A special episode at cstechcast.com this week as we record our podcast live from PASS Camp. This keynote address features an expert panel to explore the upcoming SQL Server 2008 database release with questions on features, technology, and strategy for our panel. Featured on our panel are Paul Nielsen - Microsoft SQL Server MVP and author of the “SQL Server Bible” book series (SqlServerBible.com), Kevin Cox – member of the SQL Server Product Group in the Customer Advisory Team at Microsoft (sqlcat.com), and Ben Hoelting - a .NET developer with Colorado Technology Consultants (benhblog.com). Of course, we also have our own co-hosts contribute; Eric Johnson, Microsoft SQL Server MVP, and Josh Jones, published author on many SQL topics. Author and co-host of the podcast Eric Beehler moderates the discussion. We are offering a video version of this episode as well; check it out at cstechcast.com. Detailed topics include the delay of the official launch and it's effect on the market and its supporters. We also discuss SQL Server 2008 in the enterprise and how it takes on its biggest competitors, IBM and Oracle. On the flip side, we discuss perhaps the smallest competitor, mySQL, and what SQL Server is doing to stay small business friendly. Attendees bring up questions on horizontal scalability and data modeling tools. We get into it with new developer feature LINQ and the possible consequences to proper database management. We also get a read on the panelist's favorite new features of SQL 2008. 
We would like to thank Quest Software for allowing us to bring you this event through their sponsorship of this episode. Find out how they can help you with their suite of database management solutions at quest.com. Don't forget our drive to find new listeners through our Amazon.com gift certificate giveaway. Go to cstechcast.com and "refer-a-friend". Leave your comments at this blog post and thanks for listening. Link to CS Techcast Episode 15 podcast: http://www.cstechcast.com/home.aspx?Episode=15
- Eric Beehler (consortioservices.com/blog)
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CStechcast.com brings you the expertise of Michael Stiefel, a Microsoft MVP in Connected Systems Development, to explain the concepts behind Software as a Service (SaaS). Michael can be found at reliablesoftware.com. News on deck: Windows Vista takes price cuts and more lumps from Dell, Google says to Microsoft "Do you want a piece of me?" and releases Google Sites, sliding skills found in the security field, and the Cobra language goes open source. In our segments; Network Solutions steals our domain so we can't register "The Worst Tech Move of the Week", we take a trip down memory lane with "This Month in Tech History", and we talk about SQL Server 2005 and the BUILTIN\administrators group in the "Weekly Tech Tip".
Links to the stories discussed in our podcast:
Microsoft Cuts Vista Prices to Urge Upgrades
Dell Pointed Out Vista Mistakes, Internal Documents Show
Google Takes Aim at SharePoint
IT Security Skills Falling Short
Cobra Language Slithers into Open Source
All comments can be left at this blog post. Click our listener survey at cstechcast.com to provide us feedback and enter our Amazon gift certificate giveaway when you refer-a-friend. It's not spam and we don't want the e-mail address, we just want to bring more tech to the world. Don't forget about the live event next week and, if your in the Denver area, come check out the Colorado PASS Camp a free two day event on SQL Server and related technologies.
Download the Episode Here
- Eric Beehler (consortioservices.com/blog)
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Andy Warren wrote an article on SQLServerCentral.com the other day about the maximum row size in SQL Server 2005. I don't want to re-hash what Andy already said so you can see the article here: http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Development/2862/. The gist is that Microsoft built SQL Server to be able to handle rows of data that grow beyond 8060-bytes. It does this by moving certain data off to other pages and leaving behind a 24-byte pointer. Well, after reading Andy's article, I got to thinking, just how many varchar(8000) columns can you stick in a table and fill up before SQL Server fills the page with pointers. I conducted a test.....first off I made a table that contained 400 varchar(8000) columns using the following, now slightly truncated, script: CREATE TABLE [dbo].[Test](
[BigColumn1] [varchar](8000),
[BigColumn2] [varchar](8000),
[BigColumn3] [varchar](8000),
....
