Technology Frequently Ask Questions

Windows 7 hardware requirements and tools: Study guide

2010-03-27T18:10:00.000-07:00

QUESTION 1

A ________ places a new copy of Windows on a new drive partition, or onto an existing partition, that contains an earlier version of Windows. Your customers' files, settings and programs are not kept.

* Clean install
* Upgrade install
* Partial install
* Full install

QUESTION 2

Which of the following are not examined by the Windows 7 tool, Reliability Monitor?

* Application install/removals
* Driver install/removals
* Hardware failures
* Security logs

QUESTION 3

Which of the following is not a minimum Windows 7 hardware requirement?

* 1 GB RAM (32-bit)
* 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
* 8 GB available disk space (32-bit)
* Internet access

QUESTION 4

True or false: Windows 7 hardware requirements include kernel-mode drivers on an x64-bit version of Windows 7, and these drivers need to be digitally tested and signed.

* True
* False

QUESTION 5

If a disk pauses and thrashes each time you switch between running applications or documents, you need to __________.

* Change your BIOS settings
* Add more RAM
* Use Microsoft�s ReadyBoost
* Put a hard drive and an optical drive on the same channel

QUESTION 6

When Windows Activation Technology determines whether your customer's copy of Windows 7 needs reactivation, each hardware component is assigned a relative weight. Which is the correct order (from highest to lowest)?

* Motherboard (and CPU), hard drive, network interface card (NIC), graphics card and RAM
* RAM, graphics card, NIC, hard drive and motherboard (and CPU)
* Hard drive, NIC, graphics card, RAM and motherboard (and CPU)
* NIC, graphics card, RAM, motherboard (and CPU) and hard drive

QUESTION 7

When navigating the Windows 7 tool, Device Manager, which of the following is not an option under View in the menu bar?

* Arrange devices by type or connection
* View resources by type or connection
* Show hidden devices, such as a PS/2 keyboard, when a USB keyboard is present
* Add legacy hardware

QUESTION 8

True or false: The main difference between a standard Windows application and a command-line program is that it doesn't use a graphical display or pull-down menus.

* True
* False

QUESTION 9

What does the system called Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology (SMART) monitor?

* Hardware performance
* Application performance
* Signs of disk problems
* Virtual memory

QUESTION 10
The Microsoft Management Console is a graphical user interface-based component in Windows 7 that accommodates administrative tools called _______.

* Performance monitors
* Snap-ins
* Console taskpads
* Data sources

How to use string functions to make an SQL join

2009-05-05T05:20:00.000-07:00

I am trying to make an inner join on columns in which a value is stored differently, for example, in one column it is application:username and in another it is username (not starting with application). Can you explain how to do this with an example?

This is accomplished by using string functions to extract the username from the application:username values.

Consider these sample tables:

Table1      Table2
username    username
Tom         asdf:Tom
Dick        asdf:Dick
Harry       asdf:Harry
           qwerty:Tom
           qwerty:Dick
           qwerty:Harry
           asdfTom
           Tom
           oops:

The SUBSTRING function, which extracts a substring from a string value, will be needed. But what if there are application values of different lengths? Then we need to take the substring starting at a different point in the username column, and this will vary depending on where the colon is.

This is a job for the POSITION function.

SELECT Table1.username
    , Table2.username
 FROM Table1
INNER
 JOIN Table2
   ON SUBSTRING(Table2.username
        FROM POSITION(':' IN Table2.username) + 1
               ) = Table1.username

Here, the POSITION function finds the position of the colon in Table2.username. For asdf:username it's in position 5, and for qwerty:username it's in position 7. By adding 1, we begin extracting the substring at the next character. Since there is no FOR length parameter specified, the substring goes all the way to the end. The extracted substring is then compared to Table1.username to match rows.

If the Table2.username value does not contain a colon, however, then the POSITION function returns 0 as the position. By adding 1, we begin extracting the substring at the first character. Thus the entire value will be compared to Table1.username to match rows. This may or may not result in a match, depending on the data, but at least the query will run. We need to add 1, simply because a FROM 0 value for the SUBSTRING function will usually fail.

Another problem is if the Table2.username value contains a colon but nothing after it. Then the POSITION value will be equal to the length of the string, and the FROM value will be 1 greater than that, so the SUBSTRING function might fail again. To get around this, just tack an extra space onto the Table2.username value:

    ON SUBSTRING(Table2.username || ' '
        FROM POSITION(':' IN Table2.username) + 1
               ) = Table1.username

If the colon is in the last position, then the SUBSTRING function will return the space. Of course, this probably won't match any Table1.username, so this is fairly safe. And luckily, trailing spaces do not make a difference when it comes to matching values, so the other rows will continue to join properly.

SAP ABAP Development Quiz

2008-11-18T18:43:00.000-08:00

Que 1. As a beginner with the ABAP Workbench, you will want to...

a) Read data from tables
b) Write data to tables
c) Create or change tables
d) All of the above

Que 2. The settings in the Data Browser/Table View Maintenance field...

a) Regulate the transport of the table's data records during installs, upgrades, copies
b) Regulate the scope that you may use to display and maintain data records
c) Answers A & B
d) None of the above

Que 3. Before activating a data element you should?

a) Preform a consistency check
b) Select "buffering not allowed"
c) Click "execute"
d) None of the above

Que 4. What are the two elementary data types provided for character strings in ABAP?

a) a and b
b) x and y
c) p and f
d) c and n

Que 5. The number of your fields has reached unmanageable levels and you can no longer be sure that the fields have the correct content at runtime. What tool will help you with this problem?

a) Transformation Editor
b) Performance Trace
c) ABAP Debugger
d) Runtime Analysis

Que 6. Set more breakpoints in the ABAP Debugger by...

a) Double clicking a line
b) Utilities - Breakpoints - Display
c) F8
d) None of the above

Que 7. A "branch" corresponds to...

a) A statement that contains "ELSE"
b) An "IF" statement
c) The "either-or" statement in normal language
d) All of the above

Que 8. In the SAP system you can have internal tables in...

a) The database and memory
b) Memory and the formatting lists
c) The database and toolbars
d) All of the above

Que 9. Modularization in ABAP is important because...

a) You are debugging more often than necessary
b) You are manually writing all code by yourself
c) You are splitting complicated solutions into small components
d) None of the above

Que 10. What does ABAP stand for?

a) Advanced Business Application Programming
b) All Banthas are Portentous
c) Allgemeiner Berichts-Aufbereitungs-Prozessor
d) Answers B & D

SQL Server databases how-to

2008-04-22T01:17:00.000-07:00

How to use BULK insert to import data from file to SQL Server database?
Is there a query to find SQL Server database names created by users?
How do I upgrade databases to SQL Server 2005 after server upgrade?
How to synchronize databases on two separate active servers?
What does a SQL Server database marked 'suspect' mean?
How can I copy databases when upgrading to SQL Server 2005?
Is it possible to back up tables from SQL Server 2005 database to a file?
Can a SQL Server database be restored with a corrupt data file?
How to display a SQL Server database report in Excel?
Can I restore a SQL Server database without a .mdf file?

1. How to use BULK insert to import data from file to SQL Server database?

I would like a stored procedure to import data from a .txt or .xls file to a database using SQL Server. I will use temporary tables to copy from the file and then I'll transfer from the temporary tables to the database. Could you please give me an example of such a procedure?

There are many ways to import data into SQL Server and what you choose depends greatly on your specific scenario. If you want to simply load contents of a text file into a temporary table, the BULK INSERT command should do the trick. If the number and the order of the columns in the file is the same as in the destination table, your statement could be as simple as this:

BULK INSERT MyTable FROM 'c:datamydata.txt' WITH ( FIELDTERMINATOR =' |', ROWTERMINATOR =' |\n' )

If you want to exclude some columns or modify the order of columns, create a format file and specify it as a parameter to BULK INSERT. You can refer to Books Online to learn more about how to use BULK INSERT and how to create a format file.

