Microsoft Learning has just announced some major changes to the SQL MCM program.  The plan is to make it available to more SQL Professionals that were unable to take 3 weeks away from work, could not make the trip to Redmond, and/or did not have $18,500 for the expense of the course.

Candidates can now achieve SQL Master status by passing two exams; a four hour knowledge exam and a six hour lab exam (There is still the prerequisite certifications of MCITP: Database Administrator SQL Server 2008 and MCITP: Database Developer Sql Server 2008).  The exams should be available some time in early 2011 and are shown below with associated expense:

Exam 88-970: Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Microsoft Certofoed Master: Knowledge Exam $500/per attempt

Exam 88-971: Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Microsoft Certified Master: Lab Exam $2,000/per attempt

The MCM process was a great experience as it allowed me to meet a great set of people, get training from the best instructors in the SQL realm, provided confidence in my skillset, and has given rise to many new opportunities (jobs, speaking, papers, etc…)  Even though there are some changes to the program from when I attended the class these experiences are still available to the future MCMs.  Plus by obtaining the certification you will have just obtained Microsoft’s top technical certification for SQL Server and be in the top 1% of SQL professionals worldwide.

There are also many great benefits you get as an MCM; my peersonal favortite is the MCM mailing list which has all of the SQL MCMs, the instructors, and Microsoft internal resources that you can submit questions to when you run into a problem (as well as being able to answer other’s questions and provide assistance).

If nothing else check out the MCM Readiness Videos as they provide insight into the technical expertise you should have before attempting the MCM exams (as well as providing great technical tips and training).

Much appreciation and many thanks should go to Joseph Sack, Program Manager – Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, for all of his hard work and dedication to continue to grow the SQL MCM community and for opening the SQL MCM program up to so many great new candidates.

Links:

Joseph Sack MSDN Blog Entry

SQL Server Masters Certification Goes Global

New Path to Microsoft Certified Master: Microsoft SQL Server 2008

Data Sheet (Executive Summary)

SQL Server 2008 Microsoft Certified Master (MCM) Readiness Videos

Microsoft Learning has just announced some major changes to the SQL MCM program.  The plan is to make it available to more SQL Professionals that were unable to take 3 weeks away from work, could not make the trip to Redmond, and/or did not have $18,500 for the expense of the course.

Candidates can now achieve SQL Master status by passing two exams; a four hour knowledge exam and a six hour lab exam (There is still the prerequisite certifications of MCITP: Database Administrator SQL Server 2008 and MCITP: Database Developer Sql Server 2008).  The exams should be available some time in early 2011 and are shown below with associated expense:

Exam 88-970: Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Microsoft Certofoed Master: Knowledge Exam $500/per attempt

Exam 88-971: Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Microsoft Certified Master: Lab Exam $2,000/per attempt

The MCM process was a great experience as it allowed me to meet a great set of people, get training from the best instructors in the SQL realm, provided confidence in my skillset, and has given rise to many new opportunities (jobs, speaking, papers, etc…)  Even though there are some changes to the program from when I attended the class these experiences are still available to the future MCMs.  Plus by obtaining the certification you will have just obtained Microsoft’s top technical certification for SQL Server and be in the top 1% of SQL professionals worldwide.

There are also many great benefits you get as an MCM; my peersonal favortite is the MCM mailing list which has all of the SQL MCMs, the instructors, and Microsoft internal resources that you can submit questions to when you run into a problem (as well as being able to answer other’s questions and provide assistance).

If nothing else check out the MCM Readiness Videos as they provide insight into the technical expertise you should have before attempting the MCM exams (as well as providing great technical tips and training).

Much appreciation and many thanks should go to Joseph Sack, Program Manager – Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, for all of his hard work and dedication to continue to grow the SQL MCM community and for opening the SQL MCM program up to so many great new candidates.

Links:

Joseph Sack MSDN Blog Entry

SQL Server Masters Certification Goes Global

New Path to Microsoft Certified Master: Microsoft SQL Server 2008

Data Sheet (Executive Summary)

SQL Server 2008 Microsoft Certified Master (MCM) Readiness Videos

Microsoft has just announced that SQL Server “Denali” CTP1 is available for download at http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/en/us/product-info/future-editions.aspx.  Many great things here that I have been looking forward to especially the ‘SQL Server Always On’ which has availability groups and support for multiple secondaries.

“Denali” BOL: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms130214(SQL.110).aspx

Microsoft has just announced that SQL Server “Denali” CTP1 is available for download at http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/en/us/product-info/future-editions.aspx.  Many great things here that I have been looking forward to especially the ‘SQL Server Always On’ which has availability groups and support for multiple secondaries. “Denali” BOL: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms130214(SQL.110).aspx

As part of your analysis of any SQL Server infrastructure you take a good long look at the indexes within their databases.  You want to look for and create missing indexes, determine what indexes can be removed or consolidated, determine where to implement covering indexes and filtered indexes, and review overall health of the indexes.  As part of this final health check of the indexes you will want to review index fragmentation as depending upon how indexes are utilized and queries are written this can be a major bottleneck within your SQL infrastructure. 

I have been looking for a simple script that will return the index information for a specific database and will return the Index Name, Fragmentation Percentage, and the number of pages in the index.  Below is a script that will assist you with determining fragmentation of your indexes.  This is a mashup of the script by Deepak here: http://www.sql-articles.com/scripts/index-fragmentation-report and a script by Brent Ozar here: http://sqlserverpedia.com/wiki/Index_Maintenance.

