Importance of Database Uptime

For many businesses, logging, warehousing and processing information about transactions is the lifeline of their corporate strategy and crucial to their profitability. Important records detailing a company’s user history, product inventory and shipment tracking, supplier information, configuration settings, or any other necessary collections of information are most often stored in and retrieved from databases. Databases provide a convenient means of storing vast amounts of information, allowing the information to be sorted, searched, viewed, and manipulated according to the business needs and goals. Many companies rely so heavily on the functions of databases that their daily business operations can not be executed if databases are unavailable, making database management and maintenance a vital component of their business models.

The significance of database up time and hazard of downtime can best be illustrated with a hypothetical example. Suppose ABC Company is a subscription based web application that provides a variety of on demand services to its subscribers. Every piece of data that ABC Company uses to provide its subscription services is stored in one or more massive databases, and fulfilling user requirements relies on the website’s ability to access, format and deliver database information almost instantly. However, if that database is undergoing maintenance, queries cannot access the required information that is needed to create a deliverable, thus depriving the user of the services for which he or she is paying. On a large scale, database downtime can result in lost clients and sales, and thus damage to the profitability and success of the business. Hence, efficient database management capabilities are crucial to the mere existence of many businesses.

The need for database maintenance is unavoidable, so enterprise data availability software solutions have been created to help businesses reduce downtime from hours or days to mere minutes or even seconds. Effective database management applications can reduce or eliminate downtime that renders a database unavailable, giving business owners and developers a flexible and powerful tool to protect the performance of their valuable business operations.

Companies which provide enterprise data availability software and services help businesses manage their databases by offering services such as backup and recovery, automation of maintenance tasks, and fine tuning performance efficiency, among others. With an assessment of current database maintenance practices, enterprise data availability companies can recommend the appropriate system to implement that can solve the database management shortfalls of most organizations, playing a valuable role in the protection and longevity of their clients.
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What is Etl & Datawarehouse?

You probably heard about datawarehouses & analysis tools in the past in database related discussions or in job meetings.
The fact is that everyday more and more companies are starting to think (and build) data warehouses or other data analysis and statistical tools.
It is no more a large-companies-only matter; today with the right knowledge and expertise (or a little education) small companies can also make analysis and get valuable information to boost sales or revenues.

So what is a datawarehouse?

In simple words, a Datawarehouse is a common repository (a database, for simplicity) of information about a company’s activities and operations.
This means, all your company’s transactions such as sales, payments or acquisitions end up in the data warehouse.
This “database” is a technical product or platform that allows us to “ask” real life business questions such as “which branch sold more products this month?” or “who is my top performing salesman?”
You may be thinking “I currently HAVE a database which records sales/transactions/movements of my company everyday”.
Yes, of course you have one of those. But that is a transactional database. This means that this database is heavily used everyday to store our company’s operations, and because of this we cannot use it for analysis.
Also, this database holds data, not information.
A typical example for a record would be “Qty:1 Product_code: Shoes A Code_Branch: South …”. This is not meaningful for a report containing information, not only raw data that can not answer complex business questions which would allow us to make a manager decision.
These and a few other points are the key reasons to build a datawarehouse to do analysis.

So how I move or copy the data from my everyday transactional database to my datawarehouse?

Here is where ETL comes to play.
ETL is the process for Extracting, Transforming and Loading data from one database to another.
There are several ways for doing this, from coding your own processes to the more often used way of implementing ETL tools.
These ETL tools can do the job very well, and if chosen wisely can save you a lot of coding efforts and money, since you can graphically build processes and in most cases without knowing how to program for databases.

There are a lot of ETL tools in the market right now. As and advice, I suggest you to invest some research time (and testing if possible) before choosing the one that suits your company’s needs.
They can range from open source free tools to high price commercial tools. Neither of them is perfect in every situation, and you will have to take into account your data volumes, the analysis and answers you want from your datawarehouse, and the periodicity needed of those answers, among other aspects.

More info: http://www.etlreviews.com
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Book Review: Beginning Sql Server 2005 Programming

SQL Books dont get better than this for ASP.NET companies such as ourselves!

As our company expands, I needed a good reference for old and new developers alike. This book ensures it can handle experienced programmers and at the same time appeal to first timers aswell.

As you may know, one of my main gripes from new staff is the lack of training colleges and universities give. SQL is a prime example of this. Say T-Enterprise employ 3 graduates, I can gurantee two of them would not even know how to login to an SQL server never mind building complex ASP.NET applications using it!

Couple in the fact that we do not have the time to train staff in the most basic of operations and then this book is a godsend!

No IT firm should be without this!

On a lighter note - the author, Robert Viera, is extremely casual in his teachings however most of all, his smug face on the cover gives the impression that you are learning from the best!

