Whitepaper on Malware to Attack Databases

Brian Kelly on his blog mentiones a whitepaper by Cesar Cerrudo: Data0: Next generation malware for stealing databases. This whitepaper describes how malware could be crafted to steal information out of databases.

The attack will use the following techniques:

• Discovery
  
• Exploitation
  
• Escalate Privileges (if necessary)
  
• Cover Tracks

Print it out and read it while you wait in line on Black Friday

Just For My English Friends

England and Croatia in the same group again for World Cup 2010 qualifications:
Group 6: Croatia, England, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Andorra

Thanksgiving SQL Teaser COUNT

Here is a small simple Thanksgiving teaser. What do you think will the result be of the select count query?

USE tempdb
GO

CREATE TABLE Customer (CustomerID INT PRIMARY KEY)
INSERT Customer VALUES (1)
INSERT Customer VALUES (2)
INSERT Customer VALUES (3)
INSERT Customer VALUES (4)

SELECT COUNT(*) Customer

Visual Studio 2005 Support for SQL Server 2008, Community Technology Preview

This CTP resolves a problem that when you try to open a database connection to SQL Server 2008 by using Visual Studio 2005 design tools, you may receive the following error message:
“This server version is not supported. Only servers up to Microsoft SQL Server 2005 are supported.”
This CTP addresses this issue, and enables the following Visual Studio functionality for SQL Server 2008 CTP5 :

• Server Explorer successfully connects to SQL Server 2008, and database objects such as stored procedures and table data can be viewed and edited. Note that table schemas still cannot be viewed or edited in this release.
  
• SQL CLR projects that target SQL Server 2008 CTP5 can be created and deployed to the server.
  
• T-SQL and SQL CLR debugging are now enabled for SQL Server 2008 CTP5.
  Data binding features in Client and Web Projects are enabled.

This CTP does not support the following features for SQL Server 2008 Nov CTP:

• Creating and editing table schemas in Table Designer or Database Diagrams. The table designer feature in SQL Server Management Studio 2008 can be used to edit table schemas in SQL Server 2008 CTP5.

Download it here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=e1109aef-1aa2-408d-aa0f-9df094f993bf&displaylang=en

Surface Area Configuration Tool Is Discontinued, SQL-DMO Removed from Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express

Just reading the readme file in SQL Server 2008 November CTP. I noticed that in addition to SQL Server Notification Services the following two things are also being removed.

SQL-DMO Removed from Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express
Surface Area Configuration Tool Is Discontinued

The Surface Area Configuration Tool is discontinued for SQL Server 2008. The following table shows what you can use to configure settings, options, and component features in the November CTP.

Protocols, and connection and startup options
Use SQL Server Configuration Manager.
Database Engine features
Use Declarative Management Framework.
SSAS features
Use the property settings in SQL Server Management Studio.
SSRS features
Edit the RSReportServer.config configuration file.

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 CTP November 2007 Available For Download

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 CTP, November 2007 is available for download from the connect site.

There are several formats available.
DVD image files:
X86 DVD Image
X64 DVD Image
IA64 DVD Image

Self-extracting executables:
X86 Executable
X64 Executable
IA64 Executable
Express 2008 Executable

Get it here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=3BF4C5CA-B905-4EBC-8901-1D4C1D1DA884&displaylang=en

Visual Studio 2008 RTM Available On MSDN

Yes it is true, Visual Studio 2008 RTM is available on MSDN. But be warned the site is slower than ever.



Okay I downloaded it and installed it.

Visual Studio 2008 Available For Download Early Next Week

MSDN Subscriptions WebLog Has a post stating that Visual Studio 2008 will be available early next week. From the site:

Visual Studio 2008 is anticipated out early next week, with availability for Subscribers. Check out the "Top Subscriber Downloads" area on http://msdn2.microsoft.com/subscriptions for VS 2008 downloads.

