It seems like I've known Arnie Rowland (blog | twitter) since the dawn of time. But it's really more like the last several years, or at least since Arnie achieved Microsoft MVP status, that I really got to know him. Arnie has also been trying to get me to speak to the user group he leads in Portland, but coordinating it has been fiendishly difficult. I hope to get out to Portland in 2011 (no promises, Arnie!!!). One of the activities that Arnie is leading that has deeply impressed me is Project Phoenix. Described here: ...we are inviting unemployed or underemployed developers to … [Read more...]
Paying It Forward With Project Phoenix
Filed Under: Ethics, Interviews, Professional Development, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: DBA, Developer, Society
Plays Well With Others – So You’re the Boss Now…
I’m frequently asked the following paraphrased question: I’d been happily plugging away in my job as a {DBA/Dev/Terminator/Warp Drive Engineer} for several years, when I applied for the manager position. I was surprised and thrilled when I got the job! But now that I’ve been in the job for a while, I find that no one on the team is thrilled with me. I know that I made a lot of changes. But they were all for the good of the team. What should I do to reconnect with my team and rebuild my friendships? A common theme in this series, “Plays Well With Others”, is that the skills … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Ethics, Opinion, Professional Development, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: Career, Management, Plays Well With Others, Professional Development
Video: Microsoft Master Certification Program
On this vblog entry on www.sqlserverpedia.com I describe and discuss the Microsfot MCP (Master Certification Program). I hope this helps anyone that is interested in this program. Enjoy and I look forward to your feedback! Posted September 09, 2008. … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Opinion, Professional Development, SQL Server, SQLServerPedia Syndication, Video Tagged With: Career, DBA, Professional Development, SQL Server 2008 R2, Training
Microsoft SQL Server High-Availability Videos and Q&A Log
You Want Videos? We Got Videos! I always enjoy getting the chance to catch up with author, consultant, and Microsoft Clustering MVP Allan Hirt. Allan and I recently presented two sessions covering an overview of high availability in Microsoft SQL Server and, the following week, a demo of how to implement several different kinds of high availability techniques including database mirroring, transactional replication, and Windows clustering services. You can see videos of these presentations at the Quest Software Pain of the Week webcast site. Archives of other videos are here. We're … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Challenges, Databases, On-Line Resources, Performance, SQL Server, SQLServerPedia Syndication, Tips & Tricks, Video Tagged With: Best Practices, Database Mirroring, DBA, High Availability, SQL Server 2008 R2, Tools & Scripts, Video, Windows Clustering
Join @peschkaj and me tomorrow for 2 sessions on Azure and cloud at http://ping.fm/xz0ka … [Read more...]
DBTA: The Shape of Database Licensing Costs to Come
One fall semester many years ago, I was a university freshman. Actually, I was anything but "fresh." I was dumb enough to think that 8 a.m. was a wonderful time to attend Economics 101. After staying up until the wee hours most every night, the "dismal science" took on more than one meaning as I set my clock just early enough to get to class on time. Along with 30 other very naïve classmates, I staggered into class and did my bleary-eyed best to focus on the lessons at hand. There were lots of Greek compound words and lots of graphs. I learned, for example, that the word economics … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Databases, DBTA, Opinion, SQLServerPedia Syndication, Trends Tagged With: DBA, DBTA, Licensing, Management, news analysis, Society
Plays Well With Others – Eight Behaviors of Excellent Leaders
Last week, I talked about one of the worst type of management scenarios to work under – the micromanager. Now, let’s take that conversation from the “Dark Side” into the light to talk about great leaders. To say that Dr. William Cohen knows a few things about leadership is approximately the same as saying that Moby Dick was a fish. Not only was Cohen a former Air Force major general, university president, and business leader, but he has many degrees (including a PhD) and even holds several engineering patents. One of the many books authored by Dr. Cohen is the 1998 Best Business Book of … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Ethics, Governance, Opinion, Professional Development, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: Career, Management, Plays Well With Others, Professional Development, WorldView
DBTA: Microsoft’s Trajectory for SQL Server Becomes Clear with PowerPivot
I was once asked what I thought Microsoft's overall product trajectory for SQL Server was, in light of Oracle's rather obvious trajectory of acquiring multiple application vendors who will, in turn, deploy more and more of their applications to the Oracle database platform. To be honest, I had a little difficulty perceiving a clear and concise strategy statement for the sort of work going on in Redmond. I could see a lot of great features being developed. And I knew the SQL Server development team had developed a lot of new "plumbing" with each new release - features like Service Broker and … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Databases, DBTA, Opinion, SQLServerPedia Syndication, TCD blog post, Trends Tagged With: Business Intelligence, Data Visualization, Data Warehousing, DBA, DBTA, Developer, FutureWatch, Microsoft News, news analysis, SQL Server 2008 R2
Video: SQL Server Memory Troubleshooting
Need to troubleshoot SQL Server 2005 memory settings? Not sure where to look to measure SQL 2000 memory pressure? Kevin lays out your options in today's podcast. You can view this video in higher quality or your favorite portable formats at: http://sqlserverpedia.com/blog/sql-se... Video published December 24, 2008. … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Challenges, Opinion, Performance, Professional Development, SQLServerPedia Syndication, Strategies, Video Tagged With: DBA, DMV, Internals, Performance, SQL Server 2000, SQL Server 2005, Video
Plays Well With Others – Dealing with Micromanagement
Imagine you’re working on a new project. It’s an important project and its success will be a big win for the organization. You were chosen for the job because of your competency, skill, and effectiveness. You get things like this done all the time and have a track record for pulling it off. Now that the project is underway, you’re finding that trust and support you need from management is absent. Instead, you’ve got a micromanaging boss, who’s put so many additional requirements on your for reporting, meetings, and whatever their favorite nit-picking happens to be that management is … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Opinion, Professional Development, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: Career, Management, Plays Well With Others, Professional Development, SQLMag
