Ed's Getting Started Blog

This will be my last post on this blog, I am leaving Microsoft tomorrow. After 14 years working for a great company with great people, I need a change of scenery. I hope the information I have provided here has been of some use to you folks, and I wish...

Hi all, One of the things I write about in this blog is how to get help from the Community of SQL Server users and experts, and also the importance of conferences and networking. One of the most important conferences of the year for SQL Server professionals...

I’m likely not the first person clever enough to use this title, but as requested, this post will delve into Locks and try and explain them in a simple fashion. Simply put, you Lock data in a database to keep multiple operations from occurring...

Hi all, As some of you know, I manage about 120 MSDN and TechNet Forums for our division. One thing I see constantly is questions that are asked in the wrong forum, and this never results in a high probability of getting an answer to your question...

I've written a few posts about some of the bigger topics in learning SQL Server. Now I'd like to hear from you - is there a particular area that you have trouble learning, due to poor documentation, unclear understanding of what the particular technology...

It has been a while since I posted, and I know I am not supposed to apologize for being absent in my blogging duties according to The Rules of Blogging. But, I will tell you what I was doing, and with whom, and that may help you to learn SQL Server a...

SQL Server can be a dizzying array of acronyms to the uninitiated – SQL itself, SSIS, SSAS, SSRS, SMO, DMO – the list seems endless. In this post, I will define some of the acronyms and give a brief description of what each does, so you can...

Hello all, I’ve had a couple of times this week when I have been contacted by customers, and they have not been happy, as they have had issues trying to get support from Microsoft. I fully understand the frustration, as most of us seem to...

This is a pretty common scenario, so I thought I would write it up and post it so everyone could see how to do this. Here’s what happened – my manager wanted a report from me about participation in the MSDN and TechNet Forums, the exact details...

I’m back from vacation, and it always seems to take an extra week to clear out the inbox, catch up on the meetings you missed, etc. So, time to dive back in to the blog and actually put some data in the database and the table we created last time...

It is all fine and good to be able to manipulate a database, but that will get you nowhere in the Real World unless you can also create a new database and add the information that you want in it. I am not all that unusual in that I have a lot of photographs...

I hear a lot about this file, as it is a very important part of SQL Server, but as you dive into it a bit more, you learn a few things about it. First, the log is not actually one file, but a series of files called Virtual Log Files. These VLFs act as...

I came across this topic when it was pointed out to me by Larry Franks, a colleague of mine from North Carolina. As I look for topics to write about, I go through a variety of sources to see what people are having trouble with, and installation is by...

One would think this is a small and easy topic, as Scripts seem to be a pretty easy concept to grasp. However, there are a few things to know first – are you trying to affect the database itself (create it, add or drop a table, etc.), or are you...

There are a number of things I learned from TechEd in New Orleans last week. Although this was not my first TechEd (I think I have been to 8 or 9 now), I always look forward to it, as I always seem to learn something new. My main function at TechEd this...

I know this is out of sequence for this blog, but I really needed to get a better grasp on what the Entity Framework is, so I did some research on it, and rather than waste good knowledge, I figured I’d write about it now and we can come back to...

I was going to go more into Joins this week, but as this is the Getting Started Blog, I think I should perhaps take a step back and go into some basic query stuff first. If you are not familiar with SQL – The Language, this is what we use to create...

Alright, I’ve got everything installed, I have the AdventureWorks database, SQL Server and some time this afternoon, so how can I make all this work? SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), that’s how. When I log in, I can pick a database out of the left...

One of my jobs here is to manage MSDN Forums, and I manage a lot of them, over 70 at this point. I have been using and managing threaded conversation properties for a long time, for instance I was the guy who deleted all the Spam from the newsgroups here...

I have decided to start with SQL Server Express, as it is a free download and hopefully will not overwhelm the beginner (me!). I started by going to http://msdn.microsoft.com/sql (this URL format will get you to the Dev centers of most products, just...

Years ago, I was hired by Microsoft to support Visual Basic, and I spent nearly 4 years on the phones, taking calls from (sometimes) angry and frustrated Developers and trying to help them accomplish tasks using this technology. I learned a lot of things...

One of the things I have learned in my travels here has been that you can find almost anything if you are savvy enough with a search engine such as Bing. Part of my job here is to create and maintain a KPI Indicator in SharePoint 2007 to show the relative...

Hello!   My name is Ed Hickey, and I am a Program Manager in the BPD Division at Microsoft.   BPD is a division of SQL Server, and I arrived here by way of a reorganization of my former group.   This may seem boring and irrelevant, but...