SQL Server Reference Guide

Mar 28, 2003

␡

⎙ Print

< Back Page 204 of 365 Next >

In the last installment of this two-part series, I mentioned that there are often more things to learn about SQL Server Management than you can take in at one time. A simple method to help cut the information down to size is to categorize it all into concepts, processes and tools. You can attack the knowledge from any or all of those angles.

I also mentioned that I’ve covered the general concepts for some of the features and components in SQL Server in a series of tutorials called Microsoft SQL Server Features. I pointed out a DBA checklist that I created to help with some process, and I mentioned longer tutorials and articles on the native SQL Server Tools for SQL Server 2000 here and SQL Server 2005 here. In this installment, I’ll close out the discussion of the tools, and just so you don’t have to flip back and forth between the two articles I’ll duplicate the chart information in this tutorial as well.

Once again, I’ll try and stick with the tools that ship with SQL Server. Every once in a while, though, I run into a tool that just does such a good job that I’ll mention it, although I won’t be able to go into as much process with those tools. You’ll just have to rely on their documentation for that.

And I need to add another word or two about those charts before we dive in. The steps I show you here are guides—they may not suite your needs in every situation. For instance, having Analysis Services or Reporting Services installed on your system might dictate different steps than I show here. The best approach is to have a test system that you can play around with until you’re comfortable, and then create your own checklists and processes that fit your situation perfectly. I show you how to create your own testing lab here.

Let’s pick up where we left off in the last installment, with the checklist as it stands now.

Installing and Configuring the SQL Server Platform

Task	Tool	Process/Reference
Install SQL Server	Installation CD	Run SETUP.EXE. Books Online Installation Reference
Multiple Installations of SQL Server	Installation CD and Unattended Installation File	Run SETUP.EXE with command line switches. Command-line Switches Reference
Multiple Installations of SQL Server	Microsoft SMS	Develop installation packages, select targets, set schedule. Now called "System Center Configuration Manager"
Multiple Installations of SQL Server	Windows Server	You can use Windows Policies to push out software based on policy conditions.

Designing and Implementing Databases

Task	Tool	Process/Reference
Run Transact-SQL (T-SQL) Statements	SQL Server Query Analyzer (2K)	Open Query Analyzer tool, connect to a database. InformIT overview of QA
Run Transact-SQL (T-SQL) Statements	SQL Server Management Studio (2K5)	Open SSMS, open a Query Window. InformIT overview of SSMS
Run Transact-SQL (T-SQL) Statements	TOAD (Quest Software)	Connect to a database engine, open query. TOAD evaluation at InformIT.com
Create Database Design Graphically	SQL Server Enterprise Manager (2K)	Connect to a server. Right-click database folder. Select "Create New Database" from the menu that appears. Create a database with any options you want. Open the database, right-click the "Database Diagrams" folder, and select "Create New Diagram" from the menu. (you’ll be asked about creating some objects. Let it do that). Bypass the "Add Tables" request. Right-click in the screen to create tables and relationships. InformIT overview of EM
Create Database Design Graphically	SQL Server Management Studio (2K5)	Connect to a server. Right-click database folder. Select "Create New Database" from the menu that appears. Create a database with any options you want. Open the database, right-click the "Database Diagrams" folder, and select "Create New Diagram" from the menu. (you’ll be asked about creating some objects. Let it do that) Bypass the "Add Tables" request. Right-click in the screen to create tables and relationships. InformIT overview of SSMS
Create Database Design Graphically	Visual Studio Enterprise Edition	See this reference for more information.
Create Database Design Graphically	Erwin	See this reference for more information.
Create Database Design Graphically	Visual Studio Team Edition for Database Professionals (a.k.a. "Data Dude")	See this reference for more information.

