SQL Server Magazine UPDATE, February 17, 2005--Microsoft Security Investments

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5.25 floppies * 8-Tracks * SQL Server 2000 JDBC
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February 17, 2005

1. Perspectives

2. News and Views

3. Events and Resources

4. Peer to Peer

5. Announcements

6. New and Improved

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1. Perspectives

    by Brian Moran, [email protected]

Last week, Microsoft announced that the company will purchase Sybari Software, a company that provides comprehensive anti-virus and malicious-software protection for messaging and collaboration servers, including Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SharePoint, and Microsoft Live Communications Server, as well as other non-Microsoft products (see "Microsoft to Acquire Enterprise Anti-Virus Security Provider Sybari Software" at http://lists.sqlmag.com/t?ctl=26C9:7B3DB ). Microsoft Corporate Vice President Mike Nash of Security Business and Technology, says that the acquisition will provide Microsoft customers with "a server-level anti-virus solution that delivers advanced file and content-filtering capabilities and the use of multiple scan engines."

Sybari technology is deeply embedded within the server infrastructure it protects, an architecture that provides high-level security while maintaining reliability and performance. Before the Sybari purchase, Microsoft used Sybari technology extensively on internal systems for several months. An interview with Microsoft CIO Ron Markezich describes some of the company's experiences with the tool and explains why Microsoft decided to purchase Sybari (see "Microsoft's Sybari Experience: How the Antivirus Software Protects Microsoft's Crucial Communication and Collaboration Infrastructure" at http://lists.sqlmag.com/t?ctl=26C7:7B3DB ). At this time, Microsoft hasn't announced how it will sell, price, or integrate Sybari technology into Microsoft products.

Microsoft's Sybari acquisition and the Giant Company acquisition I wrote about in "Spyware: An Evolving Threat" ( http://lists.sqlmag.com/t?ctl=26CB:7B3DB ) indicate that the company is taking a comprehensive approach to security. That's good news for SQL Server professionals. Sybari doesn't have a SQL Server-specific module, but given Microsoft's recent security purchases, I won't be surprised to see the company build a homegrown SQL Server solution or buy one of the leading providers of threat avoidance for SQL Server.

I readily admit that I'm not a security expert, so I read the white paper "Helping Customers Secure Messaging and Collaboration Infrastructure" at http://lists.sqlmag.com/t?ctl=26C5:7B3DB . The paper presents an interesting discussion about how Sybari technology adds protection to a collaboration environment by providing layered defenses, native integration with the server infrastructure, and constant protection from the latest threats. I use various security products to protect my home and business computers. It will be nice if in the future Microsoft products ship with native, robust, easy-to-use security and protection mechanisms that do a better job of protecting my systems than I can do on my own. Microsoft's new spyware-protection software will be free. If the company's virus protection is also free, I wonder what will happen to commodity anti-virus tools like Norton Anti-Virus. Remember Netscape? Me neither.

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2. News & Views

Microsoft has released a hotfix for a problem that occurs when you perform large deallocation operations. When a large deallocation occurs in SQL Server 2000, SQL Server might temporarily stop responding to other requests. Operations such as dropping tables, dropping work files, and dropping indexes that are performed on objects that are multiple gigabytes in size might cause 17883 error messages in the error log, timeouts, or slow performance symptoms. To find out more about this problem and the supported hotfix, read the Microsoft article "FIX: SQL Server 2000 may stop responding to other requests when you perform a large deallocation operation" at
    http://lists.sqlmag.com/t?ctl=26CE:7B3DB

Microsoft has released an article detailing how to set up application names in SQL Server 2000 Analysis Services. You can set up application names on computers running Analysis Services, then use the application names to connect to Analysis Services by using an alias name. It's useful to set up application names in disaster-recovery situations when a standby server has the same analysis data as the production server. When you promote the standby server to production server, you move the alias name to the standby server in the Domain Name System (DNS). In this scenario, clients are then redirected to the standby server. To find out more about this process, read the Microsoft article, "How to set up application names in SQL Server 2000 Analysis Services" at
    http://lists.sqlmag.com/t?ctl=26CD:7B3DB

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3. Events and Resources

One full day, three tracks: DBA, Developer-DBA, and Business Intelligence. See the exciting new features of SQL Server 2005 up close. Keynote speakers include filmmaker and mountaineer David Breashears, Microsoft senior vice president of Server Applications Paul Flessner, and Michael Otey of SQL Server magazine. Register online at (use event code 1032268846):
    http://lists.sqlmag.com/t?ctl=26BA:7B3DB

Sign up now for this FREE, one-hour Web seminar and get a quick start in mapping Oracle database-management skills, knowledge, and experience to SQL Server database management. Learn about the varying similarities and differences between Oracle and SQL Server and get a preview of real-world tips and techniques for managing these associated technologies. Register now:
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March 20-23, Orlando, FL. More than 45 sessions presented by Microsoft and industry gurus. Registration includes an exclusive day of presentations on SQL Server 2005 by the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 product team. All attendees receive the latest SQL Server 2005 and Visual Studio 2005 beta. Call 800-438-6720 or 203-268-3204.
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In this free Web seminar, industry guru Michael Otey explores the need for 64-bit computing and looks at the type of applications that can make the best use of it. He'll explain why the most important factor in the 64-bit platform is increased memory. Discover the best platform for high performance and learn how you can successfully differentiate, migrate, and manage between 32-bit and 64-bit technology. Register now!
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See the complete Windows IT Pro Network guide to Web and live events.
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4. Peer to Peer

    by Brian Moran, [email protected]

Q. OSQL --L should locate all SQL Servers on the network, but lately I've seen OSQL --L return servers that don't have SQL Server or Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine (MSDE) installed. Why does OSQL --L show SQL Server running on machines that don't have SQL Server installed?

