Customer Reviews

Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 Dba Survival Guide

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
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No other book on the market even comes close with respect to the DBA specific aspects of SQL server. All the rest are a mix of developer/DBA material. If you just want to know how to administer SQL this is definately the book for you!

As a SQL Server DBA I am often called upon to deal with 6.5 installations. All my training has been on 7.0 and while many of my peers may have gotten their start on 4.2 or 6.0 or 6.5, I learned on 7.0 and it is different. The 6.5 DBA Survival Guide has helped me to figure out how to do things in 6.5 that are done quite differently in 7.0. I have found it to be an excellent resource manual for making sense out of how things work. Online help in 6.5 is a great disappointment compared to 7.0 so a book like this is essential.

I don't know how to compare this book to others on 6.5 because I have not read any others. But my readings in this one have compared very favorably to what I have read in dozens of references dealing with 7.0.

This book gives you the information you need when you need it. The authors will tell you what works, and what doesn't. You get the right answers, not just the Microsoft answers.

This book is more clearly defined than the Microsoft manuals. Buy it! It's money well spent!

Authers share their experiences in friendly fashion without leaving any ambiguity. With a great sense of humour, authors make sure that the DBAs do not face any difficulty in common as well as complex operations. Points out microsofts' flaws in documentation. Some of these flaws in microsoft's manuals are dangerous! I could have been spending hours on getting 'Stored Procedures' working, if I had followed just microsoft manuals. This book solved mysteries from exactly those areas I faced difficulties The discussions about BCP (Bulk copy program) and Database sizing were very useful for me. Perhaps the only complete source of 'real guidence'for DBAs. If you want to undertake DBA function for the first time, this is the best source, which could make you servive.

Basically, a well-written, high level 'cliff notes' of the manuals. The target audience is casual and beginner users of SQLServer, not power users. Power users and budding DBA's should try SQL Server Unleashed by the same publisher, or SQLServer Secrets from IDG.