[BigColumn398] [varchar](8000),
[BigColumn399] [varchar](8000),
[BigColumn400] [varchar](8000)
)
GO Use your imagination, or if you want, a little fill magic in Excel to generate the rest of that create table script. Running this script was not all good, SQL Server did warn me of the impending doom, much like SQL Server 2000 would do if you tried to add more than 1 varchar(8000). Warning: The table "Test" has been created, but its maximum row size exceeds the allowed maximum of 8060 bytes. INSERT or UPDATE to this table will fail if the resulting row exceeds the size limit. Now on to the fun part, a quick insert statement to get us going: INSERT INTO Test(
BigColumn1,
BigColumn2,
BigColumn3, ...
BigColumn398,
BigColumn399,
BigColumn400)
VALUES
(
'TestD',
'TestD',
'TestD',
... 'TestD',
'TestD',
'TestD'
) And finally the update statement to really mess things up: UPDATE test SET BigColumn1 = REPLICATE ('0123456789', 800)
UPDATE test SET BigColumn2 = REPLICATE ('0123456789', 800)
UPDATE test SET BigColumn3 = REPLICATE ('0123456789', 800) ...
UPDATE test SET BigColumn272 = REPLICATE ('0123456789', 800)
UPDATE test SET BigColumn273 = REPLICATE ('0123456789', 800)
UPDATE test SET BigColumn274 = REPLICATE ('0123456789', 800) Well, you may now be asking, why didn't you run all 400 updates? Well, after 273 ran without an error, row number 274 finally died with the old familiar error: Msg 511, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
Cannot create a row of size 8064 which is greater than the allowable maximum of 8060.
The statement has been terminated. So there you have it, in case you ever had the same thought that I did about how big a row can really be.......now you know, 273 great big columns! P.S. If you are thinking of designing a 273 column table full of nothing but varchar(8000) columns, please don't. For the love of all that is tech, just stop touching SQL Server and find something else to do with your time. Eric J - www.cstechcast.com
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We’ve had a few people send us e-mail via our feedback page with questions on the book. I thought I would share with everyone the more important questions that can help your effort to study. Usually if one person asked a question, more people are wondering the same thing. The first one is regarding errata. One question specifically about where to find it published. Our publisher, Sybex, handles publishing any errata for the book. It exists on their web site at: http://www.sybex.com/WileyCDA/SybexTitle/productCd-0470165340,navId-291004,pageCd-errata.html and at: http://www.sybex.com/WileyCDA/SybexTitle/productCd-0470165359,navId-291004,pageCd-errata.html. If you have found an error, they have a link available to submit the issue. I am currently working on rebuilding the lab for Vista deployment for our 70-622 Vista enterprise support book in an attempt to make it a little more user friendly. When Vista released, a bunch of new tools for deployment released with it as well as a new method of installation. That is the only issue that has been submitted to me so far. So, if you are struggling with that, I’ll admit, longish lab, I would encourage you to supplement with the Microsoft Guide here: http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsVista/en/library/88f80cb7-d44f-47f7-a10d-e23dd53bc3fa1033.mspx?mfr=true until the updated lab is posted. I’ll update the blog when that happens. The background on a book like this is that the release is very compressed. As much as we tried to catch any issues, it’s not like writing the great American novel. We get a very limited amount of time with a brand new operating system and constantly morphing objectives for the test. We pour through the features and try to give you the information you need to meet the objectives and be proficient in support of the product. The publisher actually needs 3 or 4 months after we are done writing and reviewing to prep for publishing and distribution. You can imagine the pressure that creates on an author.
On another note, we received a very nice user review on Amazon.com for our title on the 70-623 Vista consumer support book. We love to get feedback. Otherwise, how would we know how we are doing?
If you have a question for the authors, we welcome your input and accept feedback at our website http://www.consortioservices.com. If the question applies to everyone, I will post a blog about it. - Eric Beehler (consortioservices.com/blog)
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Josh Jones and I got to interview Kalen Delaney earlier today for our podcast. It was really a lot of fun and she provided us with a lot of great information. Come hear what she had to say on CS Techcast by visiting http://www.cstechcast.com. The interview will be released in the next few weeks, probably right after our live show from PASSCamp in Denver.