2. Is there a query to find SQL Server database names created by users?

Can you give me a query to get all the database names (created by users) of one SQL Server?

You can query the sys.databases view or the sysdatabases compatibility view.

3. How do I upgrade databases to SQL Server 2005 after server upgrade?

I need to upgrade a SQL Server 2000 SP4 to SQL Server 2005. As all my other 2005 servers are "clean installs," i.e. not upgrades, I'd like to take the same approach with this one. So, the plan is to back up the databases, uninstall SQL Server 2000, install SQL Server 2005 SP2 and attach databases. Now, obviously these will be 2000 databases. How do I upgrade the databases to SQL Server 2005, and scripts/stored procedures etc? Can you enclose the necessary links or stored procedures?

The SQL Server 2000 databases will be upgraded to SQL Server 2005 as soon as they are attached to the SQL Server 2005 instance. You will need to change the compatibility level from 80 (SQL 2000) to 90 (SQL 2005) in order to get the full benefit of SQL Server 2005. After you attach the databases to the SQL Server 2005 instance and change the compatibility level, it's recommended that you rebuild your indexes and update your statistics.

4. How to synchronize SQL Server databases on two separate active servers?

I want something similar to mirroring, except the databases on both servers need to be active. Basically, the servers are pulling information into identical databases but need to be in a load balancing arrangement, and if one were to fail the other could pick up the load and have complete and current data. Is there a way to keep databases on two separate servers synchronized without going to a SAN solution?

If this is only for failover purposes you could look at using log shipping or if you are running SQL Server 2005, you could look at using database mirroring. If you need to have both databases active all of the time, you would need to use SQL Server replication.

5. What does a SQL Server database marked 'suspect' mean?

My SQL Server database is marked 'suspect.' What can I do?

The first step is to relax. Panic will get you nowhere, and SQL Server database problems like this can be stressful! So take a few deep breaths and remember that everything will be okay.

Next, read Tibor Karaszi's "Recommended actions for corrupt or suspect databases."

If you get to step six and still cannot get yourdatabase back up and running, it's time to restore from your last good backup. But you still might have a chance to retrieve any changed data that's in the database. SQL Server 2005 introduces a new database state, called EMERGENCY. This state puts the database into read-only, single-user mode, with access allowed by members of the sysadmin role only. This will make your database accessible and let you get in to pull out any data before doing a full restore.

To put a database into EMERGENCY state, use the following T-SQL, substituting the name of your database for 'YourDatabase':

ALTER DATABASE YourDatabase SET EMERGENCY;

6. How can I copy databases when upgrading to SQL Server 2005?

I am trying to migrate from SQL Server 2000 32-bit with close to 300 databases, to SQL Server 2005 64-bit. I have tried the "Copy Database" feature but it fails to copy any database over. I also need all of the logins moved over. I am open to any suggestions.

I generally find that the Copy Database Wizard is slow and inefficient compared with other methods of moving data. It is best used for cases when you need to do a very quick and dirty transfer of a small amount of data between a couple of servers, and don't want to take the time to do a backup or detach the database.

If you need to move 300 databases, I think you'll discover that the fastest way is to use sp_detach_db on the SQL Server 2000 instance to detach each database and sp_attach_db to re-attach the databases on the SQL Server 2005 instance. Doing so also has the benefit of preserving your database users.

However, even with that method you'll still have to get the logins into the SQL Server 2005 instance. Check out the Microsoft Knowledge base article "How to transfer logins and passwords between instances of SQL Server." This article includes a script that should help you with that task.

Note that you might have to re-map the logins to database users once you're done. To do so, use the sp_change_users_login system stored procedure.

7. Is it possible to back up tables from SQL Server 2005 database to a file?

Can we back up selected tables from a database to a file in SQL Server 2005 standard edition If it's possible, what is the command?

Yes, it is possible to back up selected tables to a file using Bulk Copy Program (BCP) or SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS).

8. Can a SQL Server database be restored with a corrupt data file?

Can a SQL Server database be restored if the data file is corrupt? The problem is, we do not have any valid backups but do have the current data file and the log file.

If you have the .mdf and .ldf files and they are not corrupt you can do an "attach" to connect the database to SQL Server. If the files are corrupt and you do not have a good backup, there is not much you can do. There are some companies out there that say they can recover the data. So, I would look them up on the Internet to see what they can do for you.

9. How to display a SQL Server database report in Excel?

We are working with SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition. We have been tasked with developing a report from the SQL Server database, which we then have to display in Excel. This data will be calculated using a query and then placed into specific cells of the Excel workbook for calculation and graphs. Should we use Visual Basic or does this involve other services provided with SQL 2000?

You can use DTS and SQL Server 2000 to transfer data directly to Excel by specifying Excel as your destination end in the data pump. You should consider looking at the Microsoft knowledge base article: "HOW TO: Transfer Data to Excel by Using SQL Server Data Transformation Services" for some details.

10. Can I restore a SQL Server database without a .mdf file?

I have the .ldf file but don't have the .mdf file of my database. Can I restore my database from the existing .ldf file?

No, this is not possible. The data is all stored in the .mdf file, so without that you won't have any data.

Track changes to SQL Server 2000 and 2005 with one simple utility

2008-04-22T01:11:00.000-07:00

I am the systems administrator and SQL Server DBA in my organization. We're often required to immediately add databases, logins or jobs to the different SQL Server environments, especially in the development and testing environments. Since I can't allow myself to become a bottleneck for such changes, I had to delegate permissions for these SQL Server changes to the project managers. That said, I'd like to be notified regarding these changes. How can I achieve this goal without spending time on designing and developing a specific application? The problem is, I have both SQL Server 2000 and 2005 all over the place. I need something that will work for both environments.

The solution:

There are a few options to achieve my goal in SQL Server 2005, such as DDL triggers and event notifications. But SQL Server 2000 is more limited. To achieve my goal in both environments, I had to program a small utility that could run once a day or a few times a day, monitor changes in the respective system tables and send a message if changes are, in fact, detected. In order for that to work, SQL Mail (SQL 2000) or Database Mail (SQL 2005) must be configured already. I created a sp_send_dbmail stored procedure on my SQL 2000 instances that simply executes the xp_smtp_sendmail stored procedure.

Here are the example scripts I use in order to receive notification when new objects are created in my SQL Server instance. You can use these same scripts for modifications and deletions of the corresponding server objects:

New job:
A trigger can be created on the sysjobs table in the msdb database, so you don't need a daily job for that matter:
New login:
I create a table in tempdb holding the login names from the last time the job was executed. Every time it executes, I compare the contents of this table with syslogins and send a message with the new logins, if there are any. If the content of the table changed, I update the one in tempdb accordingly. It is better to create the table in a DBA database instead of in tempdb -- this way the table will not be dropped when SQL Server service is restarted for any reason. The following script should be executed every period of time (such as once a day):
New database:
I do the same as I did with the new logins:

A more realistic solution:
You can apply the sample code – except for the trigger that will execute anyway – when a new job is added from a central location by executing it as remote stored procedures.

For example, create the following on server_A, server_B and server_C:

And run the following from server D (which is a central server) using Linked Servers:

exec Server_A.master.dbo.spDBA_NewDatabaseNotification
exec Server_B.master.dbo.spDBA_NewDatabaseNotification
exec Server_C.master.dbo.spDBA_NewDatabaseNotification
exec Server_D.master.dbo.spDBA_NewDatabaseNotification

Conclusion:
A simple way to receive notification about changes in your SQL Server objects, such as logins, databases and jobs, when you have both SQL Server 2000 and SQL Server 2005 is to monitor the delta of the system tables that hold the object's information or have a trigger on the object's table when it's possible.

Getting a grip on Oracle's data integration and BPM strategies

2008-02-14T22:17:00.000-08:00

What do you make of Oracle's newly released Data Integration Suite?

