ATBroker.exe

Last night when I tried to access my computer from home via Remote Desktop Connection an error came up as shown below.

This is the first time I have encountered with this error. Since I had lots of work to do I logged on to one of the servers and did my work thinking that the error will disappear when I access the actual machine in the morning. But to my surprise the error persisted when I switched on the monitor in the morning. So I tried the usual Ctrl+Alt+Delete. And there lies the familiar screen which made me relax as shown below.

So I chose the Start Task MAnager option and luckily got into the computer. But I am not sure why the error has come up. Have any of you had this error before? If so what did you do? And do you know why this error came up?

Increasing SQL SERVER Memory

In one of our server audits it was discovered that only one third of the memory has been allocated to the sqlserver instance. Questions were asked whether multiple instances of sql server are present. But when there was no other instance of sql server running it was recommended that we increase the memory allocated to double from 10 GB to 20 GB.

The actual memory of the server was 32 GB. Here are the steps we took to achieve this.

1) RDP to the SQLServer and sign on

2) Open up SQL Server Management Studio

3) Select the SQL Server in the Object Explorer on the left

4) Right click and select Properties

5) Select Memory tab as shown below

6) Change Maximum Server Memory from 10240 to 20480

7) Click OK

Close Management Studio

As a precaution restart the server. It is better if you do it after hours.

I had a strange problem today. I went to the website I have developed and maintain and tried to click on the print button and expected to get a normal printout. But instead was surprised to get a blank print out with just the header and footer.

I thought I haven't changed any code why did it stop working. I just assumed that it was not working for anyone without testing on other computers. After about 15 min. I had a request from another colleague to print from some other govt. website. So I hit the print button provided on their website. Then the output was the same with the blank page being printed with just the header and the footer.

Then I have asked one of my other colleagues to print and he could print. Only then I have realised that the problem is with my print spooler.

So developers beware of this problem. You might also face this stuation at some stage.

So the following are the steps that I have taken to restart the print spooler.

• Right click on 'My Computer' -- and choose Manage


• From the left hand menu -- choose Services and Applications


• Then click on Services


• From the list that appears on the right hand side choose Print Spooler as shown below.

Stop the service and start it again.

Now the important part : If you test Print form the same browser session the print might not work. Make sure that you open a new session and print.

Power Switch for a blade server -- an interesting find

We had a power outage for about 6 hrs at our office and the UPS would last only for 1 hr. We decided to do a managed shutdown of the servers and then power them back up the next day when the power came back up. I was responsible for coming early in the morning and switching on all the servers.

As mentioned in an earlier post our systems administrator is no longer with us, Andrew joined us to take over this role. He did the shut down part the previous night and called and said that he cannot find the power switches for the blade servers. I also didn't know where the power switches for the blade servers were. I have asked him to go home and said that I will deal with that in the morning.

Now the image below is how the blade server looks.

As you can see there is no way you will know that there is no power switch that is visible to the human eye. I did a lot of googling the night before to get some insight but could not find any documentation. For those who have dealt with the blade servers this could be very easy. But finally I figured out that the glass apnel above can be opened. When that was opened there lies the hidden power switch neatly as shown in the image below highlighted in red.

The keyboard shortcuts I use

Yesterday I was working with my colleague and she was surprised with the number of shortcuts I use with Windows Key .

So I thought I could list all the shortcuts for the benefit of her and others

To open the Start Menu -- just click Windows Key
To open the windows exlpoer -- click Windows Key + E
To open the seach/find window -- click Windows Key + F
To display the desktop by minimising all the open windows -- Click Windows Key + D (I have found this really helpful)
To lock your computer -- click Windows Key + L (Easy to remember)
To open the run command -- click Windows Key + R
To display the Help window -- click Windows key + F1
To zoom in the screen -- click Windows Key + =
To Zoom out the screen -- click Windows Key + -
To go through the open windows one by one -- Windows Key + Tab (Similar to Alt+Tab) but the display is really nice.

If you have windows open and your windows 7 gadets are hidden behind them you could bring them on top of the applications you use -- Windows Key + G

If you use two screens -- two helpful shortcuts are
Moves the current windows to the left screen, when running dual monitors -- Windows Key + Shift + Left arrow
Moves the current windows to the right screen, when running dual monitors -- Windows Key + Shift + Right arrow

There could be other shortcuts which you also might be using. Please let me know so that I could start using them as well.

Have you heard about Channel 9?

I stumbled across Channel 9 yesterday while researching. Channel9 is a Microsoft maintained site which is full of videos, blogs, shows, series etc. There is too much information on this site for one to absorb and learn.

Here is the link to the site. I hope you will enjoy this learning.

Data Mining and Analysis -- Free Expo from SSWUG

Here is another Free Expo Event from SSWUG that covers Data Mining and Analysis. The event is scheduled for March 18th 2011 from 9 am to 12 pm PST.

Sessions will cover the following topics:

• Using Data Mining Plugins with Excel
• Developing SQL Server Data Mining Models
• Understanding Data Mining APIs
• Finding Patterns and Relationships in Server Data

You can register now if you would like to learn from three skilled data mining experts.

