Author: Jennifer McCown, MidnightDBA Guru

Step-by-step guide by Jennifer McCown on creating a basic data load package in SQL Server Integration Services. SSIS is used to extract data from sources such as SQL Server databases, flat files, Excel files, Oracle and DB2 databases, perform data manipulation and transformation, and deliver it to one or more data destinations.

Jennifer McCown covers the basics of indexing in SQL Server, one of the most effective and essential elements to an efficient database system.

In this installment of this SQL Server Reporting Services series, Jennifer McCown covers creating, formatting, and exporting SSRS reports.

An introduction to SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) by Jennifer McCown. With SSRS, an enterprise-level reporting solution, you can create, schedule, publish and manage a multitude of reports using a variety of data sources.

Jennifer McCown provides an introduction to SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS), with an emphasis on the SSIS development environment. SSIS is Microsoft's full feature extract-transform-load (ETL) tool in SQL Server 2005, 2008, and R2.

SQL Server Profiler is a flexible profiling tool that comes with SQL Server. In this article, Jennifer McCown introduces the tool and details how to begin tracing database activity in your environment.

Your database is made of data; data is defined by data types. Data types are so fundamental yet they're often overlooked. In this article, Jennifer McCown answers a few of the most common questions on VARCHAR, CHAR and choosing string data types for your database.

Because tables model real life objects, the process of designing and building a table must start on the business side, gathering the rules and real life use cases. Jennifer McCowan, Midnight DBA Guru, gives us the first 3 of 6 essential steps to creating tables in SQL.

Jennifer McCown, MidnightDBA Guru, shares with us 3 important guidelines to keep in mind when creating SQL Server tables.