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Product Update Alert - ApexSQL Log 2005.11.0534
Erceg on New ApexSQL Log and ApexSQL Log API
Product Update Alert - ApexSQL Log 2005.10.0502
ApexSQL Log Product Review in SQL Server Magazine
Product Update Alert - ApexSQL Log 2005.04.0453
Smoother User Experience in Upcoming Release of ApexSQL's Log
Major Features in ApexSQL Log's Upcoming Release
Video Introduction to ApexSQL Log
New Video - ApexSQL Log Filtering
German Translation of Apex SQL Log Recovery Review
Product Update Alert - ApexSQL Log 2005.03.0417
Spotlight on ApexSQL Log : SQL Audit & Recovery Tool
Interview with Ivan - the Sequel
The Ultimate Log Auditing / Recovery FAQ
Features in next major version of ApexSQL Log
ApexSQL Log 2005.02 has been released
Apex SQL Log 2005.01 Product Update Alert
New Apex SQL Log 2005 Screenshots
Interview with Ivan Erceg: Apex SQL Log 2005
Recovery with ApexSQL Log 2005 - Part 2
Recovery with ApexSQL Log 2005 - Part 1
Data recovery options in ApexSQL Log 2005
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Apex SQL Tools Blog Product announcements, promotions, discussions, and other ApexSQL Tools news Product Update Alert - ApexSQL Log 2005.11.0534 A Medium Fix version of ApexSQL Log 2005.11.0534 has been released. Use the following link for downloading. Here are the complete release notes for the new version. Auto-updater should work for this version. Product Update Alerts will be posted on this blog. For automatic notification pls subscribe to RSS Feed. The product will also automatically check for and notify users of new versions (as well as allow for automatic update via the application interface). Labels: ApexSQL Log ...Erceg on New ApexSQL Log and ApexSQL Log API Click here for Ivan's latest blog post on the new ApexSQL Log API and new ApexSQL Log. Get your developers the tools they need to do the job fast and right - ApexSQL Developer Studio is the ultimate combat multiplier for SQL Developers. 7 Best of Class tools - one download, install and discounted price. Click Here for more info. Labels: ApexSQL Log, ApexSQL Log API ...Product Update Alert - ApexSQL Log 2005.10.0502 A Medium Enhancement/Fix version of ApexSQL Log 2005.10.0502 has been released. Use the following link for downloading. Here are the complete release notes for the new version. Auto-updater should work for this version. Product Update Alerts will be posted on this blog. For automatic notification pls subscribe to RSS Feed. The product will also automatically check for and notify users of new versions (as well as allow for automatic update via the application interface). Labels: ApexSQL Log ...ApexSQL Log Product Review in SQL Server Magazine Click here to read SQL Server Magazine's product review of ApexSQL Log, ApexSQL's database recovery and log auditing tool. Get your developers the tools they need to do the job fast and right - ApexSQL Developer Studio is the ultimate combat multiplier for SQL Developers. 7 Best of Class tools - one download, install and discounted price. Click Here for more info. Labels: ApexSQL Log ...ApexSQL Log Saves the Day We've recently created a really fun video about ApexSQL Log. No--we don't plan to jump on the Hollywood bandwagon anytime soon (so talent managers, don't get any ideas). But yes--this video is based on a true story.  Get your developers the tools they need to do the job fast and right - ApexSQL Developer Studio is the ultimate combat multiplier for SQL Developers. 7 Best of Class tools - one download, install and discounted price. Click Here for more info. Labels: ApexSQL Log, Promotions ...Tell Us What You Want--Most The next big releases of ApexSQL tools are in the works--and we want your opinion! Visit any of the following surveys to share your ideas on what features you’d like to see MOST in the next versions of our products. ApexSQL Audit ApexSQL Clean ApexSQL Code ApexSQL Diff ApexSQL Doc ApexSQL Log ApexSQL Report ApexSQL Script Get your developers the tools they need to do the job fast and right - ApexSQL Developer Studio is the ultimate combat multiplier for SQL Developers. 7 Best of Class tools - one download, install and discounted price. Click Here for more info. Labels: Announcement, ApexSQL Audit, ApexSQL Clean, ApexSQL Code, ApexSQL Diff, ApexSQL Doc, ApexSQL Log, ApexSQL Report, ApexSQL Script, Road Map ...Product Update Alert - ApexSQL Log 2005.04.0453 A Medium Enhancement/Fix version of ApexSQL Log 2005.04.0453 has been released. Use the following link for downloading. Here are the complete release notes for the new version. Unfortunately, auto-updater won't work for this version. Please accept our apologies for inconvenience. Product Update Alerts will be posted on this blog. For automatic notification pls subscribe to RSS Feed. The product will also automatically check for and notify users of new versions (as well as allow for automatic update via the application interface). Labels: ApexSQL Log ...Smoother User Experience in Upcoming Release of ApexSQL's Log ApexSQL Log's upcoming release promises a smoother user experience. The new version offers the convenience of an integrated client-side and server-side setup. There's no more issue with the SQL Server being run by a non-administrator account. The problem encountered with @@SERVERNAME when a server's network name is changed has also been solved. You can read more about it here. Get your developers the tools they need to do the job fast and right - ApexSQL Developer Studio is the ultimate combat multiplier for SQL Developers. 