Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Administrator's Pocket Consultant
Author: William R. Stanek
	Reviewed by: Igor Treybush
Rating: 3 dots	Review date: 7/28/09
	William R. Stanek has published his 100th book. Quite an achievement. Good for him! To begin with, this book is well organized and detailed manual for SQL Server Database Engine Administration. Nicely published (perfect paperback), it is divided into 4 parts (Fundamentals, Server Administration, Data Administration, Optimization and Maintenance). It covers core database administration - Business Intelligence components just briefly mentioned in chapter 2(Part I). The content, in general, is based on “SQL Server Books Online”, with the addition of screenshots and some tables restructuring. The instructions are “step by step”, simple and follow this pattern: 1. Open "this" 2. Right click "that" As you can see, this book should be useful both as a learning tool and as a “pocket consultant”, if you are away from your computer. Otherwise, “SQL Server Books Online” is indispensable.

Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Query Tuning and Optimization
Authors: Kalen Delaney, Sunil Agarwal, Craig Freedman, Ron Talmage, and Adam Machanic
	Reviewed by: Igor Treybush
Rating: 4 dots	Review date: 3/4/09
	I have had two “Inside Microsoft SQL Server”(7 and2000) voluminous books by Kalen Delaney, but my favorite (practical) was Ken Henderson’s small book: “The guru’s Guide to Transact-SQL” The “Inside SQL Server 2005” series (Kalen Delaney-Editor) looks like a step in the right direction, since SQL Server now is an extensive and complex product, and to cover its internals is a challenge even for a group of gurus. Let’s go through the chapters of the second one in the series – “Query Tuning and Optimization”: Ch 1 - A Performance Troubleshooting Methodology The chapter is an ample overview of SQL Server performance analysis. Stylistically it is not perfect, but gives you some food for thought – i.e. mixing the order in which you access objects, might lead to the deadlocks (p.50) Ch 2 - Tracing and Profiling Quite useful (i.e. Deadlock graph event p.93). Ch 3 - Query Execution A pivotal one. Ch 4 - Troubleshooting Query - A Practical sequence to chapter 3. It shows how to resolve difficult query performance issues and help the optimizer. Ch 5 - Plan Caching and Recompilation Use of DMV, “Optimizer Hints” , “Plan Guides” Ch 6 - Concurrency Problems - This goes beyond the basic of locks and isolation levels to explain how to resolve specific concurrency issues. To sum up, the book is a fine source to excel for an inquisitive DBA or a database developer. General Note: A little bit more explanation of acronyms would certainly assist the readers. For example, there is no description of AWE (Address Windowing Extensions).

Introducing Microsoft LINQ
Authors: Paolo Pialorsi and Marco Russo
	Reviewed by: Arnab Chaudhuri
Rating: 4 dots	Review date: 12/30/08
	I like the conciseness of this book. The chapters are well organized, overall. Without going into details, this book nicely discusses the fundamentals of LINQ syntax, new features in C# and VB.NET. I enjoyed reading chapters 5 and 6 which talk about LINQ to ADO.NET and XML respectively. I think these would be the most useful chapters from an application developer's standpoint. This book is meant for programmers who have good working knowledge of C#, VB, XML, and ADO. Therefore, the authors expect the reader to be familiar with the above concepts, which, I think is a positive aspect of this book. The Appendix (ADO.NET entity framework) is a little bit theoretical. A practical example demonstrating the use of LINQ (maybe a case study) would have been more useful. Also, I would appreciate if the authors added a section in the appendix (or may be in the introductory chapter) on how to install the framework for LINQ. All in all, it is a very good book for LINQ beginners.

Foundations of SQL Server 2005 Business Intelligence
Author: Lynn Langit
	Reviewed by: Ben Aminnia
Rating: 5 dots	Review date: 6/14/08
	This is a very interesting book!  My first impression of it was that it’s informative, easy to read and understand and covers a topic which directly relates to my involvement in SQL Server.  By the time I got to page 32, where it begins to talk about Creating Star Schema Models Using Grain Statements, I felt like the author was watching me or reading my mind!  That’s where a Caution box appears, warning the readers who might be tempted to skip the section and get to the “real work” of building the cube. I think there are three categories of computer books: 1. Academic books, with a lot of focus on syntax and right-or-wrong answers; 2. On-the-job-training books, with examples and guidelines on how to get up to speed quickly; 3. Evangelical books, e.g. this book, which combine the first two categories. This is where you have heard about a subject, and may have read some articles or attended a seminar or a user group meeting covering its basics. Now you’re at a point where you need to make a strategic decision whether to adopt that subject as one of your professional skills. For such occasions, this is a must-read book on SQL Server BI and Analytical Services. I cannot wait to see the author's next book on SQL Server 2008 enhancements.

SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services Step by Step
Authors: Reed Jasobson and Stacia Misner
	Reviewed by: Arnab Chaudhuri
Rating: 4 dots	Review date: 1/22/08
	This book focuses more on the practical steps in implementing Business Intelligence solutions and less on the theoretical side of it. Initial chapter of this book discusses the basic concepts behind BI which could have been more illustrative and Chapter 2 contains a fair discussion on the terms and concepts related to OLAP and Analysis Services. While Chapters 1 and 2 are mainly theoretical (which could have been a little more detailed), Chapter 3 is all about hands-on experience with Business Intelligence Development Studio (BIDS) and building a cube.  One good thing about this chapter is that it does not assume that the reader is already familiar with BIDS. It would be really helpful for developers who are using BIDS for the first time. Discussion on the Time Dimension in chapter 4 is good. The section on Linked Dimension could have been explained with examples.  The section in chapter 5 on adding a calculation to a cube is fairly elaborate and worth mentioning here. There is a brief but interesting discussion on applying conditional formatting to cubes.  Concepts behind multidimensional expressions (MDX) have been explained nicely with an example of MS Excel formulas in Chapter 8. Chapter 10 is very important from the perspective of reporting, what-if analysis and forecasting. This chapter clearly describes all the steps required to integrate cubes with Reporting Services. In a nutshell, this is a useful book for beginners to learn SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services using BIDS.

	Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition Authors: Prashant Dhingra and Trent Swanson
	Reviewed by: Aniresh Devchoudhury
Rating: 4 dots	Review date: 8/27/07
	The narrative is very fluid and easy to understand for someone who is well versed in SQL Server and .Net techology. But for someone who is not familiar with these technolgies the going may be a bit tougher. The step by step examples and code samples are very illuminating and helpful.  The summary section at the end of each chapter could have been a little more elaborate with bulleted items and review of terms that were introduced in the chapter. Overall a good guidebook for SSCE.

	Delivering Business Intelligence with Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Author: Brian Larson
	Reviewed by: Ben Aminnia
Rating: 5 dots	Review date: 10/31/06
	Whether or not you have had experience with DTS in previous versions of SQL Server, this is an excellent reference for every DBA / Developer.  It is filled with both theoretical backgrounds and practical examples and therefore, it can be used in two different ways: 1. As a reference material for day-to-day lookup of various how-to examples; 2. As an academic material for just learning a lot of things on the subject of Business Intelligence. For a related article I wrote recently on the same subject, please click here.