Rick Heiges

It's Q3 - where is SQL Server 2008?

RickHeiges — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:02:00 GMT

Microsoft has publicly stated that SQL Server 2008 will RTM in Q3. It is Quarter 3 now. Where is it? :-)

I'm sure that the final touches will now get taken care of now that Bill Gates is no longer a full-time MSFT employee. I'm sure that his "short-timer" attitude trickled down to the develpers working on the product and that the final dev work will be completed. (Just kidding!) Perhaps this will be an answer to a MSFT triva question some day - What was the first product to be released without Bill Gates as part of MSFT?

Now that we have already had the party for 2008, I am really looking forward to its release. It will be interesting to see how fast 2008 is adopted vs. 2005 and 2000.

PASS - Take advantage of the current specials - ends June 30th

RickHeiges — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 17:12:00 GMT

PASS has structured its registrations to give the best deals to those who register the earliest. The current rate of $1395 expires June 30th. As Greg pointed out in his blog, community speakers have been announced. Register for the summit at http://summit2008.sqlpass.org/ now to beat the price increase. Come to the PASS Community Summit a few days early and participate in the pre-cons too. SQL Bloggers like Andrew Kelly, Kalen Delaney, and Peter DeBetta are offering pre-cons; check' em out!

Risky Business

RickHeiges — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:47:00 GMT

Whenever I do a webcast or presentation, I always ask the audience to indicate where their organization is in relation to running SQL Server 2000 or running SQL 2005. Recently, in an audience of about 40 people, more than half of the audience still had more than 50% of their production servers running SQL Server 2000. One of the main bottlenecks are the vendors of third-party apps. This has forced businesses to choose their risk.

SQL Server Support Risk - The application will not run/be supported on SQL 2005 by the vendor. The decision has been made to keep the aaplication running and "hope" that there is no need for support from MSFT

Application Support Risk - The DB is upgraded by the customer (perhaps keeping the DB in '80' compatibility mode). The decision has been made to keep the data platform updated and under support from MSFT point of view while taking a chance of not getting support from the third-party vendor.

There are many factors that go into this type of decision. In fact, some organizations may choose to assume different types of risk for different applications/DBs. This is not a comfortable choice for any organization. Why don't vendors upgrade their DBs/Apps? SQL Server 2000 is a solid DB platform; 2005 is better. As time goes on, their will be more pressure for customers to avoid the SQL Server Support Risk (and associated costs). Customers will pressure the vendors to upgrade their DBs/Apps or lose a customer.

This now puts the risk on the vendors for not "keeping up". There is some advice for vendors who have not kept up.... Plan to Upgrade your DB/App to SQL 2005 now. While you are "under the hood", run the Upgrade Advisor for SQL Server 2008 and take care of that at the same time. This way, the application/DB will be ready when SQL Server 2008 is released and even more importantly when it becomes a standard/approved data platform for many organizations. Sticking with SQl Server 2000 may not have cost you business over the past couple of years, but it will cost you as the April 8, 2008 date gets smaller in the rearview mirror.

Are You Ready for SQL Server 2005? Use Upgrade Advisor for 2008!

RickHeiges — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:18:00 GMT

If you have systems that are still on SQL Server 2000 and that you are preparing for SQL Server 2005, run the Upgrade Avisor for SQL Server 2008 as well. So, while you are under the hood of your database and app getting it ready for 2005, get it ready for 2008 too. There are a lot of new features in 2008, but nothing that was taken away in 2005 and then reinstated in 2008 that would affect operation of the DB. Many organizations have a policy that they wait until SP1 before implementation of a "new" product. While the merits of that policy may be debtaed, you'll be one step ahead in your upgrade plans for SQL Server 2008.

Some things don't change - DB Snapshots & Backups of Snapshots

RickHeiges — Wed, 07 May 2008 14:40:00 GMT

Again, I wanted to blog about something that still does not change between 2005 and 2008. At a recent conference, there were some great questions/ideas that should make it to Connect if they haven't already.

When DB Snapshots were first introduced, one of the questions that I always heard was "Can I perform a Backup on the Snapshot?".

Well - does this mean tht you can actually perform a SQL Backup of the DB Snapshot? No - you can't do that. Can I backup the DB Snapshot file with Windows Backup? Yes, you can do that, but there is no way to "re-attach" a DB Snapshot file to a database. So why bother?

