About Linked Server - Part 1

Dear Friends,

Thanks for your lovely wishes for my first post. This will really help me and also encourage keeping on updating my blog with new posts.

Last weekend had a beautiful family trip to Matheran.

(It was my fourth overnight picnic to Matheran. Here we can see some ancients British Style Bungalow (Haunted too) surrounded between the trees. Cool breeze especially during evening will refreshes the mind.

Despite around 38 spots, my personal favorite spot would be Malang Point and Sunset Point as we would be getting a good view from these points. 
Guys even though best time to visit, would be after rainy season, but it’s worth to visit the place any time) 

I like to introduce our maiden topic with - About Linked Server [LS]. It will be a three part series and will be covered in next few weeks. 
Also would like to keep all my posts as simple as I can.

•     Introduction
•     How to configuration LS
•     Troubleshooting

Introduction to Linked Server [LS]:

Linked Server [LS] is a feature in MS SQL Server which needs to be configured, if we want to communicate (through query) with the outside world.

Once LS is configured, it can be used to exchange information using different data sources. This data sources can be anything such as MS SQL, Oracle, DB2, Progress, etc... Databases.

We can check out the list of LS from the following path. 

SSMS >>> Server Node >>> Server Objects >>> Linked Servers >>> (Here you can see list of LS present)

Following are the two ways to call LS:

• Four-Part Naming
• Open Query

Conventions for calling the LS are as follow:

1. Four-Part Naming: Select * from [LS_Name]. [DB_Name]. [Schema_Name].[Table_Name]
2. Open Query: Select * from OPENQUERY (LS_Name, (select * from [Table_Name]))

In next series, we will be learning how to configure the LS. Also click here for more information on Linked Server available on msdn site.

Lets windup here as its 8.20 AM Friday, will get ready and leave for office. Will review the content and publish the post by evening.

Stay tuned for more update. Suggestions are always welcome. Take care Friends. Bye.

Thanks,

Vikas Sahu