7 Best of Class tools - one download, install and discounted price. Click Here for more info. Labels: ApexSQL Log ...Major Features in ApexSQL Log's Upcoming Release The latest version of ApexSQL Log is now in QA. We here at ApexSQL are very excited about it. It's got improved reconstruction of the UPDATE method, better scaling in memory and performance, the capability to read backups that don't perfectly match SQL Server's backups, support for reading transaction logs of SQL Server 7/2000 under SQL Server 2005 (and vice versa),and it even has an audit progress bar that let's you know the app's current status. You can read more about it here. Get your developers the tools they need to do the job fast and right - ApexSQL Developer Studio is the ultimate combat multiplier for SQL Developers. 7 Best of Class tools - one download, install and discounted price. Click Here for more info. Labels: ApexSQL Log ...Video Introduction to ApexSQL Log  We have recently posted a video introduction to ApexSQL Log. Click here to download video (file size: 61.3 Mb). Get your developers the tools they need to do the job fast and right - ApexSQL Developer Studio is the ultimate combat multiplier for SQL Developers. 7 Best of Class tools - one download, install and discounted price. Click Here for more info. Labels: ApexSQL Log ...ApexSQL Log's Recovery Wizard Ivan (Chief Server Architect) tells you another reason AUTO_SHRINK SHOULD be off and how, in case of data loss, ApexSQL Log can save the day. Turn AUTO_SHRINK off Get your developers the tools they need to do the job fast and right - ApexSQL Developer Studio is the ultimate combat multiplier for SQL Developers. 7 Best of Class tools - one download, install and discounted price. Click Here for more info. Labels: ApexSQL Log, Tech Talk ...New Video - ApexSQL Log Filtering A new video has been posted on Filtering in ApexSQL Log. Another video, "Introduction to ApexSQL Log" will be posted shortly (a little out of order) Click here to download these videos Get your developers the tools they need to do the job fast and right - ApexSQL Developer Studio is the ultimate combat multiplier for SQL Developers. 7 Best of Class tools - one download, install and discounted price. Click Here for more info. Labels: ApexSQL Log ...Upcoming ApexSQL Log 2005.04 This is a brief from Ivan's (Chief Server Architect) blog Upcoming ApexSQL Log 2005.04 Labels: ApexSQL Log ...German Translation of Apex SQL Log Recovery Review German Translation of Apex SQL Log Recovery Review Labels: ApexSQL Log ...Product Update Alert - ApexSQL Log 2005.03.0417 A Major Enhancement/Fix version of ApexSQL Log 2005.03.0417 has been released. Pls see link for release notes. Auto-updater won't work from the previous version. Please download the installers (ApexSQL Log and the server side components installer) and install them manually from here. This release requires .net 2.0 run time distributable. Sorry for inconvenience. Product Update Alerts will be posted on this blog. For automatic notification pls subscribe to RSS Feed. The product will also automatically check for and notify users of new versions (as well as allow for automatic update via the application interface). Labels: ApexSQL Log ...Spotlight on ApexSQL Log : SQL Audit & Recovery Tool Fresh off the presses at sql-server-performance. This is a pretty comprehensive and well written overview of the Recovery capabilities of ApexSQL Log Spotlight on ApexSQL Log : SQL Audit & Recovery Tool Labels: ApexSQL Log ...Interview with Ivan - the Sequel Another in our engrossing series of Ivan Interviews I have coined "Tuesdays with Erceg" ... You seem like a popular guy - you have gotten several job offers from interesting companies lately. This is a two part question. How can I get you to actually accept one? and why doesn't anybody offer me a job? Hey, don’t look at me, it must be my charming personality! And you either have that or you… don’t… I mean you do, you do – you are just misunderstood! ;) The last ApexSQL Log introduced some new User Interface features - have any in particular that you like (since they were all my ideas