Reluctant DBA Part 1: Introduction
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Loading ...This is a new biweekly series on SQL Server for the “reluctant DBA.” You know who you are: A beleaguered Windows admin forced to support every random technology that crops up in your environment. SQL Server, in all its many editions, is a common foe of the Jack of All Tech, simply because we often didn’t sign up to be Database Administrators (DBAs), but some application in the environment requires SQL, and so we’re stuck dealing with it.
While this series will focus on practical tasks - performing backups and restores, for example - we’re going to have to start with some background concepts. Unfortunately, there’s a good deal to understand about how SQL works under the hood before you can begin to be effective. However, I promise to keep it short, simple, and entirely on-target, with a goal of giving you as little as possible while still making you effective. If you ever yearn for more detail, just post a comment and ask!
Let’s start with a simple question: What is SQL?
SQL (usually pronounced sequel, not ess-que-el) was originally an acronym for Structured Query Language, the language used to tell the database product what to do. It’s a sort of cross between a scripting language and a command-line syntax. Because Microsoft’s database product responds to commands in this language, it was named SQL Server.
Today, “SQL” is often thought os less as a language and more as a product category. Other database products used the same base language, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, IBM’s DB2, Oracle, and more.
Most of these products include ANSI SQL - typically, ANSI SQL:99, to be specific. This is an industry standard that covers a portion of the overall SQL language; by responding to this standardized form of the language, products ensure a certain degree of cross-compatibility. However, the standard doesn’t cover enough of the language for a complete database product. Therefore, each product has their own variant of the language, which builds on the ANSI standard. Microsoft’s product uses a variant called Transact-SQL, or T-SQL; Oracle uses PL/SQL. Both are identical in their core ANSI-compliant portion, but add proprietary extensions to cover things like server configuration (which would be product-specific anyway).
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