This book is written for SQL Server developers, DBAs, database managers, systems engineers, and business analysts. It does briefly cover the basics of SQL Server in Part IV, where SQL Server 2000 is compared with Oracle 9i, but throughout the book it is assumed that you have some familiarity with database concepts and SQL Server (any version).
When I began writing this book, I had these goals in mind:
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Cover the new feature sets of SQL Server 2000 and its enhancements over SQL Server 7.0.
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Give a checklist of common errors made with SQL Server and point out how to rectify them to make sure that installs and servers are functioning correctly.
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Provide sample code wherever possible to illustrate the feature sets and emphasize the points.
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Avoid excessive screenshots and other fillers often used in computer books.
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Provide tips (on SQL Server code, settings, and hardware) for improving the performance of SQL Server applications.
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Provide SQL Server developers and DBAs with scripts and utilities that ease their day-to-day administration jobs.
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Provide a consolidated list comparing features of Oracle 9i and SQL Server 2000 and provide examples of what users should look out for when they start converting their Oracle database to SQL Server.
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Provide information about SQL Server.NET and how SQL Server 2000 fits into the .NET environment.
You, the readers, will have to judge for yourselves whether I have met these goals have been met or not. Regardless of the degree of success, my hope is that at least the effort that went into writing this book will be evident.
At times where I had to illustrate the command parameters (as for the Index Tuning Wizard—itwiz.exe) and describe what the command line parameters are, it may seem like a rehash of SQL Server Books Online (BOL). This is because the commands are exactly the same, and there can be no better description than BOL for what those command line parameters stand for. They are included only if necessary to illustrate a particular command functionality. All credit for these descriptions of command parameters goes to the BOL team at Microsoft.