anyway)? The one I like the best is the difference viewer for UPDATE operations. Also, I like being able to select particular transaction log backups from GUI. Any engine improvements? Actually, the latest release was void of any major features – we are saving those for the upcoming release. Instead we concentrated on bug fixing in this release and we fixed a lot of bugs – three of them major. Your status reports indicate much work being done but we've seen little tangible evidence of it lately? What are you working on in your secret lab? Oh just some items like data extraction from database backups, BLOB recovery and support for CLR UDT types (on SQL 2005). I could tell you more but then I would have to… silence you. What are the *practical* implications of backup integration? There are two: we will be able to offer our users ability to extract say a single table (and other database objects as well) from a database backup. And eventually we will add automatic use of database backups in UPDATE reconstruction. What is the timeframe for this new release? We are planning the next major release for September 2006. I understand you have been working with the Diff team. The last newbie I sent over there I never saw again. Are you discovering any synergies between ApexSQL Log and ApexSQL Diff? One great thing about working on Log and with Diff team at the same time is being able to cover areas of “crosspollination”. The immediate consequence is that Diff will be getting database backup reading from Log while Log will be getting database objects recovery for all object types (for both 2000 and 2005) due to Diff’s superior scripting capabilities. Btw, regarding that newbie you mentioned – he was actually spotted in the wild couple of weeks ago! You seem to have no competition in the SQL2005 space for Log Reading Recovery. They say it's lonely at the top. How are you holding up? In all seriousness, while it’s kind of nice I don’t let it get into my head and the work on Log is progressing full steam ahead. Have you successfully recovered any 200+ GB Logs lately? If so, when can we hear about it? Actually, it was a set of 200+Gb corrupted MDF files from a S. African company. SQL Server was reporting corrupted sysobjects and refused to attach the database but with Log they were able to recover their data. It was really nice to be able to help these people. Get your developers the tools they need to do the job fast and right - ApexSQL Develper Studio is the ultimate combat multiplier for SQL Developers. 7 Best of Class tools - one download, install and discounted price. Click Here for more info. Labels: ApexSQL Log, Interviews ...The Ultimate Log Auditing / Recovery FAQ Weighing in at 320 lbs, 6 mos. of delay and scores of questions/answers - The Ultimate Log Auditing and Recovery FAQ Labels: ApexSQL Log ...Features in next major version of ApexSQL Log In case you were wondering if ApexSQL Log team was just coasting .... on the only transaction log reader for SQL Server 2005 on the market today let me assure you that we have been working hard on the next major revision of our application. We just released version 2005.02 - but that's just maintenance version you say, what about the features? Here's what we have planned for the next major version (major features only): 1. Recovery of table data from database backups. 2. Recovery of truncated, deleted, dropped BLOB fields from database files (online MDF files, detached MDF files, database backups) 3. Support for CLR UDT types. As always these were fun to implement - I won't even try to decide which one would be the favorite (although that CLR UDT support is definitelly the most tricky) We have already implemented 2 out of 3 and we are wrapping up implementation on the 3rd feature. Put together this and a host of smaller features and you will see why I'm (as always) excited about the upcoming version of Log! If you have any suggestions for our product hop to this forum thread and let us know! Get your developers the tools they need to do the job fast and right - ApexSQL Develper Studio is the ultimate combat multiplier for SQL Developers. 