DB Snapshots are still available on a Mirrored DB. We find that many people like this feature because of the ease of setup/management, but they do not like the fact that it is still an Enterprise Edition feature.

Would you like a Maple Leaf with your technical training?

RickHeiges — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 13:52:00 GMT

Over the past few years, Jean-Rene' Roy has hosted a Developers conference in the Spring in Montreal. This conference focuses on both .NET and SQL topics. This is DevTeach and SQLTeach. I have had the privilege of presenting at this conference since 2005. The content is great and the attendees ask great questions. This year, it is in Toronto this spring. If you are planning on attending, please let me know that you read my blog. Things are kicking off on May 12 with a Party with Palermo event. I will be doing sessions on Upgrading SQL, SQL Express, and Resource Governor. Fellow SQLBlogger, Paul Nielsen, will have a pre-con workshop on Design and Optimization Best Practices with SQL Server.

Some things don't change - Partitioning

RickHeiges — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 23:09:00 GMT

After spending the past couple of weeks at the MVP Summit in Seattle and at SQL Connections in Orlando, I thought I should blog about things that do not change in 2008 (at least partially).

One of the reason s to partition your tables is to make it more managable. Although there has been some enhancements in the manner that partitions are processed when queried, there are still some conerns that need to be addressed. In SQL 2005, one of the big features announced was the ability to partition your tables into smaller segments so that it could be managed easier. In SQL 2008 this is also true as you would expect. One constraint from SQL 2005 is still there in 2008. This is the ability to reindex a partition online. This is still missing in SQL 2008. The ability to reindex a partition exists in SQL 2005. The ability to reindex online exists in SQL 2005 as well, But putting these two things together does not function in SQL 2005/2008.

I am not slamming SQL Server, but I hope the ability to reindex a partition online will be available in the next release. There are many other reasons to upgrade to SQL 2008. I was hoping that this would have been addressed.

OT: Shock at the Gas pump in Orlando at the airport

RickHeiges — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:25:00 GMT

This past week, I was in Orlando at SQL Connections. It went well and I will blog about a few things later, but I was in for a shock when I returned my rental car on Thursday. I rented from an off-site company to get a great deal. I usually start looking for a gas station about 5-10 miles before I get to the airport, but I was distracted with other things. I rent cars all over as i travel and know that the gas stations near the airport usually charge a little more. I am always prepared for that. Most gas stations in the Orlando area are running at about $3.65 or so for regular unleaded. This particular gas station was selling it for $4.84/gallon! I know that in Europe and elsewhere, gas is around $9-10/gallon, but we are not used to that here in the US (at least not yet). With TechEd coming up, you may want to make sure that you get your gas well before you return your rental. BTW, I used Andy's tip by looking at the fuel guage to know which side the gas cap was on. ;-)

D-Day for SQL 2000 - April 8, 2008

RickHeiges — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 20:52:00 GMT

It came up on me fast. Mainstream support ends tomorrow for SQL Server 2000. There is still a lot of SQL Server 2000 out there running. Customers still can get support with a price. As I do my speaking engagements, I always ask the audience how much SQL 2000 is still LIVE in their production environments. It is still currently over 50% from my unscientific reading of the audiences. The question that many people have asked is "Should I Upgrade Now to 2005 or wait for 2008?". While the ultimate answer is "It depends", it looks like a lot of people are still comfortable waiting for 2008. I still run into a customer with 7.0 or even an occasional 6.5 running. With the launch parties of SQL Server 2008 already going on, there are a lot of great reasons to upgrade to the 2005/2008 generation of database, but SQL Server 2000 can still get the job done in many environments even in its waning moments.

Filtered Indexes

RickHeiges — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 16:47:00 GMT

In SQL Server 2008, you can have what is called a "Filtered Index". What does this mean?

An index may be created for a subset of rows in your table. For instance you could create a filtered index for a "state" column if the value is "CA" for California; the rest of the states would not have a value. When you create your index, simply add a WHERE clause to activate this feature.

In the state example, it probably does not make sense to have an index just for California, but there are cases where this could save a lot of space. For example, if a table had a column that for most rows had no data, a filtered index could be built on it where the column is not null.

