Getting Started with SQL Server 2014 Administration: Optimize your database server to be fast, efficient, and highly secure using the brand new features of SQL Server 2014

The attractive thing about this publication is that it contains a lot of useful and relevant information in just little over 100 pages.For many of us DBAs we're comfortable with SQL Server 2012/2008 and we are hearing a lot of noise in the SQL community about the new features and enhancements that SQL Server 2014 bundles up.For me the book demystified a few apprehensions I had over cloud technology.It guided me through the new functionality with easy to follow instruction and screen shots.Those sceptical about plunging into the depths of Windows Azure, Virtualisation, Always-On etc will find this book a very useful tool in future decision-making. For example, the prospect of housing your data and SQL environments in the "abyss" may be a daunting one - what this book does is highlight the advantages and pinpoints areas that require careful consideration, such as when to use Delayed Durability.Chapter 3 'In-Memory Optimised Tables' is an in-depth topic but the author clearly defines the differing isolation levels and index choices, making it easily understandable for the everyday DBA.The authors personal experiences of using Cloud-based and virtual technology seems to be evident and there is a plethora of useful easy-to-follow descriptions throughout the entire book.It's a compact book, and as the title suggests - its a useful reference for 'getting started' with some of the features SQL 2014 has introduced. I would recommend this to both newbie DBAs and established SQL 2012/2008 DBAs looking to gain an insight into the latest offerings.

Hi,I have written a detailed chapter-by-chapter review of this book on www DOT i-programmer DOT info, the first and last parts of this review are given here. For my review of all chapters, search i-programmer DOT info for STIRK together with the book's title.Another SQL Server 2014 book quickly follows the product's release, how does it fare?This is a small book of less than 100 pages spread over six chapters. The introduction says "This book is for people who want to learn the new features of SQL Server 2014..." this is at odds with the title which doesn't mention it relating to only new features, I wonder how many people will be caught out by this misleading title?People that want to read only about new features may ignore it, and people that want a general administration book may buy it! "Getting Started with SQL Server 2014's New Administration Features" would have been a more honest title.Below is a chapter-by-chapter exploration of the topics covered.Chapter 1 SQL Server 2014 and CloudThe chapter opens with a few definitions, Windows Azure being Microsoft's public cloud offering, and Microsoft Azure SQL Database the underlying database. It notes that using the cloud reduces concerns about hardware resources, and provides improved scalability.The database provides Software as a Service (SaaS) functionality. A step-by-step walkthrough of how to create a Windows Azure SQL database is given, together with its various settings. Connecting to the newly created database via SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is shown next. Finally, the process of migration an existing on-premises database to Microsoft Azure is illustrated.The next section discusses storing your SQL Server database files in Microsoft Azure, combining on-premise and cloud storage solutions. The files are stored as blobs in Microsoft Azure. Various benefits include low cost and elastic storage, together with improved High Availability (HA) and Disaster Recovery (DR). There's a step-by-step walkthrough of creating a database that uses cloud storage (including creating the relevant storage account and storage container).The chapter ends with a walkthrough of creating a Microsoft Azure Virtual Machine (VM), instead of building the VM on-premises.All the sections provide walkthroughs with good descriptions and screenshots. All the sub-chapter headings would have been easier to understand if they specified their function e.g. "Integrating Microsoft Azure SQL Database" would have been better as "Storing your SQL Server database files in the cloud"....ConclusionThis book is a short introduction, from an administrator's viewpoint, to the new features of SQL Server 2014. It's generally practical in its approach, containing step-by-step walkthroughs, together with supporting screenshots. It's generally an easy read, with good but limited explanations.The book's title is incorrect, it should reflect the book relates to new features of SQL Server 2014 only. Some people (myself included) would actually prefer a book that contains only the updated features. I can imagine some people looking for an introductory book for general SQL Server administration, getting annoyed at purchasing a book that contains specifically new features only.One of the problems with reviewing this book is the "Getting Started" part of the title, it provides an apology for the lack of depth and omissions. This is compounded by the book's small size, only 114 pages. For example, there's nothing about the new security enhancements (e.g. connect any database, impersonate any login). I wanted more! I had to keep reminding myself this is a "Getting started" book...Although the diagrams are correctly placed, it might have been useful to provide them with titles - making subsequent chapter scanning easier.I'm not sure for whom this book is intended, if you're new to SQL Server administration, you will need a more general book, not just the new features. If you're experienced with SQL Server administration, you probably need a more detailed book - perhaps this is the book you read before the detailed one (or lookup the detail on the Internet)?As a brief introduction to the new administration features of SQL Server 2014, I can recommend this book, but I suspect you'll soon need a follow-on book containing more detail.

Hi ,This book provides introduction to new & important features of SQL Server 2014 and helps you understand why your organization should use this tool over previous versions. This book is for professional DBAs who understands basics of DBA practices and now looking forward to learn new features and going to migrate there environment to upgraded version.A good read !!!Regards,Vaibhav Gupta

I have been working with SQL Server starting from version 6 in late 90s. Ironically, I had never suspected I will end up using SQL Server or using it throughout the rest of my entire career, and I have no plans defecting. The short story is I joined an incubator company which later became a spin-off a large enterprise where there were almost no Microsoft products used (I initially worked on a Mainframe DB2, then on Unix as a C programmer using Informix and Oracle). At that small start up initially like company all the repeated attempts to install an Oracle database by a vendor have failed. Our CEO was enraged, the deadlines were pressing when my fellow contractor brought a set of freshly purchased MSDN CDs one morning into our office. He exchanged a few words I did not catch with our project manager and vanished in the coldness of our server room. Short time later he re-emerged with a smile on his face and a bunch of us emotionless hearing him say we have a SQL Server database setup for us to use in our belated POC. Frankly, our old-school CEO and many other managers took this optimism with a lot of skepticism. Months later the project went live, on time, all written in VB4 and T-SQL code. And it worked very well.Back then our primary goals were data processing speeds, storage capacity, CPU utilization, scaling and transactional sanity. Fast forward into today all the aforementioned concerns remain as valid. However, what changed is that there are more options to tackle these issues up, in different ways, faster and more efficiently if not with a lower budget. What is new and improved under a DBA or developer’s belt in terms of tooling and capabilities Getting Started with SQL Server 2014 Administration book is going to cover.Indeed, the book has the right timing and is right on the spot covering well the unique and most massive advancement in the entire RDBMs world – InMemory data processing, delayed durability And it does not stop there, the reader will get known how to create databases in Windows Azure, backup into the Cloud or restore from it, creating hybrid AlwaysOn environments, performance enhancements and a few more topics. So this is a book SQL Server 2014 Enterprise specific and for a modern DBA.Alas, the book does not cover any other aspects of even a junior DBA, e.g. there is no mention on how to install SQL Server 2014 on premises, securing it up, choosing a backup strategy, monitoring. Likewise, several other topics that are actually new in this build are also amiss as Lock Priorities, T-SQL (1 change), tempdb performance and the new security roles.To continue on the negatives, one general comment I have is that the book has no enough in-depth feature coverage for non Enterprise grade releases, should have more examples, the book should have been expanded beyond the 80 or so pages of useful content to include the management tools overview, performance troubleshooting, auditing, etc. even for a ‘getting started’ book. Thing is, the life of even a novice DBA would be very demanding in terms of achieving acceptable application response time, feature suggestion, or just the time to fix an issue.I am giving this book a 2.5 rounded up out of 5 mark as I can hardly see how it outweighs the benefits of the MSDN help or the waste amount of online articles.Disclaimer: I received the copy of the book for free from the publisher.

Just 100 pages and the information are little. Book price is too much.