- Introduction
-
Table of Contents
- Microsoft SQL Server Defined
- Microsoft SQL Server Features
- Microsoft SQL Server Administration
- Microsoft SQL Server Programming
- Performance Tuning
-
Practical Applications
- Choosing the Back End
- The DBA's Toolbox, Part 1
- The DBA's Toolbox, Part 2
- Scripting Solutions for SQL Server
- Building a SQL Server Lab
- Using Graphics Files with SQL Server
- Enterprise Resource Planning
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
- Building a Reporting Data Server
- Building a Database Documenter, Part 1
- Building a Database Documenter, Part 2
- Data Management Objects
- Data Management Objects: The Server Object
- Data Management Objects: Server Object Methods
- Data Management Objects: Collections and the Database Object
- Data Management Objects: Database Information
- Data Management Objects: Database Control
- Data Management Objects: Database Maintenance
- Data Management Objects: Logging the Process
- Data Management Objects: Running SQL Statements
- Data Management Objects: Multiple Row Returns
- Data Management Objects: Other Database Objects
- Data Management Objects: Security
- Data Management Objects: Scripting
- Powershell and SQL Server - Overview
- PowerShell and SQL Server - Objects and Providers
- Powershell and SQL Server - A Script Framework
- Powershell and SQL Server - Logging the Process
- Powershell and SQL Server - Reading a Control File
- Powershell and SQL Server - SQL Server Access
- Powershell and SQL Server - Web Pages from a SQL Query
- Powershell and SQL Server - Scrubbing the Event Logs
- SQL Server 2008 PowerShell Provider
- SQL Server I/O: Importing and Exporting Data
- SQL Server I/O: XML in Database Terms
- SQL Server I/O: Creating XML Output
- SQL Server I/O: Reading XML Documents
- SQL Server I/O: Using XML Control Mechanisms
- SQL Server I/O: Creating Hierarchies
- SQL Server I/O: Using HTTP with SQL Server XML
- SQL Server I/O: Using HTTP with SQL Server XML Templates
- SQL Server I/O: Remote Queries
- SQL Server I/O: Working with Text Files
- Using Microsoft SQL Server on Handheld Devices
- Front-Ends 101: Microsoft Access
- Comparing Two SQL Server Databases
- English Query - Part 1
- English Query - Part 2
- English Query - Part 3
- English Query - Part 4
- English Query - Part 5
- RSS Feeds from SQL Server
- Using SQL Server Agent to Monitor Backups
- Reporting Services - Creating a Maintenance Report
- SQL Server Chargeback Strategies, Part 1
- SQL Server Chargeback Strategies, Part 2
- SQL Server Replication Example
- Creating a Master Agent and Alert Server
- The SQL Server Central Management System: Definition
- The SQL Server Central Management System: Base Tables
- The SQL Server Central Management System: Execution of Server Information (Part 1)
- The SQL Server Central Management System: Execution of Server Information (Part 2)
- The SQL Server Central Management System: Collecting Performance Metrics
- The SQL Server Central Management System: Centralizing Agent Jobs, Events and Scripts
- The SQL Server Central Management System: Reporting the Data and Project Summary
- Time Tracking for SQL Server Operations
- Migrating Departmental Data Stores to SQL Server
- Migrating Departmental Data Stores to SQL Server: Model the System
- Migrating Departmental Data Stores to SQL Server: Model the System, Continued
- Migrating Departmental Data Stores to SQL Server: Decide on the Destination
- Migrating Departmental Data Stores to SQL Server: Design the ETL
- Migrating Departmental Data Stores to SQL Server: Design the ETL, Continued
- Migrating Departmental Data Stores to SQL Server: Attach the Front End, Test, and Monitor
- Tracking SQL Server Timed Events, Part 1
- Tracking SQL Server Timed Events, Part 2
- Patterns and Practices for the Data Professional
- Managing Vendor Databases
- Consolidation Options
- Connecting to a SQL Azure Database from Microsoft Access
- SharePoint 2007 and SQL Server, Part One
- SharePoint 2007 and SQL Server, Part Two
- SharePoint 2007 and SQL Server, Part Three
- Querying Multiple Data Sources from a Single Location (Distributed Queries)
- Importing and Exporting Data for SQL Azure
- Working on Distributed Teams
- Professional Development
- Application Architecture Assessments
- Business Intelligence
- Tips and Troubleshooting
- Additional Resources
Practical Applications
Last updated Mar 28, 2003.