I used FoxPro in a previous life. This was a feature available to us way back in the 90s. We used FoxPro and this feature in DOS, WfW3.11, and SCO Unix. It has been a while, but there was a time when we created an index just for this one particular customer because of the proceessing time it took. Disk space was more scarce back then and filtered indexes helped us squeeze the most out of it. I am happy to see this feature in SQL Server 2008. I have only started to play with this and expect that some limitations will pop-up.

OT: SQL Blog Bracket

RickHeiges — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 02:35:00 GMT

March Madness is here! If you are interested in Joining in on the fun, follow the link below.

http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/t1/register/joinprivategroup_assign_team?GID=91191&P=sqlblog

Group: 91191

Password: sqlblog

Enjoy!

Conferences Gearing Up!

RickHeiges — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 13:44:00 GMT

It seems to be that time of year. The time of year when conferences and speaking opportunities abound. I have some events coming up. If you are in the area, please drop in.

March 20 - 7pm - Triad SQl Server User Group - www.triadsql.com. I will be delivering a session entitiled BI for the Relational Guy

April 3-4 - Dublin, Ireland - http://imtc.firstport.ie. I will be delivering 2 sessions - one on Express and one on 64-bit SQL.

April 20-23 - Orlando, FL - www.sqlconnections.com. I have 3 sessions at this conference located near the happiest place on earth.

May 12-16 - Toronto - www.sqlteach.com. I have 3 sessions at this conference that will be in Toronto for the first time in the spring!

One thing that is prevalent is that SQL 2005 content is the norm. SQL 2000 content is pretty much gone which is understandable. The only content that is related to 2000 has to do with DTS to SSIS conversion. Even though SQL 2008 is now officially launched (we had the party), many folks are still on SQL 2000 and are deciding on whether to move up to SQL 2005 now or wait for SQL 2008.

Happy Launch Day!

RickHeiges — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:56:00 GMT

It's Official, today!

We have a party for SQL Server 2008 in LA! The product may not be shipping, but that won't stop us from having our party.

Seriously, Today marks the beginning of a more useful Launch than the 2005 launch. What am I saying? The Launch Events will probably be more educational for you this time around because there hasn't been as much focus on having a lot of events on 2008 as of yet. Signup today for a launch event near you!

In case you did not hear, PASS Call for Speakers is now open!

RickHeiges — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 12:39:00 GMT

In the latest PASS Community Connector, there is a call for Speakers for this year's summit in Seattle in November. If you have never been to Seattle in November, it really makes you want to learn more about SQL Server in the breakout sessions. ;-) But seriously, it is a great venue to meet other SQL Server professionals and meet the MSFT who actually write the code for SQL Server itself. You know that since MSFT is located in nearby Redmond that the place will be very accessible to MSFT developers and managers.

Also, did you know that the abstracts that are submitted are reviewed/selected by a committee of PASS Volunteers just like you?

Join other industry professionals and help build the SQL Server community as a 2008 PASS Community Summit speaker in Seattle, Washington, November 18-21. Act now and submit an abstract by the March 28^th Deadline.

All speakers receive:

Complimentary registration to the 2008 PASS Community Summit
Industry recognition
Networking opportunities with thousands of attendees

Microsoft employees are encouraged to submit presentations using the online submission website. Please note that any Microsoft submissions will be reviewed and abstract status will be determined by Microsoft.

For more information, please visit our Call To Speakers website at http://calltospeakers.sqlpass.org/ or e-mail any questions to calltospeakers@sqlpass.org.

3 More Weeks 'til Launch!

RickHeiges — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 14:57:00 GMT

3 weeks from today, the launch party for SQl Serve 2008 will be on! If you are in Southern California, you will be in the "happening" spot. Enjoy!

Why have a launch without the release of the product? SQL Server 2008 is more of an incremental release. There are some great new features in the product, but the bulk of the change was going from 2000 to 2005. From my point of view, there were many more events and opportunities for education on SQl Server 2005 than 2008. I was at the Launch of SQL Server 2005 in San Francisco. It was a great time, but the content at the launch was not new (at least to me). The content at the launch events over the next few months will most likely be more useful than the content at the 2005 events. If you are like many folks who still have 2000 in your environment and have some servers running 2005, these launch events will be useful. If you haven't seen it already, there will be opportunities in your area to sign-up for a launch event. Another great source of information on SQL Server 2008 will be the local user groups across the nation and worldwide that will be involved in launches.