Professional SQL Server™ 2005 Programming

Chapter 24. Administrator

So, at this point we've covered all of the core database topics and then some. We still have a chapter or two to clean up the edges around our development effort, but we've mostly covered everything — heh, NOT!!! For the developer, we like to think our job is done, but for the application we're building, it's just beginning. And so, it's time to talk a bit about maintenance and administration of the databases you develop.

As a developer, I can just hear it now: "Isn't that the database administrator's job?" If you did indeed say something like that, then step back, and smack yourself — hard (and no, I'm not kidding). If there is anything I hope to instill in you in your database development efforts, it's to avoid the "hey, I just build 'em — now it's your problem" attitude that is all too common out there.

A database-driven application is a wildly different animal than most standalone apps. Most standalone applications are either self-maintaining or deal with single files that are relatively easy for a user to copy somewhere for backup purposes. Likewise, they usually have no "maintenance" issues the way that a database does.

In this chapter, we're going to take a look at some of the tasks that are necessary to make sure that you end users can not only recover from problems and disasters but also perform some basic maintenance that will help things keep running smoothly.

Among the things we'll touch on are:

• Scheduling jobs

• Backing up and recovering

• Basic ...