Do you buy software from independent software vendors? Does it run on SQL Server? Are you responsible for supporting that software? Here are some questions that you can ask a software vendor about the way they use SQL Server. It’s best to ask these questions before you are a customer, too; you’ll have a bit … Read more
This week was DBA Week At SQL University. We’ve seen two great posts from Robert Davis, a couple posts from me and some input from DBA Coach LaRock. Today we’ll lighten things up. It’s Friday so let’s close our notebooks and have a classroom discussion about our attitudes and learning. There are all sorts of … Read more
The above personality traits sound like bad news. In most areas of life they certainly can be. That being said a DBA needs to have a certain aspect of these to best do their jobs. As I blogged about in “Checklists, Recipes and Algorithms“, I describe other careers where a keen eye to detail and … Read more
What do checklists, recipes or algorithms have to do with Database Administration? A lot… If we study a few career paths we can see how a checklist or process flow makes their lives easier. I love stealing ideas from everyday life, working them into something useful for my DBA career and I think we have … Read more
As a SQL Server DBA, where do I start? So you are a new DBA. Maybe you are someplace that hasn’t had a DBA, maybe you are someplace that didn’t have a great DBA. Requests are piling up, your head is spinning with the instances you are discovering and people are getting excited that there … Read more
Or how I learned to stop asking so much and start trying… Empirical, as defined by Webster: 1.) originating in or based on observation or experience 2.) relying on experience or observation alone often without due regard for system and theory 3.)capable of being verified or disproved by observation or experiment. I think empirical thought … Read more
Have you lost your mind?! What could I possibly mean by that title? I’m a DBA… One of the basic tenets of a DBA is “backup, backup, backup”, right? Well sort of… Far too often I hear people asking questions like “will this setup allow our backups to be fast?”, “how is your backup process … Read more