development. See full details at: microsoft.com/learning

Learn effective and scalable database design techniques in a SQL Server environment. Pro SQL Server 2008 Relational Database Design and Implementation covers everything from design logic that business users will understand, all the way to the physical implementation of the design in a SQL Server database. Grounded in best practices and a solid understanding of the underlying theory, authors Louis Davidson, Kevin Kline, Scott Klein, and Kurt Windisch show how to 'get it right' in SQL Server database design and lay a solid groundwork for the future use of valuable business data. Solid foundation in best practices and relational theory Maximize SQL Server features to enhance security, performance, scalability Thorough treatment from conceptual design to an effective, physical implementation

Pro SQL Server 2005 Database Design and Optimization will teach you effective strategies for designing proper databases. It covers everything from how to gather business requirements to logical data modeling and normalization. It then shows you how to implement your design on SQL Server 2005. The authors also describe how to optimize and secure access to this data, covering indexing strategies, SQL design and optimization, and strategies for increased scalability to support large numbers of concurrent users. They provide in-depth advice on optimal code distribution in SQL Server 2005 applications, in the wake of innovations to be able to use .NET code in the database itself. This essential book will ensure that projects have a well-designed database and secure, optimized data access strategies right from the start.

This book takes an in-depth, practical look at the process of designing and building efficient relational databases. It is a book of two halves. The first covers the logical design of databases, and the second looks at the physical design and implementation on SQL Server 2000. Whereas many texts on this topic are rather dry and theoretical, this book considers design issues from a "real world" point of view. It covers the process of implementing a database using Microsoft SQL Server 2000 from the point where someone mentions to you that they want a database, all the way through to generating tables and implementing access to these tables. It provides a full and realistic case study that clearly illustrates the full process, from initial discussions of a client's needs, through development of a logical model, to a full implementation of the system.

Stored procedures are compiled T-SQL statements that reside on the database, and are the cornerstone of successful data manipulation; data-handling operations of any complexity make use of them. This book is an in-depth guide to a key area of database development.This book tackles real-world problems faced by developers when working with stored procedures, showing how to solve these problems, avoid the common pitfalls and work around them, to produce faster, more robust stored procedures. Put simply: if you want to write better stored procedures, then this is the book for you.