Import/Export data wizard in MSSQL 2008 R2 Errors -- Resolved

Today I was using the import export wizard to import data from one of the database in the production system to the database in the development system.

To do this -- Right click on the database (in the development system) choose -- tasks -- Import data
Follow the steps in the data wizard for choosing the source and destination tables.  I used the write a query to copy the data option.

Checked the mappings
and clicked Finish

I expected the wizard to run without any problems.  But................ the following errors were thrown.

- Copying to [dbo].[FACT_ACCOUNT_TRANSACTION] (Error)
Messages
Error 0xc0202009: Data Flow Task 1: SSIS Error Code DTS_E_OLEDBERROR.  An OLE DB error has occurred. Error code: 0x80004005.
An OLE DB record is available.  Source: "Microsoft SQL Server Native Client 10.0"  Hresult: 0x80004005  Description: "The INSERT permission was denied on the object 'FACT_ACCOUNT_TRANSACTION', database 'BIW', schema 'dbo'.".
 (SQL Server Import and Export Wizard)

Error 0xc0209029: Data Flow Task 1: SSIS Error Code DTS_E_INDUCEDTRANSFORMFAILUREONERROR.  The "input "Destination Input" (128)" failed because error code 0xC020907B occurred, and the error row disposition on "input "Destination Input" (128)" specifies failure on error. An error occurred on the specified object of the specified component.  There may be error messages posted before this with more information about the failure.
 (SQL Server Import and Export Wizard)

Error 0xc0047022: Data Flow Task 1: SSIS Error Code DTS_E_PROCESSINPUTFAILED.  The ProcessInput method on component "Destination - FACT_ACCOUNT_TRANSACTION" (115) failed with error code 0xC0209029 while processing input "Destination Input" (128). The identified component returned an error from the ProcessInput method. The error is specific to the component, but the error is fatal and will cause the Data Flow task to stop running.  There may be error messages posted before this with more information about the failure.
 (SQL Server Import and Export Wizard)

Error 0xc02020c4: Data Flow Task 1: The attempt to add a row to the Data Flow task buffer failed with error code 0xC0047020.
 (SQL Server Import and Export Wizard)

Error 0xc0047038: Data Flow Task 1: SSIS Error Code DTS_E_PRIMEOUTPUTFAILED.  The PrimeOutput method on component "Source - Query" (1) returned error code 0xC02020C4.  The component returned a failure code when the pipeline engine called PrimeOutput(). The meaning of the failure code is defined by the component, but the error is fatal and the pipeline stopped executing.  There may be error messages posted before this with more information about the failure.
 (SQL Server Import and Export Wizard)

Finally I resolved this error by dropping the column store index on the table and rerunning the wizard.

And then recreated the column store index after the data has been copied.

What the password policy of sql server?

Yesterday I had a question in my mind as to what could be the sql server password policy. So I started hunting in the Help menu of the SSMS window. Here is how I found that.

• Click on Help from Sql Server Management Studio.


• Choose contents


• Then choose Security considerations for SQL Server


• Then choose the Password Policy as shown in the screenshot below.

Using Login Auditing in SQL SERVER by Brian Kelly

Today featured video in SQL Share was Brian Kelly's "Using Login Auditing in SQL SERVER". I watched this 3 min. video and learnt the following.

I know that we can view sql server error logs. I monitor them on a daily basis but I didnt know that the login audit requires a setup that is a bit similar to the normal windows event log set up. This can be set up when you right click on the sql server connection in the management studio and choose properties and then choose Security. There is n option to choose Failed logins only, Successful logins only and both failed and successful logins and of course the none option aswell.

These login auditing will not only appear in the sql server error logs but in the windows event logs as well.

The best part that we are getting as part of watching the sql share videos is testing the knowledge we have acquired immediately after the video finishes which I think is very innovative.



If you would like to watch the same video click on the link

Free SQL Tools as blogged by

Today I stumbled across this very useful post by Mladen Prajdić

Click here to read more

As he says in the end ...

Even if none of this stuff helps you at the moment it's good to know they exist.

Because DBA-ing is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get :)

Tools for collecting SQL Server instances

Due to the proliferation of personal firewalls, inconsistent network library configurations, and multiple-instance support, SQL Server installations are becoming increasingly difficult to discover, assess, and maintain.

Peter Ward from WardyIT Solutions while presenting in the SQL Saturday event at Auckland last weekend has asked all of us the following question:

“Do you know how many instances are there in your network?”

Only two people in the entire room have raised their hands.

He mentioned about the following tools being available for collecting sql server instances in a network.

Sqlping from www.sqlsecurity.com

SQLPing 3.0 is a free tool available which performs both active and passive scans of your network in order to identify all of the SQL Server/MSDE installations in your enterprise.
SQLPing 3.0 is designed to remedy this problem by combining all known means of SQL Server/MSDE discovery into a single tool which can be used to ferret-out servers you never knew existed on your network so you can properly secure them. .NET Framework v2.0 Required.

You can find more information about SQLPING here

Microsoft assessment and planning toolkit (MAP Toolkit)

MAP Toolkit is a free tool from Microsoft that does a lot more than just scanning the network and identifying all instances of SQL Servers. Some of the features are outlined below.

• Secure, Agentless Discovery and Inventory
• Generate Automated, Network-wide Readiness Assessments
• Quickly Create Reports and Proposals
• Capitalise on Cross-Sell and Up-Sell Opportunities
• Shorten Your Presales Cycle, Increase Your Opportunities
• Accelerate Server and PC Migration Planning
• Leverage Virtualisation to Help Reduce Customers' Costs

For more information please click here

SQLIO
In the presentation Peter also briefly mentioned about SQLIO as a tool to measure SAN performance. I have googled for SQLIO and came up with the following.

