August 2008
Check out two SQL Server tools that help you find locking and blocking problems in your SQL Server instances, as well as records that have values in the foreign key column of your database tables that don't exist in the parent table.
June 2008
Use the four main interfaces provided by this free tool to see how SQL Server stores data.
May 2008
The SSMS Tools Pack provides features, such as a query logging tool, that enhance SQL Server Management Studio’s functionality.
March 2008
You can use this tool to quickly and easily test how a query will affect your system performance.
February 2008
This free tool can help you find SQL Server and MSDE installations that need to be secured.
November 2007
Reporting Services Scripter's three modes of operation let you run scripts that you've created, move scripts between folders and servers, and generate scripts for reports already in SSRS.
October 2007
SQL Nexus is a powerful front-end visualization tool for detecting, analyzing, and troubleshooting problems on SQL Server 2005.
September 2007
Microsoft makes available a variety of scripts that its own Database Operations team uses for automating maintenance jobs—and they're free.
August 2007
The Performance Dashboard Reports let you easily diagnose performance problems without incurring a lot of overhead.
July 2007
Overwhelmed by all the data from those server-side traces or SQL Server Profiler sessions? This free graphical summary tool can help you make sense of it all and improve your system performance.
June 2007
This free tool gathers data from the Windows OS and SQL Server configuration settings and points out potential problems. Here are some of the upgrades in the latest release.
April 2007
The SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services samples perform functions that aren’t otherwise available in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) or the SQL Server Business Intelligence Development Studio (BIDS). Here are several that you should add to your toolkit.
March 2007
SQLdiag, a native diagnostics-collection tool in SQL Server 2005, has some cool undocumented features.
March 2007
A reader question about the ascmd utility gets a response directly from Microsoft--and invites your input.
February 2007
With SQL Server 2005, it can be tough to create a stress test that actually stresses your system. Here’s a tool that can generate a load sufficient to overwork almost any system.
January 2007
Security guru Chip Andrews was frustrated by the need to repeatedly button up SQL Server 2000 security holes. To ensure a fast, effective way to reduce security risks, he created Lockdown.sql, a simple T-SQL script that no DBA should be without.
December 2006
This handy utility gives you the same kind of functionality that sqlcmd does—but for Analysis Services. Use it to perform such sticky tasks as automating the processing of partitions and dimensions from a third-party tool.
November 2006
A free Microsoft change-management and trending tool helps you head off potential performance problems and get the most out of your multi–SQL Server environment.
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