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January 26, 2006
1. Perspectives
2. SQL Server 2005 Watch
3. News & Views
4. Events and Resources
5. Featured White Paper
6. Peer to Peer
7. Announcements
8. New & Improved
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1. Perspectives
by Brian Moran, [email protected]
Two weeks ago, I wrote about the December 2005 SQL Server 2005 Books Online (BOL) refresh, emphatically recommending that you upgrade ASAP and check out the large amount of new information it contains. I also commented on the great job the SQL Server User Education team (which brings us BOL) did in including new tags to ensure that it's easy and practical to quickly find information that's been modified or is brand new. But then a weird thing happened: I started getting emails from readers saying, "Sounds great, but where the heck is the info?" Multiple readers confirmed that they had downloaded the latest and greatest version, but that the new version seemed to be exactly the same as the old version. Weird.
I checked a new machine that I had just built and saw the problem. Digging a bit more, I saw that the digital signature timestamp on the "new" version had the same value as the RTM version of BOL. Hmmm. The mystery deepened.
Now to be honest, it would be a bit embarrassing for a SQL Server expert and columnist (me) to not even be able to figure out how to upgrade BOL, so I have to admit that I was a bit hesitant to ask too many people at Microsoft. I eventually convinced myself that I was in fact smart enough to install BOL and that it simply wasn't working. Here's what seems to have happened. The December version of BOL had the same file name as the original RTM version of BOL, which led to a problem in which some of the ISPs responsible for managing Microsoft downloads were caching the wrong file. This mistake created an "eenie-meenie-miney-moe" situation in which most folks were getting the correct version but a small percentage of people were getting the incorrect version.
Checking the title bar of the BOL menu is the easiest way to confirm whether you have the new version or the old; the new version clearly says "December 2005" in parentheses. If your title bar doesn't say December, you have the original version.
Another way to determine which version you have is to simply look for some of the missing content. For example, the December BOL has "New and Updated Books Online Topics" as the first topic under the "What's New in SQL Server" heading. Don't have that topic? Well then, you don't have the latest version.
The MSDN online version of BOL is the updated version. Microsoft has fixed the download anomaly, so you can reliably download the correct version from http://lists.sqlmag.com/t?ctl=1F118:285886 . If you think you downloaded the December refresh, you might want to check to make sure that you have the "real" new version. It's possible that you downloaded the new version and installed it properly, but ended up with the original RTM verbage.
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2. SQL Server 2005 Watch
Ensure Counter-Data Logging for SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services
Imagine that you're working on a Windows XP-based computer and you use Performance Monitor to collect data from SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services performance counters. You try to log the counter data by using the performance logs and alerts. However, when you start to collect data, you notice that the counter data isn't logged and one or more events in the event log inform you that an error has occurred. This problem occurs because the Performance Logs and Alerts service (Smlogsvc.exe) doesn't have sufficient permissions to access the performance counter DLL for SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services. The Microsoft article "Event ID: 1023 occurs, and counter data is not logged when you use Performance Monitor to collect data from SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services performance counters" explains how to resolve this problem by granting the Read and Execute permission to the Network Service account on the performance counter DLL for SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services. Read the entire article at
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3. News & Views
Microsoft Provides Proxy Server Setup for SQL Server 2000
SQL Server can operate transparently with Proxy Server to prevent unauthorized access to your internal network. When you use this configuration, you don't have to connect the computer running SQL Server directly to the Internet. Thus, the packet-filtering features of Proxy Server protect SQL Server. You can configure Proxy Server to permit or deny inbound SQL Server access to specific users, services, ports, and IP domains. Microsoft provides the steps for setting up this configuration in the article "How to Set Up SQL Server with Proxy Server." You can read the complete article at
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Results of Previous Instant Poll: Wanna Read a Wiki?
