Free Webcast Series: Patterns and Practices in Database Administration

April 27, 2011 by Leave a Comment

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: , , , , , ,

Leadership, Management, and SQLRally

April 25, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Transparency - A Great Leadership Quality I've always appreciated how Andy Warren (blog| twitter) operates in the most transparent manner, especially as it relates to his role as a director for the Professional Association for SQL Server. For example, Andy's latest blog post about prepping for the SQLRally, to kick off in less than 30 days, is insightful and gives you a good idea of the sort of work a strong director for PASS needs to put in.  I also enjoy how Andy more or less thinks out loud and offers you the chance to provide your input.  In that latest blog post, he was mulling different … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Conferences, Governance, Interviews, PASS, Professional Development, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication, Strategies, Video Tagged With: , , , , ,

New on SQLMag.Com: Update to SP_WHOISACTIVE

April 21, 2011 by Leave a Comment

I profiled Adam Machanic's (blog | twitter) excellent stored procedure, SP_WHOISACTIVE, back in August of 2010 in my monthly SQLMag column, Tool Time.  Adam has been diligent about maintaining the tool and adding new features. Read the details on my SQLMag Tool Time column. Enjoy! -Kev Twitter at kekline … [Read more...]

Filed Under: SQL Server, SQLServerPedia Syndication, Tool Time Tagged With: , , , , , ,

SQLBits and Events in Dublin, Koln, and Malmo

April 5, 2011 by 1 Comment

SQLBITS One of the top highlights of my year is when I get to visit the great cities of Europe and meet with the great IT professionals there.  Last October, I was able to visit several cities in Europe, including my first ever stop in Stockholm and Malmo, Sweden.  Last year's SQLBits event was in the lovely city of York, England. This spring, in fact the next two weeks, I'll be on a whirlwind junket.  In just a few hours, I fly out to London and then drive down to Brighton for a couple days of SQLBits.  SQLBits has a great lineup of speakers and content this spring. I'm looking … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Conferences, PASS, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: , , , ,

SQLServerPedia Has a New Editor-in-Chief. Oh no, it’s Me!

April 4, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Attrition has taken its toll once again as a few good friends  move from being colleagues to being former colleagues. As a result of the folks moving on to bigger and better things, I'm now stepping up in to the roll of editor-in-chief of SQLServerPedia.  This roll is mostly about checking on the quality of content produced by our syndicating bloggers to make sure that they're not trying to sell products or services and that their posts are of high quality.  That's about where the official duties end, save for things like acting as a judge in big SSP contests. One new aspect that I want … [Read more...]

Filed Under: On-Line Resources, Professional Development, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication, TCD blog post Tagged With: , , , ,

How Do You SKU?

March 25, 2011 by 3 Comments

I’d like your opinion here. Follow my logic here for a moment as I walk through a couple rhetorical questions.  Have you ever had a friend developed an application entirely on SQL Server Developer Edition?  (Not that YOU would ever do such a thing, but maybe you know someone who has. Right?) And has your friend’s IT department actually deployed said application only to discover that they’re only licensed for Standard Edition in their production environment?  And then was your friend’s IT management team is horrified to learn that they’ve either got to go through the very expensive process … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Databases, Opinion, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: , , ,

How Much Data is a Lot of Data?

March 23, 2011 by Leave a Comment

It's always interesting to see the guestimations of the big brains about figures and facts that are hard to verify.  Here's an example - how much data is computerized today?  I'm not talking about ancient stuff, like the Codex Synaticus (which, incidentally IS on-line at www.codexsinaiticus.org).  I’m talking about the new and really important stuff, like the fourteen pictures that my step-daughter posted on her FaceBook account from our recent trip to Rock City. Well, IDC figured that overall digital data was up to 1.2Zb (Zetabytes!)  at the end of 2010.  My mind is boggling.  Ok, so that's … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Databases, NoSQL, Opinion, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication, Trends Tagged With: , ,

Wednesday Quest: Exciting New Community for Users of Toad for SQL Server

March 9, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Join the Toad for SQL Server Community! I was just bragging about how Toad for SQL Server keeps getting better.  In that post, I also pointed out a lot of great resources you can put to work immediately on improving your skills with this great tool.  (Incidentally, there's a freeware version without all of the features, but it's still quite useful.  And you can always use the beta product, if you want all of the features and many new features that are undergoing community testing.) One of the reasons that Toad is so good is that it's always been a community-driven product.  Back when I … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cool Technologies, Databases, On-Line Resources, SQL Server, Tool Time Tagged With: , , , , ,

Wednesday Quest: New Product Training and Documentation

March 2, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Product documentation and product training are two areas where our customers consistently press us to improve...and one we take if very seriously. Bold Claims One of my favorite tools in the Quest Software toolbox for SQL Server (and Oracle) DBAs is called Foglight Performance Analysis, or more commonly, PA.  This product can do things that no other tool or amount of customized scripts can ever reproduce.  I am dead serious about this claim. To find out more, navigate to www.quest.com/foglight-performance-analysis-for-sql-server and click on "Key Product Documents".  You'll then be taken … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Administration, Cool Technologies, Performance, SQL Server, Tool Time Tagged With: , , ,

Come Aboard. We’re Expecting You

February 28, 2011 by 3 Comments

Those of us over a certain age (read - old as dirt) can remember the theme songs to certain TV shows better than we can the National Anthem. Try these lines out and see if you don't immediately remember the tune that goes along with them: Come and knock on our door | We've been waiting for you ... Makin' your way in the world today | Takes everything you've got ... Just some good ol' boys | Never meaning no harm ... Thank you for being a friend | Travel down the road and back again ... So when I got the news that my employer, Quest Software, wanted to send one of the team to an … [Read more...]

Filed Under: IO, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: , , ,
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