Pro SQL Server 2005

We have been heavy users (both as developers and administrators) of SQL Server 2000 since it came out in 2000. We were anxious to upgrade to SQL Server 2005 and did so in early 2006. For the first couple of months we largely utilized SQL 2005 in the same way that we had done with SQL 2000 (with the exception of using the new Management Studio) and did not really exploit the new features of SQL 2005. This book definitely opened our eyes to many of the new features of the SQL 2005 database and we are using many of those features in our current development efforts. The Pro SQL Server 2005 book spent a significant amount of pages on process changes between 2000 and 2005 and then dove into the significant functional differences between the databases. As users of the Reporting Services features rolled out mid-stream in SQL 2000 we were very interested to read the coverage dedicated to it in this book. This book cannot serve as a comprehensive reference to all of the new features in SQL 2005 (there are entire volumes dedicated to each topic) and the authors did not attempt to. However, I felt like they did as good a job as was possible in such a concise manner. I particularly enjoyed the section on the CLR embedded into SQL 2005 but wished that it could have been a bit longer. Overall, this is an excellent title and I encourage all database developers and administrators moving from SQL 2000 to check it out.

This book does an awesome job of hitting everything that is new in SQL 2005. There is a lot to cover so it doesn't go into deep depth, but it does give you a good overview and points you in the right direction to find more information out on a particular topic by making sure you have a great introduction.

It is a very good book. I was looking for a book for updating to from SQL 2000 to 2005.It is exactly what I need.

With a product as big as SQL Server 2005, I didn't want to buy 10 different books to get a good understanding of what's in the product. This book hit the mark. I learned about the key technologies, how they work and best practices for my own deployment. As the role of SQL Server expands in our organization, I need to understand more than just the database aspects. This book is well worn already from my using it so extensively.

This books seems to be a list and quick summary of new features of sql server 2005. I like the fact that the authors do make an attempt to explain why the new features are present and how to use them. However I would not call it a professional book since it does not dive into depth in any one particular feature on how to take advantage of these features and how to implement something like it in a production environment. All we have is short demo samples which is good for explaining but not really helping the dba/developer integerate it with their existing systems and applications as seen in more advanced/architecture books. I fell asleep a few times whilst going thru this book. It could do with alot more pictures too to keep the motivation going A very good intro to sql server 2005 but you still going to need to buy a book for each topic/chapter on this book to be competent user since there simply isn't enough information/examples in it