Read the answer today at
    http://lists.sqlmag.com/t?ctl=26C4:7B3DB

News about data-access technology has taken a backseat to server news lately. But that doesn't mean there's no news about ADO.NET. On the contrary, there are several important changes in ADO.NET 2.0. In his February SELECT TOP(X) column, "ADO.NET 2.0," Michael Otey shares six of the most important changes. Read this article today at
    http://lists.sqlmag.com/t?ctl=26C2:7B3DB

In this week's blog, "Analysis Services 2000 vs. Analysis Services 2005," Kevin Kline shares a great shortcut for getting up to speed on SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services. If you're active in SQL Server business intelligence (BI), you need to get to know Mosha Pasumansky's Analysis Services blog. Mosha posted a great comparison of Analysis Services 2000 versus analysis Services 2005 by two Microsoft field people, Jamie Basilico and Mark Frawley. Let Kevin know if you're interested in business intelligence today at
    http://lists.sqlmag.com/t?ctl=26CA:7B3DB

Hot Threads: Check out the following hot threads, and see other discussions in our 30 SQL Server forums.
    http://lists.sqlmag.com/t?ctl=26CF:7B3DB

Upgrading SQL Server 2000/7.0: Error 8525 After SQL Server 2000 SP3 Install
    http://lists.sqlmag.com/t?ctl=26BC:7B3DB
T-SQL: Return Rows With Latest Version of an Incident
    http://lists.sqlmag.com/t?ctl=26C1:7B3DB
DTS: Problem With Batch File Execution
    http://lists.sqlmag.com/t?ctl=26C0:7B3DB
Data Access: Testing Locally Stored Procedure With Linked Server
    http://lists.sqlmag.com/t?ctl=26BF:7B3DB
Administration: Login to Enterprise Manager Not Working
    http://lists.sqlmag.com/t?ctl=26BE:7B3DB
Security: Limiting Rights on New IDs
    http://lists.sqlmag.com/t?ctl=26BD:7B3DB

Hot Spot

5.25 floppies * 8-Tracks * SQL Server 2000 JDBC Great once, but unusable today! Microsoft's SQL Server 2000 JDBC driver is built on technology more than 3 years old. DataDirect presents today's JDBC--the SPECjAppServer leader. Get current with DataDirect Connect for JDBC.
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5. Announcements

You're a valuable and active member of the MCP community, so why shouldn't you get the fame you deserve? Nominate yourself or a peer to become a part of the first ever MCP Hall of Fame. You could win a VIP trip to Microsoft and other prizes. Enter now!
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Sign up now and get the "golden key" to the SQL Server Magazine Web site. Here's your opportunity to get immediate online access to every article ever published in the magazine--that's thousands of how-to articles, expert tips and helpful blogs to use whenever you need it. Sign up today:
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6. New & Improved

    by Dawn Cyr, [email protected]

Share Your Product Success Story and Get a T-Shirt! Have you used a product that saved you time or made your job easier? Tell us your product-success story, and if we print your submission in the Hands On department, we'll send you a SQL Server Magazine t-shirt. Send your product suggestion with information about how the product helped you to [email protected].

Sonasoft announced SonaSafe Point-Click Recovery Solution for Small Business, a disaster-recovery solution that provides low-cost, efficient disk-to-disk backup and compression of essential business data. The easy-to-use tool is available for SQL Server, Microsoft Exchange, and Windows File Systems and can be purchased as part of the complete SonaSafe Small Business Suite for backup and recovery of all an organization's databases, email messages, files, and applications. The product's Web-based interface lets you access it from anywhere in the world. SonaSafe for SQL Server supports SQL Server 2000 and 7.0, and its features include a template-driven automated backup plan, point-of-failure or point-in-time recovery, intelligent standby functionality, automated policy-based purging functionality, diagnostic capabilities, and the ability to manage multiple servers through a management console. You can request an evaluation copy of the software at the vendor's Web site. For pricing and more information, contact Sonasoft at 408-927-6200 or [email protected].
    http://lists.sqlmag.com/t?ctl=26DA:7B3DB

ActiveCrypt Software announced SQL Shield 2.0, software that provides a layer of encryption in addition to SQL Server native encryption and renders SQL scripts impenetrable by any known decryptor. The software provides SQL Server 2000 and 7.0 and Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine (MSDE) servers with encryption for triggers, views, and procedures. SQL scripts encrypted with SQL Shield remain executable, so you don't have to restore them for execution every time you need to run them. Plus, installing the software doesn't affect settings and doesn't entirely replace default encryption options; users can always choose which encryption settings to apply. The latest release of the product features a new GUI that lets you quickly encrypt a single procedure or a whole database. Pricing for SQL Shield 2.0 starts at $249 for a single SQL Server 2000 license and $199 for a single SQL Server 7.0 license. For more information or a free evaluation copy of the software, contact ActiveCrypt Software at [email protected].
    http://lists.sqlmag.com/t?ctl=26D8:7B3DB

Altova announced DiffDog 2005, a synchronization tool that facilitates the comparison and merging of files, folders, and directories for application developers and power users. DiffDog 2005 Standard and Professional editions let users quickly compare source code files, HTML files, or any text-based files, then merge changes with one click. Both editions deliver versatile comparison and merging options for all file directories. And the tool also provides advanced XML-aware differencing and editing capabilities. Pricing for DiffDog 2005 starts at $69 for the Standard edition and $129 for the Professional edition, and a free 30-day trial version is available on the vendor's Web site. For more information, contact Altova at 978-816-1600 or [email protected].
    http://lists.sqlmag.com/t?ctl=26DC:7B3DB

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