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[Features]

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Automate Your Security Audits
Start with this stored procedure for tracking 15 commonly monitored checkpoints--and build on it by adding your own checks.
 — Dan Sawyer


Auxiliary Table-of-Numbers Tricks
Learn coding techniques to create a virtual auxiliary table of integers that you can use in T-SQL queries.
 — Itzik Ben-Gan


Coordinating a DTS-to-SSIS Migration
Intimidated by the prospect of migrating from DTS to SSIS? Now that SQL Server 2005 is more than a year old, the process is fairly well documented. But here's how to accomplish a truly effective migration
 — Erik Veerman

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[Editorial]

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Just a Sequel Edition?
Does it seem like Microsoft keeps releasing the same SQL Server editions with different names? SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition is similar to its predecessors, but the new name isn't the only change in this latest release.
 — Michael Otey

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[Inside SQL Server]

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Single-Table Joins in Query Plans
In SQL Server 2005, a single-table query can show as a join operation in a query plan, even when no JOIN operator is specified. Learn more about how the optimizer treats such queries, by using either a nonclustered index or multiple indexes on a table.
 — Kalen Delaney

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[Solutions by Design]

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Master Data Management
By using the Master Data Management approach to integrate data into a single, trusted source, you'll be able to capitalize on missed business opportunities.
 — Michelle A. Poolet

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[New Products]

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New Products
Check out new and improved SQL Server-related products.
 — Blake Eno

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[SELECT TOP(X)]

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SQL Server Log Files
SQL Server logs can make troubleshooting problems simpler—if you know where to look. Here are 5 SQL Server 2005 log files that might come in handy.
 — Michael Otey

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[Tool Time with Kevin Kline]

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Lockdown.sql
Security guru Chip Andrews was frustrated by the need to repeatedly button up SQL Server 2000 security holes. To ensure a fast, effective way to reduce security risks, he created Lockdown.sql, a simple T-SQL script that no DBA should be without.
 — Kevin Kline

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[Review]

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Editing T-SQL: The Road to Perfection
Can a third-party T-SQL editor match the performance of SQL Server's native tools? That's what our reviewer set out to discover.
 — Mike Campbell

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[Cover Story]

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SQL Server Pros Keep On Innovating
The winners of this year's SQL Server Magazine Innovators contest epitomize ingenuity, developing fresh solutions to business problems ranging from change management to scheduling overtime.
 — Dawn Cyr , et al.

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[Industry Briefings]

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Industry Briefings
Our editors share insights from their conversations with DataDirect, CA, and Symantec.
 — Editors

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[PTO for the Rest of Us]

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PTO for the Rest of Us
Welcome to our new performance-tuning column, your essential source of foundational, need-to-know information to keep you up to speed.
 — Brian Moran