Pro SQL Server 2005 Database Design and Optimization [Paperback]

Louis Davidson (Author), Kevin Kline (Author), Kurt Windisch (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1590595297 | ISBN-13: 978-1590595299 | Publication Date: May 1, 2006

This book teaches the SQL Server database professional effective strategies for designing proper databases, covering everything from how to gather business requirements, to logical data modeling, and normalization. It then shows you how to implement your design on SQL Server 2005.

However, this new fully-revised edition does not stop there. Having established an understanding of the process of designing and implementing SQL Server 2005 databases, it then provides completely new material describing how to optimize and secure access to this data, covering indexing strategies, SQL design and optimization as well as strategies for increased scalability to support large numbers of concurrent users. It also provides in-depth advice on optimal code distribution in SQL Server 2005 applications, in light of innovations such as the ability to use .NET code in the database itself (see SQL Server 2005 Assemblies Revealed, Apress, ISBN: 1-59059-412-6).

The advent of SQL Server 2005 is highly anticipated and should result in a very substantial number of new and migration projects. This book will make sure that such projects have a well-designed database and secure, optimized data access strategies right from the start.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Louis Davidson has been in the information technology industry for ten years, as a corporate database developer and architect. Currently, he is serving as a Database Administrator for Compass Technology Management in their Nashville Data Center supporting the Christian Broadcasting Network and NorthStar Studios in Nashville, TN.
The majority of his experience, with slight deviations into Visual Basic, has been spent with Microsoft SQL Server from version 1.0 to whatever latest version that is in Beta. Louis' primary areas of expertise are in database architecture and coding in Transact-SQL, and he has written thousands of numerous stored procedures and triggers throughout the years.
Louis was the sole author on Professional SQL Server 2000 Database Design (Wrox, ISBN: 1-86100-476-1), and was a contributor to SQL Server 2000 Stored Procedure Handbook (Wrox, ISBN: 1-86100-825-2). It is said that in his ridiculously small amount of spare time he tends to play a lot of Nintendo as well as watching a great deal of television that was popular in a different era. Most notably old English programs such as the Avengers, The Saint, Monty Python, and Black Adder, to name a few. Quite often this spare time is also spent with his notebook computer writing something pertaining to SQL.

Product Details

• Paperback: 672 pages
• Publisher: Apress (May 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590595297
• ISBN-13: 978-1590595299
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #531,182 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An essential guide for SQL Server database designers, June 1, 2006

By 

Adam Machanic "Data Dude" (Melrose, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pro SQL Server 2005 Database Design and Optimization (Paperback)

If you need to learn how to design a SQL Server database the right way, from the bottom up (or top down, depending on your persective), you can do no better than this book.

The book starts with a solid introduction/refersher on basic database concepts, which brings the reader up to the required level to start thinking about issues such as normalization and data integrity -- extremely important issues if you value your data!

Past there, the book gets deep (very deep) into data modeling, including discussions of such important concepts as when to use surrogate keys, what kind of data constraints should be defined, and the increasingly important question of how best to secure your data.

The book closes with a few specialized, more advanced chapters, which I found to be especially interesting. These include a chapter on concurrency, "code-level architectural decisions" (really, best practices for writing great T-SQL), and finally a VERY useful chapter on database interoperability -- a must for those who have to make SQL Server talk to other DBMSs.

In short, I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn to be a great SQL Server database designer.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have, June 19, 2006

By 

James A. Luetkehoelter (Wisconsin, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pro SQL Server 2005 Database Design and Optimization (Paperback)

I have the 2000 version of this book, which I thought was outstanding. Not only does it have excellent content, but it's written as if you were sitting at a table talking to Mr. Davidson directly.

This updated version should be a staple on any database developer or administrator's bookshelf. There is a solid discussion of design, securing the database (new encryption capabilities of 2005) and much more. But these aren't the reasons why you should own this book. It is as much a "how-to" book as it is a "what-to" book. You get real advice, not just screenshots and step-by-step examples. I wish more books were written this way, as technical knowledge without a procedural "framework" is a recipe for disaster.

Do yourself a favor and make the investment. Personally I know that any custom database design course I teach from this point on will include this book as reference for my students.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Database Design and Optimization "must-have"...., August 13, 2006

By 

JMess (Charlotte, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pro SQL Server 2005 Database Design and Optimization (Paperback)

I highly recommend this book to anyone working with SQL Server 2005. The material presented is made more understandable (not to mention entertaining!) by the examples used by the author throughout the book. The new features for SQL Server 2005 that the author covers are very relevant to my job, especially Chapter 7, Securing Access to the Data. The continuity of the material presented is excellent. Each chapter serves as a reference guide to complex topics that the author successfully explains through a combination of expertise, experience and a sense of humor.