In a previous blog entry, I talked about my job at Sybase University running new hire training for new consultants. In 1995 Sybase was expanding rapidly as the company took on the challenge of Oracle in the growth of Client/Server and multi-tier databases. Sybase Worldwide Professional Services was expanding as more companies bought off on Sybase SQL Server. Well, here's an amusing story for you from the SQL training world.

In the 90s, Financial Services customers were leading the way as high transaction throughput, large numbers of users and two-phase commit requirements for a reliable multi-server network solution became leading edge.

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In a previous blog entry I indicated that I was in the market for a SmartPhone to run SQL Server 2008 Compact Edition. Well, I am now evaluating the options and as a novice consumer it's not easy. There seems to be four major players in the SmartPhone market from an OS point of view: Apple, Microsoft, Palm and Blackberry. And each cell phone service provider has its own OEM phones that limit your choices.

AT&T has the iPhone exclusively, Sprint has the Samsung Instinct, most support some sort of Blackberry or Palm device etc. One day we will be able to freely select the phone we like and the service provider that's best for us. Not now. At least now we can keep our phone number while changing service providers. We just can't keep the same phone in most cases.

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Well, it's been released and apparently ahead of schedule. Yes, Katmai  is available! Great news. Now, call me a cynic but wasn't the Release Candidate called RC0? It was not called THE Release Candidate. Surely that implies there would be an RC1, at least? There was more than one TechNet note referring to RC1. Well, I guess the quality was sufficient to bypass any further Release Candidates so surprise, surprise, it is available before Labor Day. Now, don't get me wrong, I am excited by this release. My testing has revealed some neat new features and I have mentioned these in previous blog entries. I am looking forward to training more DBAs in SQL Server 2008.

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In a previous blog entry I referred to my job at Sybase University. While I was teaching new consultants about the Sybase culture and technology, I was learning about the difference in the mindset between the DBA and the Developer. What are those differences? "Chalk and Cheese" is a common expression. They look the same but they are very different animals.

The DBA consultants we would hire were all experienced, but that experience might have been with a previous release of Sybase SQL Server or maybe with Oracle or other database. Mostly they had a UNIX background. The consultants we hired as developers usually had experience with PowerBuilder or similar technology. Mostly they had a Windows background.

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When I was working at Sybase, I had a job at Sybase University for training all new consultants for Sybase Professional Services. We had a worldwide presence and all Sybase consultants, no matter where they were from, would fly to Burlington, Massachusetts for a three week New Hire Bootcamp. Whether they were from England, Korea or Texas, new consultants would have to attend to learn the Sybase culture and technology face-to-face. This was an expensive but very worthwhile investment. So doesn't this contradict my blog post on "The Virtual Classroom - Saving the Planet"? Not so fast...

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I wrote a previous Blog entry about the excellent SQL PASS Community Summit Conferences. I will be attending the next one in Seattle in November. It is a great forum to meet other Database professionals and see how everyone is using the SQL Server database in the real world. There are so many interesting sessions (total to date - 130) over the three days that some companies send several people along so they can "divide and conquer". But don't worry, they now record each session and store them on a set of DVDs for later review. For an extra $95 that's good value on the intellectual capital front. I have been looking at the latest agenda to start planning my path through the conference.

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Paying for cable access is worth it to me. I like the consistent high-speed internet access. I like the HD TV. I like the Fox Soccer Channel although I seem to have to buy 500 other digital stations just to get that one. But what irks me is that when I am on the road, I am still paying for it, even though I am not there. Wouldn't it be nice if I could access my cable box on the road? Enter the Slingbox.

Now before we start getting into legal issues, it only allows one remote connection to at a time, which makes sense because I can only be in one place at a time. I am still using my cable box for my personal use. It's just that I am not at home. I can watch all the channels on my box, including the HD TV channels. I can use my DVR remotely to view recorded programs.

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Microsoft has told us that DTS has been deprecated. I talked about this in a previous blog entry. It means we have been warned that it will no longer be supported in a future release. When SQL Server 2008 comes out shortly, Microsoft will only support two previous releases namely SQL Server 2000 and 2005. So any DTS packages running under SQL 2000 will continue to be supported until the next release, presumably slated for 2011, if Microsoft sticks to its stated policy of three-year intervals. In other words, we have until 2011 to migrate our DTS 2000 packages to SSIS.

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Last week while in NYC, I was lucky enough to see Ricky Gervais on stage at Madison Square Garden. He's the "tubby comedian" (he hates that label) from Britain who starred in the hit UK TV show "The Office".  Steve Carrell stars in the subsequent US production, also a big hit. Both shows are shot like pseudo-documentaries giving the impression that you are watching employees in a real office. When office politics get out of hand, you are left feeling uncomfortably embarrassed for the people involved; until you remember you are only watching a TV show and it's not real at all. Both programs are very funny. A lot of the things that happen are exaggerated events that really happen to people like you and me in our offices.

