How to Become a SQL Server Database Administrator

I wrote How to Become a SQL Server Database Administrator (email address required for download) a few years ago as a project for Idera, one that I still point people to when they show an interest in the career path. I wish there more of these out there. It would be interesting for anyone thinking about becoming […]

Editorial: Space Hoarders

I wrote Space Hoarders for SQLServerCentral, a discussion of why we – the DBA’s of course – are always blamed for the amount of space we use. Is it really our fault? Take a look.

Webcast Today: Surviving The First Week As The New DBA

Today at 3 pm EST I’m presenting Surviving The First Week As The New DBA. Some of the topics I’m going to discuss are: About the goals you should set for your first week on a new job as a DBA Why backups & free space are the most important things to take care of […]

Oracle & SQL Server, And a DBA is a DBA

I recently spent some time tutoring two Oracle DBA’s on SQL Server so that they would be able to do some crossover work with their SQL Server team. I think a smart move on the part of their employer to invest in the training, as a DBA is a DBA. They know the concepts, they […]

Building Applications That A DBA Will Love–Today at 12 Eastern

I’m doing a presentation for the PASS Application Development Chapter today at noon, and the topic is, as you may guess from the title, is Building Applications that a DBA will love. It’s my attempt to show developers some of the things we care about and why, things that often get overlooked in the rush […]

Done

When I’m in task processing mode the reply you’ll typically get from from me when the task is complete is “Done.”.. Sometimes it might be “Done!” if it was an urgent matter, but mostly it’s just “Done.”. Short and simple. If I see something interesting that might matter but probably doesn’t, I’ll add a sentence […]

The Power And Pain of Process–Part 1

Part of why I love IT is finding patterns and creating new ones. Patterns by themselves are interesting, but when you’re able to automate a pattern that’s when you start to really deliver value to a business. The result of that work is what I call process, and it might range from a batch file […]

Corporate Culture

One of the things I enjoy about work is seeing the various cultures that evolve. Some companies are rigid, some are fun, some very loosely organized, etc. It’s almost magic how it happens, and it’s rarely all done on purpose. Each manager has a style, each employee has a work rhythm, and they get combined […]

Quietly Professional

The conventional wisdom tends to hold that you should trumpet your accomplishments to your boss, though in a way that seems both graceful and humble, a hard combination to achieve at best. There’s a lot of merit to the approach, because many managers don’t know what you do on a daily basis. At a high […]

Soft Skills Matter More Than You Think

Over my career I’ve seen interviews fall into three categories: The technical part. Questions on trace flags, wait states, backups, etc, often on things bordering on trivia. They want someone that can do the job on day one without looking up how to do a backup or whatever. It’s far less about direct technical stuff […]