Recommended Books for SQL Server DBAs

There’s a ton of SQL Server books out there to help get you started on the road to becoming a database administrator.  For the SSWUG SQL Server Virtual Conference, the presenters were asked to put together their list of recommended books.  My list is going to sound absolutely crazy, and they’re not going to put the speaker’s notes next to why they recommended the books, so I gotta break down my list here so you folks don’t think I’m an idiot.

I’m going to start at the start of your career, and go forward:

SQL For Dummies by Allen G. Taylor.  Seriously, start here.  Notice that I didn’t say Microsoft SQL Server for Dummies, which also exists and may be a great book, but here’s the thing: you need to start by learning the real basics of SQL, the language, not the product.  As a database administrator, you’re going to be interacting with people who started in Oracle or Access, not just SQL Server, and they may be using slightly different ways of writing SQL code.  If you get started by writing SQL in the ANSI style the way this book teaches you, and if you start by thinking about the language instead of the boxed product, you’ll be better equipped to deal with all of your different customers.

After that one, go to your bookstore and pick up whatever Microsoft SQL Server book is current.  I gotta be honest: once you’ve been a DBA for a while, you don’t read books at this particular tier.  For example, right now I’m knee-deep in SQL Server 2008, and the relevant books aren’t out yet.  By the time the books come out, I’m going to know what I need to know, and I won’t be reading those books.  Instead, I’ll be digging into books like the next one in the list, but don’t pick up this next one until you’ve been working with SQL Server for a year.

Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2005: The Storage Engine by Kalen Delaney.  You waited a year into your career before reading this, right?  If you don’t, this book is going to scare the pants off you.  It’s seriously good, but it’s seriously technical.  If you find yourself devouring the information in this book, then you’re going to be a fantastic DBA.  If you groan and close the book, then you want to modify your career path and go down a slightly different road - still with SQL Server, but not as a hard-core DBA.  Instead, think about becoming a SQL Server developer (concentrating on stored procs, views, etc), an SSIS or SSRS developer, or maybe a developer DBA (working with developers to manage their models & designs.)

SQL in a Nutshell by Kevin Kline, Daniel Kline and Brand Hunt.  After conquering that last book which was specific to Microsoft SQL Server, head back into the multicultural direction with this monster.  The Nutshell name is pretty deceiving - this is one thick read - but it gives answers for multiple database platforms.  As a SQL Server DBA, sooner or later you’ll get asked to work on an Oracle or MySQL box, and this book will help you relate concepts across platforms.

How to Become CEO by Jeffrey J. Fox.  DBA and CEO have more in common than just their letter count.  This is a thin, easy-to-read book that preaches great ideas about how to work with integrity, how to make things happen, and how to actively manage your relationships.  Being a DBA is a lot like running a company: some of your databases are going to “lose money”, and some of them are going to be really successful.  Your job is to minimize the losers and maximize the winners.