Weekly Links for August 14

This might be my last link post. Now that Google Reader makes it so easy to broadcast saved articles to Twitter, Facebook, Delicious, etc., I’m thinking this might be redundant. If you’d miss it, leave me a comment explaining why you’d rather see these links in the blog instead of those other services. Thanks!

SQL Server Links

SQL Server 2008 R2 CTP Available – you can download it and start playing with it right now.  Disclaimer: the cool bits require Excel 2010 and an update to SharePoint, neither of which are publicly available.

Recovering a Database Without the LDF File – lots of talk in Twitter about this Denis Gobo Ted Krueger article.

Manual Administration – automate, automate, automate.  Rod Colledge explains why you can’t get off the hamster wheel until you start automating.

Use Database Snapshots During Code Deployment – Lawrence Overbey writes to take a snapshot first, then deploy your code.  When it’s all gone Pete Tong, you can roll back to the snapshot faster than you can do a restore.

Secrets of the SQL Server Consultant – Jason Massie passes on performance tuning tips.

Benchmarking – Who Needs It? – You do, and Mike Walsh shows you how to pull it off.

Chris Shaw’s Blog Quiz – I made some jokes in my response and things went swiftly downhill from there.  See answers from Grant Fritchey, Jason Massie, Tim Ford, Tom LaRock, and others.

New SQL Server Videos This Week

SQL Server Book Corner – Kevin Kline, Grant Fritchey, Ross Mistry and your humble author talk about how to pick a good IT book.

Tom LaRock on Meet the Experts – SQLRockstar gets interviewed by Christian Hasker, Quest Software marketing genius.  (Yes, he just happens to be my boss – why?)

Cloud and Virtualization Links

SQL Azure Documentation Online – you can read the docs and sign up for the CTP.  Remember, 10gb max per database…

Is Virtualization the DBA’s Friend? – Allan Hirt says not all the time.

The Junk Drawer

Learn How to Work a Crowd – Alexis Bauer deserves free drinks everywhere she goes. This five-minute how-to video is brilliant:

Google Reader Turns Up the Awesome – now you can share RSS articles straight to Twitter, Delicious or other social networking services.

16 Apps That Make Sharing Large Files a Snap – TechCrunch shows the pros and cons of each service.

Inject Yourself Into Your Content – stop writing boring crap, mmkay?  I say it over and over in private, but I don’t say it often enough here: if I wanted to read Books Online, I’d go read Books Online.