Master the inner workings of today’s premier relational database management system with this official guide to the SQL Server™ 2000 engine. Written by a renowned columnist in partnership with the product development team, this is the must-read book for anyone who needs to understand how SQL Server internal structures affect application development and functionality. Its extensive details about the latest product enhancements, updated installation and administration, and its development advice can help you create high-performance data-warehousing, transaction-processing, and decision-support applications that will scale up for any challenge. Topics covered include: • Evolution, architecture, and toolset: The history of SQL Server since 1989, an architectural overview, and a comprehensive tour of its tools and features • Planning and deployment: Everything you need to know about installation and deployment issues such as multiple instances, Super Sockets, and upgrades • Databases, files, tables, and data: How to create, modify, back up, and restore databases, files, and tables; and how to query and modify data • Built-in development tools: Using Query Analyzer and SQL Server Profiler to simplify system administration and optimize performance; programming with Transact-SQL; and extending functionality with batches, transactions, stored procedures, and triggers • Query-processing techniques: Multiple indexes, hash and merge joins, and data-manipulation capabilities such as parallel queries • Internal architecture: Low-level details of data and index-page structures, locking mechanisms, optimization, and plan caching • Integration with other tools: Usage with Microsoft® Office 2000, Visual Studio® development system, and the BackOffice® server family INCLUDED ON TWO CD-ROMS! • A 120-day evaluation copy of Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition • A searchable electronic copy of the book • Sample scripts • White papers and articles • Tools and utilities