Server 2008 Service Pack 1 arrives

Microsoft today released Service Pack 1 for all seven editions of SQL Server 2008, its relational database management system that uses Transact-SQL as its primary query language. The update is available in 32-bit, 64-bit, and ia64 flavors from the Microsoft Download Center. SP1 is primarily a roll-up of previous cumulative updates and while there are no new features, Microsoft did highlight the following three improvements:

Slipstream allows administrators to install SQL Server 2008 and Service Pack 1 in a single instance. This decreases the total time for an installation, including a fewer number of reboots, thereby increasing productivity and deployment availability
Service Pack Uninstall allows administrators to uninstall the service pack separately from the database release. This feature also improves DBA productivity, reduces the cost of deployment and improves overall supportability
Report Builder 2.0 Click Once improves the existing SQL Server end-user report authoring application by easing deployment to business users
Microsoft also took the opportunity to note that there have been "over three million downloads" of SQL Server 2008 to date. SQL Server 2008 hit the RTM milestone in August 2008. The CTP of SP1 was released in February.

DiscountASP.NET Adds SQL 2008 Backup API

ASP.NET hosting and SQL hosting provider DiscountASP.NET (www.discountasp.net) has expanded its Open Control Panel API with the addition of APIs for SQL 2008 Database backup as part of DiscountASP.NET's Open Control Panel Initiative, designed to offer an open hosting system framework that provides maximum control.

According to DiscountASP.NET's Wednesday announcement, customers can access the API library through their control panel and are assigned a unique Authentication Key. Also, a Sandbox Key is provided so that customers can test their applications without the risk of making changes to their hosting account.

In 2006, DiscountASP.NET unveiled the first phase of its Open Control Panel Initiative by introducing an ASP.NET web service API library that customers can use to develop their own web, desktop or mobile applications that interface directly with their web hosting account. This exposed a number of methods to retrieve resource usage information, and manage some IIS functions, such as recycling their application pool. Today, DiscountASP.NET has found more methods for customers to backup their SQL 2008 databases.

"Our control panel API is a move to provide our customers with a next-generation hosting experience." marketing vice president Takeshi Eto said in a statement. "Our vision for the Open Control Panel Initiative is to offer our customers the flexibility and freedom of choice. They can manage their hosting presence using our hosted control panel application or through web services and customized user-driven solutions."

DiscountASP.NET has undergone many improvements in the past few months, increasing options for customers looking for advanced ASP.NET and SQL functionality.

At Microsoft's (www.microsoft.com) Professional Developers Conference in October 2008, DiscountASP.NET announced it had teamed with the software heavy weight to offer a free beta sandbox hosting environment for the Web Deployment Tool, Microsoft's deployment, management and migration tool for web apps, sites and servers.

http://www.thewhir.com/web-hosting-news/103108_DiscountASP.NET_Offers_IIS_Tool_Beta

More recently, in January, DiscountASP.NET partnered with web-based applications provider myLittleTools (www.mylittletools.com) to add myLittleAdmin to DiscountASP.NET's feature set, giving customers free access to the web-based SQL management tool.

SQL DeCryptor 2.2 (Windows)

SQL Decryptor is developed by Imperia Software, to decrypt views, user defined functions and stored procedures in an easy-to-use graphical interface. It works quickly to decrypt items in Microsoft SQL Server 6.5, 7.0, 2000, 2005, 2008 and MSDE. SQL Decryptor allows for easy viewing of encrypted code, of any size.Version 2.2 with best search performance.

Microsoft confirms it's been working on SQL Server bug since April

Microsoft Corp. today confirmed that it has been working on a critical vulnerability in SQL Server for more than eight months, but declined to say whether it has had a patch ready since September, as an Austrian security researcher has alleged.

On Monday, the company warned customers of a bug that could be used to compromise servers running older versions of the database software, which is widely used to power Web sites and applications.

"Microsoft opened an investigation for this vulnerability in April upon the initial report by the security researcher," said a company spokesman in an e-mail today. "We immediately started an investigation and have been working on this issue since that time," he added.