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We're moving our podcast to an earlier Monday release to make sure our information is super fresh, available at cstechcast.com. This week, the second part of our chat with the authors of The Craft of System Security, Sean Smith and John Marchesini . The news gives us Google Apps for enterprise, malware slips into popular sites, a roadblock from Yahoo for Microsoft, security patches from MS and Apple, and Vista SP1 is RTM, but no one can find it. Plus the RIAA gets a nod for "Worst Tech Move of the Week", the "Weekly Tech Tip" helps out you SharePoint administrators, and we "Tech It Old School".
Show Notes
Links to stories discussed in the show:
http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2008/02/google_lets_ent.html
http://www.nytimes.com/idg/IDG_002570DE00740E18002573E70076F8A2.html?ref=technology
http://entmag.com/news/rss.asp?editorialsid=9521#1
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Apple-Plugs-QuickTime-Malware-Installation-Hole/
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Windows-Users-Brace-for-MS-Patch-Tuesday-Barrage/
http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9061838&intsrc=hm_list
http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/?p=3184
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/02/08/riaa_wants_filters_for_end_users/
Thanks for listening. Do us a favor and fill out the listener survey, available on the cstechcast.com homepage. Spread the word about CS TechCast and leave specific show comments at this blog post. Thanks.
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We turn the big 1-0 with our latest podcast, available at CStechcast.com. This week we talk to the authors of The Craft of System Security, Sean Smith and John Marchesini, the first of a 2 part interview. The news brings the ginormous Yahoo-Microsoft merger, cable cuts in the Med makes the Internet vulnerable, Cisco manages the data center from the switch, VMWare moves beyond the hypervisor, and your boss is prepping for a recession. Plus, "The Worst Tech Move of the Week" and "A Closer Look" at tech certifications.
Show Notes
Links to the stories discussed in our podcast:
http://www.news.com/Microsoft-bids-44.6-billion-for-Yahoo/2100-1014_3-6228705.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news
http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2008/01/ciscos_new_data.html
http://entmag.com/news/rss.asp?editorialsid=9470#6
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Careers/Economic-Worries-Hitting-IT-Pros/
If you enjoy the podcast, please fill out our survey at cstechcast.com (click the listener survey button). Its free and would help us immensely. Plus, tell everyone you know to listen to CS Techcast. Leave your comments at this blog post. Thanks!
- Eric Beehler (consortioservices.com/blog)
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We had a technical glitch with the MP3 file that went out originally. If you have a problem listening to the podcast, please download it again. It's all fixed.
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Hitting our stride with a new episode of CS Techcast. We bring you a discussion on Silverlight technology with Microsoft MVP Shawn Wildermuth. Find him at the adoguy.com blog and the silverlight-tour.com web site. In the news; Microsoft on a virtualization kick, tech earnings show a little light, Vista actually sells, and offshoring not all that in smaller companies. Also, find out the "Worst Tech Move of the Week", get a "Weekly Tech Tip", "Meet You Local User Group", and we share our "Helpdesk Horror" stories.
Show Notes
Links to the stories discussed in our podcast:
http://www.news.com/Microsoft-targets-VMware-with-new-strategy/2100-7339_3-6227023.html?tag=cd.top
http://www.news.com/Sun-reports-increased-quarterly-profit/2100-1010_3-6227625.html?tag=st.nl
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/microsoft-earnings-earn-praise-shares/story.aspx?guid=%7B4C394111-041A-4830-B91D-E8B3CF325BB5%7D
http://www.microsoft-watch.com/content/operating_systems/windows_seven_enough_already.html
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=205917099&cid=RSSfeed_IWK_All
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/23/movie-industry-admits-it-overstated-piracy-on-campus/?hp
Featured User Group
The front range has SQL expertise. This week, the Denver SQL User Group, contributors to PASS Camp, meet in the Mile High City. Visit the web site for more information at www.denversql.org.
As always thanks for listening. Post your comments here, Digg it if you like it, and post a review out on iTunes or your favorite podcasting site.
