Opinion - Category Archive
The following is a list of all entries from the Opinion category.
A Time and a Place for the SQL Server Maintenance Plan Wizard
Database Administration,Opinion | January 11, 2010 | 11:08 amReprinted from my editorial in Database Weekly. In the course of my job, I get to give a lot of presentations, at various conference and user group events, many of them offering advice to DBAs on how to maintain their SQL Server databases. Aware of its limitations and failings I, like many other experienced DBAs, ...read more
The Exceptional DBA’s Code of Conduct
DBA Career,Opinion | December 21, 2009 | 1:58 pmThis is a reprint of chapter 11 of my book, How to Become an Exceptional DBA, 2nd Edition, which is available as a free e-book here. Physicians, attorneys, accountants, engineers, realtors, and many other professionals have written guidelines designed to discourage misconduct and illegal activity, and to promote the ethical conduct of their members. In ...read more
Handling Inconvenient Requests
DBA Career,Opinion | December 8, 2009 | 12:16 pm"You can have everything in life that you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want." – Zig Ziglar Early in my career, I read a lot of books by self-help gurus, seeking advice on how to make my career successful. While I learned a lot of useful information, the ...read more
Challenging the Tyranny of Third-Party Vendors: A DBA’s Manifesto
DBA Career,Opinion | December 6, 2009 | 4:14 pmOver the years, I have dealt with a lot of third-party applications (and their vendors) that use SQL Server as their back-end databases. It has often been an uneasy relationship, fraught with pain and tribulation. The overriding feeling I have gotten from most of these vendors is that they could care less about the DBAs ...read more
Are You a Giver or a Taker?
DBA Career,Opinion | November 30, 2009 | 8:31 amI have been involved in the SQL Server community since 2000, and during the past nine years I have seen hundreds of volunteers donate large amounts of their time to the community. For example: DBAs who answer tens of thousands of questions on SQL Server news groups and forums. DBAs who write blogs and articles ...read more
What Do You Do When Your Employer Doesn’t Want to Support Your DBA Career?
DBA Career,Opinion | November 3, 2009 | 7:11 pmAt the 2009 PASS Community Summit, I have gotten the opportunity to talk to many DBAs, and to find out about what it is like to work for their organizations. In my book, How to Become an Exceptional DBA, and in many of my presentations, I highly recommend DBAs get as much training as they ...read more
Have You Checked Out the SQL Server 2008 R2 CTP Yet?
Opinion,SQL Server News | September 2, 2009 | 7:18 amEver since the Community Technology Preview (CTP) of SQL Server 2008 R2 became widely available for download on August 12, I haven’t seen much discussion of this new version in the SQL Server media, websites, or blogs. Yes, there has been some coverage, but not to the level I would have expected for such a ...read more
Backup to the Cloud – No Excuses
Database Administration,Opinion | August 10, 2009 | 12:16 pmI used to work at a multi-billion dollar organization and, like most organizations that big, they kept backups of all their databases offsite in case some major catastrophe destroyed the data center. There was only one problem with their otherwise excellent plan; the offsite location for the backup tapes was the building next door, a ...read more
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