Configuring Security and Access

Task	Tool	Process/Reference
Create Database Roles	Transact-SQL Commands	Open a query tool, use the CREATE ROLE command. CREATE ROLE Reference
Create Database Roles	Enterprise Manager (2K)	Open EM, connect to a server. Navigate to and open a database. Right-click Roles, Select New Database Role from the menu. Follow the prompts. More about Roles here.
Create Database Roles	SQL Server Management Studio (2K5)	Open SSMS, connect to a database Open a database Right-click the Security/Roles/Database Roles node, select New Database Role from the menu. Follow the prompts More about Roles here.
Grant Rights to Roles	Transact-SQL Commands	Open a query tool, use the GRANT command. GRANT Reference
Grant Rights to Roles	Enterprise Manager (2K)	Open EM, connect to a server. Navigate to and open a database. Right-click an object (such as a table), Select Properties from the menu. Click the Permissions button. Select the permissions you want from the list that shows, assign them to the proper Role. Follow the prompts. More about Permissions here.
Grant Rights to Roles	SQL Server Management Studio (2K5)	Open SSMS, connect to a server. Navigate to and open a database. Right-click an object (such as a table), Select Properties from the menu. Click the Permissions object. Click the Add Button. Select the permissions you want from the list that shows, assign them to the proper Role. Follow the prompts. More about Permissions here.
Create Server Logins	Transact-SQL Commands	Open a query tool, use the CREATE LOGIN command. CREATE LOGIN Reference
Create Server Logins	Enterprise Manager (2K)	Open EM, connect to a server. Open the Security node. Right-click the Logins object, select New Login from the menu that appears. Follow the prompts. More about Server Logins here.
Create Server Logins	SQL Server Management Studio (2K5)	Open SSMS, connect to a server. Open the Security node. Right-click the Logins object, select New Login from the menu that appears. Follow the prompts. More about Server Logins here.
Create Database Users	Transact-SQL Commands	Open a query tool, use the CREATE LOGIN command. CREATE USER reference.
Create Database Users	Enterprise Manager (2K)	Open EM, connect to a server. Navigate to and open a database. Right-click Users, Select New Database User from the menu. Follow the prompts. More about Database Users here.
Create Database Users	SQL Server Management Studio (2K5)	Open SSMS, connect to a database Open a database Right-click the Security/Users node, select New User from the menu. Follow the prompts More about Database Users here.
Add Users to Roles	Transact-SQL Commands	Open a query tool, use the CREATE LOGIN command. ALTER GROUP reference.
Add Users to Roles	Enterprise Manager (2K)	Open EM, connect to a server. Navigate to and open a database. Right-click a Role, Select Properties from the menu. Click the Add button. Follow the prompts. More about Roles here.
Add Users to Roles	SQL Server Management Studio (2K5)	Open SSMS, connect to a database Open a database Right-click the Security/Roles/Database Roles node, select Properties from the menu. Click the Add button. Follow the prompts More about Roles here.

That’s the last of the previous list, so let’s continue now with the rest of the tasks you need to work with.

Maintenance

The server is now installed and configured. You have designed and created a database, and you’re secured the objects in it to the proper roles and tied Server Logins and Database Users to those roles. The applications are written, and your system is up and running.

Now it’s time to ensure that the system is properly maintained. You should start out with a good disaster recovery plan, which I’ve explained here. The reason that’s a good place to start is that it forces you to plan out what the desired outcomes of your system are after a major meltdown—something you hopefully won’t have to face a lot. Determining that state will tell you what to protect.

Along with protection, you need to optimize. Although I’ll cover optimization in a moment, there are some steps you need to take as part of general maintenance. I’ll cover those below.

The final two checklists are a bit different. Maintenance and Performance Tuning are two things that aren’t quite as simple as following a few steps, so I’m going to copy the checklist I have in this tutorial and put it here for the maintenance part. The reason is that the maintenance section can become quite complex, and for most of these things you shouldn’t just follow a simple set of instructions. Don’t worry, however, this checklist still points out the tools to use and has links to more information. I’m going to add some information here so that you have a full set of links to understand how each of these tasks can be accomplished. Note that for the most part, Enterprise Manager and Query Analyzer are the tools you use with SQL Server 2000, and SQL Server Management Studio has everything you need for SQL Server 2005. In the links I provide, both are referenced, and the scripts for each are also part of the link.

Remember, the checklist there and here cover only the basics; your setup will most certainly be different. But this is a good way to exercise your maintenance plan to see what mix of graphical, command or scripting you like to work in.

