Tuesday, November 11, 2008

What am I reading? : SQL Server 2005 Practical Troubleshooting: The Database Engine (Ken Henderson)

I don't know if this affects other people, but I often have problems deciding which books I want to buy and or read.  So in an attempt to assist others in making good book choices with what may be limited funding, that I will provide a brief review of my opinion of the books that I have read and or am currently reading.  Since I have quite a stack that I have read, I figured I would start off with my favorite SQL Server 2005 Book. 

SQL Server 2005 Practical Troubleshooting: The Database Engine (SQL Server Series) by Ken Henderson (Paperback - Dec 18, 2006)

This in my opinion has to be one of the best resources for a SQL Server DBA when all hell breaks loose and there are serious problems with a SQL Server.  If you don't have a copy of it yet, I would highly recommend it.  Unlike most of the books that are out there, this book was written by the developers at Microsoft for SQL Server, and edited by the late Ken Henderson, whose own contributions to the SQL Community over the years was second to none.  This book gets down into the nitty gritty of SQL Server, how it functions and why, and how to resolve and troubleshoot some of the most complex problems with the Database Engine.

What is really good about this book is that it provides in depth information and details that could only come from the internal development staff at Microsoft.  The book is divided into specific problem types and details to include stack dump data is included in the book text to demonstrate the problem being explained.

Chapter 1 Waiting and Blocking Issues

Chapter 2 Data Corruption and Recovery Issues

Chapter 3 Memory Issues

Chapter 4 Procedure Cache Issues

Chapter 5 Query Processor Issues

Chapter 6 Server Crashes and Other Critical Failures

Chapter 7 Service Broker Issues

Chapter 8 SQLOS and Scheduling Issues

Chapter 9 Tempdb Issues

Chapter 10 Clustering Issues

One problem reported with the book is that Amazon lists it as coming with a CD included.  Mine didn't, and I am not concerned about it, but I'll provide the warning that you won't get a CD with your book if you order it.  Additionally, expect that it will take 3-4 weeks to get delivery of the book if you do order it online.  I am not sure why it took so long to arrive, but it was definitely worth the wait. 

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for reviewing our book! I'm glad to hear you found it useful. I hope to see you at PASS!

    ReplyDelete