Conditional formatting using multiple conditions - Excel 2007

Today I had a requirement to colour code in Excel based on a few conditions. At first I thouhgt I could use thre to four rules in the conditional formatting to achieve this result but when I did that the results that I was getting was not very satisfactory. So I thought I would try the And function of excel in conjunction with the conditional formatting and it worked wonders.

I wanted the entire row to be highlighted in a certain colour based on three conditions.

Here are the steps I followed to achieve what I was after.

• Select all the data that you want to colour code.
• Click on Conditional Formating on the Home Tab
• Choose Manage Rules as shown below
  

• From the dialog that appears click New Rule.
• Add the multiple conditions using the And function in the formula box
• The most important thing you need to do when you are adding the formula to highlight rows is to remove the $ sign that gets assigned when you choose the cell for entering a formula with a mouse.
• Choose the colour by clicking the format button and click ok
• Click Ok again to come out of the Manage Rules window.

As you can see below I have added two rules and it is giving me the result that I want.

Have you heard about Snipping Tool?

Thanks to one of my colleagues, yesterday I learnt about the Snipping Tool which is avaibale in Windows 7. To activate the tool -- Click on Start -- All Programs -- Accessories -- Snipping Tool. A screenshot of the tool is shown below.

Snipping tool enables you to select an area on your desktop or the entire desktop using your mouse and save this as an image for future use.
Until now I used to use the key board shortcuts PRintscn for capturing a screenshot of the entire desktop or Ctrl + Alt + PrintScn to capture the active window. Then open Paint and then save as an image.

Only drawback of the snipping tool that I found was if you have try to capture a screenshot of the values in a drop down of the filter feature of the excel, you could not do that using the Snipping Tool as you are trying to use your mouse to invoke the snipping tool. When you do this the drop down disappears in excel and hence you cannot take a screenshot of what is not appearing on your screen.

But the command that I always used Ctrl + Alt + PrintScn worked as shown below.

If anyone of you know of a workaround for this I would be pleased to know about it.

Processing of SSAS cube -- steps for beginners

I thought today I will cover the steps that can be followed to process a Sql Server Analysis Services Cube from Sql Server Management Studio.

The assumption is that you already have a cube that is built in SSAS and you would like to process this cube from sql server management studio

Step 1
Connect to the sql server analysis services instance from the sql server management studio as shown below.

Step 2
From the left hande side menu click on the plus beside Databases.

Step 3
Right click on the cube that you would like to process as shown below.

Step 4
The following dialog appears. Click on change settings if you need to and click on OK. Depending on the amount of data the processing takes a few minutes upto a few hours.

Have you used Outlook Anywhere?

Since our systems administrator left our company I have had a lot of opportunity to learn about things outside my normal coverage area. I am very thankful to my manager Ashley for giving me that opportunity.

In one of the meetings I sat with the external consultants 'Outlook Anywhere' was mentioned.

Outlook Anywhere is one of the Exchange 2007 feature that Microsoft has developed. The consultant mentioned that the Outlook Anywhere is a remote access method for Outlook Clients to connect through the internet to the exchange server without the need for a VPN.

This was not configured in our Exchange Server and explained the two main benefits as follows:

• There is no need for a vpn connection to be on to access Outlook Anywhere.
• If there is an internet connection available then you can just login to Outlook Anywhere and access your email.
  

Do any of you use Outlook anywhere? If not you can suggest your system admins to enable Outlook Anywhere if you are using Exchange server 2007 or 2010.

My first linked server -- SSMS 2005

Yesterday I was exploring Sql Server Management Studio, when I spotted Linked servers. I thought I will investigate what that and started trying out the options. So I right clicked on linked server, only three options came up as shown below.







I clicked on the New linked server .
I was browsing through the provider list as shown below and was keen to learn more about the provider for Microsoft Directory Services.

I thought I will experiment by using excel hence I gave the product name as excel, and data source -- a file in my c directory. But did not know what to give as a Provider string and location. I just gave the Provider as Excel 8.0 which is commonly used for excel in reports. Left the location blank and clicked ok.




To my surprise there was no error and the Test linked server was created as shown below.
So I right clicked on the test and chose TEst connection and the connection succeeded.


I am happy that it all went well but yet since there were no other options that are visible on how to use this linked server I thought I would find out when I had a bit more time on hand. So I will post my findings in another post.

Managind SQL Server Source Code -- Webinar

Here is the information on very interesting topic -- Managing SQL Server Source code. Here is an excerpt from the communication I have recieved from MSSQLTips

Live Webinar: Managing SQL Server Source Code

Now is the time to properly manage source code in SQL Server. Put an end to the chaos and stress of having to manage source code in a haphazard manner. Source control for application code has been the norm for years, but that is not necessarily the case with SQL Server code.
Come to this web cast to learn how to manage SQL Server source code with simple, predictable steps. We will show how to do so with tools you already have in addition to a solution from Red-Gate that integrates directly with SQL Server Management Studio.

