SQL Azure backup and restore strategy. Things to keep in mind.

With SQL Azure you have a SQL Server database in the cloud. This can be very useful, however there are some differences between the on premise SQL Server databases and the cloud SQL Server databases. One of the differences is the Backup and Restore Strategy. In general, the purpose of creating backups is to enable you to recover from:

• Hardware failures
• Application errors
• User errors.

The SQL Azure environment is designed to maintain the server available along with data integrity of your data in case of hardware failure. In other words, your backup and restore strategy doesn’t have to plan for hardware failure of your SQL Azure databases. For application or user errors, you still need a backup and restore strategy. SQL Azure requires its own backup and restore strategy because of the environment and tools available. In many ways the risks have been mediated by the database being in the Microsoft data centers. The tools that are available as of today cover the other risk factors, however better tools are coming to make the job much easier. Please read SQL Azure Backup and Restore strategy for more details about the available tools and commands.

Viewing reporting service reports (SSRS) on your iPad or iPhone.

I use my iPad to consume a lot of different data. This can be internet pages, rss feeds etc. Recently I started to view reporting service reports (SSRS). In the Safari browser you can start your reporting service reports as you are doing in your Internet Explorer. However the Safari browser does not always show your report in the correct way. Using Internet Explorer is still the best browser to view your SSRS reports. However on my iPad I have no choice to install Internet Explorer. To workaround this problem I found a specific app named: Sketch Reports. With this app I can view my reporting service reports.

I will give you one example of a SSRS report in the safari browser on the iPad.

 Now the same report but now running on the SketchMD app.


 

Click here to download the Sketch Reports app in de Apple App Store. The Sketch Reports version is the free version. This version only works on the iPad and NOT on the iPhone. You can run one report from one folder. The Sketch Reports Pro version is the full version which runs on the iPad and iPhone. More information can be found on the website of SketchMD

The full version has next features:

• Download and View Reporting Services Reports
• Supports SSRS 2005, 2008, 2008 R2 in native and sharepoint modes
• SSL Support
• Parameter support
• Supports Drill Down and Drill through report navigation
• Eamil reports

Enjoy using your iPad to view reporting services reports.

No mapping between account names and security IDs was done

Last week I encountered this error when I was processing my SSAS Cube for the Januari 2011 figures. This error also occured if I tried to process a dimension. In the last months no changes were made in my datawarehouse project, so I was very suprised to get this error message. This error messsage is nice from a technical perspective but it will not tell what I need to do. It would be nice if it could tell me which account names or security ID's are not mapped. After some research in my cube I found the problem. In my datawarehouse project I have defined roles for people who can access my cube. In one of these roles, an active directory account was configured for a user who left my company this month. His Active Directory account was removed from Active Directory. So my datawarehouse project roles contained Active Directory accounts which does not exist anymore.

Solution: Remove all Active Directory accounts from the roles which does not exists anymore in Active Directory.

Credit: Nick J Webb

What do I need to do to upgrade to SQL Server 2008 R2 ?

Photo credit: Ewan traveler

An upgrade of your SQL Server from SQL 2005, 2008 to SQL Server 2008 R2 is something you need to prepare and plan. I will give some examples:

• Which upgrade strategy is the best for my situation. An in-place uprade or an Side-by-side upgrade?
• How can I minimize downtime during the upgrade?
• Backward compatibility. Which features are deprecated, discontinued or changed in the new version?
• Considerations for upgrading without a DBA.
• Feature changes in the management and development tools.
• .......

Microsoft has published a 'Why upgrade' site. On this site you can download the SQL Server 2008 R2 upgrade technical reference guide. This technical reference guide contains a lot of useful information which will help you to plan your SQL Server upgrade. The technical reference guide contains 15 chapters with a total of 490 pages.

Table of contents:

1. Upgrade Planning and Deployment
2. Management and Development Tools
3. Relational Databases
4. High Availability
5. Database Security
6. Full-Text Search
7. Service Broker
8. Transact-SQL Queries
9. Notification Services
10. SQL Server Express
11. Analysis Services
12. Data Mining
13. Integration Services
14. Reporting Services
15. Other Microsoft Applications and Platforms

Enjoy the upgrade to SQL Server 2008 R2. After it, you can make use of the new features for example:

• Backup compression
• Report Builder 3.0
• Enrich your account data with geography data to show them on a map.

and I will end this blogpost with: My favorite Top 10 Features of SQL 2008 R2.