Microsoft Buiness Intelligence Screen Casts

Channel 9 will be publishing a bunch of Business Intelligence Screen Casts.
This screencast is the first in a series BI Developer screencasts recorded as part of a workshop built on SQL Server 2005 that has been delivered around the globe by Microsoft and Microsoft Partners. This training event takes the student through the Microsoft BI Platform giving a BI Developer the introduction and basic comfort needed to tackle a BI project using Microsoft technology.

This first screencast will take you through the Microsoft BI Platform briefly touching on each of the technologies.
Microsoft BI - Platform Integration

This screencast shows how to use SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS), Microsoft's ETL tool, to send conditional email alerts during a load.
Microsoft BI - Developing a Query-Driven E-mail Delivery System

INTERCEPT In SQL Server 2005

I was writing a query and managed to mistype INTERSECT, I typed INTERCEPT and to my surprise the query ran, it returned 2 result set just as if INTERCEPT wasn't there at all
Try it yourself

CREATE TABLE testnulls (ID INT)
INSERT INTO testnulls VALUES (1)
INSERT INTO testnulls VALUES (2)
INSERT INTO testnulls VALUES (null)

CREATE TABLE testjoin (ID INT)
INSERT INTO testjoin VALUES (1)
INSERT INTO testjoin VALUES (3)


SELECT * FROM #testjoin
INTERSECT
SELECT * FROM #testnulls


SELECT * FROM #testjoin
INTERCEPT
SELECT * FROM #testnulls


Feature, Bug?

Okay, it actually doesn't matter what you type between the two statements

SELECT * FROM #testjoin
sdsdsdsdsd
SELECT * FROM #testnulls

That runs just as if you executed the query without sdsdsdsdsd
??????

WAKE UP!!! That acts as an alias, now where is my caffeine.

How Is Your Sensitive Data Encrypted In The Database?

Do you store encrypted data? If you do then how is it encrypted? Do you use the built in capabilities of SQL Server 2005/2008. If you answered yes to the last question then here is another question. What would happen if someone stole the hard drive or even the whole database server? Could they decrypt that data easily with the stored procedures which you have written? Do these store procedures use the DecryptByPassphrase function?

So you probably think that I am crazy and no one would ever steal a database server. Wrong! C I Host a Chicago-based co-location got robbed 4 times since 2005. One company lost 20 servers in the latest heist. You can read more details about that here: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/02/chicaco_datacenter_breaches/

Without going into too much detail, this is what we are doing. Our data is encrypted by a corporate crypto tool which can only be accessed from within the DMZ. Keys are created for specific machines; these keys can easily be revoked at any time. Even if you would somehow steal our web and database server you would still be out of luck because of that. The data is encrypted by the tool and stored encrypted in the DB.

Identity theft will cost you in the future.
The Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act of 2007 has been introduced and was scheduled for debate on November 1st; the Senate and the House still have to vote on it. This is a bill to amend title 18, United States Code, to enable increased federal prosecution of identity theft crimes and to allow for restitution to victims of identity theft.

Follow the developments here:
S. 2168: Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act of 2007

SQL Teaser: Printing Without Using PRINT

Print the @SQL variable without using PRINT

DECLARE @SQL varchar(49)
SELECT @SQL = 'Print This Now ' + CONVERT(VARCHAR(30), GETDATE())
--Your Code Here

E-Learning: What's New in Microsoft SQL Server 2008

Microsoft leaning has made available a bunch of free SQL server 2008 lessons

In this 3 hour online collection, IT Professionals will learn about the new features in SQL Server 2008. Topics covered within these clinics include:
What's New in SQL Server 2008 for Enterprise Data Platform
What's New in SQL Server 2008 for Business Intelligence
What's New in SQL Server 2008 for Database Development Student

Below are the links to the three lessons:

Clinic 6188: What's New in Microsoft SQL Server 2008 for Enterprise Data Platform
Clinic 6189: What's New in Microsoft SQL Server 2008 for Business Intelligence
Clinic 6190: What's New in Microsoft SQL Server 2008 for Database Development

Return Null If A Value Is A Certain Value

You need to return NULL only if the value of your data is a certain value. How do you do this?
There are three different ways.

