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Work in database development is not only a SQL Server matter. Besides the proper development tools, you also need evaluation tools that allow you to examine such things as the effectiveness of your application, its reliability, and its fault tolerance. The operating system includes some of these tools, and SQL Server 2005 installation adds others as well.

Using Performance Monitor

Performance Monitor measures resource utilization, such as processor time and memory in usenot only for those resources required by SQL Server 2005, but also for those required by the application. Using Performance Monitor, you can evaluate which part of the entire application uses the most resources and explore execution alternatives to maximize performance.

To launch Performance Monitor, open the Control Panel and double click the Administrative Tools icon. Double-click the Performance icon to launch Performance Monitor.

Using Network Monitor

Usually, database applications run in a network environment. This means that the applications use some network resources to obtain or update information. Network Monitor allows you to analyze what happens behind the scenes in the network. It helps you to evaluate which actions consume more network bandwidth and which is the best way to perform a certain task. Evaluating Network Monitor information may be difficult because it provides low-level information dealing with network frames ; however, the hard work of examining this information can be rewarding .

Note

Network Monitor is not installed by default. You must add it to your operating system. To do this:

Ensure that you have the original operating system setup media ready (in your CD reader or available in a network share).
On the Control Panel, double-click the Add Or Remove Programs icon.
Click Add Or Remove Windows Components in the left bar.
After the Microsoft Windows XP (or Microsoft Windows Server) setup starts, scroll down to select Management And Monitoring Tools, click the Details button, and check Simple Network Management Protocol.
Click OK, and then click Next.

Using Upgrade Advisor

Upgrade Advisor allows you to assess the impact of a database migration process and recommends actions you may take to better migrate your databases, while pointing out potential problems and corresponding solutions. Since it will be possible to migrate older applications to the new SQL Server version, this tool will be much appreciated.

Recommended Development Tools

SQL Server 2005 includes a limited version of the Visual Studio development environment to create reports , analysis services applications, and so on. In addition, it allows you to create common language runtime (CLR) objects inside your database. However, it is very important to have a full version of Visual Studio 2005 so as to have all of its capabilities available for developing a small set of test projects to evaluate such things as availability and functionality.

Visual Studio allows you to use sample code obtained from many sources, including development communities, where you can discover not only CLR samples, but also management scripts and solutions to common problems. The environment has access to public sites, such as http://www.gotdotnet.com , where you can find workspacesthat is, areas arranged by interest or some specific functionality where the participants collaborate to create better solutions. The Visual Studio environment also has access to local communities where you can find specific solutions for local problems.

Another useful tool is Microsoft Office. You can use Microsoft Access to generate test sets of data, or you can use Microsoft Excel to obtain and evaluate results and create batch scripts based on pre-existing sets of data by using its string manipulation capabilities.

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