MSDN: A Primer to Proper SQL Server Development by Kimberly L. Tripp guru of SQL Server

Part 1: Creating a Recoverable Database (Level 200)

Length: 110 minutes. Instructor: Kimberly L. Tripp. Accompanying blog post: here.

This ten-part series guides you through the proper development of a Microsoft SQL Server project, using recommended techniques and best practices. This first webcast begins with database creation. In most cases, you know best what you are going to store and roughly how much information you plan to track. If you know your data, tell Microsoft SQL Server about it through capacity planning. Learn how to build your database upon a solid foundation by pre-allocating space and properly placing data and log files on the appropriate drive types. We conclude with a look at various recovery models, and then continue in part two with an in-depth discussion of backup strategies.

Þ Part 2: Creating a Reliable and Automated Backup Strategy (Level 200)

Length: 116 minutes. Instructor: Kimberly L. Tripp. Accompanying blog post: here.

Once your database structure is in place, there is no better time for you to make a backup. This webcast covers creating and implementing database and log backups in Microsoft SQL Server 2005, including the testing and automating of your backup strategy. The earlier you start planning your backup strategy, even with an empty shell, the more refined it will be by the time you deploy it into production. Planning your backups from the beginning can be very helpful in recovering your development work in the event of a disaster. A well-planned, automated backup strategy can also help to keep the transaction log small and more manageable. In part three, we continue with a look at proper table design.

Þ Part 3: Best Practices in Data Types and Initial Table Structures (Level 200)

Length: 119 minutes. Instructor: Kimberly L. Tripp. Accompanying blog post: here.

The table itself is so easy to create - just name your columns, state their type and insert the data. Although it seems simple, table design merits careful consideration. In this third webcast of our series on Microsoft SQL Server 2005 development, you learn how to select and implement design strategies. In this session, we look at which data types and table structures are best suited to the needs of particular applications. Once you begin to code to your design, base structures become harder to change. Understanding best practices in table design will help you improve design time and minimize the need for changes later. We continue in part four with a discussion of proper indexing techniques.

Þ Part 4: Best Practices in Indexing (Level 200)

Length: 118 minutes. Instructor: Kimberly L. Tripp. Accompanying blog post: here and here.

In the previous webcast, we showed you how to design tables to suit the needs of your Microsoft SQL Server 2005 application. Once you have created your tables, there are many known factors related to usage and access patterns that you must address. Part four of our series covers indexing techniques and best practices that can further optimize queries and improve the speed of data access in your application. We look at heap structure and the use of clustered and non-clustered indexes. We also show you how to tune queries and workloads using the Microsoft SQL Server Database Tuning Advisor built into Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio. Part five continues the discussion with a look at index maintenance.

Þ Part 5: New Features in Indexing and Index Maintenance Best Practices (Level 200)

Length: 117 minutes. Instructor: Kimberly L. Tripp. Accompanying blog post: here.

Now that you have learned how to create optimized indexes in our previous webcast, it is important to know how to maintain your indexes in production. An unmanaged index can become fragmented over time and is likely to degrade in performance, which can directly affect your application's performance. In part five of this series on Microsoft SQL Server 2005 development techniques, you learn appropriate strategies for monitoring fragmentation, monitoring index usage and maintaining indexes for better performance. The next webcast builds on these concepts with a look at ways to handle different types of data analysis.

Þ Part 6: Mixed Workloads, Secondary Databases Wait States Locking and Isolation (Level 200)

Length: 104 minutes. Instructor: Kimberly L. Tripp. Accompanying blog post: here.

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 makes it possible to use snapshot isolation to accomplish everything within a single database, but this is not always your ideal choice. In Part 6 of our series on proper SQL Server development, we examine the variety of ways that are available in SQL Server 2005 to handle data analysis, and we discuss the benefits and drawbacks of each method. This session will help you get a feel for the right circumstances for using each approach in your application. Part seven continues the discussion with a look at plan caching and stored procedure optimization techniques.

Þ Part 7: Understanding Plan Caching and Optimizing Procedure Performance (Level 200)

Length: 117 minutes. Instructor: Kimberly L. Tripp.

This seventh webcast in our series on Microsoft SQL Server development focuses on ways you can optimize your stored procedures and how to make the most of the resources you have available. What happens when you execute a statement? If a plan is used, how long does it stay in cache? Can you control caching. or the length of time a plan is kept in cache, or even what plan is placed in cache? We compare and contrast dynamic string execution, sp_executesql, and stored procedures, and examine how each approach uses, and sometimes reuses the cache. Part eight builds on these ideas with a look at data loading and aging strategies.

Þ Part 8: Data Loading and Aging Strategies (Level 200)

Length: 117 minutes. Instructor: Kimberly L. Tripp.

This first webcast of the SQL Server 2005 for the IT Professional series presents the new features designed to help improve administration, management, and operations. This webcast provides an overview of new features, how they fit together, and best practices for each. Building a robust, recoverable, and reliable system requires knowledge, best practices, and finding the right tool for the job. Join this series to learn how to build the foundation for success.

Þ Part 9: Profiling for Better Performance (Level 200)

Length: 105 minutes. Instructor: Kimberly L. Tripp.

Now that your database is in production, is it actually doing what you thought it would? This webcast, part nine in our series on proper Microsoft SQL Server 2005 development, focuses on the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Profiler and its capabilities. The SQL Server Profiler allows you to audit and analyze virtually all of the events that occur during the period of time you specify. It records all activity in SQL Server, and can send its output to a file, a table, or to the display window. We examine both the server-side trace facility component as well as the client Profiler interface.

Þ Part 10: Most Common Roadblocks to Scalability and Reliability (Level 200)

Length: 112 minutes. Instructor: Kimberly L. Tripp. Accompanying blog post: here.

This is the final webcast in our ten-part series on proper Microsoft SQL Server 2005 development techniques. We conclude with a look at the ten most common roadblocks to scalability and reliability, and how to overcome them.