7 Best of Class tools - one download, install and discounted price. Click Here for more info. Labels: ApexSQL Log ...ApexSQL Log 2005.02 has been released ApexSQL is proud to announce the release of a new version of our log-reading and recovery tool, ApexSQL Log. The new version (v2005.02.399) provides s number of fixes for issues in the last release, as well as some minor enhancements and changes to existing features. To get the latest version, you can access it via the app's internal auto-updater, or download the complete installer package from here: http://apexsql.com/zips/apexsqllog.exe Here are the complete release notes for the new version: ApexSQL Log Release Notes ---------------------------------------------------- RELEASE 2005.02 DATE: 26 June 2006 DESCRIPTION: Major Enhancement/Fix release ---------------------------------------------------- Enhancements: - Added "User Id" and "Login Time" columns to grid. "User Id" column shows either UID or SID depending on SQL Server version. "Login Time" column shows the time of the login of the connection on which the transaction was made. - Added selection of available transaction log backups. - Added selection of heterogenous log sources to GUI. - Added in Row Details icons indicating columns that are part of table's clustered index or primary key. - Added difference viewer for UPDATE operations. - Added internal viewer of column values for INSERT and DELETE operations. - Added column level regular expressions filter for tables in log operations grid. - Added support for user defined types (non-CLR). - Added milliseconds to to/from filters in CLI. Changes: - Limited the number of rows recovered by Recovery Wizard during product evaluation. Fixes: - A problem with user filtering (MAJOR FIX) - A major performance issue (MAJOR FIX) - A problem with CLR user defined types (MAJOR FIX) - A problem with IS NULL row filter when used from GUI. - A problem with reading of aborted transactions. - A problem with showing application tab in task bar. - A problem with opening new filtered log. - A rare problem with remote installation failing on local server. - A rare problem with UPDATE reconstruction. - A problem with remote online transaction log auditing with files over 2Gb in size. - A rare problem with server side logs not being found in system32 folder. - An unhandled exception thrown by Field Values Filter with no continuation operator. - A problem with BLOB fields appearing in UNDO/REDO statements. - A problem with REDO/UNDO not taking into account the primary key on tables with no clustered index. - A rare problem with row reconstruction. - A rare problem with dropped table recovery when recovering from online database data. - A problem with adding servers with expired trial version to the server tree. - A problem with copying from REDO/UNDO tabs to clipboard. - A problem with closing log window. - Several minor GUI issues. Get your developers the tools they need to do the job fast and right - ApexSQL Develper Studio is the ultimate combat multiplier for SQL Developers. 7 Best of Class tools - one download, install and discounted price. Click Here for more info. Labels: ApexSQL Log ...Apex SQL Log Blog Index This is index for all Blog posts about Apex SQL Log (more links will be posted here) SQL Audit and Data Recovery Tool Review New Apex SQL Log 2005 Screenshots Interview with Ivan Erceg: Apex SQL Log 2005 Lumigent Says "Toodles" to SQL Server S.O.S. Rescue Me Log Reading Tools - Competitive Upgrades Data recovery options in ApexSQL Log 2005 Recovery with ApexSQL Log 2005 - Part 1 Recovery with ApexSQL Log 2005 - Part 2 Get your developers the tools they need to do the job fast and right - ApexSQL Develper Studio is the ultimate combat multiplier for SQL Developers. 7 Best of Class tools - one download, install and discounted price. Click Here for more info. Labels: ApexSQL Log ...Apex SQL Log 2005.01 Product Update Alert This is a combination product release notice for ApexSQL Log 1.90 and 2005.01 Major Improvements Include - SQL Server 2005 support - Recovery Wizard - Totally re-written User Interface ApexSQL Log Release Notes ---------------------------------------------------- RELEASE 2005.01 DATE: 2 March 2006 DESCRIPTION: Major Enhancement/Fix release ---------------------------------------------------- Enhancements: - Added three command line options for server components installation (/install, /uninstall and /info) This allows for easy massive deployment/maintenance of server components in environments that need it (MAJOR ENHANCEMENT) - Added additional logging information to Connection Monitor. - Changed "Schema" grid column name to "Owner" for databases on SQL Server 7 and 2000 servers. Fixes: - Fixed a problem with Recovery Wizard toolbar button leading to exception (MAJOR FIX) - Fixed a problem with persisted computed columns lacking name in the grid under SQL Server 2005 (MAJOR FIX) - Fixed a problem with remote uninstall when repairing previous installation (MAJOR FIX) - Fixed a rare problem with _variant_t conversion exception under some instances of SQL Server 2005. - Fixed a problem with remote install. - Fixed a problem with exception "Invalid object name 'msdb.dbo.APEXSQL_LOG_LOGIN'" on User ID filter page. - Fixed a rare problem with ApexSqlLogXprocs.dll unload. - Fixed some command line interface error messages. - Fixed a problem with grid refresh resetting checked rows. - Fixed a problem with SPID filtering in GUI. - Fixed a problem with row history grid showing wrong row in the main grid. - Fixed