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Instant Recovery and Data Protection for SQL Servers
http://www.windowsitpro.com/whitepapers/NSISoftware/SQLServerProtection/index.cfm?code=devnltop_603
Anti-Spam product not working? What more companies are switching to...and why.
http://www.windowsitpro.com/whitepapers/postini/managedservice/index.cfm?code=devnlmid_603
Free SQL Anywhere Developer Edition
http://crm.sybase.com/sybase/www/iAS/download_outside_sqlservmag.jsp
Avoiding Availability Pitfalls in Microsoft Exchange Environments
http://www.windowsitpro.com/whitepapers/messageone/availabilitypitfalls/index.cfm?code=devhot_603
1. Developer .NET Perspectives
2. Events and Resources
3. Featured White Paper
4. Announcements
5. New and Improved
Sponsor: Instant Recovery and Data Protection for SQL Servers
One of the most common database management systems (DBMS) for Microsoft Windows servers is Microsoft SQL Server (MS-SQL). Depending on your environment, your Microsoft SQL Server may be your most critical application. Like most database management systems, MS-SQL stores all of the data in a handful of database containers, or files. If one of these containers is damaged or corrupted, all of the data it contains is lost. In this free white paper, learn the data protection strategies you need to really protect your database, compare the costs, evaluate alternatives and more!
http://www.windowsitpro.com/whitepapers/NSISoftware/SQLServerProtection/index.cfm?code=devnltop_603
1. Developer .NET Perspectives
by Bill Sheldon, [email protected]
Which Team Edition Is Right for You?
In my last column (http://www.windowsitpro.com/articles/articleid/46479/46479.html), I introduced you to Microsoft Team System and the Team Foundation Server. As part of this discussion, I mentioned that Team System is a huge product suite and that, as part of its introduction, Microsoft has modified the structure of its Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) licensing. Now, I want to tell you about the licensing options and more important let you know about the options you might be most interested in. The official pricing for the new options is available at http://msdn.microsoft.com/howtobuy/vs2005/editions/team.
For starters, let's talk about the Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite. This is the mother lode and most closely resembles the MSDN Universal Subscription. Unlike some products in which the high-end product comes with more features than available in the lesser-value counterpart, the Team Suite is truly just an aggregation of the tools available in the three Team System packages:
- Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Software Architects
- Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Software Developers
- Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Software Testers
As part of the beta 2 program, Microsoft has made the entire Team Suite available in hope that once you see and use all the tools, you won't be able to live without them. If you have an unlimited budget, Team Suite is for you and you'll likely want to upgrade from the beta 2 version to the release version before the end of the year. However, if you're like most developers, upgrading to the Team Suite will be on your wish list rather than your to-do list. However, the beta 2 version presents you with an opportunity to learn which new Team System features you like to use.
With that said, let's look at what's in each Team Edition. Based on the number of resumes I've seen lately in which applicants list "software architecture" as being a skill related to the developer position they're seeking, I'm betting that the Team Edition for Software Architects is the version that most people probably think they want. However, don't let the word "Architects" in this edition's title fool you. A true software architect doesn't write any code. In fact, I think it could be argued that Microsoft is making a mistake in even including Visual Studio 2005 in that package. Aside from Visual Studio 2005, none of the tools in this edition support code. The Software Architects edition has four tools, only two of which are unique to this package: SOA Modeling and Deployment Design. So, for most developers, the Software Architects edition isn't a valuable investment. Although in reality, if you're going to be focusing on these tasks, you'll probably have the budget for the full Team Suite.
Next, I want to approach the other end of the spectrum: Team Edition for Software Testers. This edition is intriguing in that it focuses on an area in which developers often fail--testing. Besides offering the two tools common to all the Team Editions (i.e., Visual Studio 2005 and Class Designer), the Software Testers edition offers tools for unit testing and code coverage. Unique to this edition are the Load Test and Test Case Management tools. Although these two tools are useful, the most exciting thing about the Software Testers edition is that it includes Microsoft Virtual Server. It's the only version of Team Edition to do so. That inclusion combined with the fact that it targets an area in which most developers are weak (testing) make the Software Testers edition an attractive package.
As attractive as the Software Testing edition is, the Team Edition for Software Developers has some specific advantages. Let's face it--most of us are still proud that we write code. Thus, we need tools to facilitate this process and to help us improve our weakest area, testing. Fortunately, the Software Developers edition addresses both needs. To help us write good code, the Software Developers edition has three unique tools: Static Code Analysis, Dynamic Code Analysis, and Profiling. Each tool looks at source code. As a group, these three tools are designed to ensure that the code we're writing is easy to maintain. To ensure that we test all our code, the Software Developers edition includes the Unit Test and Code Coverage tools (which, as I mentioned previously, are also in the Software Testers edition).
Here's the bottom line: Whether you're a casual developer or a fulltime developer who can have only one edition, the one you want is the Software Developers edition. To me, this decision is a no brainer. If you're part of a team of three to five developers, at some point you should consider investing in a copy of the Software Testers edition in addition to getting the Software Developers edition initially. As for the Software Architects edition, well if you think you need that, odds are you should really be looking at buying the entire Team Suite.
