anyone use a 3rd party product to load balance SQL Server?

I'm working on a project needing a high-end large mission critical database
solution. The data is in 1 database. So SQL 2000 doesn't support load
balancing, and neither will 2005. That sucks. Oracle supposedly does load
balancing and I can't understand why even SQL Server 2005 won't do it. So
either I go with an 8+ CPU SQL Server or consider a 3rd party load balancer
that will somehow (?) make it work so that multiple SQL brains can balance
the load of 1 single database that is presumably shared on 1 set of disks.
I'm finding very little information on load balancing SQL Server when
searching the net. Is there a product like Legato, for example, (I haven't
tried it) that will somehow give me load balancing with SQL Server?HK wrote:
> I'm working on a project needing a high-end large mission critical
> database solution. The data is in 1 database. So SQL 2000 doesn't
> support load balancing, and neither will 2005. That sucks. Oracle
> supposedly does load balancing and I can't understand why even SQL
> Server 2005 won't do it. So either I go with an 8+ CPU SQL Server or
> consider a 3rd party load balancer that will somehow (?) make it work
> so that multiple SQL brains can balance the load of 1 single database
> that is presumably shared on 1 set of disks.
> I'm finding very little information on load balancing SQL Server when
> searching the net. Is there a product like Legato, for example, (I
> haven't tried it) that will somehow give me load balancing with SQL
> Server?
You may want to take a look at Federated Database Servers on SQL Server
2000/2005 if that architecture will work for you.
--
David Gugick
Quest Software
www.imceda.com
www.quest.com|||"David Gugick" <david.gugick-nospam@.quest.com> wrote in message
news:uzLN8u5wFHA.3180@.TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
> HK wrote:
> > I'm working on a project needing a high-end large mission critical
> > database solution. The data is in 1 database. So SQL 2000 doesn't
> > support load balancing, and neither will 2005. That sucks. Oracle
> > supposedly does load balancing and I can't understand why even SQL
> > Server 2005 won't do it. So either I go with an 8+ CPU SQL Server or
> > consider a 3rd party load balancer that will somehow (?) make it work
> > so that multiple SQL brains can balance the load of 1 single database
> > that is presumably shared on 1 set of disks.
> >
> > I'm finding very little information on load balancing SQL Server when
> > searching the net. Is there a product like Legato, for example, (I
> > haven't tried it) that will somehow give me load balancing with SQL
> > Server?
> You may want to take a look at Federated Database Servers on SQL Server
> 2000/2005 if that architecture will work for you.
> --
> David Gugick
> Quest Software
> www.imceda.com
> www.quest.com
>
Creating the partitioned views sounds very challenging for an already-in-use
DB that needs to be cut over in the middle of the night. Plus ongoing
maintenance. Maybe I'm missing the boat, but that's why I'd want to stay
away from federated databases.

Anyone ever tried this one?

I have an audio conversion and tagging project I'm working on. I'm working with .wav files which become .mp3. I have been able to automate tagging of the mp3 using an external flat file. But this process requires that I fire off a batch file from a DOS window. I use two programs. One is called Razorlame v1.1.5 and the other is called Tag. There are several other things left for me to figure out.

1. Schedule the batch so that it runs on it's own based on a schedule
2. Somehow get SQL or Access (which ever is better) to talk to the "Tag.exe" program that does the actually conversion but on the mp3 server.
3. Completely automate the process and be able to convert multiple mp3 files based on schedule, batch file and software.

Has anyone ever done anything like this and if so which database program did you use and how did you get it to work? Details please as I am still learning SQL Server 2005 and am not a .Net guru either.

Any help is much appreciated. I may be reached at: erico4@.u.washington.eduI wouldn′t automate that from SQL Server. Write an application which can be scheduled and uploads the data to SQL Server. SQL Server is for storing data not external processing.

HTH, Jens K. Suessmeyer.

http://www.sqlserver2005.de|||Jens - thanks but what exactly am I storing in SQL? Am I storing the tags themselves?