SELECT  DB_NAME(ps.database_id) AS DBName,
        S.name AS Schemaname,
        OBJECT_NAME(ps.OBJECT_ID) AS Tablename,
        Index_Description = CASE WHEN ps.index_id = 1 THEN 'Clustered Index'
                                 WHEN ps.index_id <> 1
                                 THEN 'Non-Clustered Index'
                            END,
        b.name AS Indexname,
        ROUND(ps.avg_fragmentation_in_percent, 0, 1) AS 'Fragmentation%',
        SUM(page_count * 8) AS 'IndexSizeKB',
        ps.page_count
FROM    sys.dm_db_index_physical_stats(DB_ID(), NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL) AS ps
        INNER JOIN sys.indexes AS b ON ps.OBJECT_ID = b.OBJECT_ID
                                       AND ps.index_id = b.index_id
                                       AND b.index_id <> 0 -- heap not required
        INNER JOIN sys.objects AS O ON O.OBJECT_ID = b.OBJECT_ID
                                       AND O.TYPE = 'U'
                                       AND O.is_ms_shipped = 0 -- only user tables
        INNER JOIN sys.schemas AS S ON S.schema_Id = O.schema_id
WHERE   ps.database_id = DB_ID()
        AND ps.avg_fragmentation_in_percent > 30 -- Indexes having more than 30% fragmentation
GROUP BY DB_NAME(ps.database_id),
        S.name,
        OBJECT_NAME(ps.OBJECT_ID),
        CASE WHEN ps.index_id = 1 THEN 'Clustered Index'
             WHEN ps.index_id <> 1 THEN 'Non-Clustered Index'
        END,
        b.name,
        ROUND(ps.avg_fragmentation_in_percent, 0, 1),
        ps.avg_fragmentation_in_percent,
        ps.page_count
ORDER BY ps.avg_fragmentation_in_percent DESC
OPTION  ( MaxDop 1 ) ;


A great resource for more information on Indexes and fragmentation is:

Kimberly L. Tripp – SQLSkills Blog

As part of your analysis of any SQL Server infrastructure you take a good long look at the indexes within their databases.  You want to look for and create missing indexes, determine what indexes can be removed or consolidated, determine where to implement covering indexes and filtered indexes, and review overall health of the indexes.  As part of this final health check of the indexes you will want to review index fragmentation as depending upon how indexes are utilized and queries are written this can be a major bottleneck within your SQL infrastructure. 

I have been looking for a simple script that will return the index information for a specific database and will return the Index Name, Fragmentation Percentage, and the number of pages in the index.  Below is a script that will assist you with determining fragmentation of your indexes.  This is a mashup of the script by Deepak here: http://www.sql-articles.com/scripts/index-fragmentation-report and a script by Brent Ozar here: http://sqlserverpedia.com/wiki/Index_Maintenance.

SELECT  DB_NAME(ps.database_id) AS DBName,
        S.name AS Schemaname,
        OBJECT_NAME(ps.OBJECT_ID) AS Tablename,
        Index_Description = CASE WHEN ps.index_id = 1 THEN 'Clustered Index'
                                 WHEN ps.index_id <> 1
                                 THEN 'Non-Clustered Index'
                            END,
        b.name AS Indexname,
        ROUND(ps.avg_fragmentation_in_percent, 0, 1) AS 'Fragmentation%',
        SUM(page_count * 8) AS 'IndexSizeKB',
        ps.page_count
FROM    sys.dm_db_index_physical_stats(DB_ID(), NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL) AS ps
        INNER JOIN sys.indexes AS b ON ps.OBJECT_ID = b.OBJECT_ID
                                       AND ps.index_id = b.index_id
                                       AND b.index_id <> 0 -- heap not required
        INNER JOIN sys.objects AS O ON O.OBJECT_ID = b.OBJECT_ID
                                       AND O.TYPE = 'U'
                                       AND O.is_ms_shipped = 0 -- only user tables
        INNER JOIN sys.schemas AS S ON S.schema_Id = O.schema_id
WHERE   ps.database_id = DB_ID()
        AND ps.avg_fragmentation_in_percent > 30 -- Indexes having more than 30% fragmentation
GROUP BY DB_NAME(ps.database_id),
        S.name,
        OBJECT_NAME(ps.OBJECT_ID),
        CASE WHEN ps.index_id = 1 THEN 'Clustered Index'
             WHEN ps.index_id <> 1 THEN 'Non-Clustered Index'
        END,
        b.name,
        ROUND(ps.avg_fragmentation_in_percent, 0, 1),
        ps.avg_fragmentation_in_percent,
        ps.page_count
ORDER BY ps.avg_fragmentation_in_percent DESC
OPTION  ( MaxDop 1 ) ;


A great resource for more information on Indexes and fragmentation is:

Kimberly L. Tripp – SQLSkills Blog

Just received the confirmation email from Joe Sack, Acting Program Manager Microsoft Certified Master – SQL Server, that I passed the lab exam and am now a Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server 2008.  A link to the blog post on “The Master Blog” is here: http://blogs.technet.com/b/themasterblog/archive/2010/07/31/breadth-and-depth-say-hello-to-randall-neth.aspx

Just received the confirmation email from Joe Sack, Acting Program Manager Microsoft Certified Master – SQL Server, that I passed the lab exam and am now a Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server 2008.  A link to the blog post on “The Master Blog” is here: http://blogs.technet.com/b/themasterblog/archive/2010/07/31/breadth-and-depth-say-hello-to-randall-neth.aspx

I was sitting at home and thinking about some of the different features of SQL 2008 and their interoperability.  Thus I wanted to verify the compatability of SPARSE COLUMNS and Transparent Data Encryption (TDE).  SPARSE columns shows great gains for NULL values and TDE allows you to encrypt your database; I wanted to verify just as with . . . → Read More: SQL 2008 SPARSE COLUMNS and TDE