Have you ever found yourself wanting to make a major shift - in skills, in roles, in relationships? One of my good friends, Jimmy May (Blog | Twitter), accomplished a set of major career and lifestyle revisions including relocating to Redmond, taking on a huge new level of job responsibility as part of the Microsoft SQL Customer Advisory Team, and achieving the noted accreditation of Microsoft Certified Master. Jimmy and I were chatting about undertaking major life changes like these and, as is often the case, his thoughts were too good not to share. Be sure to explore these excellent … [Read more...]
ITPro, Re-architect Your Life
Filed Under: Conferences, On-Line Resources, Presentations, Professional Development, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: Career, Goals, Leadership, Management, Plays Well With Others, Professional Development
Starting this week: Dublin, Maidenhead, and London
This might be most most overcommitted four-week period of time ever in my life. I'm tired just thinking about it! Not only am I traveling internationally and speaking over the next few weeks, I'm also helping on two book projects, learning some new applications from Quest Software, and helping on a small Transact-SQL refactoring project. Swag on hand? I've got a special printing of 500 video training DVDs for this trip: SQL Server Training on DMVs Performance Monitor and Wait Events Plus, I'll have a few posters, stickers, and other goodies. Come see me! SQL Saturday … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Conferences, Databases, Presentations, Professional Development, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: Best Practices, Career, DBA, Developer, Leadership, Professional Development, Quest Software, SQL Server 2012, Training
The Year that was – 2011
Looking back on 2011, I'm surprised by two occurances. First, I got a lot of work done, despite myself. My biggest obstacles to high-performance are all self-derived; procrastination, disorganization, and plain ol' laziness. Second, I'm surprised I survived my personal travails. I've had my fill of frowns this year, from wayward children to caring for sick loved ones to self-inflicted injuries in 2011. I'm glad to be closing the door on a few of those chapters and look forward to better times in 2012. Here's a run-down on my professional activities over the course of 2011: Articles: … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Conferences, Interviews, Presentations, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication, TCD blog post Tagged With: Career, Professional Development
Must-Have Resources – SQL Server Backup & Recovery
One of the things that drives me crazy as I'm getting older is that my brain is losing the capacity to differentiate version numbers. As I speak travel around speaking with customers and at conferences, I find my self saying things like "I can't recall if this problem was fixed in SQL Server 2000 or 2005. But you don't have to worry about that any more." Or things like "That feature was added in SQL Server 2008 R2, eh, or was that version 6.5. DOH!" followed by a loud slapping sound as I whap my palm into my forehead. The Internet doesn't forget either. Recommendations that were once … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Administration, Challenges, Databases, On-Line Resources, Presentations, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication, Tips & Tricks, Video Tagged With: Backup & Recovery, DBA, Quest Software, SQL Server 2008 R2, Video
PASS Summit 2011, Day 3 – A Tribute to Wayne Snyder
First things first, Wayne Snyder is rolling off the board of directors for PASS this year. We'd worked together, shoulder to shoulder along with Joe Webb (blog | @joewebb) and other outstanding members of the SQL Server community, for many years of on the PASS board of directors and I'm certain that my tenure on the board and as president of the organization would've been nothing but trouble had Wayne not been there, covering my blind side(s), at every turn. Here's my tribute to Wayne Snyder: If you were to mention “Wayne Snyder” to me, I’d instantly start to grin and, probably, nod a … [Read more...]
Filed Under: BigData, Conferences, Databases, NoSQL, PASS, Presentations, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication, TCD blog post Tagged With: FutureWatch, Hadoop, MapReduce, SQLPASS
Here, There, and Everywhere; Speaking in Fall 2011, Part 1
The last quarter of the year is usually my busiest due to the fantastic PASS Summit and SQLBits events. The fall looks a little different ... BECAUSE IT WILL BE EVEN BUSIER! Here's a rundown of where I'll be this fall through mid-October: BASTA! SQLCON.NET September 26 to 29; Mainz, Germany This big developer and admin conference runs from September 26 to 29 in Mainz, Germany. I'll be delivering at least one session and hobnobbing with Quest customers, friends, and in a very weird twist, my oldest daughter Emily, who will be in the Rhineland at the exact same time on a … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Conferences, Databases, PASS, Presentations, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication, TCD blog post Tagged With: Career, Professional Development, SQLPASS, SQLSaturday, Training
Upcoming SQLSaturday Events in Omaha and Atlanta!
I've had enough time off from traveling after my surgery to finally travel again. First on the circuit , set for August 27th, is Omaha, Nebraska and SQL Saturday #91. As a former Crimson Tide alum, I was stoked about going to the University of Nebraska, our once and future rivals on the Grid Iron. But after a moment's confusion, I remembered that the Huskers are over in Lincoln, not Omaha. (May Bear have mercy on my soul.) Almost all of the speakers are friends. Many are Microsoft MVPs. So it'll be great to catch up with these fine folks and, I hope, get a chance to meet many … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Conferences, Databases, PASS, Presentations, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication, TCD blog post Tagged With: Quest Software, SQLPASS
Microsoft SQL Server Internals & Architecture Matter!
EPIC FAIL! This was supposed to go out last week. But I didn't schedule it properly, so I'd just like to point out that there are lots of other great webcasts to watch at the Pragmatic Works webcast URL below. Plus, my session will be available via streaming by the end of the week. And thanks the the 1600 folks who registered! -=-=-=- Come join me on Tuesday, August 2, 2011 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EDT for a free webcast covering the internals and architecture of Microsoft SQL Server. It's not everyday that a dry topic like this is presented in a fun and easy to … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Administration, Databases, Presentations, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: Best Practices, DBA, Developer, Internals, Monitoring, Performance, SQL Server 2008 R2
Pulling real-time data from Twitter using StreamInsight and Other Scandinavian Treasures
On my recent trip to SQLBits with subsequent visits to Dublin, Cologne, and Malmo (southern Sweden), I enjoyed a chance to meet several SQL Server MVPs, including Peter Larsson and Thomas Ivarsson. Among them, I enjoyed Johan Ahlen's article on Pulling real-time data from Twitter using StreamInsight. You can Find Johan's blog here. I also enjoyed several other conversations, such as the one I had with Feodor Georgiev (blog). I particularly enjoyed Feodor's guest post on SQLAuthority.com about waits in the round-trip loop from client to server back to client available HERE. There's a … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Administration, Challenges, Databases, Presentations Tagged With: DBA, Developer, MVP, StreamInsight
Free Webcast Series: Patterns and Practices in Database Administration
SSWUG.ORG’s virtual webcasts will prepare the “Accidental DBA” for patterns and practices they will experience in their role as a database administrator. I will provide easy-to-understand insights and realistic examples for professionals who have not had any formal DBA training. By the end of our four-part series, you should have the information needed to get up to speed on database planning, administration and performance tuning basics. Session Descriptions In the first session, you will see what is needed to fulfill the role of a (Database Administrator) DBA by learning more about what … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Administration, Challenges, Databases, Presentations, Professional Development, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: Career, DBA, Management, Performance, Professional Development, SQL Server 2008 R2, Training
