Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 Administrator's Pocket Consultant

The trouble with database management systems (DBMSs) is that there are so many of them. If you work as a roving consultant, you have to understand how several distinct DBMSs work. Even if you work for a typical large organization with autonomous units, you'll have to understand how various servers do their jobs. Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 Administrator's Pocket Consultant exists to help you on those days when, coming from an Oracle or Sybase job, you have to remember how to do a particular administrative task in Microsoft SQL Server 7. The book explains the key facts and procedures for setting up and modifying databases, configuring users and groups, setting up replication schemes, importing data, and doing the rest of a SQL Server administrator's job.

There are lots of procedures to follow in these pages, but the most valuable stuff here may prove to be the tables that list options and commands. A typical table in the section on user permissions lists the effects of the eight permissions (CREATE TABLE, CREATE VIEW, and so on) that an administrator can bestow upon a user. You'll also find the command-line examples handy--you can quickly locate a command line that imports data with bcp and use it on your machine. Concise, utilitarian Transact-SQL listings serve a similar purpose. --David Wall

Topics covered: The specifications and procedures an administrator needs on hand to effectively operate SQL Server 7. The operation of SQL Server itself (including configuration of groups and security options) and the maintenance of data (which includes backups, restorations, and replication).