The Next Chapter: Inspiring and Motivating

July 16, 2012 by 19 Comments

I’d like to start this post first by thanking everyone who sent well wishes, both public and private, about my decision to move on from Quest Software.  It was very uplifting and encouraging to hear from you! So, again, the question of “Where am I off to?”  The answer is SQL Sentry.  I’m joining them as Director of Engineering Services, with a focus on technical sales and marketing, as well as a heavy dose of R&D design work.  (Read the press release here). In case you haven’t encountered SQL Sentry before, they’re a small Southern company concentrating on the SQL Server market.  In … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Opinion, Professional Development, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: , , ,

A Fond Farewell to Quest Software

July 11, 2012 by 17 Comments

The week of the 4th of July is a happy week for Americans.  Most families get out for a parade, a fireworks display, a picnic in the park, a movie where Will Smith puts the beat down on a bunch of aliens, or an afternoon at the pool or lake.  We celebrate the contributions of our service men and women. We honor veterans. We drink a lot of beer.  We reflect on the founding of our nation and the meaning of “Independence Day”. My own reflections over the Independence Day holiday took me in a new and rather unexpected direction.  After ten-and-a-half immensely rewarding years at Quest Software, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Challenges, Professional Development, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: , , , , ,

Recorded Webcast Available: Extend SCOM to Optimize SQL Server Performance Management

June 28, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Join me and Eric Brown, Quest Software senior product manager for SQL Server monitoring tools, as we discuss the server health-check capabilities of Systems Center Operations Manager (SCOM) in this previously recorded webcast. We delve into techniques to maximize your SCOM investment as well as ways to complement it with deeper monitoring and diagnostics. You’ll walk away from this educational session with the skills to: Take full advantage of SCOM’s value for day-to-day SQL Server monitoring Extend the capabilities of SCOM to proactively manage SQL Server performance Troubleshoot … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Administration, Challenges, Databases, SQL Server, SQLServerPedia Syndication, Video Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Two TechNet Radio Sessions You Don’t Want to Miss

June 20, 2012 by Leave a Comment

I was recently honored to speak on TechNet Radio in two separate sessions about BigData & Hadoop and cloud databases (specifically SQL Azure).  The show debuted on the TechNet homepage under “Today’s News” and on the TechNet Edge homepage.  In each of these shows, I did what I like to do for all the parties I attend - bring a friend.  To make my life easier, I simply reposted the verbiage that TechNet used, rather that to write my own. About the BigData/Hadoop video: Microsoft SQL Server MVP Kevin Kline and Vice President of Database Development at Quest Software Guy Harrison (blog | … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Administration, Architecture, BigData, Cloud, Databases, NoSQL, On-Line Resources, SQL Server, SQLServerPedia Syndication, TCD blog post, Video Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

New Toad for SQL Server Beta

May 21, 2012 by Leave a Comment

A new beta build of Toad for SQL Server (v5.7.0.527) is available at: http://toadforsqlserver.com/beta.jspa It's free and, afaik, doesn't have a short expiration date.  It contains popular features such as compare & sync (for database schemas, servers, and data), a full transaction log reader and DML undo feature, debugger, intellisense, auto-complete, code formatter, and a lot more.  Check it out!  (There's also a version of Toad for Cloud Databases, which gives you SQL-like capabilities against a bunch of NoSQL databases). This drop contains a couple of fixes in the areas: Database … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cloud, Databases, NoSQL, On-Line Resources, SQL Server, TCD blog post Tagged With: , , , ,

Starting this week: Dublin, Maidenhead, and London

March 19, 2012 by Leave a Comment

This might be most most overcommitted four-week period of time ever in my life.  I'm tired just thinking about it! Not only am I traveling internationally and speaking over the next few weeks, I'm also helping on two book projects, learning some new applications from Quest Software, and helping on a small Transact-SQL refactoring project. Swag on hand? I've got a special printing of 500 video training DVDs for this trip: SQL Server Training on DMVs Performance Monitor and Wait Events Plus, I'll have a few posters, stickers, and other goodies.  Come see me!   SQL Saturday … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Conferences, Databases, Presentations, Professional Development, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Must-Have Resources – SQL Server Backup & Recovery

December 8, 2011 by 1 Comment

One of the things that drives me crazy as I'm getting older is that my brain is losing the capacity to differentiate version numbers.  As I speak travel around speaking with customers and at conferences, I find my self saying things like "I can't recall if this problem was fixed in SQL Server 2000 or 2005. But you don't have to worry about that any more."  Or things like "That feature was added in SQL Server 2008 R2, eh, or was that version 6.5.  DOH!" followed by a loud slapping sound as I whap my palm into my forehead. The Internet doesn't forget either.  Recommendations that were once … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Administration, Challenges, Databases, On-Line Resources, Presentations, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication, Tips & Tricks, Video Tagged With: , , , ,

PASS Summit 2011, Day 1

October 13, 2011 by Leave a Comment

I've already had a few good days in Seattle/Redmond this week, meeting with the Microsoft SQL Server program teams and with other Microsoft SQL Server MVPs.  I was as excited as a squeeling Justin Beiber fangirl waiting for his new video, wishing I could tell you all of the cool things I learned at Redmond about the future of SQL Server.  But as you'd expect, all of that cool stuff is presently NDA.  I'm sure there'll be some cool announcements from Microsoft this week.  So be on the lookout for the good word from Microsoft. Keynote Rushabh Mehta, the PASS president, spent a few moments … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cloud, Conferences, Databases, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication, TCD blog post Tagged With: , , , , ,

Upcoming SQLSaturday Events in Omaha and Atlanta!

August 17, 2011 by Leave a Comment

I've had enough time off from traveling after my surgery to finally travel again.  First on the circuit , set for August 27th, is Omaha, Nebraska and SQL Saturday #91.  As a former Crimson Tide alum, I was stoked about going to the University of Nebraska, our once and future rivals on the Grid Iron.  But after a moment's confusion, I remembered that the Huskers are over in Lincoln, not Omaha.  (May Bear have mercy on my soul.) Almost all of the speakers are friends.  Many are Microsoft MVPs.  So it'll be great to catch up with these fine folks and, I hope, get a chance to meet many … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Conferences, Databases, PASS, Presentations, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication, TCD blog post Tagged With: ,

Quest Named to the SD Times 100 List

August 4, 2011 by Leave a Comment

My employer, Quest Software, was once again named to the SD Times 100 list, this year in the “database and integration” category! The program recognizes the top leaders and innovators, looking back at each company’s achievements from the year before. Out unwavering market leadership was also reinforced in 2010 with IDC ranking Quest as “the top independent database management and development tools vendor serving distributed and other non-mainframe systems”·    Other innovations contributed to our win, such: Ongoing innovation within the Toad product family, including the introduction of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cloud, Cool Technologies, Databases, SQL Server Tagged With: , , , , ,
Next Page »