When SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) was released to the market in SQL Server 2005, it took the Extract Transform Load (ETL) market by storm. Three years later, SQL Server 2008 has introduced an even more mature rendition of SSIS that is focused on improving the scalability and performance of SQL Server and also serves as a very powerful tool for performing ETL operations, which are central to data warehousing.

With this book, an assembled team of professionals has combined their years of experience and tried-and-true best practices to present you with the tools to take your SSIS skill set to a new level. After a basic review of the fundamental concepts of SSIS, you'll move on to more in-depth topics such as extending the engine, synchronizing systems incrementally, managing the SSIS platform, and more. Plus, helpful examples and real-world case studies demonstrate advanced concepts and techniques. Once you get past the initial learning curve of the 2008 version of SSIS, you'll be amazed by the power, effectiveness, and timesaving ability of SSIS—all of which are aimed at making your life easier.

What you will learn from this book

* Ways that you can use the Script task in SSIS
* How to load a data warehouse from the ground up
* Techniques for scaling SSIS to make it more reliable
* Ways to incrementally load and join data
* Instructions for using containers to do looping in SSIS
* How to expose the SSIS data flow to other programs, such as InfoPath and your own .NET applications

Who this book is for
This book is for anyone who is interested in using SSIS for transforming data, creating a workflow, or maintaining an SQL Server.