Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Unleashed [With CDROM]

by Alex T. Silverstein, Paul Bertucci, Tudor Trufinescu, et al.

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Unleashed covers all of the important topics for system and database administrators to help them learn new features of SQL Server 2005 and to solve problems they face on a daily basis. It shows them how to build upon their working knowledge of the current version of the database and then upgrade their experience and knowledge to be consistent with version 2005.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0672328240
• ISBN13: 9780672328244
• Release Date: December 2006
• Publisher: Sams Publishing
• Length: 1985 Pages
• Weight: 5.37 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.5" x 7.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

The most comprehensive SQL 2005 book in the market

This book covers most aspects of SQL 2005. Some topics are only covered at a perfunctory level (Business Intelligence, SSIS, T-SQL etc). But many of the topics, especially archtectural ones, are covered with high level of expertise. If you need to buy one book that covers most aspects of SQL 2005 then this should be the one. It is better and more comprehensive than "SQL 2000 Unleashed", which was also an excellent book. Here are the topics the book covers especially well: 1)SQL 2005 Install and upgrade 2)Replication 3)Data Mirroring and other high availability solutions. 4)Index and Statistics. 5)Locking and Deadlocks. There are better books out there for each of individual the topics of SQL 2005. But there are no book I know of which covers them as comprehensively at a high level as this book.

Excellent Low-level Detail for Experienced Programmers/DBAs

After reading Microsoft's books about their own products, this book is a knight in shining armor. It dives into the nitty-gritty details and actual gives useful information, instead of regurgitating sparse on-line documentation.

Excellent book for a DBA

I read many books on SQL Server, and I would say this book is the best, by far. It is the most comprehensive book on SQL server 2005 for a DBA. It is also well written. The authors provide the most essential information in a logical sequence. It is a long read, but it is not filled with useless technical jargon like some other large technical books. The information contained in it is quite useful. The authors said they tried to edit it down where they could without sacrificing clarity. Although you do not need to be an expert to read it, you should have some experience relevant to RDMS to get the most out of this book.

Still the best SQL Server book ever

I have owned the previous two versions of this book, for SQL 7 and for SQL 2000. I waited almost two years (seems like it..) for these folks to finally get the SQL 2005 edition out, and it's as good as the others. Randomly opening the book, I could not only start on any page, but I learned something immediately. The writing is incredibly clear and straightforward without being simple, and while large portions of this edition are probably redundant with previous editions, no other book on SQL Server spends more time open on my desk than "Unleashed". One of my favorite technical books, period.

All DBA should have this on their book shelf - Review of Database Administrator SQLAuthority.com

SQLAuthority.com Book Review : Microsoft(R) SQL Server 2005 Unleashed (Paperback) by Ray Rankins, Paul Bertucci, Chris Gallelli, Alex T. Silverstein Short Review : SQL Server 2005 Unleashed is focused on Database Administration and day-to-day administrative management aspects of SQL Server. All the chapters of this book are heavily based on Book On-line (BOL) and it continue discussing the topics, where BOL leaves off. This makes this book a good reference for those who are looking for additional information, tricks & tips, and behind the scene details. I recommend this book as a wonderful read and hands-on guide for quick reference for Database Administrators. Detail Review : Every database book is either for Database Administrators or Database Developers/Architecture. This book covers many details about Database Administration in depth, however there is enough information for Database Developer to satisfy their expectation. This book is more than just a syntax reference, as it continues the topic where Book On-line leaves off. This book provides a behind-the-scenes look into SQL Server, this is very important for experienced DBA. Many DBA does the same job everyday to maintain the SQL Server in optimal condition, there are many task which can be automated to save time and make Database Administration easier. The book covers various methods automatic the routine task of database backup, recovery, database maintenance tasks etc. There are few new features introduced in SQL Server 2005. This book successfully covers almost all of them. I have been using SQL Server 2005 for almost two years and SQL Server for more than 5 years, I found this book interesting and informative.The chapter about SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) (replacement of SQL Server 2000 Query Analyzer, Enterprise Manager and Analysis Manager) is quite accurate for those who wants to learn from beginning and it is must read. This book provides very good introduction to SQL Server Business Intelligence (BI) features - Analysis Services, Integration Services, Reporting Services. Backup are most vital responsibility of DBA, which is in depth covered in this book. Managing maintenance plans, backup strategies, backup methods, snapshot backup (new 2005 feature), Mirrored database for backup are highly relevant to backup process. Authors have done good job keeping each chapter independent. I find it always easy to read when I do not have to jump pages in book to refer the examples of other chapters. Each chapter contains lots of figures about topic which authors are discussing. Occasionally, I felt that I am reading the BOL documentation due to nature of few of the topics. As per my opinion, it is unavoidable to stay away from BOL when writing about SQL Server. Authors have done their best to avoid duplication of the code and have pointed few times to BOL to refer advanced syntax, while they continued discussing about additional information and tricks extending BOL. Lots of fi