If you're trying to setup a Maintenance plan in SQL Server 2008 Web Edition then read this article! It's not possible because SQL Server Integration Services does not come with Workgroup or Web Editions of SQL Server 2008.

If you naively setup a plan and try to execute it you will see an error message in the event logs stating:

"SQL Server Scheduled Job 'Web Vitality.Subplan_1' (0x0A776D635B886345B458F02C9D9877A1) - Status: Failed - Invoked on: 2009-11-27 08:28:55 - Message: The job failed. The Job was invoked by User XXXXXX\Administrator. The last step to run was step 1 (Subplan_1)."

However, it is possible to create SQL Agent Jobs with T-SQL scripts (Transact-SQL). For example, to add a job which will backup all databases, open the SQL Server Management Studio, right click on the SQL Server Agent and select 'New' then 'Job' and give the job a suitable name. Select the 'Steps' option and add a new step with the following T-SQL script (this will create a directory for each database in a folder located at C:\SQL_Backups):

DECLARE @basePath varchar(300);
SET @basePath = N'C:\SQL_Backups\';

DECLARE @db sysname;
DECLARE user_db_cursor CURSOR FOR
SELECT name FROM sys.databases WHERE name NOT IN ('master', 'model', 'msdb', 'tempdb')
OPEN user_db_cursor
FETCH NEXT FROM user_db_cursor
INTO @db

WHILE @@FETCH_STATUS = 0
BEGIN
DECLARE @backupPath varchar(1000);
SET @backupPath = @basePath + @db + '\';

DECLARE @backupName varchar(1000);
DECLARE @time datetime2;
SET @time = SYSDATETIME();
SET @backupName = @db + '_backup_' + REPLACE(REPLACE(REPLACE(CONVERT(varchar, @time, 20),'-','_'),':',''),' ','_')
+ '_' + CAST(DATEPART(NANOSECOND, @time)/100 as varchar)

--Create sub-directory
EXECUTE master.dbo.xp_create_subdir @backupPath

DECLARE @backupFileName varchar(1000);
SET @backupFileName = @backupPath + @backupName + '.bak';

--Backup database
BACKUP DATABASE @db TO DISK=@backupFileName
WITH RETAINDAYS=14, NOFORMAT, NOINIT, NAME=@backupName,
SKIP, REWIND, NOUNLOAD, STATS=10

FETCH NEXT FROM user_db_cursor
INTO @db

END

CLOSE user_db_cursor
DEALLOCATE user_db_cursor

We have been toying with the idea of producing some videos for our clients in the hope that they go 'viral'. We’re all familiar with ‘web phenomenon’ videos and the massive amount of attention they attract, well, what if these video clips could raise traffic for a website as well as a smile?

With this in mind, we invite you along with us on a little journey of discovery in hoping to answer the question:

Can we make a video go viral and in doing so increase traffic to a specific, unrelated website?

Before we begin this challenge some elementary research is in order, notably with regard to what kind of videos have the potential to go viral. Having watched hours and hours of youtube we’ve concluded that successful viral videos fall into two basic categories:

Intentional, well thought out content and Off-the-wall, unintentional, downright silliness.

Consciously constructed videos often do well but take time and resources to write, film, produce and promote. Unintentional content on the other hand, is just that: unplanned, unscripted and often unbelievably funny, this material is obtained by luck more than planning and has the potential to achieve immeasurable success if it is latched onto.

Given our budget and time constraints, allied with our fortune in obtaining an original piece of unintentional, cinematic silliness, the latter type of content was the obvious choice. So, onto the 1st step in our quest for viral stardom and abundant traffic:

Getting it online!

...easy, it’s here

Now then, let’s see if anyone watches it in its raw form.

Keep an eye out for future posts in this series as we tweak, edit, link, push and promote the same video in a bid to drive traffic to a specific website. Surely if we succeed then you can too?

We've just taken ownership of a new super-fast web server, which will soon take over from our current server for all of our customers websites and email accounts.

The new server will give all our clients faster response times, zippier emails, and a much-faster all-round experience.

We're dedicated to providing the best possible service that we can at Web Vitality, and that applies both to our customer service level of communication and response, as well as the physical hosting of all our websites.

The roll-out and transferral of customer websites and emails will take place over the coming weeks, and we don't expect there to be any downtime at all, so it should be a fairly pleasant and transparent experience.