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A recent blog posting of mine referred to Fuzzy Lookups and Fuzzy Groupings in SSIS and the ability to merge  duplicate data based on inexact matches. Well, someone at Microsoft must be reading this blog because it has recently acquired a company called Zoomix that specializes in just this type of Fuzzy Logic. Looks like SSIS is going to receive a significant boost in functionality. According to the Zoomix web site, Zoomix's Accelerator software "combines semantic and linguistic analysis with machine learning to classify, match and standardize complex corporate data". Sounds like Fuzzy Logic to me.

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I have been using Microsoft SQL Server for a while now, back to release 4.2 which was a ported version of Sybase SQL Server 4.9 running on Windows for Workgroups 3.11. Those were the days. The product has come a long way since then, culminating in this years soon to be released SQL 10.0 which will be known as SQL Server 2008. After all those years surely the product is approaching perfection, right? Well, not so fast. Let's look at a few items on my wish list for the next release:

1. SSMS Auto-refresh

2. Database Mirroring with Load Balancing

3. Log Explorer built-in to SSMS

4. ReportBuilder RDL accurate for BIDS

5. Full Backup to Truncate the Transaction Log

6. Source Code for Report Manager

Let's look at them one by one:

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Last weekend I spent my Sunday morning enjoying "Breakfast at Wimbledon" watching the Men's Tennis Championship Final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. It started off normal enough: with a good old British rain delay. That did not stop the strawberries and cream coming out, however. Little did I know, but "Breakfast at Wimbledon" (affectionately labeled because of the time difference here in the USA) would eventually turn into "Dinner at Wimbledon".

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In SQL Server 2008, we will have access to the DMF, the Declarative Management Framework. I wrote about this feature in a previous blog. It allows DBAs to set policies across multiple servers so that non-standard settings can be prevented or at least logged. Recently I have been testing RC0 for the latest and greatest functionality. One aspect of this feature is that the policies can be enabled against previous releases of the product, effectively providing capability that was not available before.

Using SSMS, I set up a policy that would log any server in a Local Server Group that had either SQLMail or DatabaseMail enabled.

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Ownership Chaining enables managing access to multiple objects, such as multiple tables, by setting permissions on one object, for instance a view. It is a powerful technique used for controlling access to data enabling the creation of a ‘security layer' defined by Views and/or Stored Procedures such that authorized users can access a View or execute a Stored Procedure without being able to access the base tables directly. In this way, Ownership Chaining simplifies the security model greatly. This technique has been used in previous releases and is now also supported using schema object in SQL Server 2005.

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In January 2003, the Microsoft SQL Server community got a massive wake-up call. The SQL Slammer hit the internet. This denial-of-service virus brought down many database servers including those at Bank of America and Microsoft itself. The solution was to apply SQL Server 2000 SP3 which by pure coincidence had been released 10 days earlier. The actual hotfix had been available for 6 months or more but in those days many DBAs just waited for the next Service Pack. Big mistake!

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SQL Query Analyzer had a neat debug facility for Stored Procedures in SQL 2000. It went missing in SSMS 2005 but at least we could use the Visual Studio debug facility for both .NET and Transact-SQL code (as well as Integration Services packages). Now in SQL 2008 we have the debug facility in SSMS itself. And it's now for more than just for Stored Procedures.

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One of the great features of SQL Server 2008 is Filestream data support. I wrote a blog entry on this option which allows us to store large data objects outside of the database on the file system while benefiting from database transaction processing and synchronized disaster recovery. Configuration of this option has changed since the Nov 2007 CTP which "threw me for a loop" when I started testing the feature again this week with SQL Server 2008 RC0. Filestream data support is disabled by default. So how exactly do you configure it?

As it turns out, Microsoft has decided to separate the configuration into two distinct layers - one for the Windows Administrator and one for the SQL Administrator.

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Recently, I have been teaching a lot of Internet-based classes using a remote learning technology called the "Virtual Classroom". The "Physical Classroom" is the traditional method of education where we all congregate in the same physical location and do some collaboration and learning. The trouble is, many times we have to travel to that physical location. This involves rising travel costs as well as time away from family and friends. Remote learning offers an alternative solution but can it offer the same educational experience (or better)?

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I have been testing SQL Server 2008 RC0 (Release Candidate Zero) that was made available recently and I must admit I am beginning to like it. Even the new logo is growing on me. There are many new features that I am just beginning to test out as new builds become available. One of those features is the Multi-Server Query in SQL Server Management Studio.

SQL Server 2005, being a five-year release, included many architecture changes across the board and famously had so many new features that, in order to fit them all on one PowerPoint slide, Microsoft had to use a 10-point font! Well, in the words of David Campbell, General Manager of SQL Server at Microsoft, the SQL Server 2008 release, nicknamed "Katmai", is a "14-point font" release!

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Have you ever received unwanted catalogs? Or multiple catalogs from the same company? Well, there's a cool new website that will help you eliminate unwanted catalogs to simplify your life and save natural resources. Sound good? Here it is http://www.catalogchoice.org/. But why do we get multiple catalogs from the same company? Even wanted ones...The answer is: those companies are not using "Fuzzy" technology. SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) has a couple new transformations called the Fuzzy Lookup and the Fuzzy Grouping that may help.

