SQL Server 2007 Beta1 CTP Released

Microsoft released SQL Server 2007 Beta1 CTP earlier today. You can download it here
A ton of new things, support for spatial data. New functions to deal with numeric data (IsInt, IsBigInt, IsSmallInt). Also new is the addition of Natural Join, a bunch of new dynamic management views that make it easier to prevent deadlocks. Another cool thing is the addition of the new BigDateTime datatype, this makes it possible to enter dates before 1753, you can actually go back to -3000. That is such a big plus for databases that deal with data that's older than 1753. What are you waiting for? Download it here now

SQL Server 2005 Books Online Scoped Search Provided By search.live.com

Check out the new Books On Line search provided by live.com. The link below provides a scoped search of Books Online. It will only return entries for the online version of Books On Line.

http://search.live.com/macros/sql_server_user_education/booksonline

TEMPDB and SQL Server 2005 Tip

When upgrading to SQL server 2005 you already know that you have to rebuild your indexes and update the statistics. In addition to that, create 1 data file per CPU core for the TEMPDB (Dual core counts as 2 CPUs; logical procs (hyperthreading) do not)
This will make a big difference, SQL Server 2005 uses the tempdb different than 2000, by adding more files you will see a dramatic performance improvement for big queries

Our queries on SQL Server 2005 ran slower than on 2000, by adding more files the queries are twice as fast than on the SQL Server 2000 box now

This behaviour is documented here: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/sql/bestpractice/storage-top-10.mspx

Look at number 7 (Consider configuration of TEMPDB database)
and number 8 (Lining up the number of data files with CPU’s has scalability advantages for allocation intensive workloads. )

A list of SQL Server 2005 Whitepapers and SQL Server 2000 Whitepapers

Kimberly Tripp compiled a nice list of all the top whitepapers available for SQL Server 2000 and SQL server 2005. Some of them are written by Bob Beauchemin and some of them are written by Kimberly herself. The number of available whitepapers for SQL server 2005 is 29 at this moment.

Get them all here: http://www.sqlskills.com/whitepapers.asp

How Not To Do Search Engine Optimization

Just ask Alex Chiu. This is what he wrote:

" Google controls 50% of the world's searches. This famous website is so controversial that it has been banned by the most popular search engine in the world 'Google'. That's right. You cannot find alexchiu.com in Google system. Some very important people don't want you to know about Alex Chiu. Alex Chiu is on more than 30 TV interviews, 250 radio interviews, and in business ever since 1996. Yet AlexChiu.com cannot show up on Google? "

Why is that? Very simple, take a look at his site http://alexchiu.com/
At the bottom of the page you will find a text area with over a thousand keywords, some of these keywords are:
System Heart Aorta Arteries Arterioles Capillaries Venules Veins Vena cava Pulmonaryarteries Lungs veins Blood Digestive Mouth Pharynx Esophagus Stomach Pancreas Gallbladder

This list goes on and on.

End result? Banned by Google.

SQL Server 2005 SP2 Has Added The OBJECT_SCHEMA_NAME Function, OBJECT_NAME Has Been Enhanced

SQL Server 2005 SP2 has an important enhancement to the OBJECT_NAME metadata function and a new OBJECT_SCHEMA_NAME metadata function. Because you pass object_id, and database_id to the OBJECT_NAME function it is not needed anymore to write dynamic SQL to get multi DB results.

The OBJECT_SCHEMA_NAME metadata function can be used to return the schema name of a schema-scoped object like a table or a view by specifying the object identifier and optional database identifier.

Read more about these 2 functions here, there is also SQL code available that show you how to use the functions on the site.

30 + Tools and Hacks for Gmail

This makeuseof site has some cool Gmail hacks and tools. There are FireFox Extensions, GreaseMonkey scripts,Desktop APPS & Web TOOLS and plain old tips and hacks. The ones that I like the best are Gmail attachment icons and label colors. below is an image of all these things in action

Link: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/gmail-craze-30-tools-to-make-your-gmail-better/

Microsoft SQL Server Samples and Community Projects On CodePlex

Codeplex is the project hosting site for Microsoft SQL Server Samples and Community Projects. This portal page for SQL Server on Codeplex catalogs samples included with Product Releases, samples from the community, and independent SQL Server Community projects.