Anti-Spam product not working? What more companies are switching to...and why.
Many email administrators are experiencing increased frustration with their legacy anti-spam products as they battle new and more dangerous email threats. In-house software, appliances and even some services may no longer work effectively, require too much IT staff time to update and maintain, or satisfy the email security needs of different users. In this free white paper learn why many companies are switching to a managed service solution. Download your free copy now!
http://www.windowsitpro.com/whitepapers/postini/managedservice/index.cfm?code=devnlmid_603
2. Events and Resources
(brought to you by SQL Server Magazine)
Find Out What's New in SQL Server Analysis Services 2005
In this free Web seminar, gain an in-depth understanding of the many new features and capabilities Microsoft has introduced in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services. You'll learn about data source views, user-defined hierarchies, measure groups, KPIs and more! Plus--get all you need to know about integration with Integration Services and Reporting Services and the new deployment and synchronization capabilities in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services.
http://www.windowsitpro.com/seminars/SQLServerAnalysisServices/index.cfm?code=0601emailannc
Get Ready for SQL Server 2005 Roadshow in Europe
Get the facts about migrating to SQL Server 2005. SQL Server experts will present real-world information about administration, development, and business intelligence to help you implement a best-practices migration to SQL Server 2005 and improve your database computing environment. Receive a 1-year membership to PASS and 1-year subscription to SQL Server Magazine. Register now!
http://www.windowsitpro.com/roadshows/sqlservereurope/index.cfm?code=0601emailannc
Ensure SQL Server High-Availability
In this free Web seminar, discover how to maintain business continuity of your IT systems during routine maintenance and unplanned disasters. Learn critical factors for establishing a secure and highly available environment for SQL Server including overcoming the technology barriers that affect SQL Server high availability. And learn about Microsoft's out-of-the-box high-availability technologies, including clustering, log shipping, and replication. Register now!
http://www.windowsitpro.com/seminars/SQLHighAvailability/index.cfm?code=0601emailannc
3. Featured White Paper
Is Your Office Truly Fax Integrated?
Discover how to make your business more productive with easier ways for users to communicate and carry out mission-critical business processes. In this free white paper, learn how to integrate fax technology with Microsoft Office and Exchange Server and Outlook applications. Get usage examples of Office-to-Fax integration, learn the benefits, learn how fax works with Office, and more. Download your copy now!
http://www.windowsitpro.com/whitepapers/faxback/officefax/index.cfm?code=0601emailannc
2005 Watch: Free SQL Anywhere Developer Edition
Chances are, your customers run your application on off-the-shelf hardware without on-site systems administrator support, but your applications may require enterprise-level data management capabilities. With over 9 million deployments, SQL Anywhere(R) is the ideal DBMS for applications running outside traditional data centers.
http://crm.sybase.com/sybase/www/iAS/download_outside_sqlservmag.jsp
4. Announcements
(brought to you by SQL Server Magazine)
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Hot Spot: Avoiding Availability Pitfalls in Microsoft Exchange Environments
When Microsoft Exchange is down, many businesses are down. Although many solutions are targeted at making Exchange email environments more reliable, a wide range of potential difficulties still lurk, waiting to interrupt service and, ultimately, your business. In this free white paper, discover the more common pitfalls that can lessen Exchange availability and the recommendations for what you can do to avoid the problem and better plan your Microsoft Exchange messaging environment.
http://www.windowsitpro.com/whitepapers/messageone/availabilitypitfalls/index.cfm?code=devhot_603
5. New and Improved
(by Karen Bemowski, [email protected])
XML Authoring Suite Offers Collaborative Content Review
Blast Radius released XMetaL 4.6, a suite of user-friendly XML authoring software that consists of five applications: XMetaL Developer (a plug-in for Visual Basic .NET or Visual Studio .NET), XMetaL Author, XMetaL Central, XMetaL Reviewer, and XMAX (XMetaL for ActiveX). XMetaL 4.6 marks the official release of XMetaL Reviewer, which lets geographically dispersed authors and subject-matter experts review documents by exchanging feedback in context and in real time. This release also introduces embeddable controls and forms in XMAX and first-phase support for topic-based authoring based on the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA). For more information, contact Blast Radius at 604-647-6572, 866-793-1542, or [email protected].
http://www.blastradius.com
Print Source Code in Color
StarPrint Limited released VS.NETcodePrint 2003 Developer Suite, a Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 add-on that lets you produce professional- looking printouts of Visual Basic, C#, J# and ASP .NET source code. You can print the source code for a variety of project types, including Windows, smart device, ASP.NET Web, and ASP.NET mobile Web applications. You can preview the printouts before printing or exporting to .rtf, .html, and .pdf files. Users can customize the font attributes and colors for comments, identifiers, keywords, line numbers, strings, procedure headings, table of contents, and page headers and footers. This color-coding, combined with source-code indenting, line numbering, and connecting lines that show the language-statement constructs, make it quicker and easier for software developers to write, debug, and maintain applications. The suite costs $89; a trial version is available. For more information, contact StarPrint Limited at 44-0-118-979-4107 or [email protected].
http://www.starprint2000.com
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