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SQL Server 2008 is generally an evolutionary release, building on the foundation of the 2005 release. This is a good approach in my opinion. It means we can build on our existing skills that we have worked hard to acquire since 2005. We can then just focus on learning the new features, right? One exception to this is Reporting Services 2008. The architecture has been changed and a new Report Designer has been developed. There's some good news and some bad news. Which do you want first?

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There are many conferences out there that relate to SQL Server, but my favorite is the excellent PASS Community Summit held annually. "PASS" or the Professional Association for SQL Server is an independent, user-run, not-for-profit organization that supports both local "Chapters" and a worldwide presence. (http://www.sqlpass.org/). Its members are like you and me: DBA's and Developers who appreciate SQL Server but are not necessarily employed by Microsoft.

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In the past, when we wrote applications that required the tracking of changing data, we typically implemented this through a series of Triggers and/or Timestamp columns. We could then write application code to copy changed data from one location to another using, for instance, sophisticated ETL tools such as Informatica or Microsoft's own Integration Services. This would not only be time-consuming but may be expensive too. Now in SQL Server 2008, Change Tracking and Change Data Capture can be enabled automatically at the Database and Table level.

These features allow SQL Server to track changes efficiently through its own internal system tables without the need for coding Triggers or defining extra columns.

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Database Mirroring was introduced in SQL Server 2005. It was one of the main features that excited people when reading about the new release. Here was a capability for synchronizing a database across two servers providing automatic failover that did not need the Windows Cluster Service nor the expensive hardware and software that goes along with it. Yes, the “poor person’s” Failover Cluster at the database level. This feature has been enhanced in SQL Server 2008.

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The concept of Slipstreaming is a very useful feature. It refers to the concept of having a single set of install files for a current version of a product even though updates such as service packs have been issued. An example is Microsoft XP SP2 or Microsoft SQL Server 2000 SP3a. Slipstream versions were created by Microsoft for these Service Pack releases. That way you could install once without having to apply the latest Service Pack - it is already there. This would save time and effort. For instance, some service pack installs take longer than the original installs themselves. For some reason Microsoft SQL Server 2005 does not officially support a slipstream version for SP1 or SP2. Let's hope that changes with SP3.

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Looks like we are going through the same release schedule of SQL Server 2008 as we had in 2005. A new Service Pack has been announced for the current release which seems to herald a possible slippage of the Katmai release - now named SQL Server 2008. In May 2005, Microsoft released SP4 for SQL Server 2000. At the time, the Yukon release or SQL Server 2005 was slated for a "Summer release". Reading Microsoft release schedules are a bit like reading Real Estate listings - you have to read between the lines. When you see a house listed with an "easily maintainable garden" and "easy access to commuter rail" you know what they mean: small yard next to the station...right?

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Anyone who has attended one of my classes knows that one of my passions outside of Database technology is soccer, or football as we call it outside the USA. Back in 1994 there was no professional league here in the United States but the USA was still given the privilege of hosting the World Cup, the single biggest sporting event in the world (it eclipses even the Olympics in terms of total viewers). At that time the internet was in its infancy, at least from a mainstream e-commerce point of view. It's hard to remember those days, right?

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Analysis Services 2005 introduced a brand new architecture, namely the UDM (Unified Dimensional Model) allowing a level of abstraction to be created between the Business Analyst and the underlying Data Sources. This meant that the inherent complexity of the Multi-Dimensional database access would always be transparent to the end user, regardless of the storage options selected by the development team. This is all well and good and much appreciated by all concerned. The key object in the UDM is called the Data Source View (DSV) which creates the unified viewpoint of the data irrespective of where or how it is stored. It also opens the door to Real-Time Analytics, something that was not possible before. But is this really a viable option?

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I recently made a reservation on American Airlines and noticed that my record locator was a six-character alphabetic code. This automatically generated code reminded me of a funny story regarding database design from early in my career. I was working as a consultant for a large multi-national automobile company in England, which shall remain nameless to protect the innocent. We were busy developing a purchasing system that would be used by the company's buyers throughout Europe. It was quite sophisticated for the time (around 1985) and included automatic bid generation and recording using an IMS Database on the IBM MVS platform and supported five native European languages - English, Spanish, Italian, German and Flemish.

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I recently watched a great movie called "Sliding Doors" with Gwyneth Paltrow. When I say "with", I mean she was in the movie in the starring role, not that I watched it actually with her. Do you think the likes of Ms Paltrow would hang out with your average DBA? Not likely. No, she hangs out with your average rock star. (Namely, Chris Martin of Coldplay). It's a clever movie about what might happen if something fairly trivial like missing a train by seconds may affect one's life and it follows the two parallel threads of life, one where she makes the train and one where she doesn't. So what has this got to do with SQL Server you may ask?

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