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[Focus]

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Pare Down and Power Up
Today’s large business intelligence implementations require servers that deliver tremendous capacity and bandwidth. Check out this low-cost solution that could rock the database server market.
 — Rich Johnson

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[Features]

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Putting Together Your High Availability Puzzle
In SQL Server 2005, Microsoft not only added database mirroring to achieve higher availability but also substantially improved existing availability features.
 — Kalen Delaney , et al.


Zip Your Data
Add compression capabilities to SQL Server 2005 by leveraging the Common Language Runtime (CLR) and taking advantage of the new varbinary(max) data type.
 — John Paul Cook , et al.

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[Lab Reports]

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Tableau Software 1.5
Tired of using pivot tables to analyze and graph your data? Tableau is quick and easy to use with great features and graphing display options.
 — Michael Otey

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[Editorial]

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Time to Move On
There's no better time to move from VB 6.0 to VB 2005. You’ll stay ahead of the technology curve and may find new features you can’t live without.
 — Michael Otey

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[Inside SQL Server]

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Searching for a Trace
SQL Server 2005 includes a new default trace enabled option. Just what does this mysterious option do?
 — Kalen Delaney

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[T-SQL Black Belt]

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Custom Aggregations: The Cursor Technique
This four-part series about custom aggregation solutions kicks off with an evaluation of the cursor technique.
 — Itzik Ben-Gan

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[New Products]

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New Products, March 2006
Check out new and improved SQL Server–related products.
 — Blake Eno

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[Ask Microsoft]

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How Not to Use USE
Microsoft’s Gert Drapers provides a script for retrieving table information.
 — Microsoft's SQL Server Development Team


Using the CLR with C# DLLs
Microsoft’s Patrick Conlan explains how C# DLLs will work with the CLR in SQL Server 2005.
 — Microsoft's SQL Server Development Team


What’s a Snapshot?
Microsoft’s Patrick Conlan gives a brief explanation of database snapshots.
 — Microsoft's SQL Server Development Team

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[From the Casebook of B.I. Powers, Consulting Detective ...]

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The Case of the Multitudinous Dates
A date with a fig lands B.I. Powers in an investigation of a mysterious fruit theft. Can Powers help the nutty culprit create a time dimension?
 — Brian Larson

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[Exploring SQL Server 2005]

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Get Out the Big Guns
Some SQL Server 2005 features could change the way you think about database systems, but these features might take some work. Take a look at some of the changes you’ll see when you use the SQLCLR and Service Broker.
 — Matt Nunn

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[Vendor Briefs]

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Vendor Briefs, March 2006
Our editors share insights from their conversations with NetEx, TimeSpring Software, Stone Bond Technologies, and InterCerve.
 — Editors