a problem with Find dialog with no now rows in main grid leading to exception. - Fixed several minor visual issues. ---------------------------------------------------- RELEASE 1.90 DATE: 22 February 2006 DESCRIPTION: Major Enhancement/Fix release ---------------------------------------------------- SPECIAL NOTE: ApexSQL Log 1.90 is the first per-instance licensed version of the software. For more information please see FAQ section in our help file. Enhancements: - Added support for SQL Server 2005 (MAJOR ENHANCEMENT) - Added Recovery Wizard integrating all recovery options (MAJOR ENHANCEMENT) - Added recovery of structure and data for dropped tables without relevant transaction log information (MAJOR ENHANCEMENT) - Added recovery of deleted data even without relevant transaction log information (MAJOR ENHANCEMENT) - Added recovery of structure and data from detached MDF files (MAJOR ENHANCEMENT) - Added full support for UNICODE in all export options and CLI (MAJOR ENHANCEMENT) - Added server and database name to BULK, SQL, XML and CSV exports. - Added transaction state to BULK, SQL, XML and CSV exports. - Added table owner information to grid and export. - Automatic server components installation and updates, remotely or locally. Changes: - Changed license structure from per-client to per-instance. - Completely redesigned Connection Monitor to be an external process to SQL Server. - Changed LogNavXp.dll file name to ApexSqlLogXprocs.dll. - Removed LiveLogSetup.exe. Its functionality has been improved and integrated into ApexSQL Log client itself. - Changed Filter management. Filters are now saved in separates files. - Removed NULL value filtering for application names, login names and client hosts. These NULL value are now treated the same as unknown values during filtering. Fixes: - Fixed a problem with bad exception handling during recovery. - Fixed a problem with NULL reconstructions in REDO/UNDO scripts. - Fixed a problem with badly created table for Connection Monitor. Product Update Alerts will be posted on this blog. For automatic notification pls subscribe to RSS Feed. The product will also automatically check for and notify users of new versions (as well as allow for automatic update via the application interface) Get your developers the tools they need to do the job fast and right - ApexSQL Develper Studio is the ultimate combat multiplier for SQL Developers. 7 Best of Class tools - one download, install and discounted price. Click Here for more info. Labels: ApexSQL Log ...New Apex SQL Log 2005 Screenshots Here are some screen shots from the just released (yesterday) ApexSQL Log 2005 which includes - SQL 2005 Support - Recovery Wizard - Totally rewritten UI and more Grid grouping and Row History  Row Details  Recovery Wizard  Multiple Log Types  Regular Expression Table Filter  DDL Auditing  Get your developers the tools they need to do the job fast and right - ApexSQL Develper Studio is the ultimate combat multiplier for SQL Developers. 7 Best of Class tools - one download, install and discounted price. Click Here for more info. Labels: ApexSQL Log ...Interview with Ivan Erceg: Apex SQL Log 2005 Ivan was able to find a little time today to chat with me about the latest version of ApexSQL Log 2005 (just released today) and some other things . . . Tammy: Tell me Ivan, what would be the common, real-world uses of Command Line Usage in ApexSQL Log? Ivan: Command Line Interface is most frequently used in batch processing. The possibility to integrate log auditing into batch process and/or separately schedule auditing runs is pretty powerful. Tammy: The Command Line Interface in ApexSQL looks pretty large – how many switches are there? Ivan: Well, it depends on how you count them but there are 6 main export options together with database and log access, filtering and miscellaneous switches. Well over 40 actually. Tammy: ApexSQL Log 2005 looks great! What are some of the biggest new features? Ivan: - Added support for SQL Server 2005 (MAJOR ENHANCEMENT) - Added Recovery Wizard integrating all recovery options (MAJOR ENHANCEMENT) - Added recovery of structure and data for dropped tables without relevant transaction log information (MAJOR ENHANCEMENT) - Added recovery of deleted data even without relevant transaction log information (MAJOR ENHANCEMENT) - Added recovery of structure and data from detached MDF files (MAJOR ENHANCEMENT) - Added full support for UNICODE in all export options and CLI (MAJOR ENHANCEMENT) Tammy: You wrote an article,Data Recovery Options in ApexSQL Log 2005, awhile back about advantages of ApexSQL Log. What is a quick summary of things ApexSQL Log can do that other sql logging tools can’t currently? Ivan: Two things I would say: 1. The Command Line Interface exports allow for some pretty interesting automated audit solutions. Especially BULK