ANS Oracle acquired [Sunopsis Inc.] last year and its product -- [which is now called Oracle Data Integrator] -- had been used in Oracle environments. But what they're really doing with the Data Integration Suite is making [Data Integrator] fit better into the overall Oracle environment, and to some degree it is becoming a replacement for the Oracle Warehouse Builder.

Data integration is always a hot topic, but that's especially so these days. Why is that?

ANS: Everybody needs to integrate all of the data sources that they have. Everyone is basically trying to leverage the information assets that they have more effectively, and more and more that means, "How do I get information into one place in one consistent way where I can work with it?" That is what Oracle is trying to provide here. They had some rudimentary capabilities before, and they expanded with a more general-purpose [extract, transform, load] tool. They basically are providing a way for people to use their information more effectively.

How would you characterize Oracle's overall data integration strategy?

ANS: I think that Oracle, like everybody else, is trying to become much more of a one-stop shop. If you look at it from the Oracle Database and technology point of view, they're trying to be more like IBM, which bought all of the Ascential products a couple of years ago and is now integrating them as part of its more complete Information On Demand [offering]. Oracle, rather than having its customers rely on third-party products like IBM or Informatica, wants to be able to offer that itself.

Should SAP be concerned about this strategy?

ANS: SAP versus Oracle isn't decided at a level like this. SAP may decide it wants to buy somebody like Informatica so that it can leverage its Business Objects acquisition a little more effectively. But from this point of view, it's just more of Oracle wanting to sell more things to its existing customers. Oracle is really trying to give people less reason to bring in anybody else, because with all of the industry consolidation, anybody else is going to be somebody big. That would just mean more competition in the long term.

You spend a great deal of time covering the BPM market. Could you tell me how approaches to BPM have changed over time?

ANS: Basically, with the classic Oracle applications, you had an application that had some basic business processes built into it, and it was mainly departmental. What people are increasingly trying to do is to build business processes that span their whole organization and perhaps even reach into some of their partners', suppliers' and customers' organizations and make that work much more effectively as one complete business process with no chance of things being left out or forgotten. To do that, what people will do is implement a BPM system. Oracle, for example, is selling its BPEL Process Manager, which will let people take a string of applications and build one business process across them and thus do that process more effectively.

Another key area you cover is MDM. In your experience, what are some of the key pain points that organizations are facing today with regard to MDM?

ANS: Users are still trying to get the MDM thing right. They're now realizing that they really have to have the right pieces there. The tools are just coming together to make that easier to do. Right up until now it has [required] quite a bit of manual effort to build something with workflow and everything else to do that. The tools that Oracle offers in R12 of the applications make it a bit easier for the customer with regard to product information. That's really the pain point -- there have not been a whole lot of good solutions out there that can be implemented readily and that work well with the applications, and that is just now changing.

Is it possible to achieve complete MDM within an organization?

ANS: It's always going to be incremental. You're always learning something. Most companies have to start with a particular scope, which means a particular master data type and a particular scope of applications. For example, if you think of something like a product, product information is all over the company. Just in the ERP system from a supply chain and manufacturing point of view, a product might have 300 to 400 attributes that 15 to 20 people need to maintain. If you start getting into the marketing side of the world, if you start getting into the product development side of the world, you have as many or more attributes in each of those universes. So there is a huge amount of data, and people have to approach it incrementally. And it can be years and years of work because you have to get everyone to agree on how things are done and who is responsible for what, and then implement technical systems to do that. But it is something that people will eventually get to.

Do you have any general advice for people embarking on a data integration or MDM initiative?

ANS: Like everything else, the hard part is the people. You've got to make sure that you have a governance process in place to agree on the rules. Technically implementing rules usually isn't anywhere near as hard. When we see people doing MDM programs, half of the effort is getting everyone to agree on what the rules are, 40% of the effort is cleaning up the data, and only 10% of the effort is actually implementing the technology.

Windows System Resource Manager

2007-12-16T05:30:00.000-08:00

Q. What is Windows System Resource Manager (WSRM)?

A. You use WSRM to manage CPU and memory use by process or by user. This means an administrator may safely run multiple applications on a server. WSRM helps prevent applications from consuming more than their allocated CPU and memory limits and thereby prevents an application from taking CPU and memory resources from other applications. Consequently, the end user will see a more consistent and predictable experience.

WSRM policies can be applied according to a time or date schedule. For example, you can focus CPU and memory resources on mission-critical applications during peak hours and use a different policy, freeing resources for maintenance applications, during non-peak hours.

With the accounting feature of WSRM administrators can generate, store, view, and export resource utilization reports for systems management, service level agreement (SLA) tracking, and billing purposes.

Q. Which scenarios won't WSRM handle?

A. Windows System Resource Manager is not intended to handle other aspects of data center management such as:
• Managing clusters or other groupings of machines as a single entity. Machines must each have separate policies.
• Starting or scheduling of applications or services.

• Managing processes belonging to the operating system itself.

Q. How does an administrator use WSRM?

A. Administrators use WSRM to address several scenarios when running multiple applications on a single server. Some scenarios include:
• Ensuring access to administrative tools and interfaces.
• Consolidating applications from several servers.
• Improving server hardware utilization.
• Checking fulfillment of service level agreements.
• Enforcing fair consumption of resources among desktops in terminal server systems.

• Restricting resource-intensive IIS 6.0 applications to limit their effect on other applications.

Q. Can you run the WSRM accounting function without running the management policies?

A. Yes. You can run the WSRM accounting function by using policy profiling.

Q. How does WSRM help with server consolidation?

A. When consolidating multiple applications on a single server, it is critical to allocate each application access to the system resources it requires. This regulation reduces the ability of applications to interfere with one another. This resource allocation allows multiple applications to be safely consolidated onto fewer larger servers, thus reducing operating costs.

Q. How does WSRM help with server utilization?

A. Today administrators typically operate their servers at five to ten percent of total capacity. This ensures that there is spare capacity if applications require it. However, it also means that money has been spent on a system which is not fully used. With WSRM administrators can consolidate multiple applications in the way that they now have the ability to allocate system resources. When system resources are allocated, applications operate within a defined resource policy and within defined resource allotments on the system. With this granular control, servers can be safely operated at higher levels of capacity while still providing a consistent user experience.

What is an Application Server?

2007-12-16T05:16:00.000-08:00

Q. What is an application server?

A. We define the category of application server as the “system software that underlies the server-based execution of shared business applications.” Just as a file server delivers files to many users, an application server makes applications—often custom-built applications—available to multiple concurrent users.

Q. What are the benefits of application server technology?

A. Using application server technology, an organization can develop, run, and manage custom or off-the-shelf applications in a way that is security-enhanced and reliable, while maintaining high levels of performance for multiple concurrent users. Application servers can host applications that respond to requests, perform business logic, and coordinate updates to shared data. Concurrent user requests are ensured fairness as well as accuracy in reading and updating system-of-record data.

Q. How does application server technology relate to Web services?

A. Web services provide a standards-based mechanism for multiple applications to intercommunicate. Application server technology can provide the infrastructure for hosting server-based systems that connect out, or accept connections in, by way of Web services. Web service clients, including smart clients built on the Microsoft Office System, can communicate with Web service providers running within application servers.

Q. How does application server technology relate to smart clients?

A. Application server technology is a natural complement to smart client technology. Smart clients are client-side applications that are easily deployed and managed and that provide an adaptive, responsive, and rich interactive experience by leveraging local resources and intelligently connecting to distributed application and data sources. Web services provide an optimal mechanism to connect smart clients to custom or prepackaged applications running on application servers.

Q. How does application server technology relate to service-oriented architectures?

A. Many companies are reorganizing information technology systems into a service-oriented architecture (SOA), allowing applications to be more maintainable, more cost-effective, and more aligned with business goals. Solid application server infrastructure plays a central role in enabling SOA for information-centric organizations.

