Introduction

Pro SQL Server 2012 Practices is an anthology of writings on practices and techniques you should become familiar with on the way to becoming a top-notch database administrator (DBA) or database programmer. The authors have deep insight, and they want to share. The book covers a very wide array of topics, such as what makes for a well-performing design, how to choose database server hardware, indexing, tuning, tools to help you build your database, techniques for managing replication, compliance, backups, high availability, and more.

Working as a SQL Server professional is daunting and exhilarating at the same time. It’s daunting due to the immense amount of “mechanics” that one must learn simply to run and program against a SQL Server database at a basic level. Exhilaration comes at first from mastering the mechanical aspects of creating a database, creating tables, adding users, storing data, retrieving data, and so forth. Then, in the long run, you get past the basic tasks and activities and begin to gain deep insight into SQL Server and how it operates. One day, you realize you actually do know a few things. You want to share. And that’s how this book came about.

Could you come up with these practices on your own? Yes, given enough time and experience you would likely learn everything for yourself, from first principles. The authors’ goal in this book, however, is to speed you on your way—not so that you can cheat the natural order of things, but so that you can continue from where they left off and go on to develop even greater insights, and then share what you have learned with those who come after.

Audience

Pro SQL Server 2012 Practices is written for working SQL Server professionals. The book is primarily aimed at DBAs, but it is also of interest to developers who are serious about building their reputation and expertise around Microsoft SQL Server. The book targets intermediate users, presuming a baseline of experience with the underlying product. Its goal is to provide the sort of deep expertise and guidance that lets you stand on the shoulders of giants—so to speak—as you build your own career and reputation in the field.

Authors

The author team on this book is a group of dedicated professionals who are passionate about using SQL Server, using it well, and sharing their expertise with those around them. Each of the authors has chosen a chapter in the belief that what you learn will make a significant and positive contribution to your growth as a SQL Server professional.

Topics covered in this book, listed by chapter, include the following:

1. Be Your Developer’s Best Friend, by Jesper Johansen
2. Getting It Right: Designing for Database Performance, by Louis Davidson
3. Hidden Performance Gotchas, by Gail Shaw
4. Dynamic Management Views, by Kellyn Pot’vin
5. From SQL Trace to Extended Events, by Mladen Prajdić
6. The Utility Database, by Chris Shaw
7. Indexing Outside the Bubble, by Jason Strate
8. Release Management, by TJay Belt
9. Compliance and Auditing, by Jonathan Gardner
10. Automating Administration, by Jes Borland
11. The Fluid Dynamics of SQL Server Data Movement, by Wendy Pastrick
12. Windows Azure SQL Database for DBAs, by Herve Roggero
13. I/O: The Untold Story, by Jeremy Lowell
14. Page and Row Compression, by Bradley Ball
15. Selecting and Sizing the Server, by Glenn Berry
16. Backups and Restores Using Availability Groups, by Grant Fritchey
17. Big Data for the SQL Server DBA, by Carlos Bossy
18. Tuning for Peak Load, by Ben DeBow

Example Code

Downloadable example code is available for some chapters in the book. You’ll find the code from the book’s catalog page on the Apress.com website:

http://www.apress.com/9781430247708

Click on the Source Code/Downloads tab. You will see a link from which to download the example code archive.