Rick Heiges

I see that Don, Adam, and Kent got submissions accepted at PASS in September.  I too have a session accepted that will be on SQL Server Express 2005 (which I will also be presenting at DevTeach in June).  I was happy to get my acceptance because last year I did not have a technical session accepted.  The Program Committee works hard to get the best content for the audience. 

If you sign-up to go now, the cost is $1295 I believe.  If you go to one of the SQL Server Road Shows going on over the next several weeks - Today in SF, May 12 in Chicago, May 17 in Houston, May 19 in Dallas, you get a $100 off of that rate.  The Road show is $99 - so in essence is free for those who continue on to PASS. 

I will be at the PASS Europe Conference in 2 weeks.  Can't wait to get to Munich!  I am speaking on Table and Index Partitioning.  There is also a really good pre-con by Kimberly Tripp on 2005.

Well....  It was that time again.  Antoher CTP, Another Install.....

It went rather well on my VPC.  Actually, the WinXP updates took longer to install than SQL Server.  I had used the differencing disk option to create a new machine from a base “WinXP” install from last summer. Needless to say that I need to create a new base VPC “WinXP” machine soon.

Perhaps it was just me, but the interface seemed to run a little faster this time around once I pulled up the SSMS interface.  One thing that I was happy to see was the Database Diagrams that were put back in.  I had heard that they were coming back.  I did not get a chance to play with them yet, but a friend of mine stated that they were very basic.   Nonetheless, I am happy to see it back inthe product.  It helps to teach concepts and also to analyze the structure of the data.  I know that there are plenty of third party tool options, but some sites do not have those products installed.  The lack of a visual diagram can add to the time it takes to analyze certain databases.  From a consulting point of view, any tool in your arsenal helps.  After I play with it a little, I'll blog about my thoughts on it.

In my previous post, I reported that a user wanted to backup the Mirror Database.  This is not possible.  Backups of any kind on the mirror db is not a valid operation.

This same person presented an idea that I had heard of before, but wanted to double-check before blogging about it.  The scenario is basically this - he wants to BREAK the mirror (stop the mirroring session - drop the partnership) and then backup up the mirror db.  Well, you can stop the session, drop the partnership, and recover on the server formerly known as the mirror, and back it up.  The “not so nice” aspect of this scenario is if he wants the mirroring to be re-established, a full backup from the principal must then be restored on the Mirror and a partnership setup again. 

So, yes you can BREAK the mirror in order to perform a backup on the server formerly known as the mirror.  There may be a good reason to do so.  But it doesn't relieve you of your responsibility of doing a full backup on the Principal - especially if you want to re-establish mirroring.  Mirroring is still one of the collest features coming in SQL Server 2005. 

Yesterday, more then 350 people came to the SQL Server Roadshow in NYC.  I hadn't been to NYC for about 13 years. The people there were very friendly. 

A user had a question about database mirroring that I had encountered before.  The question was “Can you perform a Full Backup on a Mirrored Database”.  My gut reaction was “No”.  So I responded and expressed to him that it was never then intent to allow backups of the mirror.  I emailed a colleague to confirm this.  I was correct and told him that I had confirmed it.  He then asked another question...  It was “If I turn mirroring off, can I backup the database on the mirror”.  This is the “Break the Mirror and Backup” strategy.  I will be researching this issue to answer in another blog.

BTW - I will be doing a webcast on Mirroring and Snapshots on Tuesday.  Check it out at www.unisys.com.

Well - yesterday was the first of the roadshows over this next month.  It was held in Boston.  I arrived in Boston on Monday and discovered that the Boston Marathon was taking place.  Cab driver let me off about 2 blocks from the hotel because of the barricades.  The Marathon's Finish Line wasn't far from where the show was going to be held the following day.  Lots of runners around the hotel.  There was even a “triage” area setup in the hotel to deal with medical emergencies.  When I went out for a little walk to get a diet coke, EMTs were on their way to the corner where an older gentleman runner was having difficulty.  It was good to see the quick response.

Bill Baker kicked off the show with the keynote address and mentioned how the CTPs were in the process of being used instead of a Beta 3.  He did state that the product would ship in 2005.  This is a slight difference in the last official message from MSFT that had stated Summer 2005 (look when Summer ends).

I met Kent Tegels.  He is definitely a character. I only had a chance to poke my head into one of his sessions for a few minutes, but he also used colorful body movements to illustrate points (actually endpoints) during the few minutes I was present.  It was almost as good as his colorful writing. ;-)

Overall, attendees seemed to really enjoy the event and learned quite a bit.  I am looking forward to tomorrow's event in NYC.  The cost is only $99 and gets you lot for the moola.  It is not too late to sign-up for the rest of the shows!

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