Q. What is the functionality a typical application server provides?

A. A typical application server provides a ‘host’ process or container for business components or services. These components or services may be purchased as packaged software, or written by programmers in an IT department. An application server also provides:

Life-cycle management and scheduling, which allows an administrator to specify when an application should start and/or stop—in other words, to specify what time periods to make an application available.
A security-enhanced model, which includes a way to authenticate user requests or identify, in a security-enhanced manner, the users making those requests; and also a way to make authorization decisions based on that user identity.
Performance management and optimization, which comes frequently in the form of object pooling, just-in-time activation, throttling, and similar techniques.
Concurrency management, which relates to serving multiple users concurrently.
Distributed transaction capabilities.
A programming framework and model to access external systems and databases.
Management features for all of the above capabilities.

Oracle Database 11g questions answered

2007-12-11T21:36:00.000-08:00

You've been developing a differentiated channel strategy with respect to your Oracle Database Standard Edition (SE) and Oracle Database Standard Edition One (SE1) with regard to what the channel is going to be carrying to small and medium-sized companies. Can you tell me a little bit about how Database 11g now plays into all this?

Charles Phillips: We'll build on the channel strategy we have in place. It's just extended to 11g. The way it works is today the channel, at least for the [high-volume] distributors, [is] mainly focused on SE1 and SE. Because of the packaging and the pricing for that market, that's appropriate. Now, today, they do have the right to sell Enterprise Edition, but in reality given the focus of their market, they don't do a lot of that. So, 90% of SE1 today goes through the channels. I would expect the same thing to happen with 11g. SE and SE1 will largely go through the channels and then the Enterprise Edition will probably be for high-end customers and go direct. But there's nothing prohibiting them from selling the high-end product, it's just not their natural space.

There was a lot of talk about delivering Oracle Database 11g for Linux. What are your plans for a Windows version of 11g?

Phillips: We have to be very precise on versions that we can announce publicly. All we're announcing today is that Linux is shipping this quarter and we'll just come back to you on the other platforms.

What are the features that will be sold as separate options as opposed to being part of the regular database itself?

Chuck Rozwat: Our intention is to do a pricing and packaging announcement as we get closer to the release date. So, what we wanted to focus on today was the functionality. We'll be putting out all the information about what is an option and what isn't an option and what the exact pricing will be, but the intention is to keep the same pricing model going forward as we had with 10g. It will just be a matter of weeks before we make that announcement.

Does the 11g upgrade create stronger links to Oracle's Fusion Middleware suite? I'm trying to get to the bottom of whether Database 11g acts as a strong driver for middleware sales.

Phillips: There certainly is some connection there because we have many customers who are standardizing on the Oracle stack, and there are certainly optimizations that would be built in between both layers, which you'd expect us to do. The middleware is more efficient with our database and vice versa. I can't quantify [or] specifically say that there is something immediately that is going to happen to middleware because of this upgrade.

Rozwat: There are a couple of very specific technical connections between the database and middleware. [One area surrounds] Binary XML. Binary XML is now in the format that the middleware can use. It gives us a complete XML story up through our middleware stack. Another example is clustering technology. Middleware is now up-taking the same clustering technology that we've used for [Real Application Clusters] so you'll be able to create these clusters that actually use the same technology for what has traditionally been the middle tier for those services as well as the database. For business intelligence there are a number of connections for content management. There is the fast files capability we announced. That is being used by content management in the middle tier. There is kind of a very long list of technologies where we've worked very closely between the two groups to make sure that there is an uptake.

Change management and testing account for about 30% of IT budgets. Can you give us a little more detail on the new Real Application Testing feature of Database 11g? Is this the beginning of a new push for you?

Andy Mendelsohn: Yes. The Real Application Testing is a whole new area for us. We obviously don't sell anything in that space today. The closest thing is our management pack. We think there is a big market opportunity because there are no competitors who can do what we do with Real Application Testing. There is basically no competition and there is this huge demand from our customers. We expect that it will be very popular. The thing that you, of course, need to understand is that we're actually seeding the market here. This is a new 11g feature and we're actually porting the Change Capture portion of Real Application Testing back to [Database 10g Release 2]. So, once people get to 10gR2, and they want to start moving to 11g, this will be a great technology for them to use.

Top 10 SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) and DTS tips

2007-12-07T21:43:00.000-08:00

Whether you plan to migrate SQL Server Data Transformation Services (DTS) packages to SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) or run DTS packages in SQL Server 2005, this expert advice can help. We've tallied our Top 10 tips on the topic of SSIS, so you'd have all the most searched for information in one source. If you've already implemented the new ETL platform into your SQL Server environment, check out the tips on SSIS maintenance, debugging and programming basics.

#1 -Migrating SQL Server 2000 DTS packages to SSIS

SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) is more than a replacement for SQL Server 2000's Data Transformation Services (DTS) packages. The scale of changes is vast and the SQL Server 2005 ETL platform more powerful. SQL Server expert Joe Toscano helps make the migration to DTS as painless as possible with the transitional tools SQL Server 2005 Upgrade Advisor and Package Migration Wizard.

#2 -Maintain DTS packages in SQL Server 2005

What if you've migrated to SQL Server 2005 and want to hold off upgrading your DTS packages to SSIS? In this tip, you'll see how to edit, maintain and even develop existing DTS packages in SQL Server 2005 using the SQL Server DTS Designer Tool. You'll also see some migration challenges and how to use the SQL Server 2005 Upgrade Advisor.

#3 -Run DTS packages within SQL Server Integration Services

Do you have a DTS package that performs just right in SQL Server 2000 and you'd like to have it do the same in SQL Server 2005? A method does exist. SQL Server expert Eric Johnson walks you through the steps to run a DTS package in your SSIS package.

#4 -SSIS maintenance plans in SQL Server 2005

Using SSIS packages for your maintenance plans in SQL Server 2005 allows greater flexibility to customize tasks and also provides an execution history for less difficult troubleshooting. Contributor Baya Pavliashvili highlights how maintenance plans have improved in the latest version of SQL Server and walks you through building your own plan with the Maintenance Plan Wizard.

#5 -Extend SSIS packages with scripting and programming

SQL Server Integration Services brings new meaning to importing data, compared to Data Transformation Services. Microsoft also offers two methods of extending SSIS functionality. Contributor Serdar Yegulalp shares how to extend Control Flow and Data Flow with scripting, and also with the advanced method involving programming with custom objects.

#6 -SQL Server Integration Services to simplify database maintenance

The SQL Server Development Team at Microsoft adapted SSIS to offer point-and-click database maintenance, offering vast improvements over DTS and SQLMaint in SQL Server 2000. The Database Maintenance Wizard

still exists to build the initial process, but the modifications are all made to an SSIS package stored locally on the server. In this tip, you'll see how a little maintenance can go a long way in improving SQL Server performance.

#7 -Debugging SSIS packages in SQL Server

Debugging SSIS packages is a feature in SQL Server 2005 that offers many methods for finding the cause of a problem. Here's a step-by-step process for two of these methods: breakpoints and data viewers. Both methods present a lot of information about the inner workings of your packages so you can get under the hood and tune SSIS performance.

#8 -Debugging SQL Server DTS packages

Still weighing whether to move your DTS packages to SSIS? As a SQL Server DBA, you frequently modify DTS packages, either to correct errors in logic, extend DTS package functionality or to change the server, database or object name. SQL Server MVP Hilary Cotter shares various methods for debugging and promoting DTS packages in SQL Server 2000.

#9 -SQL Server Integration Services programming basics

SSIS is more than a tool to move data around in SQL Server 2005. It creates a system where the data sets you import and the packages you create are programmatic objects that can talk to one another, rather than existing as static data. Here's an outline of some SSIS features and why they make it an impressive ETL tool.

#10 -T-SQL in SSIS: The power and the weaknesses

Using T-SQL vs. the Data Flow task in SQL Server Integration Services is a decision dependent on a number of factors. Serdar Yegulalp shares some things to consider, including data origin, operation complexity, stored procedure purpose and whether the data is likely to change in SSIS.

