This morning I came across this web site by Microsoft called "Microsoft Dreamspark" They have training videos, reading material and provide microsoft professional tools free of cost for students to practice. Please have a look and sign in and take advantage
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Here are the event details from SSWUG. Attend the Free SQL Disaster Recovery Event SSWUG's free virtual expo will showcase several ways to prevent a SQL Server disaster and how to recover the database in the event of loss or damage. Through the in-depth sessions with some of the leading SQL Server experts in the information technology (IT) field, you will see many demonstrations and examples on anticipating and reducing the likelihood of a database tragedy. Learn more about the virtual expo cont...
A couple of days ago my manager asked whether there is a way to convert appointments recorded in outlook into a report so that the data need not be double handled. I thought there should be some sort of an export option provided in outlook and started exploring the menus in outlook. There I found under the File menu an option called Import and Export as shown below. I chose the export to file option as shown below. I them chose the csv for windows option as shown below. In the next screen I chos...
SSWUG.ORG’s virtual expo will review various aspects of SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS), which enables the server to be used for analytical processing and data mining. Through our in-depth sessions with four of the leading experts in the information technology (IT) and business intelligence (BI) fields, you will see many demonstrations and examples on designing, creating and managing data from multiple sources. By the end of theevent, you should have the tools and understanding needed to bri...
SharePoint beginners and experts can benefit from attending SSWUG.ORG’s “SharePoint 2010 Basics” webcast series, which will delve into what you can do with the newest version of SharePoint and how the platform can benefit your business. In four, in-depth sessions, Rebecca Isserman, SharePoint Server MVP and Consultant for Planet Technologies, will explain how to use the platform’s key features, create sample applications in the development environment, blend Silverlight applications with SharePo...
We heavily use a customised feature of Image Library on sharepoint 2007 which is our Intranet. One of the new users yesterday had deleted a whole folder from this library and wanted us to restore this. Now we have never done a restore onto the sharepoint. So I started investigating the sharepoint settings as to how to solve this problem rather than looking at the backup to restore. So this is what I found! a Recycle Bin in the Sharepoint. And there are the files from the folder that was deleted ...
Explore the basic functions of MDX and view many practical examples on using the query language in SSWUG's "Introduction to MDX" webcast series. In three, in-depth sessions, Business Intelligence architect and MDX expert Bill Pearson will focus on the basic components of MDX, as well as provide information on crafting simple MDX expressions and queries that generate result sets. Click here to see the Session dates Click here to see the Session Schedule. I think these sessions will be particularl...
Last night when I tried to access my computer from home via Remote Desktop Connection an error came up as shown below. This is the first time I have encountered with this error. Since I had lots of work to do I logged on to one of the servers and did my work thinking that the error will disappear when I access the actual machine in the morning. But to my surprise the error persisted when I switched on the monitor in the morning. So I tried the usual Ctrl+Alt+Delete. And there lies the familiar s...
In one of our server audits it was discovered that only one third of the memory has been allocated to the sqlserver instance. Questions were asked whether multiple instances od sql server are present. But when there was no other instance of sql server running it was recommended that we increase the memory allocated to double from 10 GB to 20 GB. The actual memory of the server was 32 GB. Here are the steps we took to achieve this. 1) RDP to the SQLServer and sign on 2) Open up SQL Server Managem...
I had a strange problem today. I went to the website I have developed and maintain and tried to click on the print button and expected to get a normal printout. But instead was surprised to get a blank print out with just the header and footer. I thought I haven't changed any code why did it stop working. I just assumed that it was not working for anyone without testing on other computers. After about 15 min. I had a request from another colleague to print from some other govt. website. So I hit...
Today's post is in no way related to BI. But I guess it is important for everyone to know where the power switch for a blade server is in case they are required to power them. We had a power outage for about 6 hrs at our office and the UPS would last only for 1 hr. We decided to do a managed shutdown of the servers and then power them back up the next day when the power came back up. I was responsible for coming early in the morning and switching on all the servers. As mentioned in an earlier po...
Yesterday I was working with my colleague and she was surprised with the number of shortcuts I use with Windows Key . So I thought I could list all the shortcuts for the benefit of her and others To open the Start Menu -- just click Windows Key To open the windows exlpoer -- click Windows Key + E To open the seach/find window -- click Windows Key + F To display the desktop by minimising all the open windows -- Click Windows Key + D (I have found this really helpful) To lock your computer -- clic...
I stumbled across Channel 9 yesterday while researching. Channel9 is a Microsoft maintained site which is full of videos, blogs, shows, series etc. There is too much information on this site for one to absorb and learn. Here is the link to the site. I hope you will enjoy this learning.