NULLIF
DECLARE @1 char(1)
SELECT @1 ='D'


SELECT NULLIF(@1,'D')


REPLACE
This should not really be used, I just added it here to demonstrate that you can in fact use it.

DECLARE @1 char(1)
SELECT @1 ='D'

SELECT REPLACE(@1,'D',NULL)


CASE
With case you can test for a range of values. You can test for example for values between A and D. If you reverse the logic then you also don't need to provide the ELSE part since it defaults to NULL anyway.

DECLARE @1 char(1)
SELECT @1 ='D'


SELECT CASE @1 WHEN 'D' THEN NULL ELSE @1 END

--No else needed
SELECT CASE WHEN @1 <> 'D' THEN @1 END

And this is how you test for a range.

--Null
DECLARE @1 char(1)
SELECT @1 ='D'

SELECT CASE WHEN @1 BETWEEN 'A' AND 'D' THEN NULL ELSE @1 END

--E
DECLARE @1 char(1)
SELECT @1 ='E'

SELECT CASE WHEN @1 BETWEEN 'A' AND 'D' THEN NULL ELSE @1 END

Christmas Is Coming Early This Year

Note from my manager:

"All,

It looks like we have some book money left for this year that we can spend.
Please select 2 books each that you have wanted and send the titles to me and I’ll get them on the list."

Very nice, I picked the following two books below.
The Art of SQL
SQL Server 2005 Practical Troubleshooting: The Database Engine

What would you have picked?

Microsoft Commits to November Release Date for Visual Studio 2008 and the .NET Framework 3.5

Today, during the keynote address at Microsoft TechEd Developers 2007, S. “Soma” Somasegar, corporate vice president of the Developer Division at Microsoft Corp., announced that Microsoft will release Visual Studio 2008 and the .NET Framework 3.5 by the end of November 2007. Visual Studio 2008 and the .NET Framework 3.5 enable developers at all levels to rapidly create connected applications that offer compelling user experiences for Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, the 2007 Microsoft Office system, mobile devices and the Web. Soma also unveiled plans to open new opportunities for Visual Studio partners, as well as to deliver new tools and resources for developers, including a first Community Technology Preview (CTP) of the Microsoft Sync Framework and new capabilities for Popfly Explorer.

“The highly social and visual nature of the Web has fundamentally changed what users expect from all applications they interact with, regardless of whether it’s on a customer-facing Web site or Windows rich client application, or a desktop business application built using Microsoft Office,” said Somasegar. “Traditionally, organizations have been hard pressed to deliver the richer, more connected applications and services they need to boost productivity, drive revenue and stay ahead of the competition. With Visual Studio 2008 and the .NET Framework 3.5, it is easy for developers to use the skills they already have to build compelling applications that take advantage of the latest platforms.”

FWBS Ltd., Xerox Corp., Dell Inc. and K2 are just a few of the early adopter customers that are already experiencing the benefits of these releases. FWBS used Visual Studio, the .NET Framework and the Microsoft Office system to build an Office Business Application (OBA) for the law field. The application enables users to work within Microsoft Office — the tools they use every day — while also dramatically improving productivity and helping users respond quickly to changing business needs.

Xerox has also had early success developing applications with the new tools. “We’ve already seen significant advantages from using Visual Studio Team System 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5. With the first application we built, we easily saved 50 percent of the time and money it would have taken to create the same application with other tools,” said Eugene Shustef, feature design lead, Global Technology, Xerox. “That’s more than a savings to IT — it delivers a huge time-to-market advantage because it put the tool into the hands of our analysts six months sooner than they would have had it otherwise.”

Creating New Opportunities for Partners

Microsoft also announced plans to make additional investments in the Visual Studio partner ecosystem. In response to partner feedback and in order to provide better support for interoperability with other developer tools and cross-platform scenarios, Microsoft is today announcing plans to change licensing terms, no longer limiting partners to building solutions on top of Visual Studio for Windows and other Microsoft platforms only. This licensing change will be effective for the release of Visual Studio 2008 and the Visual Studio 2008 SDK.