Link: http://www.codeplex.com/SqlServerSamples

Make sure you check out the DBScript Utility

The Ten Most Asked SQL Server Related Programming Questions In Newsgroups

I have been participating in newsgroups/forums for about five years now and lately I have noticed that at least 60% of the questions are the same ten questions.
That is why I will create a blogpost that lists these ten questions and also provides an answer for them. I think that to write this will take me about a week.

Here is what I have so far

1 selecting only current day/yesterday from a table
2 adding days/weeks/years/months to dates
3 splitting string values
4 select * from one table that doesn't exist in another table
5 getting all rows from one table and only the latest from the child table
6 getting all characters until some character (charindex + left)
7 NULL stuff ( a bunch of stuff here dealing with nulls)
8 Row values to column (PIVOT)
9 Show 0001 as 1 and show 1 as 0001
10 CASE and checking for NULLs

I guess I could have added date display formatting. Did I miss any other obvious questions?

SQL Server Speaks Almost As Many Languages As I Do

Saw this error while running a job

Error Code: 4860
Cannot bulk load. The file "%ls" does not exist.
Massenladen ist nicht möglich. Die Datei "%1!" ist nicht vorhanden.
Chargement en bloc impossible. Le fichier "%1!" n'existe pas.
???????????????? "%1!" ???????? No se puede realizar la carga masiva......


This is the first time that I have seen a multi-language error. It appears that SQL Server 2005 is a multi-language 'speaker'.
So we have 4 languages in this error

English
Cannot bulk load. The file "%ls" does not exist.

German
Massenladen ist nicht möglich. Die Datei "%1!" ist nicht vorhanden.

French
Chargement en bloc impossible. Le fichier "%1!" n'existe pas.

Spanish
???????????????? "%1!" ???????? No se puede realizar la carga masiva (don't know what the deal is with those question marks, probabaly a missing font)


So I speak 2 of these languages and 2.5 other languages and also a dialect. But I can curse in many more ;-)

Microsoft Joins OpenAjax

OpenAjax Alliance, an open industry collaboration dedicated to developing and expanding Ajax, today announced that its membership has grown to 72 with the addition of Microsoft Corporation and 30 other companies.

"Microsoft is joining the OpenAJAX Alliance to collaborate with other industry leaders to help evolve AJAX-style development by ensuring a high degree of interoperability," said Keith Smith, group product manager of the Core Web Platform & Tools to UX Web/Client Platform & Tools team at Microsoft Corp. "By joining OpenAJAX, Microsoft is continuing its commitment to empower Web developers with technology that works cross-browser and cross-platform."

The newest OpenAjax Alliance members include: 24SevenOffice, ActiveGrid, ActiveState, Appeon, Aptana, Arimaan Global Consulting, Custom Credit Systems (Thinwire), ESRI, Getahead (DWR), Global Computer Enterprises, GoETC, Helmi Technologies, HR-XML, iPolipo, Isomorphic Software, JSSL, Lightstreamer, Microsoft, MobileAware, NetScript Technologies, OpenSpot, OpenSymphony (OpenQA), OpSource, OS3.IT, Redmonk, Tealeaf Technology, Teleca Mobile, Transmend, Visible Measures, Visual WebGui and Volantis Systems.

The Alliance is also announcing that the following members have all been awarded OpenAjax Interoperability certificates: Apache XAP, Dojo Foundation, ICEsoft, ILOG, Isomorphic, IT Mill, Lightstreamer, Open Link, Open Spot, Nexaweb, Software AG and TIBCO. The interoperability certificates represent progress by both OpenAjax Alliance and its members towards defining and achieving industry support for OpenAjax Conformance.