The researcher, Bernhard Mueller of SEC Consult Security, a Vienna-based security consulting company, went public with details of the vulnerability as well as an exploit code on Dec. 9, apparently after tiring of Microsoft's lack of communication.

According to Mueller, who posted findings in an advisory on the SEC Consult site, as well as to prominent security mailing lists, the bug was reported to Microsoft on April 17, 2008, and Microsoft's last message to him was on Sept. 29. After four requests for an update on a patch's status during October and November, Mueller disclosed the vulnerability.

Mueller also said that Microsoft had informed him in September that it had completed a fix.

The Microsoft spokesman didn't directly respond to a question about whether the company had a patch in hand, as Mueller claimed, but instead said, "At this time, security updates are not available for the affected versions listed in Microsoft Security Advisory 961040."

Although it is true that Microsoft has not yet issued an update to the affected software -- which includes SQL Server 2000, SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine, Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine and Windows Internal Database -- one security expert said he's betting that the company will release one soon.

Internals of SQL Cluster Setup and Troubleshooting Tips

Unlike Exchange Cluster Setup process, SQL Cluster Setup process is not tricky. You just click on next and finish the setup. The purpose of this article series is to explain the internals of the SQL Cluster Setup. The Setup process executes couple of functions from its Setup DLL. These functions are internal to SQL Setup and are never exposed to the user running the setup. The functions it executes are used to decide whether SQL Setup should install the SQL Database Instance in a stand-alone environment or in a cluster environment.

SQL Server Setup Functions
How does SQL Server cluster setup configure a second node to be cluster-aware?
What all-registry entries are created during the setup and their importance in a SQL Cluster environment?
I will start with the first topic mentioned in the above list.

SQL Server Setup Functions
SQL Setup mainly uses the SQLCluster.DLL from its BINN Directory to execute the following functions in it: DoSQLClusterSetUpWork
DoUnClusterSetup
CheckDatabasesForInstance

Introduction to Policy-Based Management in SQL Server 2008

New to SQL Server 2008 is Policy-Based Management. This new technology allows for defining polices to ensure your database guidelines are met. In this article, SQL Server consultant Tim Chapman gives an overview of this new technology.

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Policy-Based Management in SQL Server 2008 allows the database administrator to define policies that tie to database instances and objects. These policies allow the Database Administrator (DBA) to specify rules for which objects and their properties are created, or modified. An example of this would be to create a database-level policy that disallows the AutoShrink property to be enabled for a database. Another example would be a policy that ensures the name of all table triggers created on a database table begins with tr_.



As with any new SQL Server technology (or Microsoft technology in general), there is a new object naming nomenclature associated with Policy-Based Management. Below is a listing of some of the new base objects.

PolicyA Policy is a set of conditions specified on the facets of a target. In other words, a Policy is basically a set of rules specified for properties of database or server objects.

TargetA Target is an object that is managed by Policy-Based Management. Includes objects such as the database instance, a database, table, stored procedure, trigger, or index.

FacetA Facet is a property of an object (target) that can be involved in Policy Based Management. An example of a Facet is the name of a Trigger or the AutoShrink property of a database.

Microsoft's SQL Injection Protection

Homer Simpson may have enjoyed his hot beef injections (for Homer these were hot dogs), but he would be far less fond of SQL injections, attacks upon SQL Server that can cripple Web sites.

Many with SQL Server also have IIS, which is why Microsoft is beefing up IIS with SQL Injection protections. The new filter against these attacks is free and available now.

From all indications Small Business Server 2003 was a fine product -- easy to set up, easy to use and boasting many essential business features. As I recall, the only drawback was if your company outgrew the SBS product, it was hard to move up gracefully.

The new version of the server, SBS 2008, is now in the hands of hardware makers who expect to have it bundled up by November. I guess they want to take their time and get it perfect.

Do you use SBS? What do you like and what don’t you? Answers welcome at dbarney@redmondmag.com.