Customer Reviews

Microsoft SQL Server 7 DBA Survival Guide

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I love this book. My background is a little unusual -- I've been running Linux for 7 years, and I know very little about running MS servers. I had worked with MySQL, but never with a fully featured commercial SQL engine. When I started running MS-SQL, the confusing part was the administration, not the actual SQL database operations. And this book told me everything I needed to know. It's easy to look up practical "HOWTO" style advice. If you need to setup security, they tell you how. If you need to backup your db (and who doesn't?) they tell you how. If you need to set up replication (which is cooler and more complicated than you'd think) they tell you how. It's easy to find what you need and make it happen with a minimum of hassles and floundering. The discussion of indexes alone is probably worth buying the book. If you run MS-SQL, you should buy this book.

I am new to SQL7. I ordered 3 books to help me on the job. This was the most comprehensive of them. I needed help on DTS and SQL Agent, and it was easy to find. This book does not assume a lower level of SQL knowledge, so I could find help on some complex issues. Very good.

This book has saved my butt while I was having trouble during version 6.5-to-7 upgrading, ODBC Unicode and language headaches and while trying to understand proper application of transactional replication. The sections od database design are very good. As a DBA for a major Turkish user of SQL 7, this book is a good reference. I first look at it before calling online help. It lacks a bit on low-level details when compared to "Inside Microsoft SQL Server 7" by Soukup and Delaney. But, the language here is more business like rather than technical.

I was thrown into SQL Server work with no training and no mentors. This book was a great help. When you have to make something happen and there is no one around to ask you can generally find what you need here. I was pleased that the writing is clear and easy to follow even when dealing with obscure subjects.

I have used this book to solve problems and to research configuration settings when troubleshooting performance issues. At over 1000 pages I am not sure I could have survived reading it as a study guide and it is really not suited for that. But if you want a resource that goes into pretty good depth on subjects, this is an excellent book to consult.

I swore by the version 6.5 edition of this book and couldn't wait for this new edition. I'm responsible for many SQL servers worldwide and whenever I travel for an emergency, this book is the only text that goes along with me. This book is a godsend.

Unfortunately I cannot share excitement of those who gave this book 4,5 or 5 stars. This book is good but still contains some mixture of old and new information. For example on page 259 authors claim that "incomplete transactions that occur after database process is started are NOT backed up", this is not true. In SQL 7.0 manual stated "Extents containing data are written to the backup set without regard to synchronizing pages being modified by users during the backup". They don't even mention new "Fuzzy backup" technology (see "Fuzzy Backup and Restore Operations" in BOL). On page 260 Authors claim that "performing full database backup does not clear inactive part of transaction log" this is also not true. Page 272 "The database log must reside on separate device from database": first there is no such thing as "device" in SQL 7.0, second there is no way to put database and log on the same file. Looks like they didn't cleaned up 6.5 manuscript properly.

So, if you find something that does not supported by your practical experience, very likely you and not the authors are right.

A comprehensive guide to all aspects of SQL server which is clearly written in an accessible style. This book has helped me transfer my existing DBA skills in Informix/Ingres to SQL server. I liked the worked examples which help greatly in understanding key features such as backup and restore. One niggle is that the section covering master databse recovery omits the fact that the database must be in single user mode (sqlservr.exe -m).

I can also recommend:- Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 Administrator's Pocket Consultant - Microsoft Press The Guru's Guide to Transact SQL - Henderson

This is a very comprehensive DBA reference manual that is clearly written and packaged to easily locate information. Other references (and I have many for SQL Server) give general information, this book goes beyond that - hows and whys and especially lessons learned. When I incorporate the fix it suggests, it stays fixed. This book has more bent pages and coffee stains than any other in my collection. Originally a Sybase DBA and being relatively new to SQL Server, this book filled in the gaps and make the transition very painless, especially in urgent troubleshooting scenerios. Recommend this to any SQL DBA especially if new to SQL Server.

Also recommend Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 Adminstrator Companion as an additional reference.

I have experience with Oracle but my company has recently switched to SQL Server 7.0. This book has helped me a lot in transitioning from Oracle to SQL Server! It is easy to read and is a great reference book as well. I really liked the examples throughout the book, the real world stories and the FAQ at the end of each chapter.

I found the 6.5 version of this book extremely helpful as it seemed to cover more extensively some of the features that other books did not cover very well. Along with a lot of examples that were extremely practical and helpful.

I found this version for 7.0 to be as good and I was looking forward to its release.

I highly recommend.