Read the press release here: http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=228535

Perfect SQL Developer Setup

Got this pic in the mail today. I have been working with a dual-monitor setup since 2001 but this is unquestionably better. Here is how I would use it.

Monitor1: Outlook, Word and Excel
Monitor2: Production SQL Servers
Monitor3: Staging and Development SQL Servers
Monitor4: Visual Studio, EditPlus, XML Spy, Sybase Power Designer, Visio, SQL Compare etc etc

You see, all work and no fun (makes Jack a dull boy)
Very SQLicious don’t you think? How would you use it?

St. Patrick's Day Joke: Irish Daughter

An Irish daughter had not been home for over 5 years. Upon her return her father cussed her. "Where have ye been all this time? Why did ye not write to us, not even a line? Why didn't ye call? Can ye not understand what ye put yer old mum thru?

The girl, crying, replied, "Sniff, sniff... dad... I became a prostitute..."

Ye what!!? Out of here, ye shameless harlot! Sinner! You're a disgrace to this family."

OK, dad-- as ye wish. I just came back to give mum this luxurious fur coat, title deed to a ten bedroom mansion plus a savings certificate for $5 million. For me little brother, this gold Rolex and for ye daddy, the sparkling new Mercedes limited edition convertible that's parked outside plus a membership to the country club....(takes a breath). ... and an invitation for ye all to spend New Years Eve on board my new yacht in the Riviera, and..."

Now what was it ye said ye had become?" says dad.

Girl, crying again, "Sniff, sniff.... a prostitute dad! Sniff, sniff."

Oh! Be Jesus! Ye scared me half to death, girl! I thought ye said a Protestant'. Come here and give yer old man a hug!"

Google Buys Gapminder

If you work with data and are trying to visualize this data then you will appreciate Google's latest purchase Gapminder. Gapminder and Google share an enthusiasm for technology that makes data easily accessible and understandable to the world. Gapminder’s Trendalyzer software unveils the beauty of statistics by converting boring numbers into enjoyable interactive animations. I found Human Development Trends, 2005 the more interesting application (two screenshots are at the bottom of this post). This application shows you visually that the number of poorest people continues to increase while the richer are getting richer among other things. There is also another application available: Gapminder World, 2006. You can see a screenshot of that app at the top of this post. Click on the images to see a bigger image or better yet visit the URL to see these apps in action. Also make sure to visit http://www.gapminder.org/links/data/. this URL contains links to the following sites:

GeoHive - the World in Regions
Nationmaster
OECD Data
Social Watch
Statistics Sweden (Satistiska Centralbyrån)
Sustainable World
The World Factbook
United Nations Common Database (UNSCB)
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
World Bank: World Development Indicators
WorldHistory.com

These two images below are from the Human Development Trends, 2005 app.

Don't Know What To Say In Meetings?

So you have these boring meetings and you want to say stuff that sound smart but no one will understand what you talking about. What do you do? Well you use the Web Economy Bullshit Generator of course. This tool mixes a bunch of predefined verbs, adjectives and nouns. The result are gems like these


grow collaborative deliverables
disintermediate ubiquitous web-readiness
seize intuitive users
orchestrate integrated portals


So go ahead and give it a try: http://dack.com/web/bullshit.html

I could have sworn I saw some of these phrases in books ;-)

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2)

Okay we all know what Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) is. Now there is a new service from Amazon called Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2). with S3 you use Amazon to store your data, images,whatever but with EC2 you use Amazon to do your computing for you.

From the site:

Amazon EC2 Functionality
Amazon EC2 presents a true virtual computing environment, allowing you to use web service interfaces to requisition machines for use, load them with your custom application environment, manage your network's access permissions, and run your image using as many or few systems as you desire.

To use Amazon EC2, you simply:
Create an Amazon Machine Image (AMI) containing your applications, libraries, data and associated configuration settings. Or use our pre-configured, templated images to get up and running immediately.

