[...]... books—Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2005: T -SQL Querying (Microsoft Press, 2006) and Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2005: T -SQL Programming (Microsoft Press, 2006)—both written by main author Itzik Ben-Gan Dejan Sarka also developed two courses for Solid Quality Learning: Data Modeling Essentials and Data Mining with SQL Server 2005 ■ANDREW WATT is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for SQL Server He is... is the technical strategy manager for SQL Server solutions at Quest Software, a leading provider of award-winning tools for database management and application monitoring on the SQL Server platform Kevin is the president of the international Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS) He has been a Microsoft SQL Server MVP since 2004 Kevin is the lead author of SQL in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference... book on SQL Server 2005 He’s very knowledgeable and great to work with, and his commitment is something I admire I’d also like to thank SQL Server guru Gert Drapers, whose insight into the SQLCLR and its uses provided lots of ideas to explore with the new technology Thanks to all my friends in the PASS organization—past and present members of the board of directors, members of the Microsoft SQL Server. .. knew everything about SQL and database design That time was just before I wrote my first book, Professional SQL Server 2000 Database Design. 1 Even now, my percentage of all knowledge is dwindling, while at the same time the amount of stuff that I know grows every day I realize now that books could be written on what I don’t know about SQL Server, and this keeps getting truer and truer as the years... ■ INTRODUCTION TO DATABASE CONCEPTS The first half of this book is concerned with the conceptual and logical design phases, and I make only a few references to SQL Server Generally speaking, the logical model of any relational database will be the same, be it for SQL Server, Oracle, Informix, DB2, or MySQL Conceptual The conceptual design phase is essentially a process of analysis and discovery, the... will assist you with some techniques and processes that will help you through the process of designing databases, in a way that’s clear enough for novices and helpful to even the most seasoned professional 5297FM 3/31/06 1:37 PM Page xxv ■INTRODUCTION This process of designing and architecturing the storage of a data is a different role to those of database setup and administration For example, in the... (O’Reilly Media Inc., 2004) and Transact -SQL Programming (O’Reilly Media, Inc., 1999) Kevin writes the monthly SQL Server Drilldown column for Database Trends & Applications, blogs at http://www.sqlmag.com, and is a resident expert at SearchSQLServer.com Kevin is a top-rated speaker, appearing at international conferences such as Microsoft TechEd, DevTeach, PASS, Microsoft IT Forum, and SQL Connections When... challenged Database and Schema A database is simply is a structured collection of facts or data It need not be in electronic form; it could be a card catalogue at a library, your checkbook, a SQL Server database, an Excel spreadsheet, or even just a simple text file Typically, when a database is in an electronic form, it is arranged for ease and speed of search and retrieval In SQL Server, the database. .. understand physics? Or would you get on a plane designed by someone who didn’t understand the fundamentals of flight? Sounds quite absurd, right? So why expect your clients to come to you to get a database designed if you don’t understand the core concepts that underpin effective database design? The first half of this book is devoted to the different, distinct phases of relational database design and. .. final design that can fulfill the business requirements and ensure the integrity of the data in your database However, before starting this design process in earnest, we need to explore a few core relational database concepts Therefore, this chapter discusses at the following topic areas: • Database design phases: The next section provides an overview of the four major phases of relational database design: . Davidson with Kevin Kline and Kurt Windisch Pro SQL Server 2005 Database Design and Optimization 5297FM 3/31/06 1:37 PM Page i Pro SQL Server 2005 Database Design and Optimization Copyright ©. several SQL Server magazines, and has presented at conferences internationally on the topic of database pro- gramming with SQL Server. ■KEVIN KLINE is the technical strategy manager for SQL Server. Data Modeling Essentials and Data Mining with SQL Server 2005. ■ANDREW WATT is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for SQL Server. He is an expe- rienced author and independent consultant