June 2006 - Posts

Modifying css on the fly for free

My blog has moved to sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons
The full version of this post can be found here., http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/Modifying css on the fly for free
The new RSS feed is here

Thanks to Frans Bouma who mentioned a plug in for firefox which allows you to modifyin css on the fly, i.e. at the client and see the results.

... To read the complete version of this post go here, http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/Modifying css on the fly for free

posted Friday, June 30, 2006 9:49 AM by SimonSabin with 1 Comments

The Acorn Electron the power behind SQL Server

My blog has moved to sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons
The full version of this post can be found here., http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/The Acorn Electron the power behind SQL Server
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Steve Jones recently interviewed me for http://SQLServerCentral.com, the interview is now live.

... To read the complete version of this post go here, http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/The Acorn Electron the power behind SQL Server

posted Thursday, June 29, 2006 2:05 PM by SimonSabin with 0 Comments

Top new feature in SQL 2005

My blog has moved to sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons
The full version of this post can be found here., http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/Top new feature in SQL 2005
The new RSS feed is here

This has to be one of my favourite features in SQL 2005 and I almost missed it. Well I actually did and had to be told about it by Erland Sommarskog.

In SQL 2000 you right a huge piece of SQL, 100 lines of code. You run it and get

... To read the complete version of this post go here, http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/Top new feature in SQL 2005

posted Tuesday, June 20, 2006 3:40 PM by SimonSabin with 2 Comments

Get maps directly in Outlook

My blog has moved to sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons
The full version of this post can be found here., http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/Get maps directly in Outlook
The new RSS feed is here

I'm a buge fan of Local.Live.com since its days as virtualearth. This is growing know it does UK aerial and birds eye photos.

You can now get a plug in for outlook to get maps in Outlook http://outlook.local.live.com/minisites/local/outlook/default.aspx. However it only works for the US english version of outlook.

... To read the complete version of this post go here, http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/Get maps directly in Outlook

posted Sunday, June 18, 2006 10:57 PM by SimonSabin with 0 Comments

Latest SQL News is now available

My blog has moved to sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons
The full version of this post can be found here., http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/Latest SQL News is now available
The new RSS feed is here

You can read the latest news on LINQ, DLINQ Entities, ADO.NET, data consistency and much more ... To read the complete version of this post go here, http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/Latest SQL News is now available

posted Friday, June 16, 2006 9:11 AM by SimonSabin with 0 Comments

Do you do perform load testing in Live - Microsoft do

Well Microsoft.com do.

I mentioned the Tech Ed webcasts a few days ago. I unfortunately only caught the end of the Microsoft.com webcast. Well I've just finsihed watching the on demand version and wow. I previously highlighted a talk about amazon.com (Are you running a high volume website) this is another webcast that you should watch.

Its a great insight into what needs to be done to run a high end internet operation. The numbers they are talking about are just scary, 120Gigabits/sec bandwidth, ok so many sites won't be needing this level of scale. However they do provide some great points on,

  • Load balancing, NLB v hardware
  • SQL HA solutions, Peer to Peer, Mirroring, log shipping
  • Clustering
  • Global Load balancing

On interesting statement was on testing. I agree that it is very difficult to simulate Live usage, for 3 reasons, generating the amount of traffic is difficult, generating the traffic in a realistic manner is even more difficult, finally can you afford to duplicate your live hardware. So there is a valid reason for doing load testing in a Live environment.

Cross posted from http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs

posted Thursday, June 15, 2006 6:58 PM by SimonSabin with 0 Comments

Timeout Bug with Bulk Copy and SQL Server

My blog has moved to sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons
The full version of this post can be found here., http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/Timeout Bug with Bulk Copy and SQL Server
The new RSS feed is here

I noticed with SQL Server Integration Services if I use the SQL Server Destination and my data flow doesn't provide rows quick enough to the destination a timeout can occur. Bill has blogged about a FIX for a similar issue in .Net that refers to ADO adn SqlBulkCopy.

... To read the complete version of this post go here, http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/Timeout Bug with Bulk Copy and SQL Server

posted Thursday, June 15, 2006 7:31 PM by SimonSabin with 0 Comments

How banks can steal your money

My blog has moved to sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons
The full version of this post can be found here., http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/How banks can steal your money
The new RSS feed is here

If you ever visit the forums you will learn many ways to manage your SQL Server. Some of these are good some of them not so good. Some may result in your bank stealing your money if they followed these procedures.

... To read the complete version of this post go here, http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/How banks can steal your money

posted Thursday, June 15, 2006 7:13 PM by SimonSabin with 0 Comments

SSIS Tips and Tricks - Copying components

If you want to re-organise your package by seperating a data flow into multiple data flows. Then you are better to copy the data flow task and remove the components in the flow you don't want rather than creating a new data flow task and copying the components between the data flows.

Why is that?

Well the main reason is that copying components results in components having numbers appended i.e. "lookup" becomes "lookup 1", which is very annoying

Cross posted from http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs

posted Thursday, June 15, 2006 5:11 PM by SimonSabin with 0 Comments

Tech Ed Webcasts Live and recorded

My blog has moved to sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons
The full version of this post can be found here., http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/Tech Ed Webcasts Live and recorded
The new RSS feed is here

If you haven't been lucky enough to get to Tech Ed you can still see the sessions via webcast. The list is available at https://www1.msteched.com/content/webcasts.aspx.

... To read the complete version of this post go here, http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/Tech Ed Webcasts Live and recorded

posted Tuesday, June 13, 2006 8:21 PM by SimonSabin with 0 Comments

SSIS Performance Webcast starting soon

My blog has moved to sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons
The full version of this post can be found here., http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/SSIS Performance Webcast starting soon
The new RSS feed is here

A gentle reminder that If you are looking to use SSIS and need performance this webcast is a must. It is starting in a few hours 9:30pm in the UK, 1:30pm PST.

Donald Farmer is doing this so its going to be good.

... To read the complete version of this post go here, http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/SSIS Performance Webcast starting soon

posted Tuesday, June 13, 2006 8:06 PM by SimonSabin with 0 Comments

BI Performance Point - Business score card and more

This seems to have gone somewhat unnoticed but came to my attention again when I tried to get a copy of Pro Clarity.

Microsoft announced Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007  This is "Comprehensive performance management application delivers business scorecarding, analytics and planning with familiar Office software."

It is clear that the Pro Clarity purchase is at the heart of this server solution.

Whats more there was a Q&A: Microsoft’s Business Intelligence Strategy with a MS VP Lewis Levin.

The Product home page is here

Cross posted from http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs

posted Monday, June 12, 2006 7:32 PM by SimonSabin with