“Integrating dynaTrace’s cross-platform application performance management and diagnostics product with Visual Studio has opened up additional commercial opportunities for our business and delivered a compelling solution for our customers. .NET and Visual Studio is a strategic platform for our business, and Microsoft’s additional investments in the partner ecosystem make it even more compelling,” said Klaus Fellner, senior director of product marketing at dynaTrace. “We’re looking forward to taking advantage of the new technology available with the launch of Visual Studio 2008 and the partner benefits available through the Visual Studio Industry Partner (VSIP) program.”

In addition, Microsoft announced plans to create a shared source licensing program for Premier-level partners in the VSIP program. The program will provide these partners with the ability to view Visual Studio IDE source code for debugging purposes, and simplify the process of integrating their products with Visual Studio 2008.

Tools for Today and Tomorrow

Microsoft also announced a number of additional resources for developers of all skill sets, enabling them to make the most out of their Microsoft tools investments to build great applications on the latest platforms:

• The first CTP of the Microsoft Sync Framework demonstrates Microsoft’s ongoing investments in synchronization and builds on the synchronization functionality available in Visual Studio 2008. With Visual Studio 2008, developers can rapidly take advantage of offline synchronization capabilities to sync-enable applications and services easily with rich designer support. The Microsoft Sync Framework extends the support featured in Visual Studio 2008 to also include offline and peer-to-peer collaboration using any protocol for any data type, and any data store. This is part of Microsoft’s long-term commitment to providing synchronization for partners and independent software vendors that can embed the Sync Framework into their applications easily to create rich sync-enabled ecosystems that allow any type of data to follow their customers wherever they go.



• A new release of Popfly Explorer will add new Web tools that provide Web developers and Popfly users an easy way to add Silverlight gadgets built in Popfly to their Web pages, as well as publish HTML Web pages directly to Popfly.


These latest releases are part of the broader Microsoft Application Platform, a portfolio of technology capabilities and core products that help organizations develop, deploy and manage applications and IT infrastructure. They also mark another major milestone leading up to the global launch of Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008 and SQL Server 2008 on Feb. 27, 2008, in Los Angeles.

Product Information and Availability

Visual Studio 2008 and the .NET Framework 3.5 will be available by the end of November 2007. The .NET Framework 3.5 will also be available to end users via a free, optional download from Microsoft Update. A CTP of Microsoft Sync Framework is available today at http://msdn.microsoft.com/sync. Popfly Explorer is a hosted development environment available today at http://www.popfly.com. More information about all of these releases is available at http://www.msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio.

How many Java programmers does it take to round up to a power of two?

How many Java programmers does it take to round up to a power of two?
Well take a look:
http://forum.java.sun.com/thread.jspa?threadID=248212&start=0&tstart=0

Do you want to laugh or cry?

I don't know if I should laugh or cry after looking at this code. This could not have been written by a human right?

Anyway here it is, consider it a teaser. If you want to torture yourself and look at the whole query then go here: http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=1421304&page=1



HAVING (((1 = 1)
AND (PP.Created >= ISNULL(NULL,'1/1/1900')
AND PP.Created < 1 =" 2)">= ISNULL(NULL,'1/1/1900')
AND (MIN(PV.Visit)) < DATEADD(d, 1, ISNULL(NULL,'1/1/3000')))
))



WHERE
(
(NULL IS NOT NULL
AND pv.DoctorId IN (NULL))
OR(NULL IS NULL)
)



CASE
WHEN '0' = 1 THEN df.ListName
WHEN '0' = 2 THEN df2.ListName
WHEN '0' = 3 THEN ic.ListName
ELSE NULL
END


Someone will red flag the post, here is the whole query.


