Clash of the Clouds

The Economist, my favorite news and analysis magazine, published an outstanding briefing and analysis on the coming wars of ascendancy between the major vendors of cloud computing technology and services.  When a technological shift bubbles up into the mainstream news media, the technology has gone through a significant, society-altering right of passage.  As technologists, we all know that the "outside world" doesn't really get what we do.  It doesn't click for grandma that you're doing difficult and important work because it's hard to wrap your head around low-level technological work.  And, … [Read more...]

SQL Server 5-Minute Health Check

Quest Software Pain of the Week Webcast: The 5-Minute SQL Server Healthcheck Join me and Christian Bolton, UK SQL Server MVP and blogger,as we discuss how to quickly evaluate the basic health of your SQL Server environment. You’ll learn about several quick checks you can perform in minutes to determine if critical thresholds are being met—and where you need to resolve issues. Date: Thursday, November 12, 2009 Time: 8 a.m. Pacific / 11 a.m. Eastern / 4 p.m. United Kingdom / 5 p.m. Central Europe Duration: 45-60 minutes Cost: FREE Presenters: Christian Bolton, SQL Server … [Read more...]

Where you can find me at the PASS Summit

In previous years, I hardly had time to sit down and catch a breather at a PASS Summit.  Between my duties as an officer of PASS, exhibit hall time with Quest Software (my employer), speaking in my own sessions, and meeting with PASS volunteers and community organizers, I was busy from the crack of dawn until midnight all week long. Fortunately, those grueling marathons are fading into the past. I still have a busy slate ahead of me for next week.  But it looks like I'll even have time to attend some sessions.  Yeah!  Here's what I've currently got planned: Monday, Nov 2 Depart for … [Read more...]

What Direction Do You Choose?

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself, any direction you choose. Dr. Seuss Dr Seuss makes a great point.  Only you can determine where you go in life and where those you lead in life (your significant other, your kids, your family, your business associates) will follow.  What happens when you don't have your feet in your shoes?  What if you're not wearing shoes?  Or what if your shoes are sandals?  Which direction do you steer?  Do you head to the beach or to the snowy mountains?  What if you're not only steering yourself, but an entire … [Read more...]

New at SQLMag – Disk2Vhd

I just posted a new entry on my SQLMag Tool Time blog that you might enjoy. Thanks to my friend and fellow MVP John Paul Cook for bringing Disk2Vhd to my attention on his blog. The free tool is enables migration of a physical machine (PM) to a virtual machine (VM), while the PM is running.  You can download it from Microsoft here.  John also has lots of other great information about VM migration here.  Note that John's content relates to Hyper-V. So if you're looking for VMWare tools, keep looking. Of course, if you find similar free tools for VMWare, let us know by posting … [Read more...]

Upcoming Seminar and SQL Saturday in Florida, Oct 13-17

Please join me for SQL Saturday #21 coming up on Saturday, October 17th.  There are over 50 sessions on tap with great speakers from the area and across the nation.  Some of the notable speakers include: Andy Leonard (blog here) Andy Warren (blog here) Brian Knight (blog here) Buck Woody (blog here) Chad Miller (blog here) Joe Celco (blog here) Joe Webb (blog here) Jonathan Kehayias (blog here) Kendal Van Dyke (blog here) Ken Simmons (blog here) Not only do we have SQL Saturday coming up, but Andy & company put together five world class seminars the week … [Read more...]

New at SQLMag – TraceAnalyzer

I just posted a new entry on my SQLMag Tool Time blog that you might like to check out. I'm a big fan of Bill Graziano's ClearTrace tool, but perhaps you'll like the new tool from DBSophic, called TraceAnalyzer, even better?  Compare the two and let me know here. Cheers, -Kevin Twitter @kekline … [Read more...]

Free Training in October at the Quest Connect vConference

Quest Connect is back… and bigger than ever!  Quest Connect 2009 will take place October 21 – 22, beginning at 9 a.m. British Summer Time/4 a.m. Eastern/1 a.m. Pacific and will accommodate all time zones. This is a 24-hour virtual event covering topics across Quest Software’s entire business.  The event is free and you won't even need to leave their offices to access educational and product content.  Sign up for it at http://www.quest.com/ConnectKevinKlineBlog. Visit our booth during Quest Connect and our industry experts, like me and Brent Ozar, will field your toughest questions.  Better … [Read more...]

Health Data Rights

There was a time when health information was merely a collection of facts about you. You visited a doctor on the 17th because of a sore throat.  You had your appendix removed when you were a grade-schooler. Now, in the 21st century, information is increasingly used to drive business value.  In a sense, information is becoming an asset.  And as many of us have seen with the antics on Wall Street, any asset can be abused for personal and possibly unethical gain.  Legislative bodies around the globe have expended a lot of energy on regulating the use and access of health data, such as the … [Read more...]

New Post on my SQLMag Blog – Free DMV Monitoring Tools

I've posted a new entry on my SQL Server Magazine blog about two free DMV monitoring tools available on CodePlex. Read the article here: http://www.sqlmag.com/Articles/ArticleID/102837/102837.html?Ad=1 Take a look at the two tools and let me know which you like better and why.  Inquiring minds want to know! Cheers, -Kev … [Read more...]