December 2006 - Technical Rollup Mail - SQL
News
SQL Server Community Technology Preview Program
SQL Server 2005 is a quality, customer-driven product and offers a comprehensive data management and analysis platform so businesses can make better decisions, faster. Leading up to the release of SQL Server 2005, Microsoft made Community Technology Previews (CTPs) available as public downloads. This CTP process allowed us to be more open and transparent with customers as they provided valuable feedback about our pre-release versions. With this active customer feedback loop, we were able to deliver a higher quality product. Customers have told us that this model also provides greater predictability and faster results for them. As a result, we are continuing to expand this model and applying it more broadly as part of our development cycle. We call this new, enhanced process our Transparent Customer Collaboration Model. If you have a passion for technology and want to make a difference for your company and for SQL Server users around the world, try out a SQL Server CTP. The SQL Server development team uses the feedback from CTP testers to help refine and enhance product features. Any SQL Server customer can participate. SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 CTP is now available.
https://www.microsoft.com/sql/ctp.mspx
What’s New In SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2
Details new or improved components released with SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2.
Documents
SQL Server 2005 Waits and Queues
SQL Server 2005 Performance Tuning using the Waits and Queues is a proven methodology that allows one to identify the best opportunities to improve performance, the so called “biggest bang for the buck”. These performance improvements are likely to have a significant return on the performance tuning time investment. The methodology helps identify the areas of slow performance by looking at the problem from two directions called Waits and Queues. An analysis of Waits indicates where SQL Server is spending lots of time waiting. In addition, the biggest waits point out the most important or relevant Queues (that is, Performance Monitor counters and other data) for this workload. The cross validation of the waits analysis enables us to eliminate all except the most significant performance counters, and provides a strong indication of pressure on specific resources.
https://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/sql/bestpractice/performance_tuning_waits_queues.mspx
Storage Top 10 Best Practices
Proper configuration of IO subsystems is critical to the optimal performance and operation of SQL Server systems. Below are some of the most common best practices that the SQL Server team recommends with respect to storage configuration for SQL Server.
https://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/sql/bestpractice/storage-top-10.mspx
Top SQL Server 2005 Performance Issues For OLTP Applications
OLTP work loads are characterized by high volumes of similar small transactions.
It is important to keep these characteristics in mind as we examine the significance of database design, resource utilization and system performance. The top performance bottlenecks or gotchas for OLTP applications are outlined here.
https://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/sql/bestpractice/oltp-performance-issues.mspx
Top SQL Server 2005 Performance Issues For Data Warehouse and Reporting Applications
Relational Data Warehouse or Reporting work loads are characterized by low volumes of very large transactions. These applications are often identified as having predominately read workloads (e.g. Decision Support, Analysis, and Reporting) with periodic feeds or batch loads. It is important to keep these characteristics in mind as we examine the significance of database design, resource utilization and system performance. The top performance bottlenecks or gotchas to avoid for Data Warehouse or Reporting applications are outlined here.
https://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/sql/bestpractice/dw_perf_top10.mspx
Monthly Theme: SQL Server 2005 Business Intelligence
This month's theme highlights the new Business Intelligence tool set to integrate, analyze, report, and mine data to enable your infrastructure
https://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/sql/themes/default.mspx
Downloads
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition VHD
A pre-configured virtual machine. This download comes as a pre-configured VHD. Microsoft SQL Server 2005 is a comprehensive, integrated, end-to-end data solution that empowers your people by providing a more secure, reliable, and productive platform for enterprise data and BI applications. The Microsoft VHD Test Drive Program provides customers with an enhanced server-based software evaluation experience that’s faster, better supported and more flexible. You can now access the entire catalogue of pre-configured Microsoft and partner products and solutions in the VHD format and start evaluating and testing today from www.microsoft.com/vhd.
SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition offers essential relational database functionality in a compact footprint ideal for embedding in mobile and desktop applications including a new generation of occasionally connected dynamic applications. Sharing a familiar SQL syntax and common ADO.NET programming model with other SQL Server Editions, and management via SQL Server 2005 Management Studio, SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition allows developers and administrators to apply their existing skills and be immediately productive. In addition, SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition enables scale-up of an application, either via a robust synchronization with other SQL Server Editions, or by moving to a higher edition of SQL Server. SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition allows you to extend your integrated data management platform deeper into your enterprise and into your mobile workforce.
https://www.microsoft.com/sql/editions/compact/default.mspx
SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 CTP Download
Help refine and enhance product features by trying and sending feedback on the Community Technology Preview (CTP) releases of SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 (SP2) and the Books Online.
Download SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 CTP (November 2006)
Events/WebCasts
Introduction to SQL Server 2005 report Builder
Join us as we illustrate the architecture behind Report Builder, demonstrate its capabilities, and explain how it helps you to build business data models for users with ease.
Monday, December 11, 2006 1:00 P.M.–2:30 P.M. Pacific Time
TechNet Webcast: Introduction to SQL Server 2005 Report Builder (Level 200)
Introduction To Data Mining in SQL Server 2005
Tune in to learn how Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services is meeting the demands for self-service reporting with Report Builder, an ad hoc reporting tool that enables business users to create their own reports and explore corporate data.