SQL Server runs on several platforms, from handheld devices to multiprocessor servers. Its versions include everything from personal to enterprise editions, and it supports several access interfaces including application programming interfaces and remote data access methods.
With all this availability, there are hundreds of applications that use SQL Server as a back-end, from small custom-developed personal applications all the way up to enterprise solutions such as Seibel and SAP. Each of these applications has different requirements for their planning, infrastructure, tuning, operation and maintenance. In this section of the guide, I’ll detail these kinds of applications, and the methods and processes you can use to keep them functional and fast.
There's also an easy way to find out when any part of the guide is updated. If you're using an RSS reader, you can subscribe to these notifications here. We also have a blog you can subscribe to for even more up-to-date information.
The sections in this Guide are designed to allow quick access to what you need. The tutorials and overviews can be read in just a few minutes, and many contain useful scripts and hands-on guides to examples you can follow.
Making SQL Server Work for You
The entire SQL Server Guide here at InformIT is built to help you learn SQL Server concepts, overviews, and tutorials. You can learn just about anything you need to know to be a Database Administrator (DBA) or a Database Developer. There's lots of theory and facts here that will help you learn what you need to know. But this section of the guide, called Practical Applications, is just that. Here I'll show you exactly what you need to do to put SQL Server to work for you, in real applications, in every article.
Platform Choices
Platform choices are those subjects that affect everything you'll do with a SQL Server installation, also called an Instance. I'll start by helping you choose the back-end for your applications, covering lots of choices, including Oracle, MySQL and of course SQL Server. I'll show you how to create your own laboratory inexpensively so that you can experiment for your organization. I'll cover several "platform" uses of SQL Server including Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems and more.
I'll also explain how to use SQL Server on very large systems and very small ones, even on how to use Microsoft SQL Server on Handheld Devices.
Using Tools
As a Database Administrator, or DBA, you'll need tools to do your job. Sure, you can fire up the command-line interface and type your Transact-SQL (T-SQL) directly into the engine, but I'll go further here than I have in explaining jus the basics of Enterprise Manager (SQL Server 2000) and SQL Server Management Studio (SQL Server 2005), explaining topics such as the DBA’s Toolbox, using SQL Server Agent to Monitor Backups, and even how to create a maintenance report from Reporting Services.
Commanding the System
By far the most intense part of this section of the guide deals with actually commanding the system. From the DBAs to the Developers, everyone should be familiar with the various scripting solutions for SQL Server.
Scripts are nothing more than text files dedicated to a certain language that can talk to SQL Server. You've got every option here from Perl to PowerShell, and even plain old Transact-SQL statements. I'll show you how to use these languages, and what management layers Microsoft has included in SQL Server that you can control with them. We'll build a Database Documenter, compare two SQL Server Databases, and more.
Data — In and Out
Of course, a database doesn't exist just to be managed — it holds data. That's the whole point. In these articles I'll show you how to use graphics files with SQL Server, how to build a Reporting Data Server, information on XML, and how to use HTTP with SQL Server XML data. You'll also learn how to transform the XML data with SQL Server XML Templates.
You'll need to learn how to access other data from SQL Server, so I have several articles in this section of the guide that deal with Remote Queries, as well as working with Text Files.
I'll also cover some of the front end systems that can access SQL Server data, such as Microsoft Access and Microsoft Excel. Even if you use another office productivity suite you can use the information here to present data from a database into these platforms.
There are some features of SQL Server that have to do with data, such as English Query in SQL Server 2000. I have one of the few tutorials around that actually show you how to use this fantastic feature in the system.
Keeping true to the practical nature of this section of the guide, we'll also cover topics such as how to create RSS Feeds from SQL Server databases and more.
So check out this section of the guide along with the rest to learn how to put all that hard-won knowledge to use.
InformIT Articles and Sample Chapters
Along with learning more about database data, you need to learn to "think in sets." We have a great free chapter for that here.
Books and eBooks
Not into SQL Server but really into database applications? Check here.
Online Resources
I can't pitch the Safari Online Books resource here at InformIT enough. It has thousands of tech books you can read on any database subject imaginable.
Click Next to continue reading about Microsoft SQL Server Practical Applications. Next topic: Choosing the Back End
