SQLSERVER Interview Questions-part7

1. Can you link only other SQL Servers or any database servers such as Oracle?
   We can link any server provided we have the OLE-DB provider from Microsoft to allow a link. For Oracle we have a OLE-DB provider for oracle that microsoft provides to add it as a linked server to the sql server group.
2. Which stored procedure will you be running to add a linked server?
   sp_addlinkedserver, sp_addlinkedsrvlogin
3. What are the OS services that the SQL Server installation adds?
   MS SQL SERVER SERVICE, SQL AGENT SERVICE, DTC (Distribution transac co-ordinator)
4. Can you explain the role of each service?
   SQL SERVER - is for running the databases SQL AGENT - is for automation such as Jobs, DB Maintanance, Backups DTC - Is for linking and connecting to other SQL Servers
5. How do you troubleshoot SQL Server if its running very slow?
   First check the processor and memory usage to see that processor is not above 80% utilization and memory not above 40-45% utilization then check the disk utilization using Performance Monitor, Secondly, use SQL Profiler to check for the users and current SQL activities and jobs running which might be a problem. Third would be to run UPDATE_STATISTICS command to update the indexes
6. Due to N/W or Security issues client is not able to connect to server or vice versa. How do you troubleshoot?
   First I will look to ensure that port settings are proper on server and client Network utility for connections. ODBC is properly configured at client end for connection; Makepipe & readpipe are utilities to check for connection. Makepipe is run on Server and readpipe on client to check for any connection issues.
7. What are the authentication modes in SQL Server?
   Windows mode and mixed mode (SQL & Windows).
8. Where do you think the users names and passwords will be stored in sql server?
   They get stored in master db in the sysxlogins table.
9. What is log shipping? Can we do logshipping with SQL Server 7.0?
   Logshipping is a new feature of SQL Server 2000. We should have two SQL Server - Enterprise Editions. From Enterprise Manager we can configure the logshipping. In logshipping the transactional log file from one server is automatically updated into the backup database on the other server. If one server fails, the other server will have the same db and we can use this as the DR (disaster recovery) plan.
10. SQL Server crashed and you are rebuilding the databases including the master database what procedure to you follow?
    For restoring the master db we have to stop the SQL Server first and then from command line we can type SQLSERVER Ã?¢â‚¬â€œm which will basically bring it into the maintenance mode after which we can restore the master db.