/* New Patient Analysis */

SET NOCOUNT ON

CREATE TABLE #PatientTemp
(
[PatientProfileId] [int] NOT NULL ,
[Prefix] [varchar] (10) NULL ,
[First] [varchar] (30) NULL ,
[Middle] [varchar] (30) NULL ,
[Last] [varchar] (30) NULL ,
[Suffix] [varchar] (20) NULL ,
[Created] [datetime] NOT NULL
)

Insert #PatientTemp

SELECT PP.PatientProfileId, PP.Prefix, PP.First, PP.Middle, PP.Last, PP.Suffix,
CASE
WHEN 1 = 1 THEN PP.Created
WHEN 1 = 2 THEN Min(PV.Visit)
ELSE NULL
END As Created

FROM PatientVisit PV
INNER JOIN PatientProfile PP ON PP.PatientProfileId = PV.PatientProfileId

GROUP BY PP.PatientProfileId, PP.Prefix, PP.First, PP.Middle, PP.Last, PP.Suffix, PP.Created

HAVING (((1 = 1)AND
(PP.Created >= ISNULL(NULL,'1/1/1900') AND PP.Created < DATEADD(d, 1, ISNULL(NULL,'1/1/3000')))
))
OR
((1 = 2)AND
((MIN(PV.Visit) >= ISNULL(NULL,'1/1/1900') AND (MIN(PV.Visit)) < DATEADD(d, 1, ISNULL(NULL,'1/1/3000')))
))

Order By PP.First, PP.Last

SELECT dbo.FormatName(#PatientTemp.Prefix, #PatientTemp.First, #PatientTemp.Middle, #PatientTemp.Last, #PatientTemp.Suffix) AS Name,
CASE
WHEN 1 = 1 THEN #PatientTemp.Created
WHEN 1 = 2 THEN Min(pv.Visit)
ELSE NULL
END As Created,
COUNT(*) AS [Number Of Visits],
SUM(pva.OrigInsAllocation + pva.OrigPatAllocation) AS Charges,
SUM(pva.InsPayment + pva.PatPayment) AS Payments,
CASE
WHEN '0' = 1 THEN df.ListName
WHEN '0' = 2 THEN df2.ListName
WHEN '0' = 3 THEN ic.ListName
ELSE NULLA
END As Grouping

FROM PatientVisit pv
INNER JOIN PatientVisitAgg pva ON pv.PatientVisitId = pva.PatientVisitId
INNER JOIN #PatientTemp ON pv.PatientProfileId = #PatientTemp.PatientProfileId
INNER JOIN DoctorFacility df ON pv.DoctorId = df.DoctorFacilityId
LEFT JOIN DoctorFacility df1 ON pv.ReferringDoctorId = df1.DoctorFacilityId
LEFT JOIN DoctorFacility df2 ON pv.FacilityId = df2.DoctorFacilityId
LEFT JOIN InsuranceCarriers ic ON ic.InsuranceCarriersId = pv.PrimaryInsuranceCarriersId

WHERE
(
(NULL IS NOT NULL AND pv.DoctorId IN (NULL)) OR
(NULL IS NULL)
)
AND
(
(NULL IS NOT NULL AND pv.ReferringDoctorId IN (NULL)) OR
(NULL IS NULL)
)
AND
(
(NULL IS NOT NULL AND pv.FacilityId IN (NULL)) OR
(NULL IS NULL)
)
AND --Filter on insurance carrier
(
(NULL IS NOT NULL AND ic.InsuranceCarriersId IN (NULL)) OR
(NULL IS NULL)
)

GROUP BY #PatientTemp.Created,dbo.FormatName(#PatientTemp.Prefix, #PatientTemp .First, #PatientTemp.Middle, #PatientTemp.Last, #PatientTemp.Suffix),
pva.PatientProfileId,
CASE
WHEN '0' = 1 THEN df.ListName
WHEN '0' = 2 THEN df2.ListName
WHEN '0' = 3 THEN ic.ListName
ELSE NULL
END

