Microsoft SQL Server(TM) 7.0 Administrator's Pocket Consultant (Administrator Pkt Consultant)

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).

Product Description
Ideal at the desk or as a portable reference for the office, this book provides database administrators with hands-on reference needed to solve problems with a concise, direct approach, and delivers quick reference support for infrequently used steps and hands-on tasks.

It's also light and small (relatively), so if you're a consultant you can easily carry it along with you. It's very clearly written.


Handy in a Pinch   March 6, 2001
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

This book is compact (although pocket means coat pocket in this case) and well-indexed, so it's very handy to have with you if you in a pinch. Unfortunately, much of the book is devoted to explaining where things are in the UI (this button does this, that button does that). There are a few good how-does-this-work sections and lots of tip/best practice/real world insets, but in the final analysis they are only occasionally more helpful to me than the Books Online. Also, as another reviewer mentioned, there is precious little here about the gotchas inherent in certain operations--good SQL and GUI examples of how to accomplish a task, but not much to help you if something goes wrong. In short, if you're asking yourself how much depth there could be in a book whose title advertises that it will fit in your pocket, you should probably buy something else. But there are a lot of topics covered here, and the newer you are to SQL Server 7, the more use this book will be to you.


A True Believer   November 16, 2000
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

First book review I've ever written but this book deserves it. As an on the road consultant for a software company, I needed a reference manual that was compact and informational. I am not a DBA and go back and forth between SQL Server and Oracle - master of neither. This book has answered every question I've ever had and is the only reference book I carry (thank you for the small size!). I can't recommend it enough. Probably not deep enough for the true SQL Server DBA's but for every day practical knowledge, can't be beat.


Solid Reference, but missing some details   October 29, 2000
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

The SQL Server Pocket Admin Guide covers the major areas confronting a DBA: Admin, Data Administration, Performnace Monitoring, Backup and Recovery and the like. More importantly it gives clear examples of syntax for things from ISQL and OSQL to creating jobs to run DTS packages.

The one thing it needs to include is an FYI or "gotchas" section. The pocket administrator is not so good at indicating what it is leaving out.

For example: Restoring backups to other dbs with different owners but identical schemas is non-trivial.

DTS packages running stored procedures do not allow for error trapping. This mean if the SP raises an error, the DTS package will not notice and continue as if the SP ran successfully.

While you can not expect a pocket administrator to cover these details. It should briefly indicate that these are issues to be considered, but beyond the scope of the reference.

Other than this oversight, it is an excellent reference.