Book Description
* After a quick primer on database design basics and the SQL query language (for those programmers who may be building their first database application), this book provides an overview of SQL Server itself, which has been dramatically redesigned with the 2005 release
* Once readers have grasped the fundamentals of database design and SQL concepts, they will then learn how to implement those concepts with Microsoft SQL Server 2005
* Addresses creating and changing tables, managing keys, database normalization, writing scripts, working with stored procedures, programming with XML, and using SQL Server reporting and data transformation services
* The companion Web site provides all of the code found in the book

Synopsis
After a quick primer on database design basics and the SQL query language (for those programmers who may be building their first database application), this book provides an overview of SQL Server itself, which has been dramatically redesigned with the 2005 release. Once readers have grasped the fundamentals of database design and SQL concepts, they will then learn how to implement those concepts with Microsoft SQL Server 2005. Addresses creating and changing tables, managing keys, database normalization, writing scripts, working with stored procedures, programming with XML, and using SQL Server reporting and data transformation services. The companion Web site provides all of the code found in the book.
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Communicate your Database's Capabilities More Effectively With Ms Visio

If you own a company, then you no doubt can appreciate that keeping your databases current and fully functional are key to keeping your business up and running at full steam. That record of data or records comes in handy for your sales department, and any number of different divisions that work together to keep your company running at optimal levels. When it comes time to prepare documents, presentations or reports that describe all of the wonderful functions that your databases perform, you will want to incorporate Visio database diagrams to make all of your business documents easier to understand and more visually exciting to read.

When you have several people working together as a team on a project that involves various databases, it makes sense to communicate the information that the databases provide effectively, so that the group can work together efficiently. Microsoft visio can help with this important task. For your database to be completely useful, you will need to be able to not only manage it but also to have the capability to ask questions and set up scenarios using the data from the database. Visio network files can help you picture how all of those different processes function, in an easy-to-understand visual manner. Flow and work charts, graphs and other diagrams can be created on a visio template page that utilizes Visio shapes to create the images that best describe your database's functions.

If you are responsible for training new employees that will be working with your company's databases, you need a quick and easy way to let them know about each database's function and how they connect and relate to each other. Visio diagrams can make that happen, and easier than you might have thought possible. With pre-installed templates, you can create diagrams on your own. If you require quite detailed pictures to describe your databases' functions, customization of Visio can make that possible. Visio developers can consult with you to determine your specific business's needs, and then create the shapes that will make your descriptions of your databases specific, and therefore more useful.

You can also utilize Visio in conjunction with other Office software that you rely upon, such as Excel, and convert the data in your Excel spreadsheet into a visual representation of that information through the connectivity of Visio. These diagrams can also be used in an analytic fashion, to help you notice trends and take timely action based on those trends that can improve the usefulness of your databases. You can also update your diagrams as you have new information to import, and this can help you keep track of your databases' quality and integrity, both crucial factors upon which your databases' depend.
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Useful Tools for Btrieve, Pervasive.sql, and Other Sql Server

Now you can find the useful and inexpensive software working with Btrieve, Pervasive SQL, mySQL, Firebird SQL and more. Next popular and inexpensive system working on the platforms NetWare, Windows, DOS.

Database Manager for Pervasive SQL Version 2.1 will allow to get a full supervision on your database Pervasive SQL. Easy way to operate a database using SQL Script. MDI interface, management of all objects of a database - tables, views, procedures, relations, triggers and users . The Wizard of Export and Import will transfer your, given,in other applications through ODBC.

New ! Now you can change the dictionary DDF dynamically. It is free ! Download library here . Want custom-made library? Inform about it.

Also today subsequent programs are offered to your attention :

Btrieve Grid Control - will allow quickly to create the programs which will edit the data in files Btrieve.You can edit your files in a grid or form, search data etc.The version is accessible for uses in VC and VB.

DDF Editor for Btrieve - Allows to create dictionaries of the description of datas, create, view, edit, export and import Btrieve files. Version 2.0 supports all types of the data Pervasive SQL . Also DDF Editor support Btrieve 6.15 for Windows, NetWare and previous versions for NetWare. If you have only server NetWare, this program will work. As additional bonus you get API (Visual C++) for the access from 32-bit application to 16-bit client Btrieve.

Database Manager - will allow to get a full supervision, management and administration on your database Pervasive SQL. You will easy control users, groups by privileges on tables and column, create and edit procedures and triggers, create and edit your tables and view , import and export datas and descriptions from any source ODBC. You may execute SQL scripts. Database Manager not limited use by Pervasive SQL. Many possibility of this program applicable to any ODBC Source.

The program BtrOle - Server OLE Automation, will make sure immediate access to data Btrieve from Excel, Visual Basic.

Unix Client for Btrieve - Will set aside to have rapid access to Btrieve from any Unix systems. User manager allow access only to the chosen users and hosts.

Read more about it

http://www.cuvashi.com/business/database/
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