SQLIO is a free utility from Microsoft that measures storage IO performance. The name "SQLIO" is horribly misleading, because it doesn't really have anything to do with SQL Server. There is a lot of information about SQLIO in the SQLServerpedia website

There may be lot of other tools out there. Please suggest me other tools if you can

SQL Server 2008 R2 Training Kit

SQL Server 2008 R2 Training Kit

New updated version of SQL Server 2008 R2 Training Kit is available for download from the microsoft site.

This has some hands on labs, tutorials, presentations, and videos.

Download from:http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=fffaad6a-0153-4d41-b289-a3ed1d637c0d

Hope you will enjoy using this training kit.

Recap from SQL Saturday Auckland event -- 10th April 2010

This past weekend I have attended the SQL Saturday event in Auckland.

The turnout for this event was really good with close to 100 people attending including the organizers and presenters. Thanks to everyone that helped out to put on a very successful event.

Here is a list of the presenters and the topics presented. We had to cancel the main organizer’s (Dave Dustin) due to lack of time.

Session Title	My learning’s in brief
Analysis Services - Introduction to Business Intelligence with SQL 2008 Justin King	The demonstration was really good as he took us through the entire cycle of creating an SSAS project. Also covered the basics of terminology in his presentation.
What is LINQ – and what the heck is it doing to my database? Ivan Towlson	Didn’t know what LINQ was before and now I know what it is and what advantages we can have with it.
Database Index investigation with DMVs Leo Miller	Learnt a whole heap of stuff on DMVs from DMV concepts, DMV groups to how to use them. Very valuable session.
SQL Server Integration Services 2008 Ben Gracewood	Learnt about SSIS custom templates which was new to me even though I had worked on SSIS and didn’t know anything about them.
36 to 6 SQL Servers – Consolidation from the Trenches Peter Ward	Peter is a very good presenter and I am impressed with his presentation that analogy he gives are realy amazing. Learnt what consolidation is and why we need to consolidation.
Common Misconceptions about Clustering Leo Miller	Why clustering is done and what the actual misconceptions.
Data warehousing & BI on SQL Server 2008 Douglas Barrett	Learnt what’s new in SQL SERVER 2008 R2 in the data warehousing world.
Comparing SQL in large vs small environments James Stewart	Learnt about the various performance tools and monitoring models. Also the various types of alerts.
Training for SQL Server 2008 certification, and why it's worth it Amanda Jackson	I am planning on to do the Business Intelligence certification which was very clear in Amanda’s presentation. Also information about what is available in Microsoft Elearning portal.

The lunch was Pizzas and subway sandwiches which was delicious. We also had an afternoon tea of Giapo Gelato Ice cream.

During every session there were various prizes for the people who were asking questions and also at the end there were some prizes from the sponsors.

I will try to blog on each presentation in detail a bit later.

Checksum Vs. Hashbytes

What is Checksum?
Checksum is a function available in sql server 2005 and sql server 2008. It is intended to build a hash index based on an expression or column list.

Determining if two rows or expressions are equal can be a difficult and resource intensive process. This can be the case where the update was conditional based on all of the columns being equal or not for a specific row. Without checksums it is a long process of using innerjoins to identify the exact row to update in the update statements.

When is Checksum used?
When you need to compare the unique characteristics of an expression, columns or a table consider using the Checksum function.

When you have to update a row where many columns are compared to determine if the data is unique, use CHECKSUM function to build a unique value using checksum function and then compare the CHECKSUM values.



Example:

Hashbytes

What is hashbytes function?
HashBytes function was introduced in SQL server 2005 to simplify creating hashes in the database. It can convert values to MD2, MD4, MD5, SHA, or SHA1 formats.

When can you use a hash function?
Hash functions are a useful option to improve the efficiency of particular queries on large volumes of data. For example, on long strings of text, you can build a hash-index to perform efficient lookups or to speed up aggregate operations.


Differences between checksum and Hashbytes

Checksum	Hashbytes
Faster but can produce lot of duplicate values	Slower but efficient than checksum
Returns an int value	Returns a varbinary(8000)
Microsoft does NOT recommend using CHECKSUM for change detection purposes	Use Hashbytes for change detection purposes

Do your backups for SQL server still exist?

Now that you have confirgured your backups on SQLSERVER, the backups themselves seem to be working, but are the files still where you think they are? How do you know they have not been moved, or worse, deleted to free up some space on your server? And when would you find out that the files were no longer there? If you are looking for the file to do a restore, and cannot find it, then it is too late.

Here is an tip from MSsqltips that shows you a simple way to check through the backup history to find the last full backup for each database and also to check that the file still exists where it is supposed to exist. Read More .............

Upgrade plan for SQL SERVER 2008

We have to upgrade out sql server 2005 to sql server 2008 in the coming months. Here is a comprehensive article that I found on MSSQLTIPS that could be used when you plan an upgrade. Read More

Data storage and retrieval for geospatial data in SQL Server 2008

I have a need to use geospatial data which will assist plotting the trainees available by region and compare wtih the sales staff region in our company. Here is a link from myssqltips that I found as part of that project.

Project Gemini gets a new Name........

Microsoft has now given a new name for Project Gemini. It is called Power Pivot.

The official blurb about it is: "PowerPivot provides business users with BI at their fingertips while enabling organizations to efficiently monitor and manage collaboration using Microsoft SharePoint 2010 and SQL Server 2008 based management tools"

You can find more information at the powerpivot site.