Presto chango, version five.
This one was in the oven long before I arrived at Quest back in May, and I’ve been using it for the last couple of months.  Some of the big improvements are the ability to query backup files just like databases, the Backup Analyzer that automatically tests a bunch of compression & [...]

A reader wrote in and asked:
We’re running SQL Server with blades and a NetApp SAN. We have a few hundred databases from 100mb to 200gb.  All data, logs, tempdb, etc. are located in the same 30-disk pool.
Apparently this was setup using NetApp’s guidelines. NetApp recommendations are to put everything in one aggregate, or a couple [...]

So somebody talked you into using Twitter, and now you’ve got a few questions.  Here’s a few answers in no particular order:
RT = ReTweet
It’s like forwarding, but for Twitters instead of emails.  If you see something really cool from one of the people you follow, you may want to ReTweet it so that the people [...]

The DBA job market is tight all over the country.  Everybody’s having a hard time finding good database administrators at the price they’re allowed to pay.  (I can personally vouch for this because I get a handful of recruiter calls every day asking me to relocate to every state in the country.)
At the same time, [...]

Say we have a physical database server sitting over there in the rack.  For the sake of discussion, let’s pretend it’s a slightly older model, a HP DL380 G2 with a couple of P3 CPUs, 4gb of ram, and six local 36gb drives.  The storage is broken up into a mirrored pair of drives for [...]

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 [...]

I had a photo shoot yesterday by Tracy Manford to get some new head shots for presentations and whatnot, and I’m absolutely thrilled with how they came out.  Hopefully you, dear reader, have never seen me before, because her photos make me look gooood.  I’ll write more about this later (I’m on a short trip [...]

Kevin Kline posted a new video blog entry on efficiency & effectiveness.  One of the things he talks about is limiting the number of things on your plate.
This is so important for DBAs because people are always running into our corner offices (okay, cubicles) and begging (okay, demanding) that we drop everything and focus on [...]

Lemme play psychic for a minute.  Put your hands on the monitor, and I’ll tell your future.
It’s coming to me…wait…I see.  Your boss is cutting your budgets.  You know those conferences you wanted to attend?  Those ones that were going to require expensive airfare and hotels?  It ain’t happening.  Sure, the boss might not have [...]

I’ve got a few upcoming presentations at user groups and meetings:
August 13 - West Michigan SQL User Group - SQL Server Consolidation: Your datacenter is overcrowded and overheated. Your manager is breathing down your neck to cut costs. The Wintel admins want to virtualize your servers. Consolidation might be the answer to a lot of [...]