Microsoft SQL Server 2000 DBA Survival Guide: Second Edition

Microsoft SQL Server 2000 DBA Survival Guide: Second Edition
by Mark Spenik and Orryn Sledge
Copyright 2003
SAMS Publishing

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Only the most successful SQL Server books made it to a second edition, as most are outdated (due to new software versions) long before there is time for a second edition to be written. One of those exceptions is Microsoft SQL Server 2000 DBA Survival Guide: Second Edition. This book was originally written for SQL Server 6.5, then 7.0, and now SQL Server 2000. As time has passed, this book has become the perennial favorite for new and beginning SQL Server DBAs.

What separates this book from the many others available for the beginning DBA is its comprehensiveness, easy to understand style, and a focus on DBA duties, with just enough attention to SQL Server development to keep newbies from getting lost or too frustrated. This makes the book the perfect first book for those who want to become a master SQL Server DBA.

Here's what the books covers:

• Role of the Database Administrator

• SQL Server Overview

• The Evolution of SQL Server

• Planning an Installation or Upgrade

• Installing or Upgrading SQL Server

• Enterprise Management Processes

• Configuring and Tuning SQL Server

• Managing Databases

• Managing SQL Server Users and Security

• Backup and Recovery

• Developing a SQL Server Maintenance Plan

• Automating Database Administrative Tasks

• Data Transformation Services

• Using BCP and Bulk Insert

• Troubleshooting SQL Server

• Architecture Features

• Database Design Issues

• Understanding Indexes

• Query Optimization

• Multiuser Issues

• SQL Essentials

• Using Stored Procedures and Cursors

• SQL Server 2000 and the Internet

• Monitoring SQL Server

• SQL Mail

• Using SQL-DMO

• Replication

• Transactional Replication

• Snapshot and Merge Replication

• Introduction to Warehousing

• SQL Server 2000 Analysis Services

One of the better features of this book is that is covers the day-to-day tasks that all DBAs must know about and perform. In other words, you just don't learn about specific tasks, but how to apply what you learn as part of the job of being a DBA.

Although this book is introductory in nature (some advanced topics are not covered or are only covered briefly), the book is still 1,000 pages long and is packed with information. The book does a fair job on performance-related topics, including several relevant chapters.

I handily recommend this book to everyone who wants to learn how to become a SQL Server DBA. It is a great first book and will get you on the right path quickly, just as it has for tens of thousands of other DBAs.

If you are a developer who wants to learn how to perform DBA functions, this is also a great book, but if you are developer who wants to get the most out of SQL Server programmatically, then you need to try another book, like Professional SQL Server 2000 Programming.