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[Focus]

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Disaster Prevention: Preparing for the Worst
Any event that causes data loss or system downtime can be a disaster for your company. But with careful planning, you can minimize a disaster’s effects. Help your system survive by using these disaster-prevention best practices.
 — Kalen Delaney


Recovering from Isolated Corruption
When disaster strikes only a subset of data, take the easiest route to recovery. Why undertake a full database restoration if faster recovery options are available?
 — Kimberly L. Tripp

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[SQL Server Savvy]

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Dealing with a Task-Pad Error
Do you regularly get an annoying error message from Enterprise Manager when you try to view database information through the Task Pad view?
 — Brian Moran


Hiding DTS Packages Names
Would you like to know how to hide Data Transformation Services (DTS) packages from a certain set of Enterprise Manager users?
 — Brian Moran


Passing Command-Line Variables
How to write an OSQL script that passes your desired variables.
 — Brian Moran


Preventing New Package Creation
Learn how to prevent certain users from creating new Data Transformation Services (DTS) packages on your server.
 — Brian Moran


Verifying Database Connections
Learn how to verify that your client machine has a TCP/IP sockets Net-Library connection to the database.
 — Brian Moran

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[Editorial]

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Reliability Doesn't Just Happen
SQL Server, far more than any other enterprise-level database, is installed and run under less-than-optimal conditions. Building truly reliable systems requires good planning and adherence to best practices.
 — Michael Otey

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[SQL Seven]

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ADO Connection Strings
These connection-string examples illustrate the seven most common connection scenarios.
 — Michael Otey

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[Inside SQL Server]

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Sysprocesses in SP3
Some additions to the sysprocesses table and a new function in Service Pack 3 make SQL Server troubleshooting even easier.
 — Kalen Delaney

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[Mastering Analysis]

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All About Nothing
OLAP cubes are notorious for having lots of empty (or null) cells. Including these empty cells in your result sets can bog down your analysis applications. But you can use these tricks to eliminate empties.
 — Russ Whitney

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[Solutions by Design]

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A New Lease on Life
Typically, DBAs use database partitioning to improve performance or enforce security on large databases. However, in this case study, a company used partitioning to improve performance on its small database with great success.
 — Michelle A. Poolet

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[T-SQL Black Belt]

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Try, Try Again
Resourceful readers share their set-based solutions to August’s relational-division puzzle—and get great results!
 — Itzik Ben-Gan

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[Exploring XML]

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Use .NET to Store XML Data
ADO.NET's DataSet gives you the performance benefits of client-side technology for storing and accessing large amounts of XML data in SQL Server.
 — Rich Rollman

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[Letters]

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Letters, September 2003
Readers write in about how Reporting Services will bring integrated OLAP and transactional reporting functionality within the reach of any business and about using Analysis Services actions to link external information to a cube.
 — Various Authors

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[New Products]

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New Products, September 2003
Check out the latest SQL Server-related new and improved products.
 — Carolyn Mader