export, type of data loading which is *extremely* fast so it's very often used in batch processing. We also have XML export through the Command Line Interface (and GUI) so that's another place where users can apply their own transformations to our XML files and get to the audited data they may need. 2. A variety of recovery options. Other applications offer these as well - some that we have too, others that we don't. But I think we have the most comprehensive coverage at the moment. And we will only get better - I plan at least two new recovery features in axLog 2005.02 Tammy: I understand you have shed your C++ skin and helped rewrite ApexSQL Log UI in C# / .NET. What were the reasons for doing this? Ivan: Greater flexibility in programming and deployment. C++ GUI as implemented through Microsoft Foundation Classes was really tough to maintain while .NET GUI is easy to do. And of course, all our applications were making the same transition so we wanted to catch the same train and leverage the sinergy. Tammy: Why not VB6 like Brian suggested? Ivan: Oh, well, I guess that the 3 years in my mid 20s trying not to get crazy from VB6 might have had something to do with it. But seriously though, VB6 really helped build our applications fast and cheap and gave us the initial boost we needed (this is of course all to Brian's credit) But it finally became the limiting factor. Tammy: What do you think about the fact that Ashton had indicated he’s the best coder at ApexSQL? Any comments? Ivan: Well, I guess he is... in the light weight category which is C# coding. But we all know real men code in C++. Tammy: Any thoughts on Duke vs. Carolina? Remember Chuck and Ashton will be reading this! Ivan: Oh, yes, the traditional Duke vs UNC question. I would dare to say that, with due respect to both sides, that this is as removed from me as the outcome of say Jupiter vs Saturn in interplanetary cricket championship. That said, since UNC lost to Duke, since Chuck is kind of down because of that, because I have a UNC 2005 champs T-shirt and because it will make Ashton mad, I would say UNC rulez!! For the record I was accussed of being bandwagoneer last year. This is of course true. Thanks Ivan, you're a great sport! Get your developers the tools they need to do the job fast and right - ApexSQL Develper Studio is the ultimate combat multiplier for SQL Developers. 7 Best of Class tools - one download, install and discounted price. Click Here for more info. Labels: ApexSQL Log, Interviews ...Recovery with ApexSQL Log 2005 - Part 2 This is part two of a multi-part interview with Ivan Erceg, ApexSQL Log Team Leader, on the subject of Recovery with ApexSQL Log 2005. Stay tuned for more discussions on this BLOG that will be posted shortly 4. How do other Recovery tools handle this situation where the affected data is contained in a table that has subsequently been dropped? In most tools that attempt to recover in this scenario, they rely on meta data in the transaction log itself, to reconstruct the dropped table, but this meta data often doesn’t exist (it may have itself been truncated at a checkpoint which is SQL Server's default setting) There is even one tool that can do recovery only if a backup exists and the structure of the table hasn’t changed since data was deleted. The challenge is to recover without these additional and often unrealistic requirements that often simply don’t exist in real world scenarios. In this case, where other tools fail, ApexSQL Log, succeeds by taking a redundant approach and looking at several sources of structure meta -data. Wherever it finds viable meta data, it reconstructs the table and can then recover the dropped data. The problem with disaster recovery is most likely you are in a suboptimal situation to begin with. Using tools that assume perfect conditions – a pristine transaction log file, viable database backups and/or existing undropped objects, no changes to object schema etc etc – result in less than successful recoveries in most real world situations. ApexSQL Log 2005 provides a level of redundancy that ensures much higher level of recovery success than other recovery tools – ensuring a high probability of successful recovery even in less than perfect recovery conditions. 5. That sounds great! But what is this with recovery of detached MDF files? Can't these files just be reattached to SQL Server using sp_attach_single_file_db? In most cases yes. In those cases SQL Server automatically creates new transaction log file and carries on. But sometimes this fails and db gets marked as suspect rendering this file useless in terms of recovery and destroying your database in the process. The new version of ApexSQL Log solves this without in a clear and simple manner - even if MDF file cannot be attached at all, if it's only partially complete and so on. We scrub that file for every bit of user info it has. 6. Is that all for recovery options? Actually, we have simplified all Log's recovery options in ApexSQL Log 2005 (like say recovery of deleted data) into single Recovery Wizard. Users can still use old tried ways (like REDO script generation) but at the same time we offer one unique interface for all recovery operations. 