"Do you use one or more wikis as a primary research tool?" Here are the results from the 74 votes:
New Instant Poll: Using Analysis Services
"Are you using Analysis Services?" Go to the SQL Server Magazine home page ( http://lists.sqlmag.com/t?ctl=1F12A:285886 ) and submit your vote for
4. Events and Resources
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5. Featured White Paper
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6. Peer to Peer
by Brian Moran, [email protected]
Contrary to popular belief, SANs aren't necessarily the best solution for a SQL Server system that must support high-end I/O on a budget. It's true that SANs offer advanced features for I/O and storage management, and they can be configured to offer extremely high levels of availability and performance. But it's generally harder to configure a SAN correctly than it is to use DAS. And usually, the cost of a direct-attached I/O solution is much less than the cost of buying a SAN that has the same number of disks that offer comparable cache and performance levels. This means that you can often end up with more spindles for the same price by using DAS rather than a SAN. Read this tip today at
http://lists.sqlmag.com/t?ctl=1F114:285886
Although the T-SQL TOP option in SQL Server 2005 doesn't conform to the ANSI SQL standard, it nonetheless meets some important practical needs of SQL Server users; In his January T-SQL 2005 column, Itzik Ben-Gan kicks off a series in which he explores TOP's limitations; suggests an alternative, more robust and complete implementation of TOP; and discusses options available in SQL Server 2005 that address TOP's shortcomings. Read this article today and post your comments at
http://lists.sqlmag.com/t?ctl=1F115:285886
Many people in the database field work with some pretty strange combinations, such as Java against SQL Server or .NET against Oracle. In this week's blog "JDBC Driver Update," Kevin Kline lets you know how to get the latest release of Microsoft's SQL Server 2005 JDBC Driver, a tool that can be helpful for shops that need interoperability. Read about the new driver release and let Kevin know your opinion of its potential today at
http://lists.sqlmag.com/t?ctl=1F11A:285886
Hot Threads: Check out the following hot threads, and see other discussions in our 30 SQL Server forums.
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SQL Server 2005 General Discussion: Migrating from Beta 2
http://lists.sqlmag.com/t?ctl=1F10D:285886
T-SQL: Conditional Cursor Fetch
http://lists.sqlmag.com/t?ctl=1F110:285886
Performance: Testing Execution Time Increases During WHILE Loop
http://lists.sqlmag.com/t?ctl=1F10F:285886
OLAP/Data Warehousing: OLAP Environment Best Practice
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Hot Spot
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7. Announcements
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You won't want to miss any of Windows IT Pro's upcoming 2006 issues! Subscribe now and discover the best ways to plan for Longhorn, the need-to-knows of VBScript, ways to make sense of SQL Server 2005, the 10 Security Tools You Can't Live Without, Vista launch essentials, and much more. You'll save $40 off the full cover price and gain exclusive access to the entire Windows IT Pro online article database FREE. Subscribe today:
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8. New & Improved
by Blake Eno, [email protected]
Identify Web-Application Vulnerabilities
SPI Dynamics released WebInspect 5.8, a Web-application security-assessment product that now supports Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX) software-development technology. SPI Dynamics also released Assessment Management Platform (AMP) 2.0, a solution for managing, tracking, and measuring Web-application security risk throughout a distributed environment. AMP integrates directly with WebInspect and extends its ability. WebInspect users can consolidate assessment information and risk management into a single database. In addition, AMP provides WebInspect users with centralized control and oversight of the application risk-assessment process. For more information about WebInspect 5.8 or AMP 2.0, contact SPI Dynamics at [email protected], 678-781-4800, or 866-774-2700.
http://lists.sqlmag.com/t?ctl=1F129:285886
Extend the Functionality of Visual Studio 2005 Controls
Infragistics announced NetAdvantage 2005 3.0 for Visual Studio 2005, a presentation-layer toolset for your Windows Forms, ASP.NET, and Tablet PC applications. This release extends the functionality of Visual Studio 2005 by including WinEditors that extend the columns in the Windows Forms grid to give you improved data-input capabilities. NetAdvantage is also Extensible HyperText Markup Language (XHTML) compliant and will simplify deployment of your ASP.NET applications. In addition, new DataBinding, ASP.NET Theming, and Smart Tags provide tighter integration with Visual Studio 2005. For more information, contact Infragistics at [email protected] or 800-231-8588.
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