Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Internals is the latest incarnation of the book that was known as "Inside SQL Server 2005". The author of these prior editions, Kalen Delaney, felt that the series was becoming too unfocused and thought that it was time to refocus what the book's intent. Add to that, there was the fact that the term "Inside" had been used by many other authors, that the designation was becoming diluted in its true meaning.
By renaming it SQL Server 2008 Internals, the intent is to tell you that this book is intended to explain how Microsoft's flagship relational database product internally works. While there are many books that show you best practices with regard to tuning SQL Server, the goal of SQL Server 2008 Internals is to help you understand why certain tuning practices work the way that they do so as to help you determine your own best practices.
SQL Server 2008 Internals is intended for anyone who wants a deeper understanding of what SQL Server does behind the scenes and its main focus is on the core SQL Server engine, particularly on the query processor and the storage engine. SQL Server 2008 Internals is 784 pages in length and divided into 11 chapters.
Chapter One, "SQL Server 2008 Architecture and Configuration," begins by looking at the general workings of the SQL Server engine. It examines the interactions between SQL Server and the operating system as well as providing insight into the roles and responsibilities of the major components. This chapter also looks at the use of the configuration options that can be used to change behavior of SQL Server.
Chapter Two, "Change Tracking, Tracing, and Extended Events," explores the various hidden and internal objects used by Change Tracking to help support synchronization applications, the inner workings of SQL Trace, and the architecture of what will be the future of events in SQL Server Extended Events (XE). Having enough internal knowledge of these systems will give you a better understand how to use the many eventing features in your normal activities.
Chapter Three, "Databases and Database Files," now looks at the complex collection of objects known as a database. You begin with the basic system databases and the sample databases. From there you begin looking at creating, altering, and setting database options. Along the way you will begin to understand space allocation, security, creating snapshots, and other forms of working with databases.
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