HAVING (((1 = 1)AND
(#PatientTemp.Created >= ISNULL(NULL,'1/1/1900') AND #PatientTemp.Created < DATEADD(d, 1, ISNULL(NULL,'1/1/3000')))
))
OR
((1 = 2)AND
((MIN(pv.Visit) >= ISNULL(NULL,'1/1/1900') AND (MIN(pv.Visit)) < DATEADD(d, 1, ISNULL(NULL,'1/1/3000')))
))

ORDER BY dbo.FormatName(#PatientTemp.Prefix, #PatientTemp.First, #PatientTemp.Middle, #PatientTemp.Last, #PatientTemp .Suffix), #PatientTemp.Created
Drop table #PatientTemp

Sort Values Ascending But NULLS Last

This is a frequent request in newsgroups and fora. People want to sort the column in ascending order but don't want the NULLS at the beginning.
Oracle has this syntax: ORDER BY ColumnName NULLS LAST;
SQL Server does not have this. But there are 2 ways to do this. The first one is by using case and the second one by using COALESCE and the maximum value for the data type in the order by clause.

The 2 approaches with a datetime data type

DECLARE @Temp table(Col datetime)
INSERT INTO @Temp VALUES(getdate())
INSERT INTO @Temp VALUES('2007-10-19 09:54:03.730')
INSERT INTO @Temp VALUES('2006-10-19 09:54:03.730')
INSERT INTO @Temp VALUES('2005-10-19 09:54:03.730')
INSERT INTO @Temp VALUES('2006-10-19 09:54:03.730')
INSERT INTO @Temp VALUES('2004-10-19 09:54:03.730')
INSERT INTO @Temp VALUES(NULL)
INSERT INTO @Temp VALUES(NULL)

SELECT *
FROM @Temp
ORDER BY COALESCE(Col,'9999-12-31 23:59:59.997')

SELECT *
FROM @Temp
ORDER BY CASE WHEN Col Is NULL Then 1 Else 0 End, Col

The 2 approaches with an integer data type

DECLARE @Temp table(Col int)
INSERT INTO @Temp VALUES(1)
INSERT INTO @Temp VALUES(555)
INSERT INTO @Temp VALUES(444)
INSERT INTO @Temp VALUES(333)
INSERT INTO @Temp VALUES(5656565)
INSERT INTO @Temp VALUES(3)
INSERT INTO @Temp VALUES(NULL)
INSERT INTO @Temp VALUES(NULL)

SELECT *
FROM @Temp
ORDER BY COALESCE(Col,'2147483647')

SELECT *
FROM @Temp
ORDER BY CASE WHEN Col Is NULL Then 1 Else 0 End, Col

Interview With Kalen Delaney About Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Query Tuning and Optimization

I am a big fan of Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2005 The Storage Engine so when I saw that yet another book got published in this series I just had to check it out. Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2005: Query Tuning and Optimization is very well written gets to the point and give you the answers that you need. I decided to contact Kalen to see if she would be willing to do an interview, by now you know that the answer is yes of course ;-)


The question-and-answer session with Kalen that follows was conducted via email.

What is the audience for this book, is it the enterprise user or can a small department benefit from the tips in this book?
Because this book deals with query tuning, anyone who writes SQL queries for SQL Server can benefit. Very little in the book is geared towards system tuning, so the size of the machine doesn’t really matter. Now of course, if you have a very small system with very small tables, you won’t get as much benefit out of tuning your queries. However, if you have any tables of more than a few thousand rows, and you do any joins, you will need to tune your queries. In addition, the issues of blocking and concurrency control can impact any system, no matter how small.

What new technologies in SQL Server 2005 do you think are the most beneficial for performance?
For very large databases, the best new technology is partitioning. For any size system, if you have had serious performance problems due to blocking, you might find a big performance benefit by using one of the snapshot-based isolation levels, but you really need to understand the resource costs that come along with the improved performance. For your individual queries, I think the new optimizer hints and query level recompiles can make a big difference. For indexes, the ability to add included columns to nonclustered indexes can give some of your hard-to-tune queries a major performance boost.

