SQL Server 2005 Practical Troubleshooting: The Database Engine

Preface

I originally conceived this book as a means of getting Microsoft support engineers to write down the many things they had learned from supporting SQL Server over the years. When I joined Microsoft, I was surprised to learn that much of the practical knowledge related to supporting the product (what those in epistemology refer to as “domain knowledge”) that had been acquired by the support people was not written down anywhere. It was often communicated verbally and passed down from person to person via oral traditions.

This, of course, led to people not knowing how to do their jobs unless someone was kind enough to show them the way. It was also extremely error prone. And it led to some of the most important knowledge about supporting ...