News
How to Prepare SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2000 for Changes to Daylight Saving Time in 2007
In August 2005, the U. S. Congress passed the Energy Policy Act. This act changes both the start date and the end date of daylight saving time (DST). When this act goes into effect in 2007, DST will start three weeks earlier and will end one week later than when it traditionally started and ended. Specifically, DST will start at 2:00 A.M. on the second Sunday in March and will end at 2:00 A.M. on the first Sunday in November.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931975
Announcing System Centre Data Protection Manager Version 2 Beta 1
Data Protection Manager (DPM) is a key member of the Microsoft System Centre family of management products, designed to help IT professionals manage their Windows environment. DPM is the new standard for Windows backup and recovery—delivering continuous data protection for Microsoft application and file servers using seamlessly integrated disk and tape media.
http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/dpm/default.mspx
New MSDN Books Online Search Functionality
Check out the new Books Online search functionality online. The link below provides a scoped search of Books Online that returns a more precise and targeted result set. You can use it to search Books Online content quickly.
http://search.live.com/macros/sql_server_user_education/booksonline
New SQL Server Performance Engineering Team Blog
For all your Performance and Scalability Needs!
http://blogs.msdn.com/sqlperf/
Documents
Comparing Enterprise Development Productivity: SQL Server 2005 versus Oracle Database 10g
This independent productivity study, prepared by 3 Leaf, compares two developers working independently to provide the same added features and functionality to a baseline application. One developer worked with SQL Server 2005, and the other used Oracle Database 10g. By comparing the time required by each developer to perform equivalent development tasks, this study quantifies one instance of improved development efficiency in SQL Server 2005, relative to Oracle Database 10g.
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/prodinfo/compare/oracle/devprodoracle.mspx
Microsoft Case Study: Denmark Telecom Leader Slashes Costs with 6 Terabyte Data warehouse on SQL Server 2005
From its headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark, TDC provides land-line, mobile, and data communications services to customers in 12 countries. The company, which reported 2005 revenue of U.S.$8 billion, needed to gather data from more than 60 disparate systems into a central data warehouse to support some 2,000 business analysts and other internal users. TDC deployed its 6-terabyte data warehouse using Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2005 Enterprise Edition (64-bit) database and SQL Server Analysis Services hosted on HP ProLiant DL585 servers with AMD Opteron™ Dual-Core 64-bit processors. The data warehouse provides the company with a centralized, authoritative, source of information across the organization. The cost of doing complex analysis, which previously required importing historical data from tape and working across disparate systems, has been slashed.
http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/casestudy.aspx?casestudyid=200154
Downloads
SQL Server 2005 Performance Dashboard Reports
The Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Performance Dashboard Reports are used to monitor and resolve performance problems on your SQL Server 2005 database server. The SQL Server instance being monitored and the Management Studio client used to run the reports must both be running SP2 or later.
Online Indexing Operations in SQL Server 2005
Introduced in SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition, the online index feature provides a powerful way to perform maintenance operations such as rebuilding or creating indexes in a production system without sacrificing DML concurrency. This paper provides a detailed discussion of the index process and provides guidelines and best practices for implementing this feature in a production environment.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/sql/2005/onlineindex.mspx
Events/WebCasts
SQL 2005 Webcasts and Virtual Labs
SQL Server 2005 is data management and analysis software that delivers enhanced security, availability, and scalability to mission-critical data applications—while making them easier to develop, deploy, and manage. Choose from a wide range of live and on-demand webcasts. Or take part in a virtual lab, which allows you to cut your teeth on the new platform by experimenting with its different capabilities.
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/eval/webcast.mspx?wt.mc_id=sql.ad.01037
MIX07 – Web Professionals Conference, April 30th to May 2nd Venetian Hotel, Las Vegas
On the frontiers of the Web, boundaries are blurring—developers and designers, advertisers and publishers, software and services, media and technology, TV and PCs, PCs and mobile devices, producers and consumers. The old order is getting a little MIXed up. MIX is Microsoft’s conference for Web designers, developers and decision-makers who make their living at the forefront of the consumer Web. Join the conversation with Microsoft and others on how to harness the latest technologies, unlock new revenue opportunities, reduce development costs and improve customer experience. MIX is for cutting-edge Web professionals designing and building next-generation experiences.
Microsoft Webcast: Selecting the Right SQL Server 2005 Edition to Fit Your Business (Level 200)
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 is a collection of components, and each component has a number of features to support various aspects of a database application. Microsoft has packaged these components and features into various editions to better accommodate the system availability, performance, and price requirements of different customers. Before you acquire and install SQL Server 2005, attend this webcast to compare editions and find the best match for your application and business needs. We explore the key differences between SQL Server 2005 Enterprise and Standard editions in the areas of availability, scalability, manageability, and business intelligence (BI) to help you determine which edition is right for you.
