data-konzept

'dbatools is a free PowerShell module with over 100 SQL Server administration, best practice and migration commands included.

'Hi all. We are delighted to share the Production Ready Release of the Microsoft ODBC Driver 13.1 for Linux (Ubuntu, RedHat and SUSE). The new driver enables access to SQL Server, Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL DW from any C/C++ application on Linux.

Added

• BCP API support 

  • You can use functions through the ODBC driver as described here on Linux.

• Support for user-defined KeyStoreProvider for Always Encrypted

  • You can now user-defined/created AE Column Master Key keystore providers. Check out code samples and more information here.

• Ubuntu 16.10 support

  • Developed a package Ubuntu 16.10 for an apt-get experience.

• Dependency on the platform unixODBC Driver Manager instead of the custom unixODBC-utf16 Driver Manager

  • This avoids conflicts with applications/software that depends on the platform unixODBC Driver Manager.

Fixed

• msqobcsql.h (Connect issues 3115331, 3114970) 

  • Missing definitions for AE, BCP and SQL Server specific types were added

• TRUST_SERVER_CERTIFICATE connection attribute is always yes (Connect 3116639) 

  • Setting the TRUST_SERVER_CERTIFICATE connection attribute to anything other than yes failed to set the attribute value. This has been corrected.

• Fixed Connect issue 2693027 — Memory Leak 

  • We detected this issue independently of the bug report using valgrind. The memory leak has been fixed.

• Driver failure when connecting with more than 1,024 handles

  • Switched away from libio select. Driver now supports (theoretical) handle limit of 64K or platform max.

• Intermittent commlinkfailure when using Azure DW 

  • In some high-latency scenarios over an encrypted channel, the driver could fail unexpectedly. This has been resolved.'...

https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/dataplatforminsider/2017/02/08/odbc-driver-13-1-for-linux-released/?WT.mc_id=AID522292_EML_4894909

'We are excited to announce some great enhancements to our Automated Backup feature, which greatly extends your control over backups when running SQL Server 2016 in Azure Virtual Machines. You can now control the schedule of your backups and backup system databases. You can easily enable this feature through the Azure Portal or PowerShell on Azure Virtual Machines running SQL Server 2016 Enterprise, Standard, or Developer.

For those of you not familiar with Automated Backup, this feature allows you to automatically backup all the databases in a SQL Server VM running in Azure to one of your storage accounts. Automated Backup ensures a consistent backup chain at all times, so you can always recover your databases to any point in time. Even better, it manages the desired retention for the backups, keeping them only for the time you specify. If you’re curious, Automated Backup is implemented on top of the SQL Server IaaS Agent Extension and the SQL Server Managed Backup feature.'...

https://azure.microsoft.com/de-de/blog/auto-backup-for-sql-server-2016-azure-virtual-machine/?WT.mc_id=AID522292_EML_4894909

'Last Wednesday I got very excited by Microsoft’s announcements about the addition of features to standard edition and the public preview of SQL Server on Linux. I bored everyone in the office with the features we could now use in standard edition and the possibilities that running SQL Server on Linux would open to us. After a while a colleague asked me if it was possible to restore a backup from a SQL Server instance on Windows to a Linux instance. I said it must be, but I wasn’t 100% sure. Let’s give it a test.

I used a Hyper-V Ubuntu 16 VM. First I had to connect to my VM and transfer the backup file. I used the SSH client Bitvise as it makes transferring files between Windows and Linux a breeze. First I installed openssh-server on my Ubuntu VM and allowed SSH through the firewall. I then connected with Bitvise, accepted the new key and was then presented with a terminal and file transfer window.'...

http://thedatabaseavenger.com/2016/11/restoring-a-sql-server-backup-on-linux/

'T-SQL Tuesday is a monthly event where SQL Server bloggers write a post based on a subject chosen by the month’s host. This month’s host is Matt Gordon (t|b) and his topic is Fixing Old Problems With Shiny New Toys. I’ll be talking about the (so new and shiny that it’s not out yet) Power BI in SSRS.

Having Power BI reports in SSRS will be a huge addition to the reporting platform that was feeling dated, even with the new features introduced in 2016. This will help with the problem of businesses and clients expecting interactive reports, but having to make do with the paginated reports in SSRS. Power BI brings these interactive reports and they work with many different data sources. They are easy enough to configure for non-technical people to be able to explore their data on their own. But first, we (the technical people) need to set it up – luckily this too is very simple.

This version of SSRS and Power BI is still in preview but a production ready release is possible this summer. See here for more info.'...

http://www.sqlservercentral.com/blogs/the-database-avenger/2017/02/14/power-bi-in-ssrs-t-sql-tuseday/

'This week's episode of Data Exposed is another episode I am extremely excited about! With all of the great work being done on SQL Server, it is a pleasure to welcome Sanjay Nagamangalam to the show! Sanjay is a Principal PM in the SQL Server engineering group focusing on the tooling aspect for SQL Server, and today he is in the studio to talk about all the tooling being done for the different platforms.'...

https://channel9.msdn.com/Shows/Data-Exposed/SQL-tools-for-Linux-Mac-OS-and-Windows?wt.mc_id=AID520629_EML_4889091