A SQL Server 2000 Post SP4 hotfix has just been released to the public. Bringing the SQL Server 2000 version number to 8.00.2162 This hotfix is a cumulative hotfix containing: Hotfixes that were built since SP4 shipped Hotfixes that were done for SP3 but did not make it into SP4 (because of the cutoff date for fixes that made it into service pack SP4) This build has undergone more testing than a typical hotfix build but not as much as say a service pack. The build is available at the following download

Visual Basic 6.0 support died 31 March 2005. Rightly so. Everyone is up in arms. http://classicvb.org/ <RANT ON> There is far too much badly architected, badly developed and security-less VB v1.0-6.0 code out there. And it is a risk to every business that is using it. Now how can a developer not want to move forward, improve on what he/she has written, and at the same time, keep up with the technology boom that put them where they are? If a VB 6.0 developer can not handle the migration to VB

Microsoft have been working on a free management tool for SQL Server 2005 Express, and what they were working on during the betas was mostly tossed away in the July timeframe. Now, the CTP for the new tool, Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Express is available. Something that looks and works like the full Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio is really the right choice. http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=82AFBD59-57A4-455E-A2D6-1D4C98D40F6E&displaylang=en

Something that seems to have been added to SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition, very late in the development cycle, seems to be on of it's best features. The ability to have one DB, located on SAN, available to multiple SQL Servers at the same time, as a read only DB is just incredible. You can really scale out reporting, and might save you from having to flatten the data so that it is report friendly. Just throw more servers at the problem now. You need a bit of effort to update it, but it is really

The files just went up for RTM SQL Server 2005 and Visual Studio 2005 on MSDN Subscribers Downloads. A big 2747 MB download for SQL Server. :)

Ok, so Microsoft removed row level security from SQL Server 2005 early in the development cycle. Pity, but looks like it was just one of those trade-offs that needed to be made. A bunch of guys from Microsoft Consulting has produced a paper on how to implement "Row and Cell" level security in SQL Server 2005. "Implementing Row and Cell Level Security in Classified Databases Using SQL Server 2005" http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/sql/2005/multisec.mspx I like the idea of keeping it simple

Microsoft has decided to re-award me my MVP status again. Good. 3rd year running. I must be doing something right. The joke among the Germans is that MVP stands for “Muss Viel Posten” (translated: “must post a lot“). True, the presence in the newsgroups does influence the re-nomination. I am happy. My time has been well spent.

It was great. The sleepy town of Mainz in Germany, then 600 .NET and SQL Server geeks arrive. My 2 sessions went well, and had great fun presenting them. I did not get much time to see the others, pity. I did see Ingo Rammer's “Migrating .NET to Indigo”. Awesome. Then there was Meinrad Weiss' “SQL Server 2005 Business Intelligence”. He had the audience in awe by showing the new features in SQL Server 2005 and a great product called DeltaMiner . Jaws dropped when this BI tool

So, Database Mirroring will not be "on" in SQL Server 2005 when it releases. From what I have read, it looks like it is not performing up to expectations. You can still enable it, but it's probably going to be one of those "we told you so" scenarios. I do not doubt that it is robust and won't trash your data, but I do think it is a bit too slow for production use. I just thought it was the June CTP that made it slow. I have not been able to crash it yet. Paragraph 5.1.2 from the September CTP shows

A Russian Colleague living here in Switzerland told me about Swiss produced Xellent Vodka 6 weeks ago. She swore by it. So, the next day I went and bought a bottle, went to friends for dinner, put it in their freezer and 4 hours later, I took the bottle in my grip and promptly finished half of it over dinner (I was greedy and would not share). The next morning I had no hangover and promptly had a bit more. I swear by the stuff, it is very good. Pity it is not available as a small bottle for me to