Copyright
Brief Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
About this Book
Chapter 1. Before you begin
1.1. Is this book for you?
1.2. How to use this book
The Main Chapters
Hands-on Labs
Supplementary Materials
Further Exploration
Above and Beyond
1.3. Setting up your lab environment
1.3.1. Choosing a SQL Server edition for your lab
1.3.2. Selecting a version of Windows for your lab
1.3.3. My recommendation for your lab environment
1.3.4. A word about SQL Server versions
1.4. SQL Server documentation
1.5. Online resources
1.6. A word on my recommendations
1.7. Being immediately effective with SQL Server
Chapter 2. Server assessment and configuration
2.1. Identifying instances and versions
2.2. Identifying databases
2.3. Identifying other server objects
2.4. Inventorying the server configuration
2.5. Hands-on lab
Chapter 3. T-SQL crash course
3.1. SELECT queries
3.1.1. A basic SELECT query
3.1.2. Returning specific rows from the table
3.1.3. Delimiting string and date values
3.1.4. Sorting results
3.1.5. Finding T-SQL documentation
3.2. DELETE, UPDATE, and INSERT queries
3.2.1. DELETE queries