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SQL Response v2 Early Access Program Open to Everyone

bradmcgehee — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 00:09:47 +0000

Red Gate Software has recently opened up its SQL Response v2 Early Release Program (EAP), and is inviting anyone who is interested to download the application, test it, and provide feedback. This is your opportunity to help SQL Response’s developers to create a great product that every DBA will want to use.

For those of you who are not familiar with SQL Response, it is a web-based SQL Server monitoring and alerting tool that can help reduce much of the drudgery of routine DBA tasks. Here are a few examples of what it can do.

Monitor your SQL Server’s health and performance locally from your desk, or remotely from most any computer with a web browser, including many mobile devices.
Your SQL Server instance’s health can be monitored at a global level (all instances at once), at the individual instance level, or on a per database level.
Monitoring screens not only provide a real-time overview of SQL Server’s health, it collects historical data so you can go back into time and check out a server’s health at any point in time. This feature is great when you are trying to track down problems and need historical diagnostic data to help you better troubleshoot problems.
Although SQL Response has the ability for real-time monitoring, you probably won’t be spending a lot of time watching the monitoring screens. Instead, you will be working on other projects. So if a problem should occur on a SQL Server instance, and you are busy doing something else, SQL Response can send you alerts vie e-mail so you always know if there are any problems with your servers, allowing you to be a proactive DBA.

This is just a few of the things that SQL Response does, and I don’t want to waste your time describing the product in detail. If any of the above features have grabbed your attention, then download the EAP and see for yourself how the application works.

As you might imagine, the SQL Response v2 EAP is not feature complete, nor is it bug-free. If you decide to try out the software, be sure that you install in on a test SQL Server box. On the other hand, you can use the EAP to monitor production servers, without risk, because SQL Response doesn’t install any software on the SQL Servers being monitored. Instead, it polls the servers remotely, which greatly reduces the overhead of collecting monitoring and alerting data.

To download the SQL Response v2 EAP, visit this webpage and sign-up. Once you sign up, you will receive an email with a link to download the software, in addition to other links you can use to provide feedback on the release. In fact, if you provide lots of feedback on the EAP, you may even be able to win some prizes, which are described in the email you will receive. So check out the EAP today and see how you can contribute to its success.

PAL 2.0 Beta Released

bradmcgehee — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 02:25:39 +0000

Back in 2008, I wrote a blog post about version 1 of the Performance Analysis of Logs (PAL) tool. This free tool, available from pal.codeplex.com, has been enhanced, and Version 2.0, Beta 1.1, is currently available for download. I have just downloaded and installed it myself, although I haven’t had much chance to use it yet. When I have time, I will write a review of the new version. In the meantime, I recommend you download it and give it a try. It’s a great tool for analyzing Performance Monitor Logs, and it is also a great source for determining which Performance Monitor counters, and thresholds, should be used when analyzing SQL Server’s performance.

Vote for the Exceptional DBA of the Year

bradmcgehee — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 11:00:00 +0000

Starting today, you can vote for the 2010 Exceptional DBA of the Year. All of the nominations have been reviewed by a panel of judges, and six have been selected to be voted on by the SQL Server community. The winner will not only receive the recognition of being the 2010 Exceptional DBA of the Year, but will receive a full conference pass for the 2010 PASS Community Summit, most hotel and travel expenses, and a license of SQL Toolbelt.

The six nominees include:

–Kevan Riley

–Jonathan Kehayias

–John Burnette

–Tracy Hamlin

–Jorge Segarra

–Ted Krueger

To vote, and to find out more about this year’s six nominees, visit www.exceptionaldba.com. All votes must be in by July 23, 2010.

SQLBits 7 to be Held in York September 30 – October 2, 2010

bradmcgehee — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 19:02:22 +0000

SQLBits—The 7 Wonders of SQL Conference—will be held in York, England, September 30 through October 2, 2010. SQLBits is the largest SQL Server conference held in Europe, and this three-day event will be held at York University, allowing up to 500 SQL Server professionals to attend.

The first day of SQLBits will include full-day seminars; day two will include advanced technical sessions; and day three will be the traditional community conference day with sessions targeted towards all skill levels. The first two days are fee-based, while the community conference day on Saturday is free to all attendees.

For more information on this event, check out the SQLBits homepage. Registration is currently not open yet, but be sure to sign up for the SQLBits mailing list to ensure you are the first to know when registration starts. And if you are planning on attending, be sure to mark your calendars now.

The SQLBits call for speakers is also currently open, and you can find out more information on the here.

Nominations for the 2010 Exceptional DBA Award are Now Open

bradmcgehee — Tue, 04 May 2010 04:16:00 +0000

SQLServerCentral.com, along with Red Gate Software, are glad to announce that nominations for the 2010 Exceptional DBA Awards are now open. Three years ago, the award was established to help bring about more awareness regarding the importance of the DBA role among the IT community. The first ever Exceptional DBA Award went to Dan McClain in 2008, and to Josef Richberg in 2009.

If you would like to nominate a DBA, or yourself, for the 2010 Exceptional DBA Award, please visit the www.exceptionaldba.com website and complete the nomination form. Nominations close on June 4, 2010, so you need to make your nomination soon.

The winner of the award will receive a trophy; a SQL Toolbelt license with 36 months support and upgrades worth $3,492; a full conference pass for the 2010 PASS Community Summit worth up to $1,795; plus four nights hotel accommodations and $300 towards travel expenses to attend the Summit. The award will be presented at the SQLServerCentral.com Party, held after the Summit’s Welcome Reception on the initial night of the Summit.