7. Ok, let's talk some more about new auditing options. I see here two that call my attention: reverse auditing and active portion auditing. What are these? These two have been on our plate for a long time but we are finally implementing them in this new version. Reverse auditing instructs Log to start auditing from the back of transaction log and move backward toward its start. In GUI, where auditing results are limited by the number of rows, this means that matching rows more toward end will be found first. In CLI this option doesn't do anything since there is no row limit so we didn't include it there. Active portion auditing refers to auditing of the part of the transaction log that is "active" by SQL Server's terminology. This term refers to the part of the log starting from Minimum Recovery LSN (MinLSN) to the end of the log (for more information see "Checkpoints and the Active Portion of the Log" article in Books On Line) In simpler terms it limits auditing to the most immediate logged changes (in general case) 8. Are there any other new features that you would like to mention? Yes, I would like to mention one very small but significant feature: we now include server and database names in all our exports. This means that data exported from different auditing sources can now be easily consolidated into one single auditing repository. This was an often asked for feature and we are now delivering. Ivan will be in at SQL Pass in Dallas, TX – feel free to ask him questions about this technology. Ivan likes to talk so pls have at least 30 minutes set aside to listen to the answer to each question! Ivan speaks fluent Spanish, Serbo-Croatian and English Get your developers the tools they need to do the job fast and right - ApexSQL Develper Studio is the ultimate combat multiplier for SQL Developers. 7 Best of Class tools - one download, install and discounted price. Click Here for more info. Labels: ApexSQL Log, Interviews ...Recovery with ApexSQL Log 2005 - Part 1 The ApexSQL Log team is headed towards the final stages of delivery of ApexSQL Log 2005 – a new version of ApexSQL Log that offers a ton of improvements over previous versions including redesigned interface and many more GUI features, new output options and a whole slew of new recovery options. I’ve been working with Ivan Erceg, principal architect of this tool, to describe the power of some of these recovery options and how they compare to other solutions on the market today. This will be part one of a multi-part interview on the subject of Recovery alone. Stay tuned for more discussions on this BLOG that will be posted shortly 1. We’re seeing more and more cases where users experience disappointment with recovery tools in existence now in terms of success of recovery. For example, what if I just truncated a table and log is automatically truncated on checkpoint (which is the default setting with SQL Server)? Previously (with versions of ApexSQL Log up to 2005 and with all other Log Reading/Recovery tools), if this was your case you were basically out of luck and your only option was to restore a backup. But with the new technology implemented in ApexSQL Log 2005 you can try to recover the truncated data. There are no guarantees that you will be able to recover all of it but if you act fast enough, your chances are high that you can still achieve a successful recovery. 2. Why can't these tools recover everything in all cases? This actually doesn't depend always depend on the log technology itself but rather on the database activity after the truncation. Table truncation is fast because data is not really deleted, which would involve logging all deletes into the transaction log and would slow things down. Instead, during truncation parts of the db files are just marked as free to be reused. If you have truncated a table, the best thing to do is to stop all db activity which will minimize the amount of reused data which in turn maximizes the amount of data that we can recover. Although we can’t always recover everything – the majority of current Log Reading/Recovery tools can’t recover *anything* in this case. If the Transaction Log doesn’t contain the data – which is the case in truncation – these tools are simply useless. 