Software maker touts value of security data visualization

2007-12-04T19:40:00.000-08:00

With network intrusion detection systems and other types of security data gathering tools, the average company ends up amassing large quantities of security data. But how to make sense of it? Greg Conti, creator of RUMINT open source software, recently released the book Security Data Visualization, which explains how to use visualization technology to interpret security data with engaging graphics and easy-to-read charts. SearchSecurityChannel.com spoke with Conti to learn more about using security data visualization to sell security products in the channel.

What is the concept behind security data visualization?

ANS: Security data visualization is a technique whose time has come. There's no shortage of security appliances and sensors, and each of those generates a tremendous amount of data. The data can be overwhelming because there are only a limited number of experts who can make sense of it. There are things humans are inherently good at, such as recognizing patterns, and there are things that machines are good at, like matching exact strings. Where computers are bad, that's where visualizations come in and help people make sense of the sea of data that they are confronted with.

People are wired to think visually and have a high bandwidth of visual recognition capability that we can use to communicate. A picture is worth a thousand words. If you can take this textual data or binary data and convert it to insightful pictures, you can then use it to communicate your message to other analysts, to your customers or to senior decision makers.

What is the process of security data visualization?

ANS: Typically, you have a large set of data that you want to find insight in. You combine that with a set of "problems" or tasks that you want to accomplish. You have this data and these tasks that you have no current solution for and no way to address. The process of visualization is taking the data and presenting it graphically in an insightful way. That's also the hard part.

Can you give some examples?

ANS: The best example and the lowest end of information visualization is with Excel graphics. You take a table of data and it's very hard to pick out what's biggest and smallest, to see a trend over time, but a simple graph will make things pop out at you. There's been active research going back 20 to 30 years, beyond Excel-class graphics like pie charts and bar graphs, and there's 200, 300 techniques that can be applied to take what you see to a higher level. It may allow you to compare 10 different types of variables at one time versus just a pie chart, which is far more limited. You're taking these visualization approaches -- mapping the data to the visual display and providing these windows into what you're looking at.

You've developed this program, RUMINT. Can you describe it for us?

ANS It is a bit of a joke -- it comes from intelligence community slang. People know SIGINT for signal intelligence, HUMINT for human intelligence, and IMINT for imagery intelligence like satellite images. RUMINT is for rumor intelligence. The idea is that when you're trying to help people solve a problem, you draw a box around what you're going to address. It addresses network data and packets of data. RUMINT keeps an eye on network packets of data.

How is it different from other tools that do the same thing?

ANS The best-in-breed tool is WireShark, formerly Ethereal. It's great but it's primarily textual. I wanted to see if could I take that same packet-level data and show it in a graphic, insightful way. That's what RUMINT does -- it loads the packet capture files and allows you to look at them with different views. Things will jump out that would be very hard to see in a textual view.

RUMINT is an open source tool and it's free for people to use and experiment with. I've put a lot of effort into making it usable. When building prototypes, there's a long road between creating something that only the person who wrote it can use to something that people can actually download, install and use. It allows you to see different types of activities that are impossible to see using textual tools, such as different types of different values in the packets changing over time.

With RUMINT, it's a good tool, but I won't claim it will cure cancer. It's a step in applying visualization to solve different problems.

How does one acquire security data visualization tools?

ANS: You can buy someone else's solution that has visualization capabilities -- Arcsight comes to mind as one tool. You can also develop your own tools that you can use for visual approaches. I've received feedback as developing RUMINT and one person compared it to being as fun as playing a video game. It's an important goal. If you find the right tool, your people actually want to look at the data and find it engaging and fun versus tedious and painful. Whether you're using someone else's tool at an SMB or building your own tool at a larger company, that's the same goal -- find it to be engaging and insightful, not just eye candy.

What industries can security data visualization apply to?

ANS: It's broadly applicable across sectors, but especially ones that require heavy analysis of data, particularly larger amounts of data where they're bursting at the seams and current tools can be overwhelmed. It's something that requires a human in the loop -- if they have machine solutions, visualization won't really help unless they're trying to find some new insight into the data. If they have successful machines, they won't need it and will save the humankind for scenarios or questions that require a human's intelligence.

Do you see opportunities for value-added resellers and systems integrators to use security data visualization?

ANS: Visualization in general is very good for communicating a corporate message and problem. If you're trying to show distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, you can show a series of images and say, "This is what your network looks like, this data shows security problems." I think you could use visualization to communicate in an image something that will be easily interpreted by the people you're trying to communicate to. RUMINT can do that to a degree, but I think visualization in general can help you sell to customers and senior decision makers.

RUMINT can do it for packet data. One RUMINT user told me that they used it in a hospital and one machine was misbehaving. They used RUMINT to create a picture of what the machine was doing as opposed to an uninfected machine and were able to show the user why their machine was being taken off the network.

What type of customer can benefit the most from security data visualization?

ANS: That would be MSPs [managed service providers]. As an MSP, there's a security threat that you're trying to make your customers aware of. Visualizations can be used for that. RUMINT can be part of it, but full visualization is the best approach.

CCNA Certification Study Guide: IP routing

2007-11-26T20:03:00.000-08:00

Q1. If mask 255.255.255.128 were used with a Class B network, how many subnets could exist, with how many hosts per subnet, respectively?

256 and 256.
254 and 254.
62 and 1022.
1022 and 62.
512 and 126.
126 and 510

Q2. Which of the following features would you typically expect to be associated with the router CLI, but not with the switch CLI?

The clock rate command.
The ip address address mask command.
The ip address dhcp command.
The interface vlan 1 command.

Q3. Which of the following commands correctly configures a static route?

ip route 10.1.3.0 255.255.255.0 10.1.130.253.
ip route 10.1.3.0 serial 0.
ip route 10.1.3.0 /24 10.1.130.253.
ip route 10.1.3.0 /24 serial 0.

Q4. Which of the following is a useful command on some Microsoft OSs for discovering a host's current IP address and mask?

tracert.
ipconfig /all.
arp -a.
ipconfig /displaydns

Sample Question - Solaris Certification

2007-11-22T05:07:00.000-08:00

Q1. In Solaris how many disk slices a disk can have ?
a) 8 b) 7 c) 6 d)1

Q2. Which file is used to set the default mask in Solaris ?
a)/etc/profile b) .profile c) /etc/system d) /etc/inittab

Q3. What are the advantage for making disk partitions ?
a) Easy to maintain b) Easy for backing up
c) Limits problems to one partition only d) Space can be monitored easily.

Q4. What does a + sign in /etc/hosts.equiv indicates ?
a) All hosts are allowed b) Only known hosts are allowed c) All users are allowed d) Unknown hosts are also allowed .

Q5. Which command is used to mount local file system ?
a) mount -l b) mountall c) mount d) mount -r

Q6. Which command line option gives a run level and output headings ?
a) who -b b) who -r c) who -rh d) who -rH

Q7. which command is used to change the auto-boot feature in sun ultra ?
a) eeprom "auto-boot?"=true b) eeprom auto-boot?=true c) eeprom autoboot? true d) eeprom auto-boot = true ..

Q8. If patch id is 123456-10 then its revision number is -
a)123 b)456 c)10 d)6-10

Q9. Which commands can be used to make a device alias
a) devalias ay OK prompt b) dvalias at root prompt
c) nvram at ok prompt d) drvconfig at root prompt.

Q10. What is required in a diskless workstation for Solaris workstation
a) cpu, monitor, keyboard, hard disk b) cpu, monitor, keyboard, cdrom drive
c) cpu, monitor, keyboard, Ethernet card d) cpu and Ethernet card only.

Q11. Which of the following points to virtual file system ?
a) /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s3 b) /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s3
c) /dev/md/dsk/c0t0d0s3 d) /dev/vx/rdsk/data/vol1

Q12. Which Solaris command is used to correct filesystem problems?.
a) newfs b) fssck c) mkfs d) format

Q13. Which is the configuration file for the tip command
a)/etc/tip.conf b) /etc/remote c) /etc/inittab.d d) .profile

Q14. When automounter daemon needs to be restarted ?.
a) When direct map is changes b) When indirect map is changes
c) No need to restart d) When a new user is created

Q15. What is the default configuration cluster in Solaris installation ?.
a) Developer b) Core c) End user d) Entire Distriidution

Q16. Which utility is used to administer the port monitor ?
a)sacadm b) pmadm c) ttyadm d) admintool

Q17. What is the command to assign a ip address to qfe network interface ?
Write the command ............................................

