Brad’s Sure Guide to SQL Server Maintenance Plans- P52: SQL Server has a reputation as being a simple database application to install, configure, and maintain. This is a little misleading. SQL Server is a powerful relational database that can handle the needs of the largest organizations and, as such, its proper maintenance almost certainly requires the attention of an experienced DBA. | Chapter 19 Create and Modify Maintenance Plans Using the Designer which they are to execute. The easiest way to do this is to first order the tasks on the design surface in the proper order and then draw the green connecting arrows. Setting precedence is always done two tasks at a time so start with the first two tasks and work your way down. So for example we start out by linking the Check Database Integrity task and the Rebuild Index task. Next link the Rebuild Index task with the History Cleanup Task and so on until all of the six tasks are linked as shown in Figure . 256 Chapter 19 Create and Modify Maintenance Plans Using the Designer Figure The green arrows aren t pretty but they don t need to be. When this subplan is scheduled to run these six tasks will run one after another in the order dictated by the direction of the precedence arrows. Of course this assumes that each of the tasks succeeds. The fact that we are using on success conditions green arrows to link successive tasks means that a failure of any one of these tasks will prevent tasks further down the chain from executing. 257 Chapter 19 Create and Modify Maintenance Plans Using the Designer Therefore if any one of these tasks fails we want the operator to know about it and act on it. This is where the Notify Operator tasks come into play. The next step is to link each of the six core maintenance tasks with one instance of a Notify Operator tasks using a red arrow indicating an on failure condition. Having completed this step the subplan should look as shown in Figure . Figure The red arrows indicate failure. .
