Welcome to SQLsmarts, Idera’s monthly newsletter for SQL Server Professionals. We welcome your questions, comments or suggestions, please email us at SQLsmartseditor@Idera.com.
 

In this issue:

Product News
New version of SQL diagnostic manager available
New version of SQLtool available

Case Study
Rock-Tenn uses Idera’s SQL diagnostic manager and SQLschedule cuts SQL Server Management Time in Half

Tips & Tricks
Get real-time status of servers & groups with SQLdm
Send SQLdm alerts to an ODBC database
Using drag & drop functionality in SQLtool
Create a sortable & updateable spreadsheet in SQLtool
Installing SQLsafe backup agent on a clustered SQL Server
Increase backup performance using file striping

New version of SQL diagnostic manager now available!
If you haven’t upgraded to the new version of SQLdm yet, don’t wait another day! New features in v3.5 make it easier than ever before to monitor and administer multiple databases and servers:

• The new grid view provides faster, more flexible monitoring. Now you can easily monitor many servers and databases using a convenient Excel-style grid view. Monitor in real time or export the info for more extensive analysis. Easily sort and filter to zero-in on critical issues throughout your SQL Server environment.
• Streamline management of alerts and settings across multiple databases. This new feature not only saves time, it makes it easy to standardize settings or set alerts across servers.

Learn more about SQL diagnostic manager v3.5

Upgrade now

New version of SQLtool available
Now with SQLtool v3.0, it’s even easier to manage SQL Server anytime, anywhere using a web browser! Check out these new features:

• Intuitive Tree Control lets you quickly and easily navigate your entire SQL Server infrastructure. Simply click on any node to see more information and begin managing your servers and databases.
• Multi-server Updating and Reporting allows you to perform functions (including scripts, reports, checks and more) across all servers and databases in a fraction of the time and in just a few simple steps. Bulk updates are now a snap!

Rock-Tenn uses Idera’s SQL diagnostic manager and SQLschedule cut SQL Server management time in half
Faced with a rapidly expanding SQL Server infrastructure, but no additional staff, the DBA team at Rock-Tenn relies on Idera’s SQL diagnostic manager and SQLschedule for in-depth performance monitoring, diagnostics and job management.

Find out how Rock-Tenn uses Idera products to:

• More effectively monitor and track SQL Server performance
• Gain better understanding of SQL Server capacity to more accurately plan for future SQL Server needs
• Conveniently schedule SQL Server jobs and customize alerts so that only the relevant DBAs are notified

SQL diagnostic manager

View real-time status of server groups – new in v3.5!
Did you know that with SQLdm 3.5, you can now create custom views and organize servers into logical groups? With this new feature, sorting or filtering servers by application, group, location, or department is just one click away.
Start organizing your SQLdm server list

Write SQLdm alert messages directly to an ODBC data repository
Many users don't realize that SQLdm can write alert messages directly to an ODBC data repository, adding a whole new level of reporting and secondary alerting capabilities. Plus it’s easy to set up!
Find out how to expand SQLdm alerting features

SQLtool

Get the most out of Drag and Drop
SQLtool is loaded with features such as “Drag and Drop” and simple keyboard shortcuts which are designed to save you time; however, many users are not familiar with this functionality. In fact, it’s one of the most powerful yet most underutilized features of SQLtool.
Explore drag and drop shortcuts in SQLtool

Sorting & Updating Result Sets
In SQLtool you can quickly sort result sets simply by clicking on column headers. You can also make any result set into an updateable spreadsheet so that data modifications can be done on-the-fly.
Find out how to make SQLtool result sets updateable

SQLsafe

Installing SQLsafe backup agent on a clustered SQL Server
With the growing importance of continous server availability to enterprise organizations, active-passive server clusters are becoming a regular feature in the production environment. With SQLsafe, you can ensure that backups and restores function smoothly, even in instances of failover between cluster nodes.
Set up SQLsafe against a cluster

Increase backup performance using file striping
Striping backups to multiple files – even on the same disk – can significantly increase performance because of the use of multi-threaded processing. Striping is simple to set up, whether you are using the Management Console, T-SQL, or the command line interface to initiate your backups.
Find out how to stripe your backup files

• Idera Announces Entry into Latin American Market
   
• Momentum Continues for Idera's SQL Server Management Tools Business

• New England SQL Server User Group Meeting, March 10
   
• New York Metro SQL Server User Group Meeting, March 31
   
• SQL Server 2005 Roadshow, coming to a city near you this Spring
   
• 2005 PASS European Conference, Munich, Germany, May 11-12
   
• Tech-Ed 2005 Orlando, Florida, June 5-10