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It’s Data Tier Application and Data Application Component
OK – In SQL Server 2008 R2 we did “re-use” an acronym or two (DAC and DTA), but it’s important to remember there are actually two parts to this new feature. One is the Data Application Component (DAC)...
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Know Your Product Specifications
As the Data Professional in your organization, the rest of the org looks to you to ensure that the system can handle what the business requires. To do that, you need to know two things: what the...
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The Database Design Process
I need your help. I know how I create databases, and I’ve watched a lot of other data professionals follow their own processes for that, but I want to know how YOU do it. I’ve written about the process...
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Tools and Processes for “Fitting it all in”
Most data professionals I’ve met work in two modes: we plan for our day, and we react to the situations around us. I’m staring at my list of things that I need to do today right now, which is my...
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Code that Writes Code - A Good Idea or Not?
I’m a big fan of code that writes code – most of the time. For instance, whenever you use the “templates” feature in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) or the Maintenance Wizard, you’re using code...
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Lessons from Volunteering
Saturday I volunteered at a work-day at our church. Our building is one of the first buildings built in this area of Washington, so it’s a beautiful old structure, which of course means there’s lots of...
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It’s OK to take a Shortcut Sometimes
I was working this weekend with a fairly simple Excel spreadsheet, and I had to decompose one cell in it out to three columns in a SQL Server table. There are tools within SQL Server Integration...
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Using linked servers, OPENROWSET and OPENQUERY
SQL Server has a few mechanisms to reach out to another server (even another server type) and query data from within a Transact-SQL statement. Among them are a set of stored credentials and information...
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PowerShell PowerPack Download
I read Jeffery Hicks’ article in this month’s Redmond Magazine on a new add-in for Windows PowerShell 2.0. It’s called the PowerShell Pack and it has a some great new features that I plan to put into...
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Agile isn’t always Agile
I want to make a disclaimer before I dive into this topic – At Microsoft we use all kinds of development methodologies, and I’ve worked in lots of other shops using lots of methodologies. This is one...
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Performance-Driven Development
I was reading a blog yesterday about the evils of SELECT *. The author pointed out that it's almost always a bad idea to use SELECT * for a query, but in the case of SQL Azure (or any cloud database,...
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The Top-Five Most Valuable Development Team Positions
In many organizations, there’s a push to save cost. “Cost” is an integral part of a profit-and-loss statement in the organization. Even if you work in a non-profit organization, cost control is...
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SQL Azure Use Case: Web-based Applications
This is one in a series of posts on when and where to use a distributed architecture design in your organization's computing needs. You can find the main post here:...
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Cloud Computing and the Importance of Code Diagrams
Most mature development shops use various code diagrams to give a symbolic representation of high-level and database code structures. Standards such as Business Process Model Notation (BPMN), Entity...
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Plan for Diagnostics in Cloud Computing From the Git-Go
“Git-Go” is something we say in the South that means “right at the start”. I’ve seen several applications for on-premise systems that don’t have much in the way of diagnostics - the developers rely on...
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Rip and Replace or Extend and Embrace?
As most of you know, I don’t like the term “cloud” verymuch. It isn’t defined, which means it can be anything. I prefer “distributedcomputing”, which is more technically accurate and describes what...
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Creating a Distributed Computing System Using a Windows Azure Queue
The Windows Azure Queue component, like all Windows Azure components (Roles, Storage, App Fabric, SQL Azure) can be used by itself or with other Windows Azure components. That’s why I refer to Windows...
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Developing a Cost Model for Cloud Applications
Note - please pay attention to the date of this post. As much as I attempt to make the information below accurate, the nature of distributed computing means that components, units and pricing will...
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Team Foundation Server (TFS) in the Cloud - My Experience So Far
I recently joined a software development project that involves not only myself and other internal Microsoft employees, but a partner and a customer as well. We are building a hybrid solution that uses...
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Application Lifecycle Management Overview for Windows Azure
Developing in Windows Azure is at once not that much different from what you’re familiar with in on-premises systems, and different in significant ways. Because of these differences, developers often...
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