Don Jones - Learn SQL Server Administration in a Month of Lunches: Covers Microsoft SQL Server 2005-2014

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To the Atlantis Team, who helped me stay on track with my writing schedule: Malcolm, Ellen, Michael, Gregory, Randy, Adam, and Momma, along with Brit Lee.

And to Christopher, for helping me stay on track every day.

Ive been working with Microsoft SQL Server for a very long timeit was, in fact, one of the first Microsoft server products I was responsible for in a production environment. I do so much with Windows PowerShell these days that not many folks know I have a strong fondness for good ol SQL Server.

Learn SQL Server Administration in a Month of Lunches exists in large part because Ive met so many administrators who came to SQL Server the same way I did: Hey, you know Microsoft stuff, why dont you have a look at our database server and see why its running so slowly? The Reluctant DBAs, as I call us, arent typically involved in database development. We might not have access to the code thats connecting to SQL Server; in many cases we simply need to know how to run a reliable backup, keep indexes maintained, and keep the server running as smoothly as possible. Thats what this book will try to teach you.

This book wont try to make you an expert DBA, and I doubt this book will be the last one you read on SQL Server. But this book is a good first book to read on SQL Server: itll help you understand the less-than-obvious things going on under the hood, and hopefully give you a solid foundation for working more effectively with SQL Server.

Good luck!

Books dont write, edit, and publish themselves, although I keep looking for book elves wholl do just that! Until I find them, Im always grateful to everyone at Manning Publications who worked so hard to make this book happen, given our rapid schedule. Thanks to Michael Stephens, development editor Suzie Pitzen, the production team of Elizabeth Martin, Barbara Mirecki, Mary Piergies, Janet Vail, and Dennis Dalinnik, and the many others who worked behind the scenes.

Id also like to acknowledge everyone who provided feedback for this book, particularly all of the MEAP (Manning Early Access Program) readers, and the following peer reviewers who read the manuscript during its development: Adam Dutko, Carm Vecchio, Christopher Morgan, Chuck Henderson, Daniel Kreeger, George Laframboise, Ian Stirk, Maqbool Patel, Nick Selpa, Spike Xavier, and Stan Bice. Their input and insights have made this a better book.

Finally, special thanks to Richard Siddaway for his careful technical proofread of the final manuscript shortly before it went into production.

Most of what youll need to know about this book is covered in , but there are a few things that we should mention up front.

First, if you plan to follow along with our examples, and complete the hands-on exercises, youll need a virtual machine or computer running Windows 7 or later. Youll need at least 2 GB of RAM, and 10 GB of free disk space. You could also use Windows 8, or Windows 8.1. Whichever you use, youll need to be able to log on as the computers Administrator. One more decision: do you want to go with the free SQL Server Express Edition or another edition of SQL Server. We cover that in more detail in , and its an important decision that will impact how you move through this book.

Second, be prepared to read this book from start to finish, covering each chapter in order. Chapters are short, meaning, as the title says, you can read a chapter on your hour lunch break. (You dont have to, but each chapter takes about 40 minutes to read and digest, giving you time to enjoy your sandwich.) The human brain can absorb only so much information at once, and by taking on SQL Server in small chunks, youll learn faster and more thoroughly.

Dont feel the need to read ahead. A chapter a day will give you time to read and practice what each chapter shows you.

Third, this book contains short code snippets so you should be able to type them in quite easily. In fact, I recommend that you do type them, since doing so will help reinforce an essential skill: accurate typing!

That said, there are a few conventions that you should be aware of. Code will always appear in a fixed-width font. In a few examples, bold fixed-width font will be used to highlight the information youll need to insert in the code. I have tried to format the code so it fits within the available page space in the book by adding line breaks. But the neat thing about SQL Server is that it isnt terribly sensitive about line breaks in code. For the most part, you can type everything exactly as shown here in the book and itll work, or you can type it out as one long line and itll still work. The formatting shown here in the book is mainly to keep everything fit to the page size, and to enhance readability.

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