I'm very new to SQL Server and have a basic question

[cheryl27284]

Hi! I'm a Business Analyst and consider myself a pro at Access. I have built many Access databases at work. I even use Access to query data through ODBC from a SQL server. My company now wants me to learn SQL Server 2000. I familiar with the SQL language and I use it often enough that I think I would be able to use the query analyzer in SQL Server. My office is installing SQL Server 2000 on my Local PC next week. I went out and purchased a book called Step by Step SQL Server 2000 Programming. I'm already stuck on the first chapter. My question today is when the book talks about installing the practice files. The book says, "check with your system admin to determine the server group and server you should use" I'm not sure?? Can't I just connect to the SQL server through ODBC like I do with Access? What if I want to simply query my local Access database for practice? What do they mean? I use Windows 2000 as my OS and we use Novell at work to connect to the WAN? HELP?

 

[CaptainD]

Businesses can have one or many Servers and each person in the company can have (or not have) access to those servers. You can also assign groups to those servers that can have varying rights to the data located on them. "SA" or "System Administrator" has full rights to delete, change, view etc. everything on that Server so access through that route can allow someone to really mess up or destroy your data. Thus I can create a "Group" that I can assign certain presonnel to that can "Read Only" certain tables, hide certain tables from etc. or allow write ability. I can also do the same for programs. You should not be learning on "Live Data" but instead, create a practice, or load a practice database to learn on.

 

[cheryl27284]

Thanks. SO what you are telling me is that they can install the software without having to specify a server? I can just go in and some how have SQL pull from my Local practice Access databases? How do I do that? Enterprise Manager? I guess I'm just having trouble setting it up. The book I have helps me from that point on. Thank again

 

[synapsevampire]

In Enterprise Manager/Query Analyzer you can connect to multiple SQL Server databases, it is NOT server dependent.

Now when you say that the software was installed, does this mean the client only, or did they set you up as a server too?

SQL Server is commonly termed a mission critical database, whereas Access is not.

You wouldn't query an Access database from SQL Server. though if you have some tables already set up in Access that you would like to use in SQL Server, check out the upsizing wizard for Access to get them into the big kid database.

MS Access is a great tool for querying other data sources, SQL Server is not. SQL Server does have DTS (Data Transformation Services) which you could also use to xfer tables from Access, but it is NOT designed to develop applications that query disparate data sources, it's designed to quickly and safely store and extract data.

-k