Yes, but why shrink it? 10GB isn't very large and be keeping the database this size you won't have to grow the database or it won't "auto grow" for...

Yes, you can still create an alias but each time you take the sql server instance "offline", you'll need to change the port in your alias unless a different port...

1. Start Sql Server Configuration Manager (Start-Programs - Microsoft SQL Server - Configuration Tools

2. Expand SQL Native Client Configuration (32 bit)

2a. Expand SQL Native Client Configuration

Note: You'll want to create...

I'm not sure how to get around this using VPN. Perhaps someone else knows.

You could always create a local alias (with working connection) on the laptop, then you won't...

change for your country.

http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=average+salary+of+database+administrator+united+states

This query is for DBA, not Junior DBA so you probably would look at the lower end range.

Have you tried connecting via IP?

IP\<named instance>

also try using the port#

IP,port

which will work the same as

IP\<named instance>,port#

If it works using the IP, you can try the full instance name with...

We backup using the RedGate which we have found to be very efficient for large databases. The native sql backup took too long to complete with certain window restrictions...

You should confirm a memory issue by examining the following counters:

SQLServer:Buffer Manager - Page Life Expectancy

300 seconds or less may be indicative of low memory

SQLServer:Buffer Manager - Buffer cache hit...

Second Question:

You should have this message in the SQL Server Log:

Message

Using locked pages for buffer pool.

It's after the CPU check.

Did you restart the server after setting "lock pages in memory"...

so there isn't an error. You can connect to the local server via SSMS.

This book has a pretty decent section on disk configuration.

SQL Server 2005 Performance Tuning

WROX

ISBN: 978-0-470-17639-9

Maybe you can borrow one?

Also look at the disk queue (disk counters). High CPU can be correlated to long queue lengths.

You can pause the node and work on the cluster.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc731291(WS.10).aspx

Steve

One more thing. When you modify the registry entries, you may actually need to search for the key depending on the server OS. 64bit OS has a different...

We're running an ACTIVE/ACTIVE cluster with SSIS as a clustered resource.

We set it up like this:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms345193.aspx

We store all of the packages in the MSDB database. This seems...