Task	Tools, Processes and Reference
Check Backups	Check the backups using the logs.
Check Event Logs	Check the System, Application and Security areas in the Windows Event logs.
Check SQL Server Logs	Check the log files in SQL Server.
Check Drive Space	Check that the drives that store database logs, data files and operational files have sufficient space.
Check jobs history	Check the job history to ensure that it ran correctly.
Check Agent Logs	Check the agent logs on your system.
Perform database backups	Create a plan that executes an automated backup for all of your databases, including the system databases.
Update Indexes and Statistics	Develop a good re-indexing strategy. Use DBCC commands or the referenced graphical tools to check and tune the indexes.
Archive Backups	Determine when the data is no longer needed locally and send tapes or other media off-site for storage. This is a physical process so there isn’t tool involved here (other than your brain) so use the link provided to learn what you need to do.
Data Archival	If you have data that loses its immediate value, create a "rollup" strategy to aggregate the data to save space. Once again, many tools or processes are useful here, such as Data Transformation Services (2000) or Integration Services (2005) are great places to start. The link will point to more articles on those tools.
Update Change Management Scripts	Script your database objects into a change control management system. I use PowerShell, but you can also use Database Management Objects (DMO) or even right-click on object and script it from there.
Install and configure SQL Mail or Database Mail	Install and configure SQL or Database Mail. The same installation tools from above can be used here.
Automate Maintenance and Logging	Use the SQL Server Agent to process all maintenance and logging tasks possible. You can find more information on SQL Server Agent in the link provided.
Review Security Access Points	Check the server for network access. You can do this using various tools, check the link provided.
Test Restore Operations	Restore the database backups to a test server. The link shows you how.
Check indexes	Create a report on indexes to find which are useful. Various DBCC commands and graphical tools are available to help you do that in the link provided.

Monitoring and Performance Tuning

Monitoring and Performance Tuning go hand-in-hand. You have to know which part of the system is the bottleneck before you can choose a tool to fix it, so you’ll want to check this series of tutorials to learn how to do that.

As I mentioned earlier, you’ll find many of the same tasks for improving your performance on your system in maintenance as here. I’ll duplicate some of those in case you’re using this chart for reference.

Once again, this chart differs from the ones I created in the last article. The reason is that the steps are quite involved, and would make the checklist too bulky to easily read. This format allows you to see the tasks in a list, but use the hyperlinks in the text to get to more information.

Task	Tool	Process/Reference
Check indexes	DBCC Commands Graphical tools in EM, QA and SSMS Third-party tools	Create a report on indexes to find which are useful. Various DBCC commands and graphical tools are available to help you do that in the link provided.
Check overall performance of the system	Index Tuning Wizard (2000) Database Tuning Advisor (2005)	Check this series of articles for more in-depth information on these tools and processes you should follow to monitor and tune your system.
Find performance issues and determine steps to correct them	Spotlight on SQL Server	I have to mention this tool because I have found it so useful. You can read my review and the steps to check your system here.

InformIT Articles and Sample Chapters

If you’re really in a hurry and need an even shorter checklist, I’ve got one of those here.

Online Resources

Since this is such a general list, it may be useful to point out Microsoft’s site on SQL Server—at least the technical one. There’s another here that deals with the marketing side.

< Back Page 204 of 365 Next >

🔖 Save To Your Account

InformIT Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from InformIT and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Privacy Notice

Overview

Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information

To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites, develop new products and services, conduct educational research and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email information@informit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information

Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security

Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children

This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing

Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information

If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out

Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by InformIT. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.informit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information

Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents

California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure

Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

As required by law.
With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links

This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact

Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice

We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020

Email Address

SQL Server Reference Guide

Installing and Configuring the SQL Server Platform

Task

Tool

Process/Reference

Designing and Implementing Databases

Task

Tool

Process/Reference

Configuring Security and Access

Task

Tool

Process/Reference

Maintenance

Monitoring and Performance Tuning

Task

Tool

Process/Reference

InformIT Articles and Sample Chapters

Online Resources

InformIT Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

Overview

Collection and Use of Information

Questions and Inquiries

Online Store

Surveys

Contests and Drawings

Newsletters

Service Announcements

Customer Service

Other Collection and Use of Information

Application and System Logs

Web Analytics

Cookies and Related Technologies

Do Not Track

Security

Children

Marketing

Correcting/Updating Personal Information

Choice/Opt-out

Sale of Personal Information

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents

Sharing and Disclosure

Links

Requests and Contact

Changes to this Privacy Notice