Q18. 10 30 * * 4 /usr/bin/loginfo entry in crontab will execute the program
a) Every Friday at 10.30 b) Every Thursday at 10.30
c) Every Saturday 10.30 d) Every Wednesday at 10.30

Q19. What do you need for a fresh Solaris Installation ?.
a) Host Name b) IP Address c) Net mask d) Domain name

Q20. How can you see the prom version ?
a) show version b) prom c) banner d) version

Q21. Which file enables you to disable root login on terminals ?.
a) /etc/profile b) .profile
c) /etc/default/login d) /etc/system

Q22. Which directory contain run level control scripts ?.
a) /etc/rc2.d b) /etc/init.d c) /etc/rc3.d d) /usr/bin

Q23. Which command show the patch installed in the system ?
a) patchadd -p b) showrev -p c) showpatch d) patchlist

Q24. What are the advantage of having a virtual file system ?.
a) Large capacity volumes b) Increased File system size
c) Performance enhancement d) backup becomes easy

Q25. Which file is used to define default run level for init process at booting time ?.
a) /etc/ttyyab b) /etc//ttyadm
c) /etc/inittab d) /etc/profile

Q26. Which command shows kernel parameters and and driver module information ?.
a) sysconfig b) prtconfig
c) dmesg d) prtconf

Q27. A multiuser operating system is one - in which
a) Many users can work simultaneously b) Many Processes can work simultaneously
c) A large number of users can be created d) A number of user home directories can be created.

Q28. What is true about software packages ?.
a) It is group of files & directories b) They are grouped to form clusters
c) It is standard way of delivering software in Solaris d) They can be installed using pkgadd command.

Q29. What type of names are used for administering disk drives in Solaris environment
a) Physical b) Logical c) Virtual d) disk instance

Upgrading to SQL Server 2005 FAQs

2007-11-20T20:41:00.000-08:00

1. Will SQL Server 2000 DTS packages work in SQL Server 2005?

DTS is on its way out in SQL Server 2005 and will be replaced by a brand-new Extract, Transform and Load (ETL) engine called SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS). SSIS provides a more powerful, flexible and better performing foundation for building ETL solutions than DTS, but this may leave many database administrators wondering what to do with their DTS packages.

The good news is, although they are no longer editable in SQL Server 2005, DTS packages created in SQL Server 2000 can still be run. To ease the transition, SQL Server 2005 provides an upgrade wizard for helping DBAs transition packages into the SSIS framework. However, not all components can be upgraded. ActiveX transforms, for instance, present a challenge for the upgrade wizard, and may not be able to be migrated.

While this means that DBAs will eventually have to re-write these packages using SSIS, doing so will probably be much easier than using DTS, thanks to the functionality that SSIS provides.

2. How do I fix encryption failures when upgrading to SQL Server 2005?

We recently upgraded from SQL 2000 to SQL 2005 on WINDOWS 2003. The entire upgrade process has run pretty smoothly aside from encryption. We have ASP.NET 1.x apps that connect to an internal server but fails when encrypted. We have tried all of the steps available on the MS KB and still have not resolved the issue.

In "How to: Enable Encrypted Connections to the Database Engine" by Microsoft, we find the following: To configure the server to accept encrypted connections:

In SQL Server Configuration Manager, expand SQL Server 2005 Network Configuration, right-click Protocols for , and then selectProperties.
In the Protocols for Properties dialog box, on the Certificate tab, select the desired certificate from the drop down for the Certificate box, and then click OK.
On the Flags tab, in the ForceEncryption box, select Yes, and then click OK to close the dialog box.
Restart the SQL Server service.

The problem is when we get to Step 2, there are no certificates available in the dropdown box. This problem is solely the result of installing SQL Server 2005. The apps were successfully encrypting data connections prior to the installation. All internal and non-encrypted connections work correctly. What can I do to get certificates to appear in the Certificate tab of the Properties dialog box?

The blog post SQL Protocols by Xinwei Hong of the SQL Server Protocols team should help you resolve the problem. The post lists several criteria required for certificates to be properly loaded by SQL Server 2005.

3. What is the best way to copy databases for a SQL Server 2005 upgrade?

However, even with that method you'll still have to get the logins into the SQL Server 2005 instance. To access a KB article, which includes a script that should help you with that task, see this Microsoft support page.

Note that you might have to re-map the logins to database users once you're done. To do so, use the sp_change_users_login system stored procedure.

4. How do I tune SQL Server query performance after an upgrade?

We migrated our SQL Server 2000 10 GB database to SQL Server 2005. Few queries run slower than when in SQL Server 2000. Earlier we were getting results in 10 secs now it's taking about 30 minutes. The execution query plans in SQL Server 2000 and SQL 2005 are different. SQL 2000 is using indexes whereas SQL 2005 is using table scans of the table. Also the sequence of tables Nested Loop/Inner Join has changed. Since this is a live application, amending the query is difficult. What suggestions can you offer to tune query performance in SQL Server 2005?

You need to troubleshoot the issue as a new problem, unrelated to the upgrade. Indexes need to be rebuilt and statistics updated. Sometimes after a SQL Server upgrade (from SQL 7 to SQL 2000, or SQL 2000 to SQL 2005) the indexes need to be rebuilt and the statistics updated. I always recommend using the UPDATE STATISTICS command instead of the sp_updatestats, as the UPDATE STATISTICS command gives you access to more options than the sp_updatestats procedure.

5. How does failover clustering work in SQL 2005?

How does failover clustering work in SQL 2005? And how does it compare with the failure support in Oracle and DB2?

The failover clustering functionality in SQL Server 2005 has been extended in various ways.

First of all, SQL Server 2000 running on Windows 2000 Datacenter was limited to a four-server cluster. SQL Server 2005 running on Windows 2003 Server can now support up to eight nodes (depending on the edition of Windows 2003.)

Failover is now also supported for a wider variety of services. Analysis Services, Notification Services, replication, and SQL Server Agent are all cluster-aware in SQL Server 2005. This is a major factor for those organizations that utilize these features and need to maintain high availability!

But the biggest improvement in terms of database availability is not from the failover clustering side at all. A new feature called "Database Mirroring" will prove to be a much more interesting way of maintaining uptime.

This feature can be thought of as a more real-time form of log shipping. Transactions are broadcast continuously from the active node to a waiting database on another server that is constantly in a state of recovery. When or if the active node goes down, the mirror can take over almost instantly. This is a huge improvement over the lag -- sometimes several minutes -- that can be experienced with failover clusters.

More information on this and other features of interest to DBAs, can be found in the TechNet article, Overview of SQL Server 2005 Beta 2 for the DBA.

6. Can different versions of SQL Server be installed on one machine?

Can you install two different versions of SQL Server on the same box?

Yes you can. While you theoretically can install them in either order, I'd always suggest installing the software in the order it was released: SQL Server 2000 first, then SQL Server 2005.

7. Is it possible to call an extended stored procedure in SQL Server 2005?

I'm having a problem calling an extended stored procedure (specifically xp_cmdshell) from java, using the JDBC for SQL Server 2005. By using the JDBC for SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 3, I can call it like a normal stored procedure. With SQL Server 2005, I get the following:

om.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerException: The request for procedure 'xp_cmdshell' failed because 'xp_cmdshell' is a procedure object.

It is a SQL Server 2000 server. I want to use the new 2005 JDBC because it does not have problems with cloned connections in manual transaction mode. I had problems with the selectMethod=cursor property on my webserver, it just didn't seem to take. It worked fine from my local webserver during development, but for some reason doesn't work when running on the live webserver. Is it even possible to call this extended stored procedure?

