Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 Internals (Pro - Developer) [Paperback]

Kalen Delaney (Author), Paul S. Randal (Author), Kimberly L. Tripp (Author), Conor Cunningham (Author), Adam Machanic (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 11, 2009 | Series: Pro - Developer

Delve inside the core SQL Server engine—and put that knowledge to work—with guidance from a team of well-known internals experts. Whether database developer, architect, or administrator, you’ll gain the deep knowledge you need to exploit key architectural changes—and capture the product’s full potential. Discover how SQL Server works behind the scenes, including:

• What happens internally when SQL Server builds, expands, shrinks, and moves databases
• How to use event tracking—from triggers to the Extended Events Engine
• Why the right indexes can drastically reduce your query execution time
• How to transcend normal row-size limits with new storage capabilities
• How the Query Optimizer operates
• Multiple techniques for troubleshooting problematic query plans
• When to force SQL Server to reuse a cached query plan—or create a new one
• What SQL Server checks internally when running DBCC
• How to choose among five isolation levels and two concurrency models when working with multiple concurrent users

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Kalen Delaney is a Microsoft MVP who has worked with SQL Server since 1987. She's a subject-matter expert on Microsoft's official SQL Server courses and previously wrote Inside SQL Server (Microsoft Press). She lives in the Pacific Northwest.

Paul Randal and wife Kimberly L. Tripp are two of the most-sought-after SQL Server speakers in the world. A Microsoft MVP and Regional Director, Paul is also contributing editor to TechNet Magazine.

Kimberly L. Tripp is a SQL Server MVP and a Microsoft Regional Director and has worked with SQL Server since 1990. She lectures for a variety of events including Microsoft Tech*Ed and is married to co-editor and SQL guru Paul Randal.

Conor Cunningham is principal architect of the SQL Server Core Engine Team at Microsoft.

Product Details

• Paperback: 784 pages
• Publisher: Microsoft Press; 1 edition (March 11, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0735626243
• ISBN-13: 978-0735626249
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #92,868 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #37 in Books > Computers & Technology > Microsoft > Development > SQL Server
  • #65 in Books > Computers & Technology > Databases > SQL

More About the Author

Kalen Delaney has been working with SQL Server since 1987 when she joined the Sybase Corporation in Berkeley, California. Kalen has an independent international trainer and consultant since 1992. As a consultant, she has worked with both Microsoft Corporation and Sybase Corporation to develop courses and provide internal training for their technical support staff. Kalen has taught Microsoft Official Curriculum courses, as well as her own independently developed Advanced SQL Server Internals courses, to clients around the world. In addition, she has been writing regularly about SQL Server since 1995. Kalen is also a contributing editor and columnist for SQL Server Magazine and has been a SQL Server Most Valuable Professional since 1995.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still the true Bible on SQL Server internals, June 18, 2009

By 

Tom Carpenter "- www.sysedco.com" (Marysville, OH) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 Internals (Pro - Developer) (Paperback)

If you're looking for a step-by-step kind of book about SQL Server 2008, look elsewhere. That is not the intent of this book. If you want to truly know what goes on under the hood of Microsoft's new powerhouse database, get this book now.

I've ready every copy of Inside SQL Server from 6.5 through to 2000. And I mean every page. I've read Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2005: The Storage Engine from cover-to-cover as well. Here's the thing... each edition gets better and better. Subtle little clarifications here. A paragraph of extra information there. And now with SQL Server 2008 Internals you have one of the best guides to the innner workings of SQL Server you can get your hands on.

I must reiterate: This is not a DBA's Guide. By that I mean that it is not filled with step-by-steps. Instead, it explains what's happening when you take those steps. For this reason, the book will not be for everyone; however, for those who are developing database applications based on SQL Server 2008, there's no better way to truly learn how the DB works and, therefore, optimize your application.

Another great book in the series...

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Open heart surgery" to SQL 2008 engine, October 4, 2009

By 

Jose A. Campo "SQL DBA [MCTS on SQL2005 & 2008]" (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 Internals (Pro - Developer) (Paperback)

Before getting into more details I'll tell you if this book is for you or not: if you are a MS-SQL DBA get this book. If you are a programmer or you are looking for quick solutions to common problems, this book is not for you.

This one reminds me Edward Whalen's book: Microsoft® SQL Server(TM) 2005 Administrator's Companion. The style and purpose are quite similar, but Kalen is a bit more technical here. On this book, she explains how the things work inside the MS-SQL 2008 engine and I should say, she did a good job. Inside you will find explanations about how SQL2008 acts when you run a transaction, a query, insert a value on a table or what is the lock mechanism that the product uses and how we can take advantage of all and every of these features or, in the other hand, create problems if we don't use them correctly. Is like learning how your car works before learn how to drive it ;-) after all, you need to know how to check your car's oil no matter how good or bad are yours mechanical abilities, no?

I have not finished the book yet but so far, the Database (chapter 3) and Logging (chapter 4) are my favorites chapters. Those explain basic concepts but give you strong foundations for important things like Transaction Log backups or the meaning and purpose of the very important system databases: master, model, msdb (and the new and hidden, resource database) The author(s) also mentions among chapters the use of Catalog Views and DMVs, which were previously introduced on SQL2005. There are short examples about of how to get advantage of some of them and what kind of database or system information we can retrieve executing them.

Why not 5 stars? well, 1st, there is no pdf or electronic format and also let me be honest, the differences between SQL2005 and SQ2008 are minimal -- trust me, I use both products at work all days and we do have thousand of databases at my job, I work for the largest IT company in the world after Microsoft :-) -- Besides Backup Compression, the new and improved SQL2008 failover capabilities, not much changed between both versions. The recovery process is the same, the system databases are the same, the Index's behavior is the same, not a big change really. So, if you already bought a nice SQL2005 book like the one I mentioned before by Edward Whalen maybe you can skip this one and save couple of dollars; most of the information here can be found on Books Online for free, of course, just in an different and boring writing style.

In a short, the book is a good resource if you really want to know what's under the hood. It will give you solid foundations to your dba skills, because once you understand what SQL2008 is doing behind scenes your troubleshooting techniques can and will change accordingly. You will get some confidence and stop being just a point-and-click MS-SQL dba

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolute Requirement, July 4, 2010

By 

Grant Fritchey (MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 Internals (Pro - Developer) (Paperback)

If you're the person that runs backups and does nothing else with SQL Server, maybe, this book isn't for you. If you have any other level of responsibility with programming or maintaining databases within SQL Server, you absolutely have to have this book. There is no other resource as powerful as this one for understanding what is occurring within SQL Server. If you write queries or create indexes, you have to know how SQL Server is storing and retrieving your data, how it maintains it's memory, everything. It's all here in this book. What's more, the writing is so good, and clear, you can really use the book to learn. I can't sing the praises loud enough of long enough. This book is simply a requirement if you work with SQL Server.