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[Focus]

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Avoiding the Red Zone
You know you can predict future database storage needs by evaluating past usage, but how do you collect the historical statistics? Here's a 2-step process that lets you do it yourself.
 — Greg A. Larsen

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[Features]

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7 Steps to SSL Encryption
Information about setting up server-requested SSL encryption in a clustered SQL Server environment is hard to come by. But these clear steps pave the way to a straightforward implementation.
 — Gary Zaika


Divide and Conquer
With limited time and resources, what’s a call-center team to do when CPU utilization is about to go over the top? A system redesign that included replication slashed overhead, boosted performance, and guaranteed scalability for years.
 — Alexander Stamenkovich , et al.

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[SQL Server Savvy]

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SPID Association
Learn a technique for correlating a SQL Server SPID with the UMS responsible for managing its execution.
 — Brian Moran


Tip: Improve Performance by Inspecting UMS IDs
If you're running multiple, concurrent, large data-load operations, you might be getting reduced throughput. Learn a workaround that can significantly improve your performance.
 — Brian Moran


Using a Command to Move a Virtual Instance
Learn how to use a command-line tool to schedule a move of a virtual SQL Server instance from one clustered node to another.
 — Brian Moran

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[Editorial]

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Serious About Security
Even with Microsoft’s ramped-up security efforts, your systems are still only as secure as you make them. Here are some common-sense measures you can take to safeguard your SQL Server systems.
 — Michael Otey

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[Reader to Reader]

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Calculating Percentage
If you frequently have to calculate percentages of data that meet a condition, here's a T-SQL solution that can help streamline the process.
 — Readers

Missing Identity
If you're engrossed in finding missing identity values, here's a query that performs the search more quickly.
 — Readers

Securing DTS
Securing DTS packages is important, but it can be difficult if many users have access to the packages. Here are two techniques for restricting user access to DTS.
 — Readers

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[SQL Seven]

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Shutting Down SQL Server
There are more ways to stop SQL Server than you might think.
 — Michael Otey

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[Inside SQL Server]

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Recompiling Riddles
In its quest for the best query-execution plan, the optimizer sometimes works too hard. Learn how to determine when the optimizer is recompiling stored procedures unnecessarily and what to do about it.
 — Kalen Delaney

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[Mastering Analysis]

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Security and Parameterization
Analysis applications frequently contain confidential information. Here's a scalable way to use MDX to determine which users can access sensitive information.
 — Russ Whitney

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[T-SQL Black Belt]

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Points of (Indexed) Views
Sometimes, T-SQL just can't solve a problem alone without severe performance penalties. When this happens, consider using indexed views to rev up performance.
 — Itzik Ben-Gan

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[Answers from Microsoft]

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Covered Query vs. Covering Index
What constitutes a covered query? What’s the definition of a covering index? And when do you use one, or the other, or both? Microsoft’s SQL Server development team sheds light on one reader’s question.
 — Microsoft's SQL Server Development Team


Extracting Data from Multiple Tables
Each of these two ways to extract data from many tables has its pros and cons. Choose the approach that works best for your situation.
 — Microsoft's SQL Server Development Team


Generating an Incrementing Value from a SELECT Statement
Numbering rows incrementally from a SELECT statement is difficult, but it can be done. Here are some suggestions from Microsoft’s SQL Server Development Team.
 — Microsoft's SQL Server Development Team


SQL Server 2000 and 6.5 on the Same Machine
If you avoid these setup traps, you can run SQL Server 2000 and 6.5 on the same machine.
 — Microsoft's SQL Server Development Team


Using a Trigger to Launch a DTS Package
Would using a trigger to launch your DTS package streamline your process? One of these three methods likely fits your scenario.
 — Microsoft's SQL Server Development Team

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[Exploring XML]

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Defining XML Views
If you need to map columns to elements or attributes, chain relationship annotations, specify columns as unique keys, or signal that an element or attribute isn’t in the database, you need to use these annotations.
 — Rich Rollman

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[Letters]

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Letters, December 2002
Readers encourage people not to wait for Windows .NET Server before developing and deploying .NET applications and explore set-based solutions.
 — Various Authors

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[New Products]

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New Products, December 2002
Check out the latest SQL Server-related new and improved products.
 — Carolyn Mader