Last week we released an updated, almost completely revamped, System Center Operations Manager Management Pack for SQL Server 2005, 2008, and 2008 R2. You can find all the details on the download page here .

Phil Factor recently wrote an editorial about Project Houston . I agree with his meta point that database design tools have not evolved as quickly as we’d like but I disagree with his characterization that Project Houston is a failure because it doesn...

The UX PM on my team recently started a blog on design: http://designquirk.blogspot.com/ . If you’re interested in user interface design check it out. I think you’ll find her style and approach to be intriguing and engaging.

In this video from TechEd 2010, Group Program Manager Patric McElroy demos some new and future SQL Azure capabilities. It’s worth watching the entire 80 minute video but if you only have 6 or 7 minutes then the piece you won’t want to miss is Project...

I know I shouldn’t be but when I talk to DBAs I’m amazed how much time is spent installing/configuring the product. Having worked on the SQL Setup team for the SQL Server 2005 release I have an appreciation of how complex setup is from both sides: internal...

As announced today on the SQL Azure blog , SQL Azure now supports Data-tier Applications which are introduced with Visual Studio 2010 and SQL Server 2008 R2. Here’s a quick tour of the feature.   Here’s what I did: Launch Visual Studio 2010 and create...

In my day to day work I interact mostly with experts in the field of database technology and database administration. Every once in a while I get a gentle reminder that not everyone is an expert. Those reminders often come from forum questions from newbie...

A while back I participated in a round table on automating DBA tasks. From that event a few folks produced a white paper on automating DBA processes . Regardless of your experience level you should pull it down and read it. You’ll need to provide a little...

This is hilarious! http://www.martinidesign.com/sql/landing/index_pres.html

Are you a web developer? Regardless if you use the MS stack, an open source stack, or a combination please take a few minutes to fill out this survey on web-based database management tools. It’s especially important if you use MySQL and PHPMyAdmin in...

Well folks it’s official we’re going to release SQL Server 2008 R2! The release date is set for May 2010. You can get a few more details here .

I often hear people characterize the MySQL community as strong and vibrant. In fact I’ve heard people attribute MySQL’s success to the strength of the community. I think SQL Server has a very robust community but that’s just my opinion. So what makes...

Buck Woody likes to joke there are two types of people in the world: those who believe there are two types of people and those who don’t. Rim shot please. All joking aside there are two types of DBAs: those who are myopic and those who are leaders. This...

Within SQL Server there are a number of different types of constraints: CHECK DEFAULT FOREIGN KEY PRIMARY KEY UNIQUE The reference for CREATE TABLE can be found here . Now what’s interesting about constraints is when creating a constraint the name is...

Check out this rocking video of Sanjay Nagamangalam demoing the Data-tier Application functionality within Visual Studio 2010. Sanjay is a GPM on the SQL Server team. Sanjay has sessions at SQL PASS and PDC.

Are you going to this year’s PDC? Are you still on the fence? There’s a very cool session @ PDC on the data-tier application component called “Simplifying Application Packaging and Deployment with SQL Server 2008 R2”. Yes, that’s probably one of the longest...

November is shaping up to be the perfect storm of conferences. In a time when budgets are extremely tight it amazes me that we have 4 conferences to cover in November.   SQL PASS When: November 2-5, 2009 Where: Seattle, Washington Site: http://summit2009...

Brent Ozar and Thomas LaRock do a 3 part video series on the power of Policy-based Management (PBM). Interestingly SCOM comes up several times in the discussion.   They cover the basics of PBM and Thomas goes into more depth on how he’s using it...

The August CTP of SQL Server 2008 R2 contains a bug in Management Studio when connected to a Control Point. You can find the details here: http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/sqlkjappmsmgmt/thread/03506a9b-e9b1-4d77-a3e1-28627e8f4867

The Microsoft SQL Server product team is undertaking a short survey to help guide potential new features and capabilities for web developers, please take a few minutes to take the survey and help shape the future of SQL Server. The survey will run for...

Today compliance is a huge focus area for IT. Since compliance is written by lawyers for lawyers it takes a fair amount of translation to get it to the point where IT can understand what processes, policies, and configuration to implement to meet the...

I was playing around with PowerShell today (yes I’m was geeking out on Saturday afternoon) to learn how to access Performance Counters using PowerShell. My mission was to write a script that would return the Data File and Log File sizes for each database...

Rock and Roll! Yesterday I did a clean install of Win7 x64 Beta on my Lenovo x301. Setup was fast and completed without any issues. In fact it had no problem with the SATA drive set in AHCI mode. The Vista RTM install couldn’t handle that. I had to use...

Answer: This guy! I’ve been following very closely the press and reviews on the early peaks of Windows 7. I’m not as big of a Vista hater as some people out there. In fact I like the OS. I recently had to reinstall XP on another machine and was absolutely...

I’m a huge fan of my Zune and the Zune Marketplace. I have a Zune and my two daughters do as well. I’ve owned several iPods but I just love my Zune more; especially the subscription option for music. $15/month for all the music I want is fantastic. Yes...