The Guru's Guide to SQL Server Architecture and Internals

Ken Henderson, a nationally recognized consultant and leading DBMS practitioner, consults on high-end client/server projects for such customers as the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy, H&R Block, Travelers Insurance, J.P. Morgan, the CIA, Owens-Corning, and CNA Insurance. He is the author of five previous books on client/server and DBMS development, a frequent magazine contributor to such publications as Software Development Magazine and DBMS Magazine, and a speaker at technical conferences. 0201700476AB07032003

List of Exercises.


Foreword.


Historical Perspective.


Preface.


Acknowledgments.


Introduction.


About the Author.
I. FOUNDATIONS.

1. Overview.


Chapter Overview.



Chapter Pairs.



About the Code.

2. Windows Fundamentals.


The Win32 API.



User Mode vs. Kernel Mode.



Processes and Threads.



Virtual Memory vs. Physical Memory.



Subsystems.



Dynamic-Link Libraries.



Tools.



Recap.



Knowledge Measure.

3. Processes and Threads.


Processes.



Threads.



Thread Scheduling.



Thread Synchronization.

4. Memory Fundamentals.


Memory Basics.



Virtual Memory.



Heaps.



Shared Memory.

5. I/O Fundamentals.


I/O Basics.



Asynchronous and Nonbuffered I/O.



Scatter-Gather I/O.



I/O Completion Ports.



Memory-Mapped File I/O.

6. Networking Fundamentals.


Overview.



Named Pipes.



Windows Sockets.



Remote Procedure Call.



Recap.



Knowledge Measure.

7. COM.


Overview.



Before COM.



The Dawn of COM.



Basic Architecture.



COM at Work.



Threading Models.



COM and SQL Server.



Recap.



Knowledge Measure.

8. XML.


Overview.



Simplicity Comes at a Price.



A Brief History of XML.



XML vs. HTML: An Example.



Document Type Definitions.



XML Schemas.



Converting XML to HTML Using a Style Sheet.



The Document Object Model.



Processing XML with MSXML.



Resources.



Recap.



Knowledge Measure.

II. SUBSYSTEMS, COMPONENTS, AND TECHNOLOGIES.

9. SQL Server as a Server.


SQL Server and Networking.



The SQL Server Executable.



SQL Server's DLLs.



SQL Server I/O.



SQL Server Components.



Recap.



Knowledge Measure.

10. User Mode Scheduler.


UMS Design Goals.



User Mode vs. Kernel Mode Scheduling.



Preemptive vs. Cooperative Tasking.



How UMS Takes Over Scheduling.



The UMS Scheduler.



The UMS Scheduler Lists.



Going Preemptive.



Hidden Schedulers.



DBCC SQLPERF(umsstats).



Recap.



Knowledge Measure.

11. SQL Server Memory Management.


Memory Regions.



Sizing.



The BPool.



Primitive Allocations.



AWE.



The Lazywriter.



The Memory Managers.



Pulling It All Together.



Recap.



Knowledge Measure.

12. Query Processor.


Key Terms and Concepts.



Parsing.



Optimization Stages.



Optimization Limits.



Parameter Sniffing.



Auto-Parameterization.



Indexing.



Statistics.



Indexable Expressions.



Join Order and Type Selection.



Logical and Physical Operators.



Recap.



Knowledge Measure.

13. Transactions.


The ACID Test.



How SQL Server Transactions Work.



Types of Transactions.



Avoiding Transactions Altogether.



Automatic Transaction Management.



Transaction Isolation Levels.



Transaction Commands and Syntax.



Debugging Transactions.



Optimizing Transactional Code.



Recap.



Knowledge Measure.

14. Cursors.


Overview.



On Cursors and ISAM Databases.



Types of Cursors.



Appropriate Cursor Use.



Transact-SQL Cursor Syntax.



Configuring Cursors.



Updating Cursors.



Cursor Variables.



Cursor Stored Procedures.



Optimizing Cursor Performance.



Recap.



Knowledge Measure.

15. ODSOLE.


Overview.



The sp_OA Procedures.



Automating with ODSOLE.



Automating SQL-DMO by Using ODSOLE.



Using ODSOLE to Automate Custom Objects.



Recap.



Knowledge Measure.

16. Full-Text Search.


Overview.



Architectural Details.



Setting Up Full-Text Indexes.



Full-Text Predicates.



Rowset Functions.



Recap.



Knowledge Measure.

III. DATA SERVICES.

17. Server Federations.


Partitioned Views.



Recap.



Knowledge Measure.

18. SQLXML.


Overview.



MSXML.



FOR XML.



Using FOR XML.



OPENXML.



Using OPENXML.



Accessing SQL Server over HTTP.



URL Queries.



Using URL Queries.



Template Queries.



Mapping Schemas.



Updategrams.



XML Bulk Load.



Managed Classes.



SQLXML Web Service (SOAP) Support.



SQLXML Limitations.



Recap. Knowledge Measure.

19. Notification Services.


How It Works.



Building Your Own Notification Application.



Recap.



Knowledge Measure.

20. Data Transformation Services.


Overview.



Packages.



The Multiphase Data Pump.



The Bulk Insert Task.



The Data Driven Query Task.



ActiveX Transformations.



Other Types of Transformations.



Lookup Queries.



Workflow Properties.



DTS and Transactions.



Controlling Package Workflow through Scripting.



Parameterized DTS Packages.



The DSO Rowset Provider.



Using DTS to Transform Replication Subscriptions.



Custom Tasks.



Controlling DTS through Automation.



Recap.



Knowledge Measure.

21. Snapshot Replication.


Overview.



The Snapshot Agent.



Duties of the Snapshot and Distribution Agents.



Updatable Subscriptions.



Remote Agent Activation.



Replication Cleanup.



Recap.



Knowledge Measure.

22. Transactional Replication.


Overview.



The MSrepl_commands Table.



The sp_replcmds Procedure.



The sp_repldone Procedure.



Update Stored Procedures.



Concurrent Snapshot Processing.



Updatable Subscriptions.



Validating Replicated Data.



Skipping Errors.



Cleanup.



Recap.



Knowledge Measure.

23. Merge Replication.


Overview.



Conflict Resolution.



Generations.



Filtering.



Identity Range Management.



Recap.



Knowledge Measure.

IV. UNDOCUMENTED SQL SERVER.

24. Finding Undocumented Features.


The syscomments Gold Mine.



Goodies in sysobjects.



Scripting Undocumented and System Objects.



The Profiler Treasure Trove.



Snooping around in the Installation Scripts.



DLL Imports.



Recap.



Knowledge Measure.

25. DTSDIAG.
V. ESSAYS.

Why I Really, Really Don't Like Fish!
Pseudo-Techie Tactics 101.
Index. 0201700476T10012003