What will a person who reads this book gain in terms of understanding how to performance tune a server?
The focus of this book is not so much on tuning the server, but on tuning queries. There is more in Inside SQL Server 2005: The Storage Engine on server issues such as memory and processor management. The biggest server wide issues are covered in Chapter 5, when I talk about managing the plan cache, and how and when query plans are reused.

Is the book geared towards a beginner/intermediate level user or do you have to be an advanced user to really utilize the information in this book?
The book is not geared towards beginners, but everyone should be able to get something out of it. It’s primarily geared to SQL Server developers and DBA’s who have been working with SQL Server for a while, and have encountered performance problems that they are trying to find solutions for.

With all the changes in SQL Server 2005, how critical has the tempdb become in regards to performance?
Tempdb has always been important. In SQL Server 2005, if you are using one of the snapshot-based isolation levels, you are going to have to be more aware of the demands placed on tempdb, both in the sizing requirements and the additional I/O resources needed. Fortunately, SQL Server 2005 provides tools to monitor tempdb, including a dozen new performance monitor counters, and a dynamic management view, sys.dm_db_file_space_usage, that keeps track of how much space in tempdb is being used for each of the different kind of object stored in tempdb.

I understand that this is the first time you wrote with a team of other writers; can you tell us something about that experience?
I initially thought that not having to write the whole volume by myself meant that I could get it done sooner, but that was not the case. Everyone had their own schedule and their own way of writing. The personal aspect of working with the other authors was great. I deeply respect all of the others and it was an honor to be working so closely with them. I had some concerns about the depth of coverage and I wondered whether all the chapters would end up being as deep as I hoped for, but that turned out not to be a major problem. The only real issues were agreeing on a common terminology and coding style, and even that wasn’t that big of an issue, because I got to do a final editing pass on everyone’s chapters.

What SQL Server books are on your bookshelf?
All of the Inside SQL Server books are there, of course, and all of Ken Henderson’s books. Bob Beauchemin’s book is in my car, to read while I am waiting for the ferryboat, and while on the ferry. I also have technical books that aren’t SQL Server specific, such as Jim Gray’s Transaction Processing, Russinovich’s and Solomon’s Windows Internals, Chris Date’s Introduction to Database Systems and Mike Stonebraker’s Readings in Database Systems.

Why do you write technical books?
I love working with SQL Server and trying to find out all I can about it. When I found that I could explain difficult concepts in a training environment, I thought I could do the same thing in a written format, and reach more people that way. I have always loved explaining things, ever since I was a teaching assistant for High School Math.

Will you be updating your books for SQL Server 2008?
I have just started meeting with my editors at Microsoft Press about SQL Server 2008, and it looks like a revision is in the plans. We’re really looking at it as just a revision, with the same structures as the current books, with straightforward changes and the inclusion of new features.

Name three things that are new in SQL Server 2005 that you find are the most valuable?
Dynamic Management Views, Dynamic Management Views, and Dynamic Management Views!
Oh, you wanted three different things? ;-) How about XML query plans and optimization hints. (I’m also very fond of many of the new TSQL constructs, but I was only talking about things that I cover in my new book.)

Name three things which are coming in SQL Server 2008 that you are most excited about?
You’ll have to ask me this next time. I have actually been avoiding SQL Server 2008 while I was getting my Query Tuning and Optimization book finished, because I didn’t want to get distracted.

Can you list any third party tools that you find useful to have as a SQL Server developer/admin?
I’ve tried a few other products, but usefully I find that it is much easier to just stick with the Microsoft line and use the tools provided with the product.

Name some of your favorite non-technical books.
Oh, I love to read. It would be impossible to list my favorite books, but I can tell you my favorite authors, most of whom write science fiction: Lois McMaster Bujold, Ursula LeGuin, Sheri Tepper, Orson Scott Card, Octavia Butler, Elizabeth Moon. I also love to read historical fiction like Leon Uris.