Links, links, come get your hot fresh sausage-free links:
SQL Server Links
Consolidation and Virtualization Process Flow – so you’ve got too many servers, and you need to consolidate. Tom LaRock explains with a simple decision tree diagram.
Poor (Wo)Man’s Graphing – Michelle Ufford shares a devilishly simple way to graph data in T-SQL. MacGyver would love this.
Top 5 Reasons Your BI Project Will Fail – Rod Colledge says “I told you so” in advance. Been there! If you’re working in a BI project, take a minute to look at these 5 signs and ask yourself if they apply to your project. If they do, start looking for a career exit strategy because the company will get pissed at the BI staff sooner or later.
When Will My Backup/Restore Finish? – very handy T-SQL script from Aaron Bertrand.
The Effects of SELECT DISTINCT – Joe Webb explains with scripts and diagrams.
Is Antivirus Strangling Your SQL Server? – some best practices around AV setup. I never thought of adding exclusions for trace files – innteresting.
Hitting the Limits of Database Mirroring – I’ve heard similar anecdotal evidence to support Steve Jones’ experience too.
Quest Project Fuze Is Out – we’re making it easier to use Microsoft dev tools with an Oracle back end.
But It Worked In Development – Mike Walsh talks about why scripts work great in dev and then blow chunks in production.
New SQL MCA and MCMs – congrats to all of these gurus, especially Jimmy May (Blog – Twitter)!
SQL Server Training Videos
This week, I’m starting to include links to any new webcast archives and podcasts I’ve added lately so that you don’t have to check the Quest Webcast Archives page or the SQLServerPedia tutorials feed.
- Getting Started with SQL Server Management Studio – with Michelle Ufford. (one hour)
- How to Be a Backup & Recovery Hero – two shows for this one, one for small business DBAs and one for enterprise DBAs. (one hour)
- How to Manage a Very Large Database (one hour)
- Instant File Initialization (short)
- Partitioning Very Large Databases (short)
- Resource Governor Basics (short)
Cloud and Virtualization Links
Private Clouds and the RDBMS – Jason Massie (of Terremark, a company that’s doing cloud work) talks about why you might have your own internal enterprise cloud inside your datacenter. The “private cloud” term is thrown around more and more by analysts. The more comfortable your company gets with internal virtualization, the more open they’re going to be to external clouds.
Hyper-V R2 Released – boot from USB, Live Migration and more, all free. Will it be enough to gain market share? If you’re using SQL Server in Hyper-V in production, I’d love to hear from you.
Using SSMS with SQL Azure – how to connect to your database in the cloud. (I haven’t tested this – I’m not using SQL Azure yet.)
Quest Software in the Cloud – Dmitry Sotnikov shares a little about what we’re up to.
The Junk Drawer
Order Up!
Away For A While – Jonathan Kehayias is taking a break from the SQL Server world to serve our country. I’d like to thank him and all of the awe-inspiring individuals who leave their families, friends and coworkers to travel away to dangerous locations like Afghanistan. My brother-in-law just got back from Iraq, and I have nothing but respect and admiration for people who serve in the Armed Forces. Next time you think you’ve got a hard job, think about what they’re doing and then shut the hell up.
Douchebag Express (SFW) – the bad news is you only bought a one-way ticket.
10 Photography Quotes You Should Know – little words of wisdom.
Complaining Versus Negotiating – when you want something, Buck Woody explains why whining probably won’t get it.
10 Best Non-Technical Blogs – including Presentation Zen and Seth Godin.