Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Administration with Windows PowerShell

Great content, poor marketing and very poor title! Very good outline of how powershell works, may I suggest that WROX remove the 50 pages of SQL content and re-label the book as a great beginning tutorial to learning Powershell. This book is very weak on the how to setup a competent SQL connection to and use it to manipulate SQL server like a DBA would like to do. This is not a problem with the authorship, they are just doing what they have access to as far as tools from Microsoft. Currently Microsoft only provides a Mini-shell connection, and a modified SQLCMD connection that negates any benefits that powershell brings to working with SQL Server. This book uses the tools that are available to them from Microsoft which is limited to a mini-shell and SQLCMD.exe type connection to SQL server. These types of connections work well in straight scripting but are very cumbersome, verbose and chatty, when it comes down to writing powershell routines. As such there is not much the authors can do to help the DBA automate SQL task functions in this environment. Given this limited connectivity there is not much you can't accomplish by directly working in SQLCMD.exe, which also limits the desirability of this book to SQL Server professionals. What most DBA's are looking for is a powershell IDE environment that has direct access to all SMO assembles, where there are commands to call manipulate all the fine details of SQL Server are found. Currently this book doesn't cover access to all the SMO assemblies because the Microsoft branded tools to do so don't exist. There are free third party snapins that could have been written about to fix this problem but they are not mentioned in this book. I think Wrox knew about a market for a book and tried to address that need and clearly missed what the customers who were going to buy the book wanted from it. This book is printed on newsprint quality paper (the pages are tan not bright white) yet this book still costs $60.00 retail very unprofessional and hard to read unless you're in perfect lighting conditions. The definitive guide to automating SQL Server admnistration with Powershell scripts If you're a SQL Server database administrator, this book will make your life easier. Windows PowerShell is an administrative scripting tool that allows you to automate many tasks you're probably currently doing by hand. This nuts-and-bolts guide shows you how to create Windows PowerShell scripts to administer almost every aspect of SQL Server. You'll get a thorough introduction to PowerShell basics and all the PowerShell components that have been integrated into SQL Server 2008, as well as actual administration tasks. The book provides complete scripts that have been tested and proven, saving you hours of effort. The new release of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 now includes Windows PowerShell, allowing administrators of large-scale enterprise databases to automate many tasks SQL Server 2008 Administration with Windows PowerShell introduces you to PowerShell, covering its components in detail as well as providing basic instruction in using scripts to administer the database The book includes numerous examples of SQL tasks that have been automated and also provides completed scripts that you can put to use immediately The Companion Web site includes complete code scripts If you're a database administrator, the scripts and techniques in SQL Server 2008 Administration with Windows PowerShell will save you hours of effort. Introduction. 1. What Is Windows Powershell? 2. Windows Powershell Command Types, Snapins, And Cmdlets. 3. Windows Powershell Programming, Scripting, Error Handling And Debugging. 4. Windows Powershell Functions, Parameters, Sourcing, Scopes And User Profiles. 5. Working With File System, Registry, And Variables. 6. Working With Event Logs. 7. Working With Windows Services And Processes. 8. Working With Wmi. 9. Wmi Provider For Configuration Management. 10. Wmi Provider For Server Events. 11. Windows Powershell In Sql Server 2008 Environment, Sql Server Powershell Provider. 12. Managing Policies Through Sqlserver:\sqlpolicy. 13. Windows Powershell And Smo. 14. Building Sql Server Standards And Powershell Coding Standard. 15. Building Sql Server Inventory. 16. Database Administration And Sql Server Installation. 17. Collecting Sql Server Performance And Host Performance Data. 18. Monitoring Sql Server. 19. Monitoring Disk Space Usage, Database Files And Backups. 20. Defining Policies. 21. Generating Database Scripts. Appendix A: Cmdlets Related To Core Snapins. Index. Muthusamy Anantha Kumar, Yan Pan. Includes Index. Wrox Programmer To Programmer--cover.