Two years ago when SQL Server MVP Deep Dives: Volume 1 was released, I had the opportunity to contribute two chapters. In SQL Server MVP Deep Dives Volume 2, I not only had the opportunity to contribute a chapter, but the privilege of being the section editor of the “Performance Tuning and Optimization” section of the book. I would like to thank all of the following writers in my section for all their hard work, and for getting me their drafts on schedule. I also want to thank Grant Fritchey, who helped me coordinating the technical editing of the chapters.

The writers who I worked with in the Performance Tuning and Optimization section of the book included:

• Glenn Berry
• Grant Fritchey
• Jason Strate
• Robert Pearl
• Linchi Shea
• Jennifer McCown
• Tim Chapman
• Jungsun Kim

The book is available for pre-order at the Manning website, and hard copies will be available for purchase at the PASS Summit. If you are attending PASS and want to purchase a book, you can also get it signed by many of the authors at two different autograph parties at these times:

• Wednesday, 1:00 – 1:30 PM, at the Expo & Dining Hall
• Friday, 7:15 – 8:00 AM, in Room 211

If you can’t attend either autograph party, each of the book’s authors attending PASS will be wearing ribbons that say “MVP Deep Dives Author”, so all you have to do is to chase them down to get their autographs.

All author royalties will be donated to Operation Smile, an international children’s medical charity.

Simple-Talk Publishing has released a new, free 291 page eBook called Defensive Database Programming with SQL Server, by Alex Kuznetsov. Here is what the book covers, as described from the book’s introduction.

“Resilient T-SQL code is code that is designed to last, and to be safely reused by others. The goal of defensive database programming, and of this book, is to help you to produce resilient T-SQL code that robustly and gracefully handles cases of unintended use, and is resilient to common changes to the database environment.

“Too often, as developers, we stop work as soon as our code passes a few basic tests to confirm that it produces the “right result” in a given use case. We do not stop to consider the other possible ways in which the code might be used in the future, or how our code will respond to common changes to the database environment, such as a change in the database language setting, or a change to the nullability of a table column, and so on.

“In the short-term, this approach is attractive; we get things done faster. However, if our code is designed to be used for more than just a few months, then it is very likely that such changes can and will occur, and the inevitable result is broken code or, even worse, code that silently starts to behave differently, or produce different results. When this happens, the integrity of our data is threatened, as is the validity of the reports on which critical business decisions are often based. At this point, months or years later, and long after the original developer has left, begins the painstaking process of troubleshooting and fixing the problem.

“Would it not be easier to prevent all this troubleshooting from happening? Would it not be better to spend a little more time and effort during original development, to save considerably more time on troubleshooting, bug fixing, retesting, and redeploying? After all, many of the problems that cause our code to break are very common; they repeat over and over again in different teams and on different projects.

“This is what defensive programming is all about: we learn what can go wrong with our code, and we proactively apply this knowledge during development. This book is filled with practical, realistic examples of the sorts of problems that beset database programs.”

You can download Defensive Database Programming with SQL Server here.

As DBAs, we are often put in the position of purchasing software from third-party vendors. If you are like me, you are probably amazed at the wide variation in software prices, and how the price of a product seems to bear little relationship with its actual cost. For example, why is the SQL Server Enterprise Edition so much more expensive than the SQL Server Standard Edition?

So how do software companies price their software? If you are interested in what lurks in the minds of many software companies, and want to learn how they justify the prices they charge, download a free copy of the eBook Don’t Just Roll the Dice: A Usefully Short Guide to Software Pricing, by Neil Davidson. Neal is the co-founder and joint CEO of Red Gate Software, and the founder of the annual Business of Software Conference.

This short book (70 pages) takes about an hour to read, and reviews all of the different pricing models that software vendors use, and why. You will learn about many aspects of software pricing, including pricing psychology, pitfalls, and strategies. The information you learn will be helpful in understanding not only how software is priced, but will give you some hints as to how you might be able to negotiate with software vendors to get a better price. In effect, this book will help make you a better informed software buyer.

Given that this book is a short read, I recommend it to everyone who purchases software, or for that matter, for anyone who is thinking of selling their own software. (I know there are a few budding DBA entrepreneurs out there).