Example:
Artist: Company Name
Title: Test Title
Album: News & Information
Year: Copyright 2006 Company Name
Genre: news
Comment: John Smith etc etc

This was suggested by a coworker via email. But I'm not clear on what they mean. How would you interpret this?

If you end up using

Access .... you might be able to get the SQL script out of the Access wizard

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/access/HP051876301033.aspx?pid=CH063648341033

I'm trying to piece together how all this flows from step one and so on. I need help thinking it through the process so I can have a better understanding of that part of it.

|||

Thats a bit hard to tell for us, as we don′t know the specifics of the TAG program and the process itself. A possible solution for this could be:

1. Grab the Wav file from the folder
2. Extract the Tag information from the Wav file and store it in a flat file
3. Call the MP3 converter
4 Call the tag application using the flat file.
5. Delete the flat file.

This can be all done without any interaction with a SQL Server unless you want to persist the data on the server.

HTH, Jens K. Suessmeyer.

http://www.sqlserver2005.de

|||

You would use Access or SQL Server to store some data related to the process and/or the files that are being processed. It sounds like tag.exe is applying the contents of the data file (Artist, Title, Album, Year, etc.) to the metadata of the mp3 file. If that's correct, you can replace everything that deals with these data files (create the file, parse the file, etc.) with a database and a corresponding query. At it's simplest, you could simply map the data file to a table in the database. If you wanted to start doing more interesting processing (say, all Titles with "Hendrix"), you would want to create separate tables for your query dimensions (e.g. Artist, Genre, Year)...

There are lots of options here for what you can do. There is a good starter link on SQL Server at http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/aa336347.aspx (Look in the section titled "How do I learn more about SQL Server 2005"...specifically the Architecture and Design link and the Programmability link).

Access is a great introductory tool to help get your head wrapped around how you can use a database in this scenario. SQL Server 2005 Express Edition when used in conjunction with Visual Studio 2005 would be another good option.

Hope that helps and good luck!

Any issues with running SQL Server 2000 Standard Edt. on a 4GB server?

