1. SQL Server 2008 Systems Management
Tony Rogerson, SQL Server MVP [Feel free to learn something] [User Group - Feel free to join]
[Feel free to hire me] [Feel free to me]

2. Who am I?
Entered industry in 86 coding PL/1, DB2, CICS, Application System – mainframe beginnings.
More DBA centric from 1993 starting on 4.21a of SQL Server.
Freelance SQL Server specialist since 1999
I started the UK SQL Server UG (sqlserverfaq.com) in 1999; been an SQL MVP since 1998.

3. History as a SQL Server DBA
Required Polling – lots of it
Extensive Development
Monitoring
Maintenance
Capacity Planning
Not much info available to DBA
Over use of xp_cmdshell
Afflicted with the business attitude you can stick the box in the corner and it will look after itself.

4. Agenda Performance Studio Policy Based Management
Goal: Build a working environment in 40 minutes
Performance Studio
Policy Based Management
Powershell and SQLCmd
Event Notifications
Extended Events
DMVs (Dynamic Management Views)

5. Feature usage Protect Production using Policy Management
Backups and Maint using Powershell and SQLCmd
Example of FTP using Powershell
Monitor for problems using Event Notifications and Extended Events
Capacity Planning/Job Durations using Performance Studio
Adhoc system enquiries using DMV’s

6. Management Data Warehouse Overview
Data Collector
S2K8_TRADES
Data Collector
MDW DB
Reporting
Management Studio
Report Builder
T-SQL
Validation for spending more dosh on resources
S2K8_SUPPORT
Data Collector
S2K8_REPORTING

7. Demo – Performance Studio
Set up from scratch
Centralisation
Reporting
Management Studio
Report Builder
TSQL

8. Policy Management Overview
Provide Standardised Management Framework
Enforce Standards (all tables have a clustered index)
Detect Changes (Change of Database Option)
Push across your enterprise (all SQL versions)

9. DEMO – Policy Based Management
Set up protection for our Production Environment

10. Powershell and SQLCmd Overview
PowerShell :: MS’s definitive scripting language – used in Windows OS, SQL Server, Exchange etc...
SQLCmd :: specific to SQL Server
Just use PowerShell – Invoke-Sqlcmd
Automation of tasks
OS related tasks too simple for SSIS

11. DEMO – Powershell and SQLCmd

12. Event Notifications Extended Events
Diagnostic mechanism – replaces profiler (for engine traces)
Event Notifications
On a specific event occurring the event details get placed on a Service Broker queue
Use to when faults happen – Mirroring block event, other blocking events, SQL error etc..

13. Demo – Extended Events / Event Notification

14. Dynamic Management Views (DMV’s) Overview
Gives an insight into SQL Server
Many categories – IO related, index related, execution related etc...
Very useful problem determination mechanism
Very useful information capture – basically what Data Collector uses in MDW.

15. Demo – DMV’s

16. Summary / Further Reading
takes you to
– User Group
LiveMeetings through User Group (
: Tony Rogerson -> Management Data Warehouse
: Tony Rogerson -> Policy Based Management
: Allan Mitchell -> DMX 101 (Introduction to the basics of DMX, SELECT, FROM, Natural Prediction Join)
: Tony Rogerson -> Powershell and SQLCmd
: Allan Mitchell -> Using SSIS to connect to the cloud
: Tony Rogerson -> Event Notifications and Extended Events
: Allan Mitchell -> DMX 102 (A look at the Predict Function and its many guises)