I have heard that CLR integration is here to stay so that might be a something to consider.

If retrieving mail via POP3 is an option, create your own CLR...

If you're using mixed authentication, setup a login to use SQL Server authentication and use that for the ODBC connection on the client.

Another option is to create a...

[p]Read the following articles. They have good instructions and explanations on how to create your own stored procedures and functions using CLR Integration. [/p]CLR Integration

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Creating Dot Net Stored Procedures...

Would that be the REPLACE function you were thinking of?

WHERE O.Postcode_no_spaces = REPLACE(D.Postcode_8, ' ', '')

A user-defined function would be a solution for this.

Have the function take in a list of integers, put that list into a table variable, then join that table...

Setting up a linked server using the OLE DB Provider for Microsoft Directory Services is straight forward but it has two limitations to consider. One, you can't update attributes...

Is there a requirement that it has to be a linked server?

If not, a VB or C# application that uses the System.DirectoryServices namespace and ADO.NET will get you data transfer...

Have a look at this article by Erland Sommarskog that covers passing in lists to a stored procedure.

http://www.sommarskog.se/arrays-in-sql.html

When the backups do complete are they doing so in the time you'd expect? If you copy a large file from another workstation to the Windows 2003 server...

I’m not sure SSIS would be the most practical for that situation although I’m certain it could be done.

One way to handle the identity column is...

When the DTS package is run manually it is running under your credentials. When the DTS Package is scheduled to run as a job the package is run under...

Is the record nos you're referring to a column in the table?

Inserting a row into a table does not necessarily mean it will be stored in the last physical row....