SQL Server

With the introduction of SQL Server Management studio, Microsoft has made the UI of SQL Server as similar to Oracle UI as possible. In this topic let us see the various enhancements to SQL Server 2005. The SQL Server Management studio combines the functionalities of both utilities Query Analyzer and Enterprise Manager present in the earlier versiona. SQLCMD, which can now be seen in the Studio is an enhancement of the earlier command line utilities. SQLCMD can be run without accessing DOS.

With SQL Server 2005, database administrators can execute the restore operation while SQL Server is running. Online restore enhances the performance of SQL Server, because only the data being restored is unavailable. The database is available online.

The CommonLanguage Runtime hosted in SQL Server 2005 allows developers to create database objects like stored procedures using Microsoft Visual C# .NET and Microsoft Visual Basic .NET and create two new objects-user-defined types and aggregates.

With the 2005 release native XML data can be stored, queried, and indexed. This lets developers to build new classes of connected applications around Web services.

With the introduction of schema model, SQL Server 2005 separates users from objects and enables more control of data access. System tables are now views, providing more control.

SQL Service Broker

Asynchronous message routing is a new feature, allowing parallel process to be completed without waiting for the process to be completed. By using extensions to T-SQL (Transact SQL Server) the new technology allows passing internal and external processes. This feature brings asynchronous messaging with the transactional features of SQL Server relational engine.

Reporting Services

The reporting service can be considered as a Business Intelligence feature. These services are server-based services for creating, managing, and delivering reports. The modular design and the extensive interfaces (APIs) of Reporting Services enable software developers, data providers, and enterprises to integrate reporting with legacy systems.

Notification Services

Notification Services allows developing and deploying applications that generate and send notifications to users. Notifications are personalized, timely messages that can be sent to a wide variety of devices. Notifications reflect the preferences of the subscriber. The subscriber enters a subscription to express an interest in information. For example, "notify me when the overdue balance Adventure Works reaches $1500.00,". A notification can be generated and sent to the user as soon as a triggering event occurs, or can be generated and sent on a predetermined schedule that the user specifies. The user's subscription specifies when the notification should be generated and sent.

Database Mirroring

In SQL Server 2005 the database mirroring option enables log shipping. Database mirroring allows continuous streaming of the transaction log from a source server to a single destination server.

In the event of a failure in the primary system, applications reconnect to the database on the secondary server almost immediately. The secondary instance detects failure of the primary server within seconds and accepts database connections almost immediately.

Unlike failover clustering, the mirrored server is fully cached and ready to accept workloads because of its synchronized state. A database mirroring system requires three servers that are running SQL Server, and each server has a specific architectural role: the "principal," the "mirror," and the "witness."

SQL Server Management Studio Query Editor

SQL Server 2005 replaces SQL Query Analyzer with the Query Editor, a component of SQL Server Management Studio and the primary tool for designing and testing Transact-SQL statements, queries, batches, and scripts interactively.

Sql Server Training

Training on SQL Server is an expensive affair. Running into thousands of dollars, the students are put at a disadvantage as they will not have the time nor the resources to judge the utility of the courses. Students will also have to cope up with the fact that learning a database as sophisticated as SQL Server Or Oracle requires a certain amount of familiarity period. The training institutes cannot provide this as their focus is to teach the basics.

While a general menu driven training program looks good from the outside, very few of the institutes are able to give personal training, which these tools demand. The common modules which training institutes offer are :

SQL Server 2005 Introduction
SQL Server 2005 Admin
SQL Server 2005 Database Administration
SQL Server 2005 Programming
SQL Server 2005 Server-Side Programming
SQL Server 2005 Integration Services
SQL Queries for SQL Server
High-Performance SQL Server Databases
SQL Server Reporting Services

Listed above are nine courses for SQL Server. Learning these topics in two or three weeks is next to impossible for a fresher. Two thousand dollars for such a training course is ridiculous to say the least. So, what is the solution?

Freshers need to understand one aspect regarding learning these tools. They require time. So, develop a strategy to learn the main features one at a time and give yourself sufficient time to comprehend the features and functionalities of these tools. In fact I would prefer training programs which involve a large number of hands on excerises to enable a student to be proficient in working with the tool.

In the above list, the topic Server Side programming has to be learnt in tandem with a front end tool like VB.Net or C#. Learning Server side programming without knowledge of programming is not advised.

Sql server express

SQL Server express edition is free to download and use. It is lightweight and can be redistributed and free to embed. This version includes the fast growing reporting service which can be separate subject by itself.

Using relational databases among the programmer community has increased leaps and bounds. With this edition, programmers can design schemas, add data, and query local databases, all inside the Visual Studio 2005 environment. This tool is more like a starter free version which lets you get a feel of the biggy.