Hi,
we have a project where my company and another company is using the same sql
server, the problem is that the sql server crashes approximately every 3-4
days, with something that looks like memory related issues where we get the
following errors in the eventlog just before it crashes:
17120 : SQL Server could not spawn process_loginread thread.
The other company is using some COM objects (asphttp from
www.serverobjects.com) from some stored procedures to call a website(these
are called several thousand times a day) and I think that is the problem
since i can crash my own sql server and several other development sql
servers with calling this COM object through storedprocedues several
thousand times with what looks like a memory leak as sql server uses more
and more memory the more times these stored procedures are called... the
other company of course say that they have been using this product for years
without problems.
Now the other company insists that there is problems with having 4GB memory
in the server and running the standard edition of sql server 2000. We are
not using /3GB switch in boot.ini and yes we know that standard edition of
sql server can only use 2GB max.
Anyone experienced any problems like this before on a similar setup, that
too much ram will kill sql server? because i sure haven't.
Server specs:
Dual 3Ghz Xeon, 4GB ram, Mirrored Raid, HP/compaq branded server running
windows server 2003 standard edition.
SQL Server 2000 standard edition with the latest service packHi
The COM object is leaking the memory and not SQL. SQL can't control it as it
is running in process. Tell them to run the test on their machine a few
million times in a loop and watch their server fall over.
I have seen this many times and it does not matter how much RAM you have.
Regards
Mike
"T. Schmidt" wrote:
> Hi,
> we have a project where my company and another company is using the same sql
> server, the problem is that the sql server crashes approximately every 3-4
> days, with something that looks like memory related issues where we get the
> following errors in the eventlog just before it crashes:
> 17120 : SQL Server could not spawn process_loginread thread.
> The other company is using some COM objects (asphttp from
> www.serverobjects.com) from some stored procedures to call a website(these
> are called several thousand times a day) and I think that is the problem
> since i can crash my own sql server and several other development sql
> servers with calling this COM object through storedprocedues several
> thousand times with what looks like a memory leak as sql server uses more
> and more memory the more times these stored procedures are called... the
> other company of course say that they have been using this product for years
> without problems.
> Now the other company insists that there is problems with having 4GB memory
> in the server and running the standard edition of sql server 2000. We are
> not using /3GB switch in boot.ini and yes we know that standard edition of
> sql server can only use 2GB max.
> Anyone experienced any problems like this before on a similar setup, that
> too much ram will kill sql server? because i sure haven't.
> Server specs:
> Dual 3Ghz Xeon, 4GB ram, Mirrored Raid, HP/compaq branded server running
> windows server 2003 standard edition.
> SQL Server 2000 standard edition with the latest service pack
>
>
>|||I tried using another com object(w3socket www.dimac.net) that does the same
thing and called the stored procedure 100.000 times, and sql server didn't
use anymore memory during the test. I did the same thing with the com object
i suspect leaking and could see that sql servers private bytes was rising
slowly but steadily. That has to be a good indication of a leak wouldn't you
say?
I used process explorer from system internals to monitor sql server.
"Mike Epprecht (SQL MVP)" <mike@.epprecht.net> wrote in message
news:04F273D3-1FEE-4B6A-A7F8-9AC074D79ECE@.microsoft.com...
> Hi
> The COM object is leaking the memory and not SQL. SQL can't control it as
it
> is running in process. Tell them to run the test on their machine a few
> million times in a loop and watch their server fall over.
> I have seen this many times and it does not matter how much RAM you have.
> Regards
> Mike
> "T. Schmidt" wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > we have a project where my company and another company is using the same
sql
> > server, the problem is that the sql server crashes approximately every
3-4
> > days, with something that looks like memory related issues where we get
the
> > following errors in the eventlog just before it crashes:
> >
> > 17120 : SQL Server could not spawn process_loginread thread.
> >
> > The other company is using some COM objects (asphttp from
> > www.serverobjects.com) from some stored procedures to call a
website(these
> > are called several thousand times a day) and I think that is the problem
> > since i can crash my own sql server and several other development sql
> > servers with calling this COM object through storedprocedues several
> > thousand times with what looks like a memory leak as sql server uses
more
> > and more memory the more times these stored procedures are called... the
> > other company of course say that they have been using this product for
years
> > without problems.
> >
> > Now the other company insists that there is problems with having 4GB
memory
> > in the server and running the standard edition of sql server 2000. We
are
> > not using /3GB switch in boot.ini and yes we know that standard edition
of
> > sql server can only use 2GB max.
> >
> > Anyone experienced any problems like this before on a similar setup,
that
> > too much ram will kill sql server? because i sure haven't.
> >
> > Server specs:
> >
> > Dual 3Ghz Xeon, 4GB ram, Mirrored Raid, HP/compaq branded server running
> > windows server 2003 standard edition.
> >
> > SQL Server 2000 standard edition with the latest service pack
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >

Any good whitepapers on security/deployment for entire SQL Server BI solutions?

At my current employer we are struggling with the best way to manage security and deployment of a project that contains databases, SSIS, SSAS and SSRS components, using configurations.

Environment (Dev):

3 SQL Server databases, all using mixed-mode security, using SQL Server security credentials.

12 SSIS packages; one master package, eleven child packages, 3 shared data sources

1 SSAS database; one cube, 15 dimensions, three referenced data sources from the SSIS project (in same solution)

6 SSRS reports, one data source to cube (not shared- doesn't appear SSRS can share datasources among other projects in the solution? Why?)

Everything runs fine in development. Now comes the tricky part.

Deploying SSIS and SSAS into production environments:

-Packages use XML config files for connection strings to three relational data sources.