- Eric Beehler (consortioservices.com/blog)
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Microsoft announced today (via the DataPlatformInsider blog) that Katmai, AKA SQL Server 2008, will have a feature complete CTP released in Q2, with the RTM release planned for Q3. This doesn't affect their plans to include SQL Server 2008 in their launch of the new "platform" (Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008, and SQL) in Feburary. Check out the blog for more info.
There are some questions bouncing around the internet about what impact this may have on customers. And the fact is, it will have very little. Many organizations are still migrating from SQL Server 2000 (or even 7.0) and will simply have to change their timelines a little bit, and decide whether or not they should move to SQL Server 2005 versus 2008. Couple this with the naturally slow migration process for migrating a company's data to a new platform, a delay of a few months will have little impact. Though it's always nice to hear what everyone out there thinks; please feel free to leave comments and let us know what your plans are!
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Back, once again, with notable news and discussion at cstechcast.com. We talk with Microsoft MVP Brandon Shell this week, about the PowerShell scripting tool. You can find his blog at bsonposh.com. In the news, MySQL claimed by Sun and Oracle brings home BEA, Oracle patches and admin's lack thereof, EMC goes SSD, and a Macbook out of thin Air. The "Worst Tech Move of the Week", "Weekly Tech Tip", and "Meet Your Local User Group" segments round out the half hour.
Show Notes
Links to the stories discussed in our podcast:
http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/apple-macbook-air-1/4505-3121_7-32818756.html?tag=nefdprod.rev
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Storage/EMC-Breaks-New-Ground-with-SSDs-in-Storage-Arrays/
http://www.sentrigo.com/press_releases-newsid-39.htm
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/141412/oracle_releases_security_patch.html
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,141409-pg,1/article.html
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=205800904&cid=RSSfeed_IWK_All
Featured User Group
The Boulder SQL Users Group in Colorado is in the spotlight this week. Check them out, in person, every month and visit the website at boulder.sqlgroups.com to find all the detail. They are a part of the Colorado PASS Camp as well, a collaborative effort between the front range SQL users groups to bring training for free to their members.
If you like us, put a link to cstechcast.com on your blog or web site. Comments about the episode are welcome at this blog post. Thanks.
- Eric Beehler (consortioservices.com/blog)
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Information technology has been used by business for two things, to drive innovation and to cut cost. At this early point in the year, the markets have been off their rocker, losing big money and showing signs of real panic. If you want to get ahead of the curve in your role on the frontlines of IT, you do have to think about the strategy of your employer.
We are, undoubtedly, headed for more IT cost cutting. In a time of shrinking economies and, likely, shrinking jobs, you’ll want to position yourself on projects that drive costs down. The big word on everyone’s lips lately has been virtualization. The primary reason, still, for implementing virtualization is to drive down cost through consolidation. That is not to say we can’t innovate using this technology, it’s just not going to be a driving factor this year. With major moves by Microsoft announced this week in a strengthened partnership with Citrix and the purchase of Calista, this kind of strategy is on the front page of the Wall Street Journal and is going to be in every CIO’s mind.
Get ready to build spreadsheets all about cost. You may get a directive to cut a data center or find a way to outsource to a third party. Virtualization will be the primary answer in these situations. Don’t expect to get much lead time either. If companies are headed towards an economic recession, you will have to implement sooner rather than later. As an administrator, if you are not up to speed on virtualization, now is the time to get your butt in gear. Grab a few books, take a few online tutorials, and get familiar with virtualization enough to know what you are looking at when you are asked to do the job.
Don’t be the odd man out in a company looking to shrink its workforce. Granted, there isn’t always much you can do when the hatchet comes down, but working on some project that will likely be seen as fat or supporting some esoteric service that the company can do without is a bad place to be sitting. Get involved on new directives and support apps and infrastructure that are unlikely to go away. Really, you want some high level skills that are not easily outsourced. If you make big money swapping out tapes and resetting passwords for a small group inside a big company, the gravy train is about to come to a halt. Having redundant jobs in a company looking to consolidate is bad news.
Don’t forget to hang onto your contacts. Networking is important. To get a leg up in those new projects or, God forbid, if it comes time to look for a new job because of cuts, strong networking is key. Don’t be a hermit in your cubicle. Get some visibility in your company and your local technology community. Get to know people. Buy them coffee or take them out to lunch. You may have a lot to do now, but you may have nothing to do in six months if people don’t see you as valuable.