Here is another Free Expo Event from SSWUG that covers Data Mining and Analysis. The event is scheduled for March 18th 2011 from 9 am to 12 pm PST. Sessions will cover the following topics: Using Data Mining Plugins with Excel Developing SQL Server Data Mining Models Understanding Data Mining APIs Finding Patterns and Relationships in Server Data You can register now if you would like to learn from three skilled data mining experts which includes Brian Knight of Pragmatic Works as well.
Today I had a requirement to colour code in Excel based on a few conditions. At first I thouhgt I could use thre to four rules in the conditional formatting to achieve this result but when I did that the results that I was getting was not very satisfactory. So I thought I would try the And function of excel in conjunction with the conditional formatting and it worked wonders. I wanted the entire row to be highlighted in a certain colour based on three conditions. Here are the steps I followed to...
Thanks to one of my colleaguee, yesterday I learnt about the Snipping Tool which is avaibale in Windows 7. To activate the tool -- Click on Start -- All Programs -- Accessories -- Snipping Tool. A screenshot of the tool is shown below. Snipping tool enables you to select an area on your desktop or the entire desktop using your mouse and save this as an image for future use. Until now I used to use the key board shortcuts PRintscn for capturing a screenshot of the entire desktop or Ctrl + Alt + P...
I thought today I will cover the steps that can be followed to process a Sql Server Analysis Services Cube from Sql Server Management STudio. The assumption is that you already have a cube that is built in SSAS and you would like to process this cube from sql server management studio Step 1 Connect to the sql server analysis services instance from the sql server management studio as shown below. Step 2 From the left hande side menu click on the plus beside Databases. Step 3 Right click on the cu...
I have been introduced to the Business Intelligence concepts thanks to my manager way back in 2007. I have started working from DTS days and I have built a datawarehouse all by myself of which I was proud of. Then later on with the introduction of sql server 2005 and more advanced features of BI we had to rebuild our datawarehouse with a lot more requirements. Exactly a year ago I have joined BIDN after attending a webinar of Patrick Le Blanc. I am very thankful to him for mentioning this site a...
Today's post is not about BI but very valid in our day to day interactions with the systems. Since our systems administrator left our company I have had a lot of opportunity to learn about things outside my normal coverage area. I am very thankful to my manager Ashley for giving me that opportunity. In one of the meetings I sat with the external consultants 'Outlook Anywhere' was mentioned. Outlook Anywhere is one of the Exchange 2007 feature that Microsoft has developed. The consultant mentione...
Yesterday I was exploring Sql Server Management Studio, when I spotted Linked servers. I thought I will investigate what that is and started trying out the options available. So I right clicked on linked server, only three options came up as shown below. I clicked on the New linked server. I was browsing through the provider list as shown below and was keen to learn more about the provider for Microsoft Directory Services. I thought I will experiment by using excel hence I gave the product name ...
Here is the information on very interesting topic -- Managing SQL Server Source code. Here is an excerpt from the communication I have recieved from MSSQLTips Live Webinar: Managing SQL Server Source Code Now is the time to properly manage source code in SQL Server. Put an end to the chaos and stress of having to manage source code in a haphazard manner. Source control for application code has been the norm for years, but that is not necessarily the case with SQL Server code. Come to this web ca...
I wanted to use Excel Services on Sharepoint 2007 to migrate some of our BI reports from a third party application that we use. So I tried publishing to Excel Services from Excel 2007 assuming that our Sharepoint was setup to be used with Excel Services. When I tried to publish and open in a browser I started getting an error " Excel Web Access: An error has occurred ". When I checked the event log the following was logged in the event viewer. There was an error in communicating with Excel Calcu...
Here is another Free Expo Event from SSWUG that covers Basic and Complex SSIS Features. The event is scheduled for February 18th 2011 from 9 am to 1 pm PST. Sessions will cover the following topics: SSIS Sorting and Package Protection SSIS Package Checkpoints and Transactions SSIS Native Logging Features Best Practices with SSIS Package Design Deploying, Scheduling and Administering SSIS in Production Real-world Business Scenarios with SSIS Speakers include the Knights of Pragmatic Works, a very...
As mentioned in an earlier post since our systems administrator left our company I am taking care of the backups until the position is replaced. The backup scheduled for last Friday failed as the backup agent was stuck on a server. Since it was the weekend I thought I will rerun the backup after fixing up the cause. I had a look at the log and restarted the server where the backup agent was stuck. Now I wanted to reschedule the Friday backup as it is with the same features as to going into the s...
As posted in my previous blog Sharepoint Usage Reports Part 1 , I could not get it working the next day. So I had to resort to my best friend google and found the article on Microsoft that helped me configure it correctly. Here are the steps I followed as a follow up of my steps in Part 1. I logged into SPAdmin site and clicked on Usage Reporting under Office Sharepoint Usage Reporting as shown below. Then enabled advanced usage reporting as shown below. Now when I click on the site usage report...