SQLCAT.Com - eBook Downloads

As of September 1, 2013 we decided to remove SQLCAT.COM site and use MSDN as the primary vehicle to post new SQL Server content. This was done to minimize reader confusion and to streamline content publication. MSDN SQLCAT blogs already includes most SQLCAT.COM Content and will continue to be updated with more SQLCAT learnings. You can also find a collection of our work in SQLCAT Guidance eBooks.

To make the transition to MSDN smoother, we are in the process of reposting a few of SQLCAT.COM’s blogs that are still being very actively viewed . We have also generated a collection of ebooks including all the technical notes oringally posted on SQLCAT.Com.

You can find these books here:

SQLCAT's Guide to BI and Analytics

SQLCAT's Guide to High Availability and Disaster Recovery

SQLCAT's Guide to Relational Engine

Below you can find a list of the articles included in each of these ebooks.

Also, Follow us on Twitter as we normally use our Twitter handles @SQLCAT and @WinAzureCAT to announce news and new content.

SQLCAT's Guide to BI and Analytics

Section 1: Administration 

Running Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services on Windows Server 2008 vs. Windows Server 2003 and Memory Preallocation: Lessons Learned 4
Scripts for Stress Testing Analysis Services using ASCMD 11
A Solution for Collecting Analysis Services Performance Data From Many Sources For Performance Analysis 12
Compress Many-to-Many C# Utility 13
Create a Processing Log Script Project 14
Powershell Scripts for SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services DMVs 15
Sample Robocopy Script to customer synchronize Analysis Services databases 16

Section 2: Analysis Services Performance 20

Analysis Services Synchronization Best Practices 21
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services Consolidation Best Practices 26
Analysis Services Distinct Count Optimization Using Solid State Devices 43
Excel, Cube Formulas, Analysis Services, Performance, Network Latency, and Connection Strings 55
Reintroducing Usage-Based Optimization in SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services 63

Sections 3: Analysis Services Scaleout 70

Analysis Services Load Balancing Solution 71
SSAS Monitoring Scripts For Management Data Warehouse 72
ASLB Toolkit 73

Section 4: Real World Scenarios 75

Edgenet Realizes the Power of Dynamic IT and Self-Service BI 76

Section 5: Reporting Services 83

Reporting Services Scale-Out Deployment Best Practices 85
Report Server Catalog Best Practices 94
Reporting Services Performance Optimizations 100
Reporting Services Scale-Out Architecture 108
SQL Server Reporting Services Disaster Recovery Case Study 114
Scaling Up Reporting Services 2008 vs. Reporting Services 2005: Lessons Learned 123
Reporting Services Performance in SharePoint Integrated Mode in SQL Server 2008 R2 137
Deploying a Business Intelligence Solution Using SharePoint 2007, SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services, and PerformancePoint Monitoring Server 2007 with Kerberos 147

Section 6: SQL Server Integration Services 157

Increasing Throughput of Pipelines by Splitting Synchronous Transformations into Multiple Tasks 158
Moving Large Amounts of Data Between Oracle and SQL Server: Findings and Observations 164
SSIS Package For Collecting SSAS DMV Data 168
The “Balanced Data Distributor” for SSIS 169

Section 7: SQL Top 10 172

Top 10 Performance and Productivity Reasons to Use SQL Server 2008 for Your Business Intelligence Solutions 173
Top 10 SQL Server Integration Services Best Practices 185
Analysis Services Query Performance Top 10 Best Practices 195

SQLCAT's Guide to High Availability and Disaster Recovery

Section 1: SQL Server Failover Cluster 2

Impact of Adding a Node to a Windows Cluster on the Possible Owners property of existing SQL Server Failover Cluster Instances 3
Six Failover Clustering Benefits Realized from Migrating to SQL Server 2008 9

Section 2: SQL Server Always On 12

DO NOT use Windows Failover Cluster Manager to perform Availability Group Failover 13
Comparing I/O characteristics in AlwaysOn Availability Groups and Database Mirroring 19

Section 3: SQL Server Mirroring 23

Mirroring a Large Number of Databases in a Single SQL Server Instance 24
Asynchronous Database Mirroring with Log Compression in SQL Server 2008 29

SQLCAT's Guide to Relational Engine

Section 1: Administration 3

DBCC Checks and Terabyte-Scale Databases 4
Scheduling Sub-Minute Log Shipping in SQL Server 2008 10
Tuning Backup Compression Part 2 13
Restart SQL Audit Policy and Job 23
SQL DMVStats Toolkit 24

Section 2: Database Design 25

SQL Server Partition Management Tool 26
Character data types versus number data types: are there any performance benefits? 27
The Many Benefits of Money…Data Type! 36
How many files should a database have? - Part 1: OLAP workloads 41

Section 3: Fast-track 45

Lessons Learned and Findings from a Large Fast-Track POC 46

Section 4: Performance 67

Top Tips for Maximizing the Performance & Scalability of Dynamics AX 2009 systems on SQL Server 2008 68
Top SQL Server 2005 Performance Issues for OLTP Applications 78
Table-Valued Functions and tempdb Contention 80
Resolving PAGELATCH Contention on Highly Concurrent INSERT Workloads 95
SQL Server Indexing: Using a Low-Selectivity BIT Column First Can Be the Best Strategy 99
Tuning the Performance of Backup Compression in SQL Server 2008 115
Maximizing Throughput with TVPs 129
Bulk Loading Data into a Table with Concurrent Queries 135

Section 5: Real World Scenarios 140

Lessons Learned from Benchmarking a Tier 1 Core Banking ISV Solution - Temenos T24 141

Section 6: Replication 149

Initializing a Transactional Replication Subscriber from an Array-Based Snapshot 150
Upgrading Replication from SQL Server 2000 32-Bit to SQL Server 2008 64-Bit without re-initialization 161

Section 7: Service Broker 162

SQL Server Service Broker: Maintaining Identity Uniqueness Across Database Copies 163

Section 8: Troubleshooting 166

Diagnosing Transaction Log Performance Issues and Limits of the Log Manager 167
Eliminating Deadlocks Caused By Foreign Keys with Large Transactions 174
Resolving scheduler contention for concurrent BULK INSERT 181
Response Time Analysis using Extended Events 185
Memory Error Recovery in SQL Server 2012 186

Section 9: SQL Top 10 189

Top 10 Hidden Gems in SQL 2008 R2 190
Top 10 SQL Server 2008 Features for the Database Administrator (DBA) 192
Top 10 SQL Server 2008 Features for ISV Applications 204
Top 10 Hidden Gems in SQL Server 2005 213
Top 10 Best Practices for Building a Large Scale Relational Data Warehouse 221
Storage Top 10 Best Practices 225
Top 10 Best Practices for SQL Server Maintenance for SAP 228