It’s going to be a tough 2008 for the economy, and that reality touches all of us. Just remember, beyond picking a president and discussing the bailout that is bound to happen, you will need to take care of yourself. Get your technology skills up, position yourself to take advantage of new mandates for IT, and make sure everyone knows who you are.
By Eric Beehler, Consortio Services (consortioservices.com/blog)
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Hi all,
We noticed last night that episode 2 of our podcast, "CS TechCast", got a few hits over at digg.com. So we wanted to say thanks, and let everyone know that we appreciate any and all feedback. Something like this is not only makes us feel good (they like us, they really like us!), but helps our business out tremendously. Thanks! And remember to tune in each week!
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I am easily excited, a nice calculator watch can keep me occupied for hours on end, but that aside, the new MERGE statement in SQL Server 2008 makes me a little giddy. Gone are the days of IF....THEN logic to decide whether a row needs to be inserted, updated, or deleted. The MERGE allows you to take care of the logic and the insert all in one shot. What's more, you can compare a entire record set all at once instead of going row by row. Here's is a quick example of using MERGE. MERGE tbl_address AS current_addresses USING ( SELECT customer_objid = address_label, addressline1, addressline2, city, region, country, zipcode, is_deleted FROM @addresses ) AS source_addresses(address_label, addressline1, addressline2, city, region, country, zipcode, is_deleted) ON ( current_addresses.address_label = source_addresses.address_label ) WHEN NOT MATCHED THEN INSERT (address_label, addressline1, addressline2, city, region, country, zipcode) VALUES (source_addresses.address_label, source_addresses.addressline1, source_addresses.addressline2, source_addresses.city, source_addresses.region, source_addresses.country, source_addresses.zipcode) WHEN MATCHED AND source_addresses.is_deleted = 1 THEN DELETE WHEN MATCHED THEN UPDATE SET address_label=source_addresses.address_label, addressline1=source_addresses.addressline1, addressline2=source_addresses.addressline2, city=source_addresses.city, region=source_addresses.region, country=source_addresses.country, zipcode=source_addresses.zipcode; The USING section defines the "new" data, in this case a table variable. The ON section defines the join between the new and the existing data. Finally you can have a series of MATCHED statements that do things like insert WHEN NOT MATCHED, update WHEN MATCHED, or delete WHEN MATCHED and some other values indicates delete. The possibilities are endless and the syntax is pretty clean. Have fun.
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We have extra segments on SQL from our author interview on SQL queries to our own, real life experts on MS SQL 2008 features, available at cstechcast.com as a MP3 download or a RSS subscription. Whether you do SQL everyday or just need some insight, this is a good episode. This week we chat with John Viescas, one of the authors of "SQL Queries for Mere Mortals". You can find more information from John Viescas at www.viescas.com. In the news, new chips from Intel, Microsoft SMB leases, SkyDrive being used by spammers, a new-old MBR threat, and the end of the IT department? Plus, "The Worst Tech Move of the Week", "Meet your Local User Group", "A Closer Look", and "The Weekly Tech Tip".
Show Notes
Links to the stories discussed in our podcast:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,141300-pg,1/article.html
http://www.darkreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=142884
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Windows/Microsoft-to-Launch-New-Licensing-Option-for-SMBs/
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Desktops-and-Notebooks/Intel-Makes-Enterprise-Pitch-at-CES/
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/010708-carr-it-dead.html
Featured User Group
The featured group this week, in keeping with our SQL theme, is the Colorado PASS camp. This is a joint effort with the three SQL user's groups on the front range to create an intense, two day workshop every year. Hit the web site and get the details at www.coloradopasscamp.org.
Please come back again and tell all your friends to download the CS Techcast.
- Eric Beehler (consortioservices.com/blog)
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After a problem with the local telco, we are back up with our latest at cstechcast.com. We've got some humor and some know how in this episode. A nice balance if I do say so myself. This week we chat with Claudia Baca, author of " |