Summary

The SQL Server Agent and its trio of jobs, operators, and alerts provide a flexible and powerful set of tools to manage your servers. Databases thrive on consistency, and one of the best ways to achieve a consistent database environment is through the automation provided by the SQL Server Agent. Schedule regular maintenance, and provide alerts and jobs to correct abnormal conditions. Your databases will love you for it!

If you work with multiple servers, then the next chapter, "Managing Linked and Remote Servers," will be of interest. That chapter will describe how to manage data in a distributed environment.