Microsoft Webcast: Selecting the Right SQL Server 2005 Edition to Fit Your Business (Level 200)
TechNet Webcast: Choosing the Right Edition of SQL Server 2005 (Level 200)
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 has a number of editions to support your data requirements, including the small hobbyist database, large enterprise database applications, scale-up or scale-out architectures, and disconnected data architectures. In this webcast, we explore the key features and differences between the SQL Server editions to help you choose the best edition for supporting your data requirements.
TechNet Webcast: Choosing the Right Edition of SQL Server 2005 (Level 200)
TechNet Webcast: Introduction to SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services (Level 200)
Join this introduction to Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services as we discuss its place in the Microsoft business intelligence (BI) solutions strategy and explore its components and features. Find out about the many new and exciting features that have been added to Reporting Services since the Microsoft SQL Server 2000 version. Gain an understanding of the report life cycle and see how to create, publish, manage, and deliver reports using the new tools and features in SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services. At the end of the session, you should be ready to create and publish reports that can enhance your organization's business knowledge.
TechNet Webcast: Introduction to SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services (Level 200)
TechNet Webcast: Advanced SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services (Level 300)
Join this webcast to see advanced techniques for building reports with Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services and the Microsoft Visual Studio-based Report Designer. We discuss how to use the built-in expression language, the report parameterization (data driven, multi-valued, and hierarchical), and how to support multiple data sources (including relational, multi-dimensional, and XML). We also examine how you can make reports interactive. Attend this session as we explore the new features in Microsoft SQL Server 2005 for report designers, provide a walkthrough of sample reports, and illustrate tips and tricks for using the Report Definition Language (RDL).
TechNet Webcast: Advanced SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services (Level 300)
TechNet Webcast: Best Practices with SQL Server 2005 Security (Level 200)
In this webcast, we explore the host of new security features and capabilities introduced in Microsoft SQL Server 2005. We provide you with guidelines and best practices to help you take full advantage of these new components. See how security mechanisms have been strengthened and extended, and learn how they introduce new possibilities and considerations on how to best secure your installations. As regulation and compliance requirements increase, in addition to threats from malicious users after high-value data, it is more important than ever that your database installations be made safe against malicious access. Join this session as we show you how to secure your data using SQL Server 2005 and describe best practices that can help, such as surface area reduction, surface area lockdown, and separation of duties.
TechNet Webcast: Best Practices with SQL Server 2005 Security (Level 200)
Further on-demand webcasts are available here: http://www.microsoft.com/events/series/technetsqlserver2005.mspx
New KB’s
SQL Server 2000 Standard Edition
FIX: In SQL Server 2000, the synchronization process is slow, and the CPU usage is high on the computer that is configured as the Distributor
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=929131
FIX: In SQL Server 2000, the synchronization process is slow, and the CPU usage is high on the computer that is configured as the Distributor
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=929131
SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services
FIX: A calculated member that uses the DistinctCount function always returns 0 when you query a virtual cube that contains the calculated member after you install SQL Server 2000 Analysis Services Service Pack 4
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=932697
SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2
Only the "Backward Compatibility" component is selected on the "Feature Selection" page when you install a localized version of SQL Server 2005 SP2
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=932012
SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition
FIX: The size of the e-mail message is very large when you use Database Mail in SQL Server 2005 to send query results to users
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=920794
FIX: Error message when you execute a user-defined function in SQL Server 2005: "Invalid length parameter passed to the SUBSTRING function" or "A transport-level error has occurred when receiving results from the server"
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=924291
FIX: Error message when you try to connect to SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services from Object Explorer: "System.OutOfMemoryException"
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=917872
FIX: Error message when you create a new subscription to a report in SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services: "Error: Object expected"
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=925058
FIX: An assertion violation may be logged after you install SQL Server 2005 or after you add more processors to a server that is running SQL Server 2005
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=931666
FIX: Error message when you perform a transaction log backup operation and another data backup operation in parallel in SQL Server 2005: "Error 3633"
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=929404
FIX: A forward-only cursor may be implicitly converted to a keyset cursor in SQL Server 2005
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=919193
Error message when you install SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 1 on an instance of SQL Server 2005 when the computer is also running an instance of SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2: "SqlSupport.msp is not digitally signed"
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=932869
FIX: The operation may take longer than you expect when you run a warm query to obtain information from the Microsoft Search service in SQL Server 2005
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=922579
FIX: The database mirroring session may remain in the synchronizing state and may stop responding when a database failover occurs in SQL Server 2005
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=924686
FIX: The query performance is very slow when you use a fast forward-only cursor to run a query in SQL Server 2005
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=926024
FIX: A query may take longer to run in SQL Server 2005 SP1 than it takes to run in the original release version of SQL Server 2005 or in SQL Server 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=919905
FIX: The size of the e-mail message is very large when you use Database Mail in SQL Server 2005 to send query results to users
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=920794
FIX: Error message when you execute a user-defined function in SQL Server 2005: "Invalid length parameter passed to the SUBSTRING function" or "A transport-level error has occurred when receiving results from the server"
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=924291
FIX: Error message when you try to connect to SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services from Object Explorer: "System.OutOfMemoryException"
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=917872
FIX: Error message when you create a new subscription to a report in SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services: "Error: Object expected"
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=925058
FIX: An assertion violation may be logged after you install SQL Server 2005 or after you add more processors to a server that is running SQL Server 2005
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=931666
FIX: Error message when you perform a transaction log backup operation and another data backup operation in parallel in SQL Server 2005: "Error 3633"