-Deploy to SQL Server storage. Deploy wizard copies package dependencies (including XML config files) to default location set in INI file. When I do this, no config file shows up in remote server (remote server not set up identical to local, so directory does not exist. Need UNC path?) So, being a developer with no "special" permissions on the PROD server, what security permissions is allowing the deployment wizard from copying files to this location on a production server?

-Using a deploy script using dtutil doesn't copy the SSIS dependencies. Is this matter of using COPY or XCOPY to copy the configuration files to the dependency location? Again, in real-world practice, do developers typically change this location in the INI file to another location, or stick with the default. In either case, how does security work that allows files to get copied to the remote folder? (i.e. manual, or SQL Server manages this file folder permission through some other magic)

When using SSMS and running the package after being deployed on the remote server, if the config path is the default (e.g. C:\program files\Microsoft SQL Server\90\DTS\Packages\...) it appears to be read from the local machines directory rather than the remote machines directory path (do I need to use UNC paths? The wizard doesn't give this option it seems)

-When scheduling the job from SQL Agent, does the proxy account need permissions to the folder the config files sit in?

-What about the roles security on the packages themselves? Where does the server roles come into play (dtsltuser, dtsadmin)

-Because the SSAS project uses connection references to the SSIS project in BIDS, and SSIS project uses configurations, will SSAS pick up on these connections?

-What about impersonation levels for SSAS? Leave all data sources set to default, and set the database impersonation level to "UseServiceAccount"? What if the developer is not the same as the OLAP administrator on the production server? In this case, Use Service Account isn't an option, and neither is the current users credentials.

-SSAS database also has security for Full Control, but still doesn't prevent security at the data source level within the database (talking about impersonation level, not source db credentials)

-How can SSRS connections leverage other shared connections?

As you can see, there are a ton of security considerations, none of which are intuitive and can be configured multiple ways and actually work (and a ton of ways that won't work).

I need a simple cheat-sheet about each step to take to configure this so multiple developers can work without interruption, hot-deploying SSIS, SSAS, and SSRS changes into different environments (QA, PROD).

-Kory

It is still on my list to read so I'm not sure it contains the information you need but check http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/sql/2005/sql2005secbestpract.mspx

WesleyB

Visit my SQL Server weblog @. http://dis4ea.blogspot.com

|||

I've already read this- not much on the BI tools side, mostly for the RDBMS.

-Kory

Any difference between MSDE and SQL Server 2000 :-?

Hi,

I am developing an web-database application using ASP.net,c# and MSDE. and after the completion of the project i want to deploy the database over the server whichs got sql server professional edition.

Are there any changes to be made while deploying it over the server and also will the connection string for MSDE and SQL client the same ?

Please do clear me the confusions i have got ..

thanks inadvance

No difference. Just move it over, change the credentials you use to connect, and all will be well.|||

Hey Hi,

Thanks for ur reply man.. Now i dont have any kinda confusions with these 2, i will continue my work.

Thanks again

Answer: Access creates DB in MSDE in SQL Server Authentication mod

I've confirmed that MS Access will create an ADP project in MSDE only if the server is set to Mixed (SQL Server and Windows) authentication mode. Trials in Windows Authentication mode failed. This is still hard to believe, I know, but its a reality.
To all those who tried to help, my sincere thanks.
Lou Arnold
Ottawa, Canada
Lou,
Did you have to create users in the SQL database itself so that Domain
Users could access the MSDE, and if so, with what tool did you use?
"Lou Arnold" <Lou_Arnold@.nospam.com> wrote in message
news:EB2211E6-F5BD-4DD8-AC32-65B7B0DC0ECA@.microsoft.com...
> I've confirmed that MS Access will create an ADP project in MSDE only if
> the server is set to Mixed (SQL Server and Windows) authentication mode.
> Trials in Windows Authentication mode failed. This is still hard to
> believe, I know, but its a reality.
> To all those who tried to help, my sincere thanks.
> --
> Lou Arnold
> Ottawa, Canada