Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2008 All-In-One Desk Reference For Dummies®

VIII.1.1. SQL Server Configuration Tools

If you're new to SQL Server, the sheer number of available tactics that achieve the same goal might confuse you. Part of this is because SQL Server has been around for many years, and still ships with several legacy technologies. However, Microsoft has been steadily moving in the direction of becoming 100-percent graphical, so it's worthwhile to become familiar with these tools. Consequently, throughout this book, we devote the majority of our attention to making the most of the SQL Server Management Studio. We also point out, however, that character-based approaches to getting the job done still exist. These same rules apply to many administrative tasks. We look at each of the major technologies available for performing administrative work.

NOTE

If you want to get a holistic view of how these tools work together, see Book I, Chapter 2.

VIII.1.1.1. SQL Server Configuration Manager

This graphical tool (launched from within the SQL Server Configuration Tools menu) is primarily meant to let administrators enable or disable SQL Server's system services as well as client/server communication protocols. Figure 1-1 shows this tool in the context of managing services.

Figure VIII.1-1. The SQL Server Configuration Manager.

VIII.1.1.2. SQL Server Surface Area Configuration Tool

This graphical tool (also launched from within the SQL Server Configuration ...