Friday, December 15, 2006 11:30 A.M.–1:00 P.M. Pacific Time
TechNet Webcast: Introduction to Data Mining with SQL Server 2005 (Level 200)
Using Transact-SQL For Recursive Queries In SQL Server 2005
Join us as we explore recursive CTEs and demonstrate how to use them to answer common requests against graph structures.
Monday, December 18, 2006 11:00 A.M.–12:00 P.M. Pacific Time
MSDN Webcast: Using Transact-SQL for Recursive Queries in SQL Server 2005 (Level 200)
Overview Of Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) Application Development APIs
Tune in as we cover the ADOMD.NET object model for OLAP data access, the Analysis Management Objects (AMO) library for OLAP database management, and XMLA for SOAP based combination of the two.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006 11:00 A.M.–12:00 P.M. Pacific Time
TechNet Webcast: Introduction to Data Mining with SQL Server 2005 (Level 200)
SQL 2005 Webcasts and Virtual Labs
SQL Server 2005 is data management and analysis software that delivers enhanced security, availability, and scalability to mission-critical data applications—while making them easier to develop, deploy, and manage. Choose from a wide range of live and on-demand webcasts. Or take part in a virtual lab, which allows you to cut your teeth on the new platform by experimenting with its different capabilities.
https://www.microsoft.com/sql/eval/webcast.mspx?wt.mc_id=sql.ad.01037
SQL Server 2005 Podcast
As a company grows, its information technology infrastructure must also grow, typically becoming more complex, more costly to maintain, and subject to continually increasing demands. Often, the IT infrastructure does not align well with strategic business needs, making it difficult for the organization to realize the full value of its technology investments. In this webcast, see how Microsoft applies the concept of infrastructure optimization to strategically and systematically move its capabilities from a reactive mode to a more mature proactive approach.
Microsoft Webcast: How Microsoft Maximizes Its IT Investment Through Infrastructure Optimization
Further on-demand webcasts are available here: https://www.microsoft.com/events/series/technetsqlserver2005.mspx
New KB’s
SQL Server 2000 Standard Edition
FIX: Error message when you configure an immediate updating transactional replication in SQL Server 2000: "Implicit conversion from datatype 'text' to 'nvarchar' is not allowed"
https://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=923563
Error message when you try to change the SQL Server Agent proxy account in SQL Server 2000: "The system cannot find the path specified"
https://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=926901
FIX: You may receive inconsistent comparison results when you compare strings by using a width sensitive collation in SQL Server 2000
https://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=925732
FIX: A different number of rows may be returned in the result set every time that you run a complex full-text search query in SQL Server 2000
https://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=926466
FIX: You may experience one or more symptoms when you run a "CREATE INDEX" statement on an instance of SQL Server 2000
https://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=925684
SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition
The list of product codes that depend on SQL Native Client may be lost after you upgrade to SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 1 on a computer that is running Windows Vista Release Candidate 1
https://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=926626
How to install service packs and hotfixes on an instance of SQL Server 2005 that is configured to use database mirroring
https://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=926824
Error message when you install SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 1 after you upgrade a Windows operating system or after you install a Windows service pack: "Error 29513 SQL Server Setup Failed to compile the Managed Object Format (MOF) file"
https://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=926623
When you use SQL Profiler to create a trace in SQL Server 2005, the Existing Connection event appears after other events that are logged for the same session ID
https://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=926899
Hard disk drive sector-size support boundaries in SQL Server 2005
https://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=926930
Ad hoc queries take a longer time to finish running when the size of the TokenAndPermUserStore cache grows in SQL Server 2005
https://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=927396
A list of the bugs that are fixed in SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 Community Technology Preview (CTP)
https://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=921896
Using database mirroring for cross-database transactions or distributed transactions is not supported in SQL Server 2005
https://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=926150
Fix: Error message when you convert a column from the varbinary(max) data type to the XML data type in SQL Server 2005: "Msg 6322, Level 16, State 1, Line 2 Too many attributes or namespace definitions"
https://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=926285
Error message when you start SQL Server Management Studio in SQL Server 2005: "Unable to cast object of type 'Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.UI.ConnectionDlg.Personalization' to type 'Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.UI.ConnectionDlg.Personalization'"
https://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=922214
FIX: Error message when you run a query that uses a fast forward-only cursor in SQL Server 2005: "Query processor could not produce a query plan because of the hints defined in this query"
https://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=926773
SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition x64
FIX: A memory leak may occur when you run SQL Server 2005 Integration Services packages that are stored in the SSIS Package store
https://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=920205
SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services
FIX: A query may crash, and you may receive an error message when an MDX query uses the Filter function at the start to slice a partition in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services: "An unexpected exception occurred"
https://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=925278
FIX: Error message when you use a unary operator in a parent/child dimension in a SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services cube: "Record ID is not valid"
https://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=925387
Error message when you run an MDX query in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services: "The MDX function CURRENTMEMBER failed because the coordinate for the 'AttributeName' attribute contains a set"
https://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=928318
Description of the rules for derivation of the FORMAT_STRING cell property in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services
https://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=927165
FIX: The sum total of a column contains incorrect data when you browse or query a cube in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services