Chapter 1. The SQL Server landscape

If there's one job where a lack of planning leads to a chaotic and reactive work environment, it's that of the database administrator (DBA). DBAs are often so consumed by the current crisis that the idea of planning for the future armed with appropriate budget resources seems like an impossible dream.

The aim of this book is to assist you in achieving that goal by laying out best practices for database administration with SQL Server. We'll cover hundreds of best practices across many categories, including hardware selection and configuration, installation and upgrades, security, index maintenance, backups, and a lot more.

Before we launch into the nuts and bolts of database administration, let's start with a broad overview of the SQL Server product itself. We begin this chapter with a brief look at the major new DBA features introduced in SQL Server 2008 before moving on to the various SQL Server editions and their corresponding features and limitations. We then take a brief look at some of the SQL Server tools that we'll cover in more detail throughout the book, before closing the chapter with a summary of the key areas of DBA responsibility—areas that we'll spend the rest of the book exploring.