SQL Server 2K5

[NormanPride]

So I've been switched around a bit at work, and now I need to learn how to be a pseudo DBA for SQL Server 2K5. What are some good books I can start out with, and is the certification (http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/mcts/sql/default.mspx) worth anything?

I'm more used to Oracle DBs, though by no means am I an Oracle DBA, so this switch has been... odd.

[colleyvillesooner]

I think I speak for most of us when I say:

What!?

[NormanPride]

The internets is not a big truck. It's a series of tubes, you see. And those tubes lead to a giant septic tank. That septic tank is SQL Server 2k5. I need books about this septic tank.

[HoserSooner]

So I've been switched around a bit at work, and now I need to learn how to be a pseudo DBA for SQL Server 2K5. What are some good books I can start out with, and is the certification (http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/mcts/sql/default.mspx) worth anything?

I'm more used to Oracle DBs, though by no means am I an Oracle DBA, so this switch has been... odd.

I have the 2000 certification, but we haven't gone to 2005 yet. I found most of the books to be not all that great for certification purposes. Learn it from the books (or fork over big $$$ to Mr. Gates and take the week-long course).

If you want certifications, there are sites out there that give you 150 questions to memorize, and then they ask about 40-45 of them on the exam. Questions are word for word too.

[Sooner in Tampa]

I have heard that the SQL DBA test is one of the hardest to pass.