Click here to register

Excel Web Access Error in Sharepoint 2007

I wanted to use Excel Services on Sharepoint 2007 to migrate some of our BI reports from a third party application that we use. So I tried publishing to Excel Services from Excel 2007 assuming that our Sharepoint was setup to be used with Excel Services.
When I tried to publish and open in a browser I started getting an error "Excel Web Access: An error has occurred ".
When I checked the event log the following was logged in the event viewer.

There was an error in communicating with Excel Calculation Services http://sharepoint:56737/SPAdmin/ExcelCalculationServer/ExcelService.asmx exception: The request failed with HTTP status 401: Unauthorized.
[Session: (null) User:[Domain\user].

I have followed all the following steps to get to this stage.

• I have created a document library
• Added this document library as a trusted file location
• Added the document library to trusted data connection libraries
• Also ensured that the user being used has the proper rights in each of the databases
• Started the single signon service
• Ensured that the Excel Calculation service is running

Still the error was persistent. After a lot of struggling for 3 days, I finally fixed the problem by removing the integrated windows authentication option on the ExcelCalculationServer folder from the Office Server Web Services website on IIS.

SSIS Free Expo Event

Here is another Free Expo Event from SSWUG that covers Basic and Complex SSIS Features. The event is scheduled for February 18th 2011 from 9 am to 1 pm PST.

Sessions will cover the following topics:

• SSIS Sorting and Package Protection
• SSIS Package Checkpoints and Transactions
• SSIS Native Logging Features
• Best Practices with SSIS Package Design
• Deploying, Scheduling and Administering SSIS in Production
• Real-world Business Scenarios with SSIS

Speakers include the Knights of Pragmatic Works, a very good reason to attend :)
Register now

Friday Backup Job

As mentioned in an earlier post since our systems administrator left our company I am taking care of the backups until the position is replaced. The backup scheduled for last Friday failed as the backup agent was stuck on a server. Since it was the weekend I thought I will rerun the backup after fixing up the cause. I had a look at the log and restarted the server where the backup agent was stuck.


Now I wanted to reschedule the Friday backup as it is with the same features as to going into the same tape (we have multiple tapes in the backup rack). So I was looking for some options as to how to do this when I saw the option "Retry the Job Now".





So I thought I will try this option. What I expected was the backup job to finish earlier as the ob was sstuck on the last server. So I expected it to be finished within an hour. But when I didn't get the alert even after 4 hrs, I started to get worried and logged in to check what was happening. Only then I realised that the backup was running from he beginning. This was the first time I tried this option and worked very well as the job has completed in the way I wanted without much configuration.

As you can see Clean Drive job failed and I will have to resolve this as well. :)

Another learning for me.

24 Hours of PASS Registration Now Open

As mentioned in my earlier post the SQL PASS 24 hr sessions are scheduled for March 15-16 2011. Registration is now open for these sessions.
Here is an excerpt from the site.

The LiveMeeting webcasts will begin at 12:00 GMT (8am ET) on March 15 and run for 12 straight hours. They start again on March 16 for another 12 hours. This is your chance to join the elite group of hardcore #24HOP veterans who watch all 24 sessions! Learn more and register today!

Sharepoint usage reports

Our Systems Administrator left our company last week after being 8 years with us. I have taken over the administration of our intranet which uses Sharepoint 2007 MOSS. I started to explore the site settings of the sharepoint web front end (WFE) from the past 2 days. I was excited when I saw the term site usage statistics under site administration as shown below.




But my excitement died down after seeing the following message. I wondered why our system adminsitrator did not set up the usage statistics. :(





So now I started exploring as to how to enable the usage statistics. So I logged into the sharepoint server and opened the central administration and started exploring application management and operations tabs. Finally under the Operations tab I found the Loggin and Reporting section as shown below.




I clicked the Usage Analysis Processing and looked at the options to set. I was surprised to see just 2 settings to enable site usage reports.





I have set them and will be monitoring the usage from now on. I am pleased with my learning and little discovery today.

Sharepoint Administration Expo By SSWUG -- February 11 2011

Here is a link to the Free Sharepoint Administration Expo organised by SSWUG on February 11th 2011 from 9 am to 1 pm PST

Sessions will cover the following topics:

* Configuring SharePoint Anonymous Access: Tips and Tricks
* Understanding SharePoint Blogs, Wikis, and Discussion Boards
* Letting Go - It's so hard to do
* Infrastructure deployment via infrastructure and features

This expo is all about providing the foundation for providing outstanding service with SharePoint by SSWUG.

Hope these sessions are useful for some of you

Print formuals from Excel 2007

Yesterday I had a requirement to compare formulas between two sheets. So I wanted to print the formulas and compare. This is a basic feature but I straight away did not know how to do it. So I started investigating the ribbon in Excel 2007.
After about 2-3 minutes Voila I found this.

Under Formulas Tab -- There was Show Formulas button in the Formulas Auditing Group as shown below. This button works as a toggle for showing and hiding the formulas.