Category: Amazon

Amazon, Microsoft, Securing SQL Server

Securing SQL 3rd Edition Is On The Shelves

mrdenny |

I am thrilled to be able to report that Securing SQL Server 3rd Edition has hit the store shelves and is available for purchase from all your normal virtual book stores. Amazon typically being the easiest and the cheapest is listed here for you.

Securing SQL Server, Third Edition: Protecting Your Database from Attackers
3rd Edition

In this edition the book is upgraded to include SQL Server 2014 and about 50 additional pages of information over the 2nd edition (about 190 more pages than the first edition).

Denny

Amazon, Microsoft, Securing SQL Server

Second Edition of Securing SQL Server now longer available for pre-order. It’s Shipping!

mrdenny |

I’m afraid that I’ve got some bad news.  You can no longer pre-order Securing SQL Server 2nd Edition from Amazon.

Instead you have to settle for ordering the book outright and having it shipped to you.  That’s right, no more being a pre-order book, it’s published and available to be shipped directly to you.  Currently Amazon is selling the book at full price which is $49.95, but if you have Amazon Prime it is available for Amazon Prime shipping.  Because it is considered to be a text book you get a $5 Amazon MP3 Credit (what ever terms and conditions that Amazon chooses do apply).

This is a totally updated edition of the book including all sorts of new information about security within SQL Server 2012.  I of course cover things like how to secure AlwaysOn Availability Groups, how to use user defined server roles, contained users, etc. I also dive into how to properly secure SQL Server Reporting Services and SQL Server Analysis Services so they can’t be used to access data that people shouldn’t have access to.

All in all this book is much larger with Amazon showing it at 408 pages compared to just 272 pages for the 1st edition.  If you find someone cheaper to purchase it make sure that you are in fact ordering the second edition.  The ISBN number is 1597499471.

I hope that you pick up a copy of the book and that it is useful for you in securing your SQL Server environment.

Denny

Amazon, Kindle, Securing SQL Server

Kindle Version of Securing SQL Server 2nd Edition Is Available

mrdenny |

In true Amazon style the Kindle Edition of Securing SQL Server 2nd Edition is available for purchase from Amazon before the physical print book is available.  I haven’t even gotten my preview copy yet (it should be here in a day or two) but you can get your digital copy from Amazon as of about a week ago.

So if you’ve been waiting for the 2nd edition to come out, there’s no need to wait any longer.

If you want that physical book you can pre-order it, and hopefully it’ll be shipping within just a couple of weeks.  Amazon has August 15th listed on the US website, but I’m not sure if that is the actual date or not.

Denny

Amazon, Securing SQL Server

Securing SQL Server 2nd Edition Coming Soon

mrdenny |

I’m pleased to be able to announce that the 2nd edition of Securing SQL Server is going to be available soon.  It’s just been made available for pre-order on Amazon.com.  The second edition comes in at about 350 pages (according to Amazon, I don’t actually have a copy of it yet) while the first edition came in at about 270 pages so there has been a LOT of material added to the book.

While a lot of the new information is focused on SQL Server 2012, there is also a lot of new material which relates to older version of SQL Server including chapters on SQL Server Analysis Services and SQL Server Reporting Services, information on Instant File Initialization, EXECUTE AS, Database Firewalls, SAN Security, Actual Data Security (no idea how this got missed the first time around, but that’s to Brent Ozar for pointing it out).

As far as the SQL Server 2012 information you’ll find updated information about the SHA2 hashing algorithms, Securing AlwaysOn Availability Groups, Security and SQL Server Clustering, Security and Contained Databases and a lot more.

If you already have a copy of the 1st edition I encourage you to take a look at the second edition as well.  I know that it’s really soon for a second edition of a book (the first edition just came out February 2011, but this new edition comes on the release of SQL Server 2012.

Hopefully you pre-order you copy today.

Denny

P.S. Yes this edition will be available for the Kindle as well, that takes a little time.  As soon as I know that it’s been posted for the Kindle (usually happens a little after Amazon gets the physical books) I’ll post another announcement here.

P.P.S. If you visit my SecuringSQLServer.com site I’ve updated everything there for the new edition.  You can always find the old edition listed on the Other Books page on that site or on the Books page on mrdenny.com.

Amazon, Securing SQL Server

Exposing SQL Server to the public Internet is a pretty bad idea

mrdenny |

Every once and a while we hear about the nightmare situation where a SQL Server has been broken into and data has been stolen. All to often when this happens because the SQL Server is exposed directly to the public Internet. When you ask people why the SQL Server is connected to the Internet the answer is pretty much always the same, to make it easier to manage so that they don’t have to RDP to the server and manage it from there.

While this is easier, is sure isn’t the safest solution. A much better solution would be to setup a VPN Network between the office and the data center so that the connection is secured so that people from the public Internet can’t access the SQL Server’s connection.  This will prevent people who aren’t supposed to be connecting to the SQL Server from connecting to the SQL Server.

I talk about this more in Chapter 1 of “Securing SQL Server”.  Check it out on Amazon, which will actually let you read a good portion of Chapter 1 online for free.

Amazon, Kindle

Want to take a look at Securing SQL Server for 30 days?

mrdenny |

Thanks to Amazon, now you can rent Securing SQL Server for 30 days, and if you like it you can buy it with the cost of the rental being applied to the cost to buy the digital copy of the book.  This is all done through Amazon’s new ebook rental program for text books (which they have marked my book as being).  So now you can rent the book starting at a little over 1/2 the current price of the book which gives you access to the entire book for 30 days.  After the 30 days is up you can extend your rental or purchase with the initial rental price counting towards your new price (you pay the difference).

As an author I’m not sure how I feel about this, good I guess because it gives people a chance to give the book a try.  As a reader I like this because I can try the book for less, and if I like it keep it.  If it doesn’t serve me any purpose I don’t need to keep it, and it only cost be 1/2 the cash to find out.

You don’t need to have a Kindle to make use of this, just the Kindle app installed on your PC, phone, iPad, etc.

Denny

Amazon, Kindle, Securing SQL Server

Chapter 1 of “Securing SQL Server” is now available for free on Amazon.

mrdenny |

Amazon has posted the entire Chapter 1 of Securing SQL Server up on their site. Go to the books Amazon page and click on the “Read first chapter free ” button (shown below) and you’ll get to read the first chapter right there on your computer.  If you want the sample on your Kindle, go to the Kindle versions page and use the Try it free I talk about below.

This gives you a great chance to take a peek at the first chapter for free, to see if it would be of assistance to you. Now do keep in mind that Chapter 1 isn’t actually about SQL Server specifically, but more about network design and network security.

If you go to the Kindle versions page you can get a sample of the book sent to your kindle using the “Try it free” option on the right of the page (shown below).  It appears that this will send Chapter 1 to your kindle (at least that’s what it sent to me).

Denny