Policy-Based Management is an addition to SQL Server that allows DBAs to manage multiple SQL Server instances with ease. In previous years and versions, managing hundreds of instances was an exhausting task which typically involved writing a number of custom collection scripts. With policies in place, DBAs can evaluate almost everything that involves the entire SQL Server instance from the configurations of SQL Server itself to the databases that reside on the instance.

One very sound argument that many DBAs have for pushing an upgrade of SQL Server is the fact that you have the ability to leave a database in an older compatibility level. In some ways, compatibility levels in a SQL Server database govern the feature set that the database will utilize. SQL Server will treat the database as though it is still being hosted on the server version that matches the compatibility level the database has been left in.

Today I was going through some code that we use for this site and found this. if( $this->disp_params['show_recently'] ) { echo $this->disp_params['item_start']; echo '<strong><a href="'.$Blog->get('url').'">'.T_('Recently').'</a></strong>'; echo $this->disp_params['item_end']; } if( $this->disp_params['show_search'] ) { echo $this->disp_params['item_start']; echo '<strong><a href="'.$Blog->get('searchurl').'">'.T_('Search').'</a></strong>'; echo $this->disp_params['item_end']; } if( $this->disp_params['show_postidx'] ) { echo $this->disp_params['item_start']; echo '<strong><a href="'.$Blog->get('postidxurl').'">'.T_('Post index').'</a></strong>'; echo $this->disp_params['item_end']; } if( $this->disp_params['show_archives'] ) { // fp> TODO: don't display this if archives plugin not installed... or depluginize archives (I'm not sure) echo $this->disp_params['item_start']; echo '<strong><a href="'.$Blog->get('arcdirurl').'">'.T_('Archives').'</a></strong>'; echo $this->disp_params['item_end']; } if( $this->disp_params['show_categories'] ) { echo $this->disp_params['item_start']; echo '<strong><a href="'.$Blog->get('catdirurl').'">'.T_('Categories').'</a></strong>'; echo $this->disp_params['item_end']; } if( $this->disp_params['show_mediaidx'] ) { echo $this->disp_params['item_start']; echo '<strong><a href="'.$Blog->get('mediaidxurl').'">'.T_('Photo index').'</a></strong>'; echo $this->disp_params['item_end']; } if( $this->disp_params['show_latestcomments'] ) { echo $this->disp_params['item_start']; echo '<strong><a href="'.$Blog->get('lastcommentsurl').'">'.T_('Latest comments').'</a></strong>'; echo $this->disp_params['item_end']; } if( $this->disp_params['show_owneruserinfo'] ) { echo $this->disp_params['item_start']; echo '<strong><a href="'.$Blog->get('userurl').'">'.T_('Owner details').'</a></strong>'; echo $this->disp_params['item_end']; } if( $this->disp_params['show_ownercontact'] && $url = $Blog->get_contact_url( true ) ) { // owner allows contact: echo $this->disp_params['item_start']; echo '<strong><a href="'.$url.'">'.T_('Contact').'</a></strong>'; echo $this->disp_params['item_end']; } if( $this->disp_params['show_sitemap'] ) { echo $this->disp_params['item_start']; echo '<strong><a href="'.$Blog->get('sitemapurl').'">'.T_('Site map').'</a></strong>'; echo $this->disp_params['item_end']; } And what I needed was this.

There are five days left yet, but I can say now: 2010 has been the most extraordinary year of my life. 365 days ago, I could not have dreamed the places I would go, the adventures I would have, the things I would do, the races I would run, and, most of all, the people I would meet. I am amazed by how far I have come, and grateful to all the people that have helped me get here.

I was recently asked for some help with a very strange situation involving SQL Server and a .NET application using SqlCommand calls. It was thought to be a problem with SQL Server and in particular, sp_execute not being formed correctly. Let’s go through the steps to this point The developer did exactly the right steps in troubleshooting the problem. Once the application was failing due to SQL Server return errors, Profiler was enlisted to determine the exact transaction that was being sent to SQL Server. The transaction was found to be sent without specifying the parameters thought to be formed

This post is about stats from hits to this website. I always find this interesting because you can get a feel of what is moving and shaking in the tech industry. Of course the stats on this site are heavily skewed towards technology and although this site is small compared to something like reddit or del.icio.us we still get millions of hits a year so it is not a sample of 10 hits 🙂

jNEAT is a Java implementation of the NEAT method. NEAT is a technique for evolving neural networks, which uses genetic algorithms to learn network structures aswell as weights. For more information there are several papers at the links above. Building jNEAT Download the latest version: http://nn.cs.utexas.edu/?neat-java Download and install Apache Ant: http://ant.apache.org/ (`apt-get install ant` on Ubuntu/Debian) It’s fairly straightforward to build a jNEAT library using Ant. Extract the archive somewhere and place the following code into build.xml in the root directory.

This blog will demonstrate the steps to generate a Web Service Client and test JSP files in Eclipse. Finally, it will show a basic JSP example which uses the generated client to call a remote Web Service. Setup Tomcat Download and extract Tomcat 6.0. If you’re using Ubuntu and want to use the system installed tomcat, follow these instructions. Create an Eclipse Project Open Eclipse and create a new Dynamic Web Project:

For one of the databases that I have to manage we were running out of space, so we got a shiny new 10.9 TB sized drive. I was asked to move some files used by one database to this new drive. I decided to write up a little blog post just in case you ever need to do this so that you don’t backup and restore (with move) because there is another way.

Toolbox photo, by way of Flickr I recently tuned into an ongoing debate in the software craftsmanship world on the main cause of project failure. Most people responding to the original request for opinions on twitter pointed to business as the key failure point of software projects, specifically areas like scheduling, budgeting, and understanding requirements. The remainder were examples of bad architecture or poor coding practices sinking the project (or in come cases the company).