title: Retrieving last record in each group from database - SQL Server 2005/2008
body: <p>I have done some seaching by can't seem to get the results I am looking for. Basically we have four different management systems in place throughout our company and I am in the process of combining all the data from each system on a regular basis. My goal is to update the data every hour into a central database. Here is a sample data set I am working with:</p>
  
  <pre><code>COMPUTERNAME | SERIALNUMBER | USERNAME | LASTIP | LASTUPDATE | SOURCE
  TEST1 | 1111 | BOB | 1.1.1.1 | 1/17/2011 01:00:00 | MGMT_SYSTEM_1
  TEST1 | 1111 | BOB | 1.1.1.1 | 1/18/2011 01:00:00 | MGMT_SYSTEM_2
  TEST1 | 1111 | PETER | 1.1.1.11 | 1/19/2011 01:00:00 | MGMT_SYSTEM_3
  TEST2 | 2222 | GEORGE | 1.1.1.2 | 1/17/2011 01:00:00 | MGMT_SYSTEM_1
  TEST3 | 3333 | TOM | 1.1.1.3 | 1/19/2011 01:00:00 | MGMT_SYSTEM_2
  TEST4 | 4444 | MIKE   | 1.1.1.4 | 1/17/2011 01:00:00 | MGMT_SYSTEM_1
  TEST4 | 4444 | MIKE   | 1.1.1.41 | 1/19/2011 01:00:00 | MGMT_SYSTEM_3
  TEST5 | 5555 | SUSIE  | 1.1.1.5 | 1/19/2011 01:00:00 | MGMT_SYSTEM_1
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>So I want to query this master table and only retrieve the latest record (based on LASTUPDATE) that way I can get the latest info about that system. The problem is that one system may be in each database, but of course they will never have the same exact update time.</p>
  
  <p>I would expect to get something like this:</p>
  
  <pre><code>TEST1 | 1111 | PETER | 1.1.1.11 | 1/19/2011 01:00:00 | MGMT_SYSTEM_3
  TEST2 | 2222 | GEORGE | 1.1.1.2 | 1/17/2011 01:00:00 | MGMT_SYSTEM_1
  TEST3 | 3333 | TOM | 1.1.1.3 | 1/19/2011 01:00:00 | MGMT_SYSTEM_2
  TEST4 | 4444 | MIKE   | 1.1.1.41 | 1/19/2011 01:00:00 | MGMT_SYSTEM_3
  TEST5 | 5555 | SUSIE  | 1.1.1.5 | 1/19/2011 01:00:00 | MGMT_SYSTEM_1
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I have tried using the MAX function, but with that I can only retrieve one column. And I can't use that in a subquery because I don't have a unique ID field that would give me the last updated record. One of the systems is a MySQL database and the MAX function in MySQL will actually work the way I need it to only returning one record per GROUP BY, but it doesn't work in SQL Server.</p>
  
  <p>I'm thinking I need to use MAX and a LEFT JOIN, but my attempts so far have failed.</p>
  
  <p>Your help would be greatly appreciated. I have been racking my brain for the past 3-4 hours trying to get a working query. This master table is located on a SQL Server 2005 server.</p>
  
  <p>Thanks!</p>