Once all of the nominations are made, a list of five finalists will be selected by a panel of judges, which include Brad McGehee, Director of DBA Education for Red Gate Software; Steve Jones, Editor of SQLServerCentral.com; Rodney Landrum, DBA and author; and Josef Richberg, the 2009 winner of the Exceptional DBA Award. Once five finalists are selected by the judges, then the winner will be selected by a combination of popular votes from members of SQLServerCentral.com, and the judges.

As a judge for the past two years, I have seen all the nominations that have been submitted. Based on these nominations, the best piece of advice I can give you if you nominate yourself, or another DBA, is to include as much detail as you can when you answer each question. I would also suggest that you first write out your answers to the questions in Word, taking the time to ensure that your responses are complete, and that your writing is up to snuff. Once you are happy with the responses, then cut and paste your answers into the nomination form. If you follow this advice, it will put you ahead of the majority of the nominees.

So take some time to visit the www.exceptionaldba.com website and check out how the nomination and award process works. Then if you feel you are an Exceptional DBA, or know of an Exceptional DBA you would like to nominate, please do so before the June 4th, 2010 deadline.

Besides Being a DBA, Do You Also Happen to be an Exchange Administrator?

bradmcgehee — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 20:08:10 +0000

I know a lot of DBAs fall into the category of part-time DBAs, because they work in small IT shops and they often have to wear many hats. I have actually never shared this secret before, but I was an Exchange Administrator before became becoming a full-time DBA, back in the old days when Exchange was the new kid on the block. In fact, I cut my teeth on the old Microsoft Mail (a memory I do my best to block).

If you happen to be an Exchange Administrator, besides being a part-time DBA, I want to share with you a couple of free eBooks that you might be interested in. If you are a full time DBA, these books won’t interest you, but perhaps you know of an Exchange Administrator who might find these books useful.

The first book is called The SysAdmin Handbook: The Best of Simple Talk. This 519 page book is an eclectic collection of articles originally available on the www.Simple-Talk.com website, and focuses on articles of interest to Exchange Administrators, especially those who are still using Exchange 2007. In addition, it covers such diverse topics as the Windows 2008 operating system, Active Directory, clustering, virtualization, PowerShell, unified messaging, change management, and professional development.

The second book is Exchange 2010—A Practical Approach, by Jaap Wesselius. This 188 page book is a tutorial on how to install and manage Exchange 2010. Rather than taking a textbook approach to teaching Exchange, the author focuses on real-world scenarios, taking a very practical approach to the problems every Exchange Administrator runs faces.

To download either free eBook, click on the links above.

SQL Saturday Schedule Update

bradmcgehee — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:06:57 +0000

In January, I blogged about the upcoming SQL Saturdays for 2010, and since then, many more events have been scheduled, so I thought I would do a quick update. I wish I could attend more of the events, but so far, I am scheduled to speak at:

SQLSaturday #31 – Chicago 2010

While I have been to the Chicago airport many times, I have never spoken in Chicago before. Besides speaking at the SQL Saturday event, I will also be speaking to the Chicago SQL Server users group on the Thursday before SQL Saturday.

SQLSaturday #22 – Pensacola 2010

I attended this inaugural event last year, and I am looking forward to attending again. This year, there will be about 40 different sessions, covering SQL Server, .NET, and SharePoint.

SQLSaturday #28 – Baton Rouge 2010

This will be my first time in Baton Rouge, and only my second time ever visiting Louisiana, so I look forward to seeing a new part of the country.

As of today, the following SQL Saturday events are scheduled:

Mar 6, 2010
SQLSaturday #33 – Charlotte 2010

Mar 13, 2010
SQLSaturday #37 – Philadelphia 2010

Mar 27, 2010
SQLSaturday #29 – Birmingham 2010

Apr 10, 2010
SQLSaturday #30 – Richmond 2010

Apr 17, 2010
SQLSaturday #31 – Chicago 2010

Apr 24, 2010
SQLSaturday #39 – New York City 2010

Apr 24, 2010
SQLSaturday #41 – Atlanta 2010

Apr 24, 2010
SQLSaturday #44 – Huntington Beach 2010

May 1, 2010
SQLSaturday #36 – Wheeling 2010

May 8, 2010
SQLSaturday #38 – Jacksonville 2010

May 22, 2010
SQLSaturday #35 – Dallas 2010

May 22, 2010
SQLSaturday #27 – Portland 2010

Jun 5, 2010
SQLSaturday #22 – Pensacola 2010

Jun 12, 2010
SQLSaturday #43 – Redmond 2010

Jun 26, 2010
SQLSaturday #42 – Columbus 2010

Jul 31, 2010
SQLSaturday #40 – South Florida 2010

Aug 14, 2010
SQLSaturday #28 – Baton Rouge 2010

SQLBits 6 to Be Held in London, April 16, 2010

bradmcgehee — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 21:01:38 +0000

The upcoming SQLBits 6, to be held Friday, April 16, 2010, will be held at the Church House Conference Centre in Westminster, London, England. This full day, free event will be themed around SQL Server performance and scalability.

Currently, the call for speakers is open, and if you would like to submit session abstracts for consideration, you can find out more here.

Official registration for the event will begin in March, but if you planning on attending, you need to mark your calendar now, and also sign up at the SQLBits website in order to be notified as soon as registration opens.