3. And what if I dropped the table that I truncated? Same thing actually but with a twist: ApexSQL Log will first recover dropped meta-data and create DDL script for the dropped table and only then recover the dropped data itself. Part 2 of this interview will be posted tomorrow Ivan will be in at SQL Pass in Dallas, TX – feel free to ask him questions about this technology. Ivan likes to talk so pls have at least 30 minutes set aside to listen to the answer to each question! Ivan speaks fluent Spanish, Serbo-Croatian and English Get your developers the tools they need to do the job fast and right - ApexSQL Develper Studio is the ultimate combat multiplier for SQL Developers. 7 Best of Class tools - one download, install and discounted price. Click Here for more info. Labels: ApexSQL Log, Interviews ...Data recovery options in ApexSQL Log 2005 We are preparing Log 2005 release and in it a lot of new stuff will be in new recovery options. Here's a not-so-brief description of them :) Recovery options in general can be divided into those that use transaction log data and those that use database data files for recovery. All new features in ApexSQL Log 2005 use database data files recovery and greatly improve (both in scope and quality) recovery options we were offering previously. Furthermore, Log 2005 will come with brand new Recovery Wizard to help our users recover deleted, dropped, truncated or otherwise lost data. Recovery Wizard will have all our old and new recovery options in one place, available from one common interface and will greatly simplify user experience with recovery. Recovery Wizard will sport five types of recovery: 1. Deleted Data Recovery: Recovery of data that was deleted with DELETE statement This type of recovery can be done from traditional transaction log sources (online, backup, detached) or from online database files. The first option was available since early 2004 in the form of UNDO scripts. Now it has been integrated into Recovery Wizard although it's of course still available as generation of UNDO scripts for more precise recovery needs. The second option is new in Log 2005 and allows recovery even when database is not in FULL RECOVERY mode and no relevant transaction log data is available. This option scrubs database's data pages for every known bit of deleted information and tries to recover deleted rows from there. As with other data pages recovery options, quality and completeness of data will depend on the post-event (in this case DELETE) database activity. 2. Truncated Data Recovery: Recovery of data that was lost with TRUNCATE TABLE statement We introduced this type of recovery back in Log 1.85 and now we integrated it into Recovery Wizard. This type of recovery can be done only through online database data files and not through transaction logs source since TRUNCATE doesn't write any truncate data info in the logs (that's why it's so fast compared to DELETE). Recovery is done by analysis of free pages in the MDF file and quality of recovered data depends on post-event database activity. 3. Dropped Data Recovery: Recovery of data that was lost with DROP TABLE statement This type of recovery can be done through traditional transaction log sources plus online data files or just from online data files. We introduced the first option back in Log 1.85 and in it we use transaction log data to recover table structure and online data files to recover table data. The second option is new to Log 2005 and allows complete recovery of dropped data even when database is not in FULL RECOVERY mode and no relevant transaction log data is available. Here both table structure and table data are recovered from free pages found in database data files. 4. Lost Data Recovery: Recovery of data from detached data files (MDF files) This is a new option in Log 2005. It allows you to recover deleted, dropped or truncated data from a detached data file or files. But more importantly it allows full data recovery from files that cannot be reattached to SQL Server. For now this option allows full recovery of table structure and data but doesn't recover other types of database objects (like views, stored procedures and so on) 5. Lost database objects recovery This type of recovery can be done through traditional transaction log sources or through database data files. First option is the same as DDL REDO auditing option which was first introduced in Log 1.50. DDL REDO is still available of course as well as its counterpart DDL UNDO. Second option is new in Log 2005 and allows recovery of table structures even when database is not in FULL RECOVERY mode or no relevant transaction log data is available. In future versions we will improve this option to allow recovery of other database objects like views, stored procedures and so on. Get your developers the tools they need to do the job fast and right - ApexSQL Develper Studio is the ultimate combat multiplier for SQL Developers. 7 Best of Class tools - one download, install and discounted price. Click Here for more info. Labels: ApexSQL Log |
