Is There Such a Thing as Easy ETL?

June 30, 2011 by 1 Comment

E.T.L. That's Extract - Transform - Load.  That doesn't sound like a lot of work when all you need to get loaded is a simple Access database or an Excel spreadsheet.  In a situation like that, the process is so simple, all you really need to focus on is the L in ETL.  There's not a whole lot of E.T. to process, despite how wonderful that movie is. [pun intended]  But as soon as your data loading process involves some difficult or sophisticated cleansing or transformations, it gets really, really hard. The other cross-thread that had really caught my interest lately is the USA federal … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cool Technologies, On-Line Resources, SQL Server, Tool Time Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Wednesday Quest: Plenty O’Betas and Product Releases

June 29, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Spotlight on SQL Server That's right! An all new version 8.0 of Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise is now GA and updated trials are live on the website. Some cool stuff therein: • Support for SQL Server 2011 (Denali) - Spotlight can now be used to monitor SQL Server 2011 databases (Denali CTP1 and CTP2 releases). • Project Lucy integration - Use Project Lucy to analyze the performance of your database and compare your experience with everyone else who uses the service. • VMware memory diagnostics - Analyze virtual memory using charts similar to that used to analyze virtual CPU. We also … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Administration, Challenges, Databases, SQL Server Tagged With: , , , ,

Pain of the Week/Expert’s Perspective: Performance Tuning for Backups and Restores

June 27, 2011 by Leave a Comment

First off - the Pain of the Week webcast series has been renamed.  It's now known as The Expert's Perspective.  Please join us for future webcasts and, if you're interested in speaking, drop me a note to see if we can get you on the roster! The bigger your databases get, the longer backups take. That doesn't really seem like a huge problem — until disaster strikes and you need to restore your databases as fast as possible. Join my buddy Brent Ozar (blog | twitter), a Microsoft Certified Master of SQL Server and good friend, as he reveals ways to make these critically important … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Administration, Databases, Performance, SQL Server, SQLServerPedia Syndication, Tips & Tricks Tagged With: , , , ,

NOSQL- A Quick Overview

June 2, 2011 by 1 Comment

Several attendees at the SQLRally were asking about NoSQL ("Not Only SQL") and its benefits. This article gives a quick overview: HERE. Also, two good resources have come out from my friend Guy Harrison. This piece on Cassandra, one of the most popular NoSQL databases, was published a while back in Database Trends and Applications Magazine. I also really liked these entries from Guy at TechRepublic and TechTarget.  Guy also had the good fortune of having one of his articles published on GigaOm and then picked up in the New York Times Technology section. The article, titled “Real World … [Read more...]

Filed Under: BigData, Cool Technologies, Databases, DBTA, NoSQL, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: , ,

Wednesday Quest: Toad and Policy-Based Management

June 1, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Did you know that Toad for SQL Server has some nice features for users of policy-based management (PBM)? Importing Policies For example, Toad can import policies into a PBM server, so that you don’t have to manually create them every time.  You can import policies that you have exported from other servers, and you can also import the Microsoft Best Practice Policies.  (Read about the concept HERE).  The Microsoft policies are a great place to start learning what you can do with PBM, by simply importing them and inspecting their various configurations.  They are installed by default and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Administration, Databases, SQL Server, Tips & Tricks Tagged With: , , , ,

Available Online – SQL Server Training Videos

May 31, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Interested in my various performance tuning and troubleshooting videos about SQL Server?  These videos feature my good buddies (and uber-SQL Server experts) Brent Ozar (blog | twitter) and Buck Woody (blog | twitter).  View these insight-packed training videos from our SQL Server training events originally presented on March 3 and July 21 of 2010:HERE. You can watch the videos now at the URL above or order a DVD, shipped free of charge in the USA and Canada, HERE. Enjoy! -Kev ~~~ Twitter at kekline More content on my Blog … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Administration, Challenges, Databases, IO, On-Line Resources, Performance, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

From SQLMag Tool Time Column: SSMS Plug-in News

May 12, 2011 by Leave a Comment

I first wrote about Mladen Prajdic's excellent tool in my Tool Time column at SQL Server Magazine HERE.    The tool is a nice plug-in to SSMS and definitely worth having.  If you’ve never installed it or have only installed an older version, but sure to pick up the newest release.  Here’s Mladen’s press release complete with hyperlink for the tool: SSMS Tools Pack 1.9.4 is out! Now with SQL Server 2011 (Denali) CTP1 support. As Mladen says: ...this release adds support for SQL Server 2011 (Denali) CTP1 and fixes a few bugs. Because of the new SSMS shell in SQL 2011 CTP1 the SSMS Tools … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Databases, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication, Tool Time Tagged With: , , , ,

SQL Server Migration Roll-Up

May 2, 2011 by Leave a Comment

There are so many great tools out there for data professionals using Microsoft SQL Server.  I really like to see all of these great tools made free to the public.  On the other hand, I'm bummed that the tools are cast about in a very decentralized fashion. If you haven't done migrations before, you might want to start with these good white papers first. Here are a hand full of cool migration tools worth mentioning: Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant (SSMA) for MySQL: Migrate from MySQL to SQL Azure or SQL Server with ease.  Plus, here are a few related Knowledge Base (KB) … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Administration, Challenges, Databases, On-Line Resources, Performance, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication, Tips & Tricks, Tool Time, Transact-SQL Programming, Virtualization Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

SQL People Interview

April 28, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Many thanks to Microsoft SQL Server MVP Andy Leonard (blog | twitter) for conducting a series of interviews of prominent SQL Server types, including me.  The interview found here. ~~~ Enjoy! -Kev Twitter at kekline More content at http://KevinEKline.com … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Databases, Interviews, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: , , , , ,

Toad for SQL Gets 5 Diamonds from SQL Server Magazine

April 27, 2011 by Leave a Comment

The Toad for SQL Server review that was recently conducted for SQL Server Magazine was published online – and we got 5 out of 5 diamonds! This is an improvement from the 4.5/5 stars Michael Campbell gave the product in a 2009 review. The review is very positive, with Michael citing the product’s highly customizable management and development solution, and writes that it “one-ups SSMS by including server, schema, and data comparison tools, a log reader, and a wide assortment of other options, capabilities, and utilities.” See the full review below or by clicking the link here: Toad for … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cloud, Databases, NoSQL, SQL Server, TCD blog post Tagged With: , , ,
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