This month's edition of T-SQL Tuesday is being hosted by Tracy McKibben (T|B). I was challenged by Aaron Bertrand (T|B) to participate in this T-SQL Tuesday. I instantly knew what and who I wanted to write about, but my schedule being what it is prevented me from writing the blog entry until straight up at midnight. Since this installment of T-SQL Tuesday happens to fall on Ada Lovelace Day, Tracy tells us that our mission – should we choose to accept it – is as follows: Ada Lovelace has been an inspiration to many. In keeping with my blog theme, let’s call her a hero. We all have our … [Read more...]
T-SQL Tuesday #59: My Hero!
Filed Under: Opinion, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication, TCD blog post Tagged With: Society, T-SQL Tuesday
Four New Slide Decks for SQL Server and IT Pros from the DevLink 2014 Conference
I always enjoy presenting at the DevLink conference, presented each summer in middle Tennessee. This year, I'm trying to be a better social media person and actually post my slides (in their most recent forms) on my SlideShare account for everyone to see and share. If you attended my session(s) and enjoyed them, feel free to download the content here. But it'd be even better if you also left a few words in the Comment section. Skip below to grab the slide decks. Thanks very much! Enjoy, -Kevin -Follow me on Twitter! -Google Author Microsoft SQL Server Internals & … [Read more...]
Third Party Applications and Other Acts of Violence Against Your SQL Server
I just got finished reading a great blog post from my buddy, Thomas LaRock (t | b), in which he describes a useful personal policy he used to track changes made to his SQL Servers when installing third-party products. Note that I'm talking about line-of-business applications here - your inventory management systems and help desk ticketing apps. I'm not talking about monitoring and tuning applications since they, by their very nature, need a different sort of access to your back-end server resources. (Full disclosure: both Tom and I currently work for different tools vendors. But we're both … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Administration, Databases, On-Line Resources, SQL Server, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: Best Practices, DBA
Join Me at the Ft. Lauderdale SQL Saturday on June 14, 2014!
Join Me at SQLSaturday #288 in Beautiful Ft. Lauderdale, FL SQLSaturday is a training event for SQL Server professionals and those wanting to learn about SQL Server. This event will be held Jun 14 2014 at 3301 College Avenue, Davie, FL 33314. Admittance to this event is free, all costs are covered by donations and sponsorships. Please register soon as seating is limited, and let friends and colleagues know about the event. Where Is It? This event will be held on Jun 14, 2014 at Nova Southeastern University 3301 College Ave, Davie, FL 33314. You need to go to the Carl … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Conferences, Databases, PASS, Performance, Presentations, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication, Transact-SQL Programming Tagged With: SQLSaturday, Transact-SQL Programming
Writing and Delivering a Successful Full-Day Technology Seminar
I was recently chatting with the current President of PASS, Thomas LaRock (Twitter | Blog), and Pieter Vanhove (Twitter | Blog), a prominent SQL Server consultant and expert in Belgium, about how I go about building and presenting a full-day technical seminar. In the SQL Server world, we tend to call these "pre-cons", as in pre-conference seminar, because they're typically offered as paid add-ons occurring prior to a full technical conference. We call them that even when they come at the end of the conference and, heck, when there's no conference at all. Kevin and Kendal Van Dyke … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Opinion, Presentations, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication, Tips & Tricks Tagged With: Best Practices, Career, Goals, Leadership, Professional Development, Training
Join Me on March 14 in Silicon Valley for a Full-Day of SQL Server Configuration Tuning Lessons
Join me for a day of Real World Database Configuration and Tuning for Microsoft SQL Server SQL Saturday Silicon Valley 2014 Friday, March 14, 2014 from 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM (PDT) Mountain View, CA Click HERE to register Now! Seating is very limited! This full-day training event combines a thorough overview of fundamental architectural concepts of the SQL Server relational engine followed by hands-on demos to reinforce each conceptual lesson. Since most technologists learn by doing, this training is designed to maximize the time attendees spend working with SQL Server. … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Challenges, Databases, PASS, Performance, Presentations, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: Best Practices, Configuration, DBA, Troubleshooting
One Preparation that makes SSMS Crash Dumps Easy to Survive
Uh oh! So you're plugging along in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) when it suddenly goes belly up. Now you're staring at various dialog boxes telling you that SSMS crashed. Usually the first dialog box you get will ask you if you'd like to close OR the program. If you choose to close the program, you'll be presented with the opportunity to recover your lost SQL scripts once you reopen SSMS, as shown above. (Image above courtesy of Aalam Rangi). But let's say that closing the program represents a big issue for you due to lost time, productivity, etc. You want to go … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Challenges, Databases, IT Horror Stories, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication, Tool Time Tagged With: Best Practices, DBA, Developer, SQL Server 2012
What Does a Good Mentor Do for You?
These would be good mentors - me plus Adam Machanic, and Klaus Aschenbrenner Not long ago, John Sansom (Twitter | Blog) kicked off a SQL Community Project #DBAJumpStart by asking 20 successful and experienced SQL Server professionals this exact question: "If you could give a DBA just one piece of advice, what would it be?" I wrote up my Advice for the Aspiring DBA post here, while John collected the entire set of responses here within the DBA JumpStart collection. Part of my advice, indeed of several of the contributors, was to find and build a strong mentor-protege relationship. But what … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Opinion, Professional Development, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: Career, DBA, Developer, Leadership, Plays Well With Others, Professional Development
You’re Leading in More Ways Than You Realize
The following is an excerpt from Kevin and Joe Webb's (Blog | Twitter) monthly IT Pro eNewsletter. You're Leading in More Ways Than You Realize It's that time of year again. The sights and sounds of modern-day gladiators clashing on the gridiron field. If you're a football fan, there is no better time of year. In football, the quarterback is the de facto leader of the offense of team. Late in the game it is to him that the team looks to snatch a last minute come-from-behind victory from certain defeat. That's a lot of weight to put on one man's shoulders. Yet the … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Opinion, Professional Development, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: Best Practices, Career, Leadership, Plays Well With Others, Professional Development
What’s the Hidden Issue in the Recent PASS Bylaw Changes?
The 2004 PASS Board of Directors On December 19, 2013, the PASS board of directors (BoD) proposed a small and targeted set of bylaw changes in response to CA relinquishing the BoD seats they were entitled to as a Founding Partner in the professional association. How Did CA Get Involved with PASS? You might be wondering "How did a company that doesn't seem to make a lot of SQL Server tools get a seat on the board of this huge, international SQL Server professional association?" It's a bit of a shaggy-dog story, so I'll sum it up quickly. Back in the late 1990's, there was a large and … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Governance, Opinion, PASS, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: Career, Plays Well With Others, Professional Development