Upload the AMI into Amazon S3. Amazon EC2 provides tools that make storing the AMI simple. Amazon S3 provides a safe, reliable and fast repository to store your images.

Use Amazon EC2 web service to configure security and network access.

Use Amazon EC2 web service to start, terminate, and monitor as many instances of your AMI as needed.

Pay for the instance hours and bandwidth that you actually consume.

Service Highlights


Elastic
Amazon EC2 enables you to increase or decrease capacity within minutes, not hours or days. You can commission one, hundreds or even thousands of server instances simultaneously. Of course, because this is all controlled with web service APIs, your application can automatically scale itself up and down depending on its needs.


Completely Controlled
You have complete control of your instances. You have root access to each one, and you can interact with them as you would any machine. Each instance predictably provides the equivalent of a system with a 1.7Ghz x86 processor, 1.75GB of RAM, 160GB of local disk, and 250Mb/s of network bandwidth.


Designed for use with Amazon S3
Amazon EC2 works in conjunction with Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) to provide a combined solution for computing and storage across a wide range of applications.


Reliable
Amazon EC2 offers a highly reliable environment where replacement instances can be rapidly and reliably commissioned. The service runs within Amazon's proven network infrastructure and datacenters.


Secure
Amazon EC2 provides web service interfaces to control network security. You define groups of instances and their desired accessibility.


Inexpensive
Amazon EC2 passes on to you the financial benefits of Amazon's scale. You pay a very low
rate for the compute capacity you actually consume. Compare this with the
significant up-front expenditures traditionally required to purchase and
maintain hardware, either in-house or hosted. This frees you from many of the
complexities of capacity planning, transforms what are commonly large fixed
costs into much smaller variable costs, and removes the need to over-buy "safety
net" capacity to handle periodic traffic spikes.


Get all the details here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/browse.html?node=201590011

Online Indexing Operations in SQL Server 2005 Whitepaper Available For Download

TechNet has made availabe a whitepaper that deals with Online Indexing Operations in SQL Server 2005. Introduced in SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition, the online index feature provides a powerful way to perform maintenance operations such as rebuilding or creating indexes in a production system without sacrificing DML concurrency. This paper provides a detailed discussion of the index process and provides guidelines and best practices for implementing this feature in a production environment.

Included in this document:

• Introduction

• Data Structures and Concepts

• Overview of the Online Index Build Algorithm

• Capacity Planning and Concurrency Considerations for Index Create and Rebuild Operations

• Online Index Best Practices

• Conclusion

• Appendix A: Performance Study

• Appendix B: Diagnostics

• Appendix C: Log Measurement Script

• Appendix D: Online Index Limitations


Download this whitepaper (Word doc,25 pages) here: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/sql/2005/onlineindex.mspx

Did You Have Your Pie On Pi Day?

March 14th is Pi Day as the date 3/14 corresponds to the mathematical number pi.

The mathematical constant π is a transcendental (and therefore irrational) real number, approximately equal to 3.14159, which is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter in Euclidean geometry, and has many uses in mathematics, physics, and engineering. It is also known as Archimedes' constant and as Ludolph's number

Here are the first 100 digits of PI

3.
1415926535 8979323846 2643383279 5028841971 6939937510 5820974944 5923078164 0628620899 8628034825 3421170679 8214808651

GMail Storage Will Be 3560 MB on April 1st 2012

Gmail's quota will continue to increase in the following years.

What to expect in the future:

2835 MB on April 1st 2007
2980 MB on April 1st 2008
3125 MB on April 1st 2009
3270 MB on April 1st 2010
3415 MB on April 1st 2011
3560 MB on April 1st 2012

As you can see, Gmail's storage will increase with 145 MB a year. Great for storing all that spam. Now I wish they could increase the message size to 20MB from the current 10MB.

More detail here: http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2007/03/gmails-updated-quotas.html

Priceless Comment About Slashdot Users

It is all here:http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=44091&cid=4592270


Enough said.