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=929404
FIX: The operation may take longer than you expect when you run a warm query to obtain information from the Microsoft Search service in SQL Server 2005
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=922579
FIX: A forward-only cursor may be implicitly converted to a keyset cursor in SQL Server 2005
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=919193
Error message when you install SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 1 on an instance of SQL Server 2005 when the computer is also running an instance of SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2: "SqlSupport.msp is not digitally signed"
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=932869
FIX: The database mirroring session may remain in the synchronizing state and may stop responding when a database failover occurs in SQL Server 2005
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=924686
FIX: The query performance is very slow when you use a fast forward-only cursor to run a query in SQL Server 2005
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=926024
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 issue: Cleanup tasks run at different intervals than intended
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=933508
Error message when you use the FQDN on the Remote User Account page during the installation of SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 1: "Your account information could not be verified for one or more instances"
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=932870
FIX: The description for the Dimension field is not set in the local cube file when you use the CREATE LOCAL CUBE statement in SQL Server 2005
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=921293
FIX: You may receive an incorrect result when you try to run a Multidimensional Expressions (MDX) query by using SQL Server 2005
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=921295
FIX: An inefficient or incorrect SQL query is generated when you try to use SQL Server 2005 to browse a ROLAP dimension
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=918832
FIX: A schema change that is made to a published table may not be propagated to subscriptions in SQL Server 2005
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=933831
All conditional and branching statements are ignored when you try to execute a batch of Transact-SQL statements that have the FTMONLY option set to ON in SQL Server 2005
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=933248
Error message when an SSIS package runs that is scheduled to run as a SQL Server Agent job: “An OLE DB error has occurred. Error code: 0x80004005”
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=933835
SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition (x64)
Error message when you use the sp_OACreate stored procedure to create an OLE object from a 32-bit COM DLL in an x64 edition of SQL Server 2005: "0x80040154 ODSOLE Extended Procedure Class not registered"
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=932872
You cannot connect to an instance of SQL Server 2005 Integration Services by using SQL Server Management Studio after you install an SSIS hotfix on a computer that has a 64-bit processor
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=926629
FIX: Query performance may decrease after SQL Server 2005 has been running for a while
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=917035
SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition
Cumulative hotfix package (build 3152) for SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 is available
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=933097
SQL Server 2005 Express Edition
BUG: Error message when you install SQL Server 2005 Express Edition with Advanced Services: "An installation package for the product Microsoft SQL Server Native Client cannot be found"
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=933833
SQL Server 2005 Mobile Edition
The effects of U.S. daylight saving time changes on the databases of some SQL Server editions
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=933698
FIX: The empty tables in a database do not keep the values in the identity column when you compact the SQL Server 2005 Mobile Edition database
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=919000
FIX: Managed applications that use Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Mobile Edition may stop unexpectedly
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=933463
FIX: A SELECT query unexpectedly returns an incorrect number of rows in SQL Server 2005 Mobile Edition and in SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=933697
SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services
FIX: Error message when you try to process a cube that has a relationship between two tables in a data source view that contains more than four keys in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services: "000042ac"
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=924012
FIX: The return value of the Member_Unique_Name property in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services differs from the return value in SQL Server 2000 Analysis Services
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=913939
The processing operation may stop responding when you process a SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services database on a server that has a single processor
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=932687
FIX: You may experience high CPU utilization across multiple processors when you run a SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services query against a large partition or lots of partitions
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=922852
When you reference a set alias that is referenced in a calculation in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services, you may receive unexpected results
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=932871
FIX: Error message when you try to process a cube that has a relationship between two tables in a data source view that contains more than four keys in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services: "000042ac"
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=924012
FIX: The return value of the Member_Unique_Name property in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services differs from the return value in SQL Server 2000 Analysis Services
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=913939
The processing operation may stop responding when you process a SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services database on a server that has a single processor
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=932687
FIX: You may experience high CPU utilization across multiple processors when you run a SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services query against a large partition or lots of partitions
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=922852
When you reference a set alias that is referenced in a calculation in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services, you may receive unexpected results
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=932871
Minimum requirements to use Excel Visual Basic for Applications functions in MDX queries in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=932214
Error message when you use the ADOMD API to perform a writeback operation on a SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services database: "Incorrect procedure call or argument"
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=933507
FIX: SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services may stop responding when you try to process a ROLAP dimension two times
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=923473
Error message when you try to run a Multidimensional Expressions (MDX) query in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services: "An unexpected exception occurred"
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=933832
How to make an MDX query return a value in the numeric format in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=933837
How to hide a dimension name when no members are visible for a security role in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services