Book Review
SQL Server: Common Problems, Tested Solutions
by Neil Pike
Copyright 2000
Apress
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Find out more about this book, or purchase it, from Amazon.com |
Another name for this book could be the “Ultimate SQL Server FAQ.” In fact, if you have already seen Neil Pike’s SQL Server FAQ on the Internet (available on several different websites on the Internet, including http://www.mssqlserver.com/faq/), you already know the kind of rich information you will find packed into this book.
The book includes over 500 questions and answers for all versions of SQL Server 6.5, 7.0 and 2000. For the most part, the topics covered are commonly asked questions about SQL Server that were not adequately documented in the documentation provided by Microsoft. Neil Pike is a Microsoft MVP and has been compiling this FAQ since 1998, making it the most comprehensive SQL Server FAQ ever compiled.
Here are some of the major topics covered in this book:
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Application Design and Programming
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Connectivity
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DTS
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Installation and Upgrades
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Miscellaneous
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OLAP
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Security
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Server Administration and Tools
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Troubleshooting
As you can see, the book is not designed to cover every conceivable question and answer. That would be an almost impossible task. Instead, the books focuses on the types of questions commonly asked by DBAs and developers new to SQL Server.
While the topic of performance, and even clustering, does come up from time to time in the FAQ, there are no sections devoted to these ever important topics. (I guess you will have to find these at SQL-Server-Performance.Com–Editor). I would have liked to seen better coverage in these areas.
If you are new to SQL Server, this is a good book to find the answers to those questions you can’t find other places. And even if you are a SQL Server expert, you will find this book interesting, learning things about SQL Server you never new before. If fact, it is one of those books that’s fun just to skim, discovering some interesting topic as you flip through, and then you sit back to read about your new and interesting discovery. If you are a die-hard SQL Server fan, you will enjoy this book.
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