Yes, by default, it's disabled in 2k5 as it's not considered safe. You can enable it using the Surface Area Configuration Tool if you think it's appropriate.

8. How do I create a username and password for a SQL Server database?

I have created a SQL Server 2005 database and I plan to protect it with a username and password. I'm unclear as to how to do this. How can I make a security system for my new database with its security objects?

Here is a great article by Steve Jones that will get you started with SQL users and logins: Beginning SQL Server -- Logins and Users.

9. Can I run SQL 2000 and SQL 2005 instances at the same time?

Can you run SQL 2000 and SQL 2005 instances on the same server? Are there any problems associated with the two instances running together?

Yes, they run together. The only issue I've seen is where 2k is installed after 2k5, there have been some issues with shared dll's being replaced by older ones. Installing another instance of 2k5 seems to have always fixed that.

10. Could you provide examples of SQL Server 2005 upgrade issues?

What possible problems are faced when migrating from SQL Server 2000 to SQL Server 2005? What are all the precautions that should be taken during migration?

There are many issues that you can run into when doing a migration – and it would be far too difficult to explain them all in this space. Luckily, Microsoft has released a tool to help with the transition.

For more information on migration, I invite you to listen to my webcast Upgrading to SQL Server 2005: What you must know where I share many tips to help ensure a smooth changeover to the new version.

11. What stored procedure concurrency problems arise in SQL Server 2005?

I'm having a concurrency problem in SQL Server 2005. There are a number of free seats on the bus that I sell tickets to. Before inserting a sold ticket I need to check whether there are any free seats left. My stored procedure does something like this:

CREATE PROCEDURE add_ticket -- parameters DECLARE free_seats int BEGIN TRANSACTION SELECT free_seats = COUNT(*) FROM tickets WHERE seat_is_not_taken IF free_seats <> 0 INSERT INTO tickets VALUES(...) -- some other statements END TRANSACTION

The problem is that two processes can read the amount of free tickets concurrently and both save a ticket, even if there are no free seats left. I need a way to block processes from reading the amount of free tickets while other processes running the add_ticket procedure have not yet inserted a new ticket. SET TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL does not help in this situation, am I right?

You are correct; a higher isolation level would not help ensure that multiple readers did not read the same rows simultaneously. However, there are several ways you could make this work. For instance, you could assign each seat a unique identifier (meaning, a unique key – not necessarily a GUID) and create a table for seats that have already been taken. Put a UNIQUE constraint on the table and you will be guaranteed that no seat is inserted twice.

That said, I think a more interesting option might be to employ SQL Service Broker. You could set up a conversation for each bus, and store the conversation handles in a table that can be referenced by readers before doing the RECEIVE. That way, the readers can filter appropriately. Drop a message into the queue for each seat on the bus. The readers can then simply RECEIVE the messages as needed (in the process, reserving seats on the bus). Service Broker will ensure that no message is received twice, meaning that you will no longer have any concurrency problems.

12. Can SQL Server 2005 databases be migrated back to SQL Server 2000?

During the process of migrating to SQL Server 2005, many development organizations will still be forced to support SQL Server 2000 installations. As a result, a common requirement is the ability to reverse-migrate: move databases back from SQL Server 2005 to SQL Server 2000.
Unfortunately, this is not as easy. Backed-up databases from SQL Server 2005 instances cannot be restored in SQL Server 2000 instances. Nor can detached SQL Server 2005 databases be reattached to SQL Server 2000.

Because backup/restore and detach/attach are not supported, the only methods available for moving data from SQL Server 2005 installations to SQL Server 2000 installations are based on copying data. Data and schemas can be scripted using a tool such as Red Gate's SQL Packager and scripts can be applied on the SQL Server 2000 installations. Another option is to use tools such as DTS or SSIS, both of which include data copying wizards.

However, copying data and schema is a potentially troublesome experience. SQL Server 2005 supports many features that are not present in SQL Server 2000 and can cause problems during cross-migration. It's important to be cautious when attempting to develop solutions for both platforms, and my recommendation is that development should be done using SQL Server 2000 and the code and data migrated forward to SQL Server 2005, rather than the other way around.

SCJP Basic Asked FAQs

2007-11-20T10:08:00.000-08:00

Question 1

Given the following definition of the Demo class and the DerivedDemo class:

1. public class Demo extends Object {
2. String Title ;
3. public Demo( String t ){
4. Title = t ;
5. }
6. public void showTitle() {
7. System.out.println("Title is " + Title) ;
8. }
9. }
10. class DerivedDemo extends Demo {
11. public void setTitle( String tt )
{ Title = tt ; }
12. }

What happens if you try to compile this code, create a DerivedDemo object, and immediately call the showTitle method of that object?

A. The message "Title is null" is written to standard output.
B. The compiler complains about the DerivedDemo class.
C. A NullPointerException is thrown in line 7.

Question 2

Which of the following class declarations are not correct Java declarations? [Check all correct answers.]

A. public synchronized class FastClass extends Thread
B. private protected class FastClass
C. public abstract class FastClass
D. class FastClass extends Thread

Question 3

You are writing a toolkit of classes in the "wesayso" package to be used by other programmers in your company. Because of security considerations, you don't want other programmers to subclass your VitalDataAccess class, but you will have to provide for access by classes in other packages. How should this class be declared?

A. protected static class VitalDataAccess extends Object
B. public final class VitalDataAccess extends Object
C. public abstract class VitalDataAccess extends Object
D. public static class VitalDataAccess extends Object

Question 4

Given the following partial listing of the Widget class:

1. class Widget extends Thingee{
2. static private int widgetCount = 0 ;
3. static synchronized int addWidget(){
widgetCount++ ;
4. return widgetCount ;
5. }
6. String wName ;
7. public Widget( int mx, String T ){
8. wName = "I am Widget #" + addWidget() ;
9. }
10. // more methods follow

What is the significance of the word private in line 2? [Check all correct answers.]

A. Because widgetCount is private, only methods in the Widget class can access it.
B. Because widgetCount is private, only the addWidget method can access it.
C. If another class tries to access widgetCount, a runtime exception will be thrown.
D. Because widgetCount is private, only methods in the Widget class and any derived classes can access it.

Question 5

The following lists the complete contents of the file named Derived.java:

1. public class Base extends Object {
2. String objType ;
3. public Base(){objType =
"I am a Base type" ;
4. }
5. }
6.
7. public class Derived extends Base {
8. public Derived() { objType =
"I am a Derived type" ;
9. }
10. public static void main(String args[]){
11. Derived D = new Derived() ;
12. }
13. }

What will happen when this file is compiled?

A. Two class files, Base.class and Derived.class, will be created.
B. The compiler will object to line 1.
C. The compiler will object to line 7.

Question 6

Given the following listing of the Widget class:

1. class Widget extends Thingee{
2. static private int widgetCount = 0 ;
3. public String wName ;
4. int wNumber ;
5.
6. private static synchronized int
addWidget(){
7. return ++widgetCount ;
8. }
9. public Widget(){
10. wNumber = addWidget() ;
11. }
12. }

What happens when you try to compile the class and use multiple Widget objects in a program that uses multiple Threads to create Widget objects?

A. The class compiles, and each Widget gets a unique wNumber that reflects the order in which the Widgets were created.
B. The compiler objects to the addWidget call of a static method in line 10.
C. A runtime error occurs in the addWidget method.
D. The class compiles, and each Widget gets a wNumber, but you cannot guarantee that the number will be unique.

Question 7

In the following class definitions, which are in separate files, note that the Widget and BigWidget classes are in different packages:

1. package conglomo ;
2. public class Widget extends Object{
3. private int myWidth ;
4. XXXXXX void setWidth( int n ) {
5. myWidth = n ;
6. }
7. }
// the following is in a separate file
8. import conglomo.Widget ;
9. public class BigWidget extends Widget {
10. BigWidget() {
11. setWidth( 204 ) ;
12. }
13. }

Which of the following modifiers, used in line 4 instead of XXXXXX, would allow the BigWidget class to access the Widget.setWidth method (as in line 11)? [Check all correct answers.]

