Last year, some of my friends from Quest Software attended Hadoop World in New York. In 2009, I never would've guessed that Quest would be there with products, community initiatives, as a major sponsor and with presenters? There were just under 1,000 attendees who weren’t the typical devheads and geekasaurs you'd normally see at very techie events like Code Camps, SQL Saturdays, Cloud Camps and or even other NoSQL events such as the Cassandra Summit. We're talkin' enterprise customers with active Hadoop projects underway. Some observations from the show that may be of interest to … [Read more...]
Have You Heard About Project Lucy?
February 16, 2011 by 1 Comment
Quest Software's latest community initiative, Windows Azure-based Project Lucy, has debuted! Project Lucy is part infrastructure analytics, part social media experiment, and part performance data warehouse. The best things about Project Lucy include: It’s Free - just like our SQLServerPedia website, Project Lucy is free to anyone who wants to upload a trace file It’s 1oo% web-based - you don’t have to download or maintain anything and updates roll out seamlessly, all the time It really helps - just generate a SQL Trace on a SQL Server 2000, 2005 or 2008 instance, upload it on … [Read more...]
What’s Up With Discovery Wizard for SQL Server?
February 16, 2011 by Leave a Comment
First, the Good News I really like the free SQL Server utility from Quest Software, nicknamed "Disco", that enables you to discover and inventory all versions and editions of Microsoft SQL Server from the mid-1990's onward. You can see what it does at http://questkb.com/category/sqlserver/discovery-wizard/. I've had a lot of customers who have faced the challenge of bringing an unwieldy and chaotically growing SQL Server infrastructure to heel. It can be really daunting in a big enterprise trying to find all of the SQL Servers tucked behind third-party applications, Microsoft … [Read more...]
Yummy Carbs, Evil Carbs
February 8, 2011 by Leave a Comment
I've felt rather blessed in terms of not struggling too much with my weight. On the other hand, I want to hit a new level of physical fitness and so, as a consequence, I've decided to cut back on the carbs.It's been two weeks now and, with a few minor lapses, I'm getting used to eating low carb. What's really amazing about low carb is how quickly the weight melts away. I'll allow myself the equivalent of four slices of bread (40g), in case I want a couple sandwiches for lunch, in a single day. But most days I actually consume a lot less carbs than that. The only hard part has been … [Read more...]
I’m So Happy With You, Daddy
February 8, 2011 by Leave a Comment
This is the sort of look I get whenever I ask Katie for a hug or kiss. I hope it gets better when she's a teenager or else I'm done for! … [Read more...]
Sometimes They Argue. And Sometimes …
February 8, 2011 by 1 Comment
...they don't. Yeah, it's like that pretty much all the time. Overall, it's a really positive and really cute relationship. … [Read more...]
February 7, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Live in the Atlanta area? Join me this Wed evening at the Microsoft office for a session on SQL Server Internals: www.atlantamdf.com … [Read more...]
Cheese! Really Fine Cheese!
February 3, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Rachel and I both love certain kinds of fine quality, artisanal cheeses. One of our most favorite is 2-3 yr aged gouda. It's bizarre and probably not for everyone. But neither is crack and look how some people love that stuff. Anyway, I was at a hoity-toity party given by a huge corporation with very deep pockets. So imagine my surprise when I saw them serving up all-you-can-eat fine cheeses that run $10-14/lb. Wow! I ate all I could stand and then, for good measure, had to send Rachel a picture. Tee hee. The aged gouda is on the top tier of the serving tray. … [Read more...]
