SQL Server WiKi

SQL Server Activation The process by which stored procedures are automatically launched when messages are placed into the queue. This process also controls whether a single stored procedure is launched or multiple procedures are necessary to keep up with the load.

SQL Server active log The portion of a transaction log that contains committed transactions that have not yet been backed up. It also contains any open transactions.

SQL Server aggregate function A function that operates on sets of rows instead of on individual values. SQL Server alert A system state that triggers a response,

such as notifying an operator or executing a job.

SQL Server alignment Occurs when all the indexes for a table as well as the table itself are partitioned by using the same partition function.

SQL Server asymmetric key Combines a private key and its corresponding public key. An asymmetric key is stronger than a symmetric key, but it is also more resource-intensive. ( also certificate; symmetric key.)

SQL Server asynchronous processing An operation that is started and left to run while other work is performed. The initiator of the operation does not control the timing or execution of the operation.

SQL Server authentication The process of validating that the user attempting to connect to SQL Server is authorized to do so.

SQL Server Backup A copy of a database, filegroup, file, or transaction log that can be used to restore data, typically after a serious database error or a system failure. Backups can be used alone or as part of a sequence.

SQL Server backup device A predefined pointer to a backup location. Instead of dynamically specifying a tape or disk location within the backup command, a backup device assigns a name to the physical location, and this name can then be reused.

SQL Server backup file A file that stores a full or partial database, transaction log, or file and filegroup backup.

SQL Server backup strategy The combination of backups that are used for a given database to ensure that it can be restored to meet business requirements. ( also restore strategy.)

SQL Server bcp The bulk copy program command-line utility. An external program that runs outside of the SQL Server process to bulk copy data either into or out of SQL Server.

SQL Server best-effort restore The general term for enabling the CONTINUE_AFTER_ERROR option of the restore command. This process enables a restore to continue even if errors in the backup media are found.

SQL Server blocking A multiuser access control mechanism.SQL Server uses locking mechanisms to control the integrity of data when it can be accessed by multiple users. A block occurs when a process requests data while that data is exclusively locked by another process.

SQL Server boundary points The values used to determine where the data in a table or index is divided into partitions.

SQL Server broken ownership chain A permission conflict between dependent objects that prevents an object from being used.

SQL Server B-tree A balanced tree structure on which indexes are built. Because a B-tree is symmetric, any query requires the same amount of resources to locate a given value.

SQL Server BULK INSERT A Transact-SQL command to insert data into a SQL Server table or view.

SQL Server Bulk-Logged recovery model A process in which the database engine minimally logs bulk operations such as SELECT INTO and BULK INSERT. In this recovery model, if a log backup contains any bulk operation, the database can be restored to the end of the log backup, not to a point in time. The Bulk- Logged recovery model is intended to be

used temporarily during large bulk operations. ( also Full recovery model; Simple

recovery model.)

SQL Server case expression A Transact-SQL construct that lets developers express complex switch logic anywhere in Transact-SQL in which a valid expression can be used.

SQL Server catalog of changed pages A list of the pages that have changed in a source database since a Database Snapshot was created. This catalog is used to determine which page to retrieve data from: the page in the source database or the page in the Database Snapshot.

SQL Server catalog population A background process that loads word breakers, noise word files, language files, and (optionally) filters and protocol handlers to parse text and image columns to extract a list of unique words contained in one or more columns, tokenize

them, and build them into an index. ( also index population.)

SQL Server Certificate A public key certificate is a digitally signed statement that maps the value of a public key to the identity of the person, device, or service that holds the corresponding private key. A certificate is the strongest encryption mechanism offered by SQL Server. SQL Server 2005 can create self-signed certificates that follow the X.509 standard. ( also asymmetric key; symmetric key.)

SQL Server clustered index An index that causes the rows on data pages as well as data pages themselves to be sorted according to the clustering key. A table can have only one clustered index.


SQL Server clustering key The column(s) used to define a clustered index.

SQL Server code page For character and Unicode data, a definition of the bit patterns that represent specific letters, numbers, or symbols (such as 0x20 representing a blank space and 0x74 representing the character “t”). Some data types use 1 byte per character; each byte can have 1 of 256 different bit patterns.

SQL Server collation A set of rules that determines how data is compared, ordered, and presented. Character data is sorted using collation information, including locale, sort order,
and case sensitivity.

SQL Server composition The process of transforming a set of relational tables into XML data.

SQL Server conflict resolver A .NET Framework (managed code) or COM (unmanaged code) component that is designed to resolve conflicts that might occur in merge replication.

SQL Server constraint A means for enforcing specific business rules, such as boundary points on data values or uniqueness.

SQL Server contract A component within a Service Broker application that defines the message types allowed for a conversation as well as the endpoint that is allowed to use a message type.

SQL Server conversation A one-way or two-way ordered exchange of messages between endpoints in a Service Broker application.

SQL Server conversation group A logical organization of conversations. It can contain a single conversation or multiple conversations that are related to each other based on application logic.

SQL Server cooperative multiprocessing The process that SQL Server uses internally to schedule threads for execution on a processor. This process causes a single thread at a time to execute on a processor and manages the flow of threads to ensure that threads waiting on resources to be allocated do not monopolize a processor.

SQL Server Copy Files task The option responsible for copying files from a primary server to a secondary server during a log shipping process.

SQL Server copy-on-write The technology used to copy the before image of a data page into a Database Snapshot to maintain the point-in-time state of the data.

SQL Server corrupt page quarantine The process that marks a page as corrupted, which enables subsequent actions against the table that do not need to interact with the given page to succeed instead of the entire table or database being taken offline.

SQL Server covering index An index used to satisfy a query in its entirety.

SQL Server crawl The process that performs a full or partial population of a full-text index.

SQL Server cross-tabulation A common business report format in which rows are made into columns.