Two years ago this week, I took to the stage at the PASS Summit 2011 and unveiled sp_Blitz®, my free health check stored procedure that helps you rapidly take over SQL Servers you’ve never seen before.

Some historical highlights include:

• 117,125 downloads
• 117 checks (technically much more than that, because we look for variations of stuff)
• 30 versions (including today’s updates with even more bug fixes)
• Dozens of public code contributions
• Analyzes the SQL Server plan cache for performance issues
• Can store data to a table for analysis over time
• Can take an input table to skip any checks on any servers or databases

People often stop me at conferences and say two things: they’re so thankful for it making their job easier, and they can’t believe we give it away for free. Between sp_Blitz®, sp_BlitzIndex®, our weekly webcast, our YouTube channel, our ebooks, our 6 month DBA training newsletter, and in-depth blog posts, we just give a ridiculous amount of stuff away for free. It’s going to get even better at the PASS Summit – I can’t wait to share my next free tool with you guys.

This is why, when we announced that we’re looking for Employee #2, Kendra specifically said in the post:

First, we need to know where you’ve spoken recently and what you talked about. This can include all sorts of public speaking– it doesn’t have to be technical. Next, tell us how you give back to a technical community. (It doesn’t have to be the SQL Server community.)

We wanted to find people who were passionate about making a difference in the community. People who give back to make jobs easier for others. People who openly share their knowledge with the public whenever possible.

That’s also why I’m excited to see my friends again at the Summit this week. This is where the giving-back happens, and it’s where the giving-back people get together. Here’s to another year of giving back.