A. private
B. protected
C. blank—that is, the method declaration would readvoid setWidth( int n )
D. public

Question 8

Given the following code fragment with a continue to a labeled statement, predict the printed output:

1. int i, j;
2. lab: for( i = 0; i < 6; i++ ){
3. for( j = 5; j > 2; j-- ){
4. if( i == j ) {
5. System.out.print(" " + j ) ;
6. continue lab ;
7. }
8. }
9. }

A. The output will be 3 4 5.
B. The output will be 3 4.
C. The output will be 3.
D. The statement on line 5 is never reached, so there is no output.

Question 9

You are writing a set of classes related to cooking and have created your own exception hierarchy derived from java.lang.Exception as follows:

Exception
+-- BadTasteException
+-- BitterException
+-- SourException

BadTasteException is defined as an abstract class.

You have a method eatMe that may throw a BitterException or a SourException. Which of the following method declarations will be acceptable to the compiler? [Check all correct answers.]

A. public void eatMe( Ingredient[] list ) throws BadTasteException
B. public void eatMe( Ingredient[] list ) throws BitterException, SourException
C. public void eatMe( Ingredient[] list ) may throw BadTasteException
D. public void eatMe( Ingredient[] list )

Question 10

Given the following code fragment:

switch( x ) {
case 100 :
System.out.println("One hundred");break ;
case 200 :
System.out.println("Two hundred");break ;
case 300 :
System.out.println( "Three hundred") ;
break ;
}

Choose all of the declarations of x that will not cause a compiler error. [Check all correct answers.]

A.byte x = 100 ;
B.short x = 200 ;
C.int x = 300 ;
D.long x = 400 ;

Question 11

Which of these statements about the value that appears in a switch statement are correct? [Check all correct answers.]

A. The value can be of type char.
B. The value can be of type byte.
C. The value can be of type long.
D. The value can be of type boolean.

Question 12

Which of the following loop expressions will not compile (assume there are no other variable declarations inside the method that contains the expression)? [Check all correct answers.]

A. int t = 10 ;
while( t ){
System.out.print(" - " + t-- ) ;
}

B. while( x > 0 ){
int x = 1 ; x-- ;
}

C. int i = 0 ;
do { System.out.print(" - " + i++ ) ;
}while( i <>

D. while( Boolean.TRUE && x > 0 ){
int x = 1 ; x-- ;
}

Question 13

Here is part of the hierarchy of exceptions that may be thrown during file IO operations:

Exception
+-- IOException
+-- FileNotFoundException

Suppose you had a method X that is supposed to open a file by name and read data from it. The method calls inside X may throw a FileNotFoundException or other exceptions descended from IOException. Given that X does not have any try-catch statements, which of the following options are true? [Check all correct answers.]

A. The method X must be declared as throwing IOException or Exception.
B. The method X must be declared as throwing FileNotFoundException.
C. Any method that calls X must use try-catch, specifically catching FileNotFoundException.
D. No special precautions need to be taken.

Question 14

Which of the following statements about finalize methods are incorrect? [Check all correct answers.]

A. The purpose of a finalize method is to recover memory and other system resources.
B. The purpose of a finalize method is to recover system resources other than memory.
C. You should always write a finalize method for every class.
D. The order in which objects are created controls the order in which their finalize methods are called.

Question 15
Here is a method that creates a number of String objects in the course of printing a countdown sequence:

1. public void countDown()
2. for( int i = 10 ; i >= 0 ; I-- ){
3. String tmp = Integer.toString( i ) ;
4. System.out.println( tmp ) ;
5. }
6. System.gc() ;
7. System.out.println( "BOOM!" ) ;
8. }

When the program reaches line 7, how many of the String objects created in line 3 will have been garbage collected (assume that the System.out object is not keeping a reference)?

A. None
B. There is no way to tell
C. 10
D. 11

Answers

1. B
2. A, B
3. B
4. A
5. B
6. A
7. B, D
8. A
9. A, B
10. B, C
11. A, B
12. A, B
13. A
14. A, C, D
15. B

CCNA Certifications FAQS

2007-11-20T09:36:00.000-08:00

1. Which of the following are commonly used WAN protocols? Choose three.

WEP
WING
Frame Relay
HDLC
AAA
PPP

Ans: C, D and F. The big three WAN protocols are PPP, Frame Relay and HDLC. There are others, but CCNA does not cover them.

2. Which port numbers are used by well-known protocols that use connectionless transport?

Ans: B, D and E are correct. These ports are used by DNS, TFTP, and SNMP -- all of which use unreliable/connectionless UDP transport.

3. You have been asked to create a subnet that supports 16 hosts. What subnet mask should you use?

255.255.255.252
255.255.255.248
255.255.255.240
255.255.255.224

Ans: D is correct. A will only support 2 hosts; B only 6 and C only 14. Watch out for the minus 2 in the host calculation! Answer C creates 16 hosts on the subnet, but we lose 2 -- one for the NET ID and one for the Broadcast ID.

4. Which of the following correctly summarizes the boot sequence?

Find IOS, Load IOS, POST, Find config, Load config
Post, Find IOS, Load IOS, Find config, Load config
POST, Find config, Load config, Find IOS, Load IOS
ROMMON, RXBOOT, Load IOS, Load config

Ans: B is correct. A, C and D are either out of order or incorrect.

5. What is the command to back up your IOS to a TFTP server?

copy nvram tftp
copy tftp nvram
copy tftp flash
copy flash tftp

Ans: D is correct. This would copy the IOS in flash memory to a TFTP server. A and B are incorrect because the IOS is stored in flash and not NVRAM. C is incorrect because copy tftp flash would upgrade your IOS from a TFTP server rather than copy your IOS to a TFTP server.

6. Which of the following are trunk port models? Choose all that apply.

on
idle
off
blocking
auto
desirable
undesirable

Ans: A, C, E and F are correct. The on mode, off mode, auto mode and desirable mode are trunk port modes. B, D and G are incorrect; these other modes are not associated with trunking.

7. What would be the proper wildcard mask to permit all odd numbered hosts on the 10.48.0.0/12 network?

access-list 1 permit 10.48.0.0 0.15.255.255
access-list 1 permit 10.48.0.1 0.15.255.254
access-list 1 permit 10.48.0.0 0.15.255.1
access-list 1 permit 10.48.0.0 0.0.0.254
access-list 1 permit 10.48.0.0 0.0.0.255

Ans: B is correct. All odd-numbered hosts would have the one bit turned on in the last octet. Therefore, you need to check all hosts that have the one bit turned on (set to 1). You do not care about the other host bits. The default wild card mask for a /12 network is 0.0.15.255, but because you want to match only those hosts that have the one bit turned on, you will need a wildcard mask of 0.0.15.255.254 . A is incorrect because this would match both even and odd numbered hosts. C is incorrect because this would match all hosts from 10.48.0.0 through 10.48.255.0. D and E are incorrect because they have the wrong wildcard mask.

8. You are working in an environment that is running IP, IPX, and AppleTalk. What routing protocol inherently supports all three of these protocols?

RIP version 1
RIP version 2
OSPF
IGRP
EIGRP

Ans: E is correct. EIGRP is the only routing protocol that supports IP, IPX and AppleTalk. RIP, OSPF and IGRP are routing protocols that only support IP, so therefore the other choices are incorrect.

9. Which of the following are components of the LCP phase of PPP? Select all that apply.

Compression
Authentication
QoS
Multilink

Ans: A, B and D are correct. The LCP phase is responsible for the initial link-setup and negotiating options such as compression, callback, multilink and authentication. C is incorrect because this is not a component of LCP.

10. True or false: Route summarization is mandatory.

True
False

Ans: False. Although it might be a good idea in many cases, route summarization is never mandatory (not counting routing protocols that automatically summarize).