Full Disclosure: The author of this book is one of the co-founders of Red Gate Software, and my boss. And no, he didn’t ask me to write this blog post. I read the book myself, and am recommending it independently as a useful book for DBAs and developers to read in order to help round out their education. For independent reviews of the book, check out the reviews at Amazon.com. You can also purchase a paperback copy of the book at Amazon.com if you prefer paper over an eBook.

At one time or another, each of us has been in a position where we need to persuade a manager, a fellow worker, or anyone for that matter, to our point-of-view. For example, you might want new server hardware, to upgrade an existing instance of SQL Server, the help of a co-worker, or you would like a raise.

While you might think that persuasion is more of an art than a science, you would be wrong. In this book, Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to be Persuasive (Free Press, 2008), the three authors provide a series of rules that have been scientifically proven, through over 60 years of research, to help persuade people to your point of view. Here are a couple of the rules discussed in this book.

Don’t Offer Too Many Choices: People often get confused and frustrated if faced with too many choices. For example, if you want new server hardware, offer two or three choices at the most, so the decision-maker won’t be overwhelmed with information.

Argue Against Self-Interest: Trust is one of the most important parts of persuasion, and one of the best ways to help foster trust is to be honest in your persuasion and to admit to any small weakness in your argument. For example, continuing our example of wanting new server hardware, you might say that while hardware is changing so fast, and that a newer model will probably be out in the next few months (the admission of weakness); you can follow up with the argument that even though this may be the case, the sooner the existing technology is implemented, the sooner the benefits will begin.

The Threat of Loss is More Persuasive than the Potential for Gain: Traditionally, people list all of the possible benefits of their argument, such as listing all  of the benefits of purchasing new hardware. While benefits are important, it is actually more important to to list all of the negative possibilities that could/would happen if the choice is not made. For example, if new server hardware is not purchased in the next 60 days, then the server could fail, which would result in downtime, and potentially costing the company lots of money.

As part of your personal self-development as a DBA, it is important to master the many “soft skills” needed to get along better with people. And one way towards this goal is to read this book and learn how to persuade people to get what you want.

I would really appreciate your advice and feedback on what such a book should include. For example:

• What part(s) of indexing do you find very easy to understand?
• What part(s) of indexing do you find the most difficult to understand?
• What topics do you think I should include in the book that would be of the most help to you?
• What topics do you think I should not include in the book because they are not helpful for the typical DBA?
• Can you provide me URL’s of articles on indexing that you think are particularly good, or particularly bad?
• What’s the best book you have ever read on indexing? What’s the worst book? And why?

If you have any feedback on any of the above topics (you don’t have to answer all of the above question), please post them below. The more feedback I get, the better I will be able to write a book that will best fit the needs for novice DBAs. Once the book is done, it would become freely available as an eBook, just as all my recent books have been.

These two tools include:

• Maintenance Plan Wizard – a Wizard that steps the user through the process of setting up basic Maintenance Plans, with limited options.
• Maintenance Plan Designer – a drag-and-drop GUI interface in SSMS that facilitates the design and creation of more flexible, customizable maintenance plans.

Unfortunately, neither tool is especially easy to use or well documented. However, with the guidance I provide in this book, they can become powerful tools in helping the novice DBA to perform critical maintenance tasks, and so help to ensure SQL Server’s performance and availability. In addition to learning how to use these tools you will, along the way, pick up a lot of good, general advice on SQL Server database maintenance. I also tell you when not to use these tools, as there are many cases when it is more appropriate to use T-SQL or PowerShell scripts to perform database maintenance.

If you get a chance to read the book, please post your feedback here. While I spent a lot of time trying to include as much content as I could, I realize that I did not cover every possible way to use these tools, nor cover how they should be used under every possible SQL Server environment.

A paperback version of the book should become available at Amazon.com within the 60 days.

PS: If you haven’t read my blog on A Time and Place for the SQL Server Maintenance Plan Wizard, please do so. It explains why I decided to write this book.

• Protecting SQL Server Data by John Magnabosco
• SQL Server Tacklebox by Rodney Landrum
• How to Become an Exceptional DBA by Brad M McGehee

If you can’t make the PASS Summit, or the booth runs out of copies before you visit it, you can always download the free PDF versions at www.SQLServerCentral.com.

Mine is at:

http://www.amazon.com/Brad-M-McGehee/e/B002RWVEB8/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

The page allows you to add a photograph, a short bio, your blog RSS feed, and even a discussion forum. So if you are a SQL Server, or other author, be sure to take advantage of this new feature to help promote your books.