We need your help! We want to hear from you about our products and your experience with them. Through this blog, we would be conducting periodic surveys to gather your feedback and try to channel it to the next versions. For starters...

If you haven’t read this whitepaper, read it now. This is a comprehensive upgrade guide that details all aspects of planning for and implementing an upgrade from your SQL 7.0/2000 to SQL 2005. In this 360 page whitepaper, you will learn about...

We have seen many customers call in for this issue - launching SQL Server 2005 Tools (like Management Studio, Business Intelligence Studio) throws: Unhandled exception has occurred in your application. If you click Continue, the application will...

We get several calls related to setup and installation questions. One such common question is related to installation of SQL 2000 and SQL 2005 on the same box. Through this blog, we will try to address these commonly asked questions. You can...

If you have received SQL Server ISO images (as part of your MSDN subscription or as downloaded from MS website), the file names would look like these: en_sql_2005_ent_x86_cd1.iso en_sql_2005_ent_x86_cd2.iso where en represents English...

Tempdb has undergone a number of changes in SQL Server 2005. Planning for tempdb deployment, configuring it for best throughput and continuously monitoring usage are critical for ensuring higher performance for your server. In this whitepaper...

Yes, you heard it right. If you have run into an issue with SQL Server and feel that it is a bug (something that does not work the way you think it is supposed to), you can file your feedback through the Microsoft Product Feedback Center website...

This whitepaper helps database architects and administrators configure Microsoft SQL Server 2005 systems for optimal I/O performance and space utilization. In this whitepaper, you will learn about: Internals of SQL Server physical design...

After you apply SQL 2000 Service Pack 4, you might observe that a SPID is blocking itself, as reported in the output of sysprocesses. If your custom scripts/applications monitor blocking by relying on the output of sysprocesses column, they will...

Ever wondered how SQL Server manages I/O to your disk system? Seen errors like 823, 824 and wondered what they mean and how to resolve them? Bob Dorr, SQL Server Senior Escalation Engineer has published two great whitepapers describing the internals...

Through this blog, we will try to address common customer questions on log shipping in SQL 2005. Can log shipping be configured between SQL 2000 and SQL 2005? You cannot configure log shipping between SQL 2005 (as primary/secondary) and SQL 2000...

SQL Server collects and maintains statistical information about indexes and column data stored in the database. SQL Server query optimizer relies on these statistics to choose the most efficient plan for retrieving or updating data. If these statistics...

You might run into a situation wherein the value of the auto-growth increment of your database files (.mdf, .ndf or .ldf) shows a very large value – e.g. 12800% This happens if you: Create the database by using a percentage value for the...

This is a very common scenario and generates quite a few calls for us. SCENARIO Transaction log file is growing rapidly and has consumed all the disk space on your drive. You don’t have any free disk space left and can no longer perform data...

Another area where we get quite a few support calls. Lets address this today. SQL 2005 Media When you order SQL 2005 media, you receive either a DVD or 2 CDs. Installing from DVD Installing from DVD is pretty straightforward. Pop in...

Bob Dorr, Microsoft SQL Server Senior Escalation Engineer, is one of the most respected engineers in our team. He recently worked on publishing a great whitepaper which describes the common causes and troubleshooting techniques for 17883, 17884...

Typically, you would set the startup accounts for SQL Server services (SQL Server, SQL Agent etc) during the startup. However, there are times when you might want to change it after installation. Many DBAs are so used to Services.msc console...

Database Mail is a new feature in SQL 2005 that provides enterprise class mailing functionality in SQL 2005 32 bit and 64 bit versions. SQL Server 2005 RTM x64/IA64 In SQL 2005 RTM x64 and IA64 bit versions, you can use Database Mail features just...

Maintenance Cleanup Task can be used to remove files related to Maintenance Plans. You can learn more about it in BOL here . SQL 2005 RTM (32bit and 64bit) In SQL Server 2005 RTM, the Maintenance Cleanup Task doesn't allow you to delete maintenance...

Starting with Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 4 (SP4), SQL Server helps detect stalled and stuck conditions for database I/O reads and writes. When an I/O operation has been pending for 15 seconds or longer, SQL Server logs the following...

Recently, I have been getting a lot of questions about the SQL 2005 Eval Edition and its upgrade to a full blown edition of SQL 2005. I wanted to create this blog to answer those questions. Eval Edition of SQL 2005 SQL Server 2005 Evaluation...

If you are running SQL Server 2000 SP4 (build 8.00.2039), you might be interested in this blog. Since the launch of SP4 (build 8.00.2039), several hotfixes have been released publicly. At the time of writing this blog, the latest hotfix build...

If your SQL Server 2000 is running on Service Pack 3 (build 8.00.760) or Service Pack 3a, you might be interested in this blog entry. Since the launch of SQL 2000 SP3 and SP3a, Microsoft has released a number of hotfixes with resolutions to several...

One of our colleagues, Dave Whitney, recently worked at publishing a whitepaper which covers the nuances of setting up a failover cluster of SQL 2005 and Analysis Service 2005. We highly recommend that you download it to learn about the best practices...

Please note that we do not provide technical support through our blog. However, here is a list of several support options that you can explore: Self Help Microsoft has compiled excellent resources - how-tos, troubleshooting articles, service...