about the technology

The integrity and security of your database is crucial to your business. SQL Server 2008 is a massive and mature product with a very large feature set. As a SQL Server administrator, you must be equipped to handle myriad day-to-day tasks to keep your database healthy, and you must also be prepared to act quickly when something unexpected happens.

about the book

SQL Server 2008 Administration in Action focuses the production DBA, digging deep into the various tasks specific to that role. Expert author Rod Colledge — check him out at sqlCrunch.com — teaches you best practices that cover the lifecycle of a SQL Server system, including infrastructure design, installation, and operational maintenance. And while many of these techniques will work in any recent version of SQL Server, you'll find full coverage of emerging SQL Server 2008 best practices.

Each technique is presented in a task-driven style, and in the order of the typical life cycle of a SQL Server system. This allows you to easily open the book at the appropriate page and focus on what you need to know for each specific situation.

what's inside

• Selecting and configuring server components
  • Distributing I/O load over multiple controllers
  • Selecting the appropriate stripe size
  • Configuring storage cache

• Preparing for SQL Server clustering
  • Configure the private network for cluster use only
  • Configure the cluster network priority
  • Prepare resources for a clustered SQL Server installation

• Index selection and maintenance
  • Identify and drop unused indexes
  • Identify and create missing indexes
  • Select the appropriate clustered index

• Database mirroring
  • Prepare the mirror server for failover
  • Select the appropriate failover mode
  • Consider disabling log stream compression for CPU bottlenecked systems

• Upgrading SQL Server
  • Reduce downtime with T-Log backup/restore and the side-by-side upgrade method
  • Prior to an upgrade, run DBCC checks and take full backups with verification
  • Ensure read only is not enabled prior to the upgrade

about the reader

This book is a DBA's best friend. It covers the most important and often overlooked areas that you need to maintain to keep your databases secure, in-tune, and well-protected in the event of disaster.

about the author

Rod Colledge is an independent SQL Server consultant based in Brisbane, Australia. Since 1996, Rod has specialized in the development and administration of SQL Server database systems. His recent work has included the design and implementation of custom transactional replication and log shipping solutions, performance tuning large, high-volume databases, and developing procedures for operational maintenance of large database systems. In September 2007, Rod founded sqlCrunch.com, a website specializing in summarizing and categorizing links to SQL Server white papers and best practices.