The Handbook for Reluctant Database Administrators

The Handbook for Reluctant Database Administrators is designed to provide a good grasp of what is required for a programmer to design, build, secure, and maintain a database and is written from the point of view of someone who has crossed over from programming to database administration. It covers the core topics of database design, backups and recovery, indexing, stored procedures, user defined functions, SQL Server error handling as compared to VB error handling, triggers, database security, XML in SQL Server, Data Transformation Services, a special introduction to Performance Tuning, and an overview of how Microsoft’s .NET strategy will affect SQL Server.

In addition to the programmer view, Database Administrator veteran Francis Stanisci adds commentary throughout the book, offering additional insight from his years as a database administrator.

Contents

Chapter 1: Where Did Databases Come From?
Chapter 2: How Do I Install SQL Server?
Chapter 3: How Do I Visually Manage Objects?
Chapter 4: How Do I Back Up and Restore My Data?
Chapter 5: How Do I Define and Structure a Database?
Chapter 6: What Is a View?
Chapter 7: The Power of Indexing
Chapter 8: Introduction to Query Analyzer
Chapter 9: Working with Data: Basic Stored Procedures
Chapter 10: Working with Data: Beyond the Basics
Chapter 11: How Do I Secure My Data?
Chapter 12: How Can SQL Server Agent Make Life Easier?
Chapter 13: If SQL Server 2000 Is a .NET Server, Where’s the XML?
Chapter 14: What Are the Data Transformation Services (DTS)?
Chapter 15: Should I Bother to Learn SQL Profiler?
Chapter 16: What Are System Monitor and Performance Monitor?
Chapter 17 What a Reluctant DBA Needs to Know about .NET
Last Words: Does Reading This Book Make Me a DBA?
Appendix A How Do I Load the Examples?
Appendix B How Can I Find Information More Efficiently?
Appendix C Recommended for the Bookshelf
Appendix D Bulk Copy Program
Glossary