Product has been added to your cart.

Posts by Brent Ozar

Brent Ozar
2379 posts
https://www.brentozar.com
I make Microsoft SQL Server go faster. I love teaching, travel, cars, and laughing. I'm based out of Las Vegas. He/him.

Cringely says databases are dead

Brent Ozar
11 Comments
Robert X. Cringely is a columnist for PBS – you know, the worldwide authority on hot information technology issues.  You might recognize some of their other experts like Norm Abrams and Big Bird.  Cringely’s just like them, only with less name recognition. In his latest blog, Cringely explains how cloud computing is going to make…
Read More

SAN Tips for First-Time Users

Brent Ozar
Storage
0
If you’re thinking about buying your first storage area network, do yourself a favor and go to the Aston Martin dealership first.  Smell the leather – that is, if they’ll let you sit in one – and play with the switchgear to feel how nice and solid it feels.  Pretty nice, huh? Or maybe that’s…
Read More

Amazon EC2 will offer Windows hosting

Brent Ozar
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
0
A lot of cool things are happening at PDC this year, and Amazon’s already showing their cards: Amazon EC2 will offer Windows hosting. That means you can turn on a brand new Windows machine – or ten – and pay by the hour according to the capacity you’re using.  Less than a dollar an hour…
Read More

Microsoft License Plate Frame

Brent Ozar
7 Comments
Microsoft License Plate Frame Picked this up at the Microsoft company store this week in Redmond. Looks great with my SQL license plate!  The only downside is that it blocks out the “Lone Star State” line.
Read More

SQL Server 2008 upgrade poll results & thoughts

Brent Ozar
1 Comment
Last week I posted a poll asking DBAs when they would use SQL Server 2008 in production.  Here’s the results after one week: In the next 3-6 months. (40%, 8 Votes) Not planning it yet. (30%, 6 Votes) In the next month or two. (20%, 4 Votes) Already done. (10%, 2 Votes) This week, I…
Read More

Cutting to the Chase

Brent Ozar
Professional Development
4 Comments
People come running into the DBA’s corner office (okay, windowless cube) with all kinds of issues and they’re not sure what’s a database problem, what’s an application problem, or what is just a general complaint. Here’s some examples of vague requests: “Man, this application is so slow.” “The profit numbers on this report don’t seem…
Read More

HIPAA vs SOX for database administrators

Brent Ozar
0
A database administrator asked me, “If I’ve been working at a company subject to Sarbanes-Oxley regulations, and I needed to learn what was different about HIPAA regulations, what would be the difference between the two?” First, in my answer, don’t think about credit card data or customer social security numbers.  That has its own security…
Read More
Param.txt

SQLIO Tutorial: How to Test Disk Performance

Brent Ozar
SQL Server, Storage
Storage is a black box, right?  The SAN admins ask how much storage space you need, you tell them, and then they give it to you.  They don’t tell you how fast (or slow) it is, they don’t know whether it meets your needs, and they probably don’t know where the bottlenecks are. It’s time…
Read More

Oracle announces cloud computing support

Brent Ozar
Oracle
0
I don’t have much insight to add here, but it’s something my readers are probably into: Oracle now supports running on Amazon EC2.  They’ve got prebuilt EC2 instances that you can just turn on, a cloud management portal, and licensing options. This is such a cool time to be a database administrator.  I can’t wait…
Read More

Leaving Caroline Collective

Brent Ozar
3 Comments
In May, I leased the first desk at the Caroline Collective, a new coworking space near downtown Houston. Open Door Policy Today, I moved my stuff back out. I left because of something simple: I need too much “stuff” to do my job.  In order to do my job, I use a few pieces of…
Read More

Why DBAs should care about storage virtualization

Brent Ozar
Storage
2 Comments
Vendor hype aside, storage virtualization is really expensive technology that few shops really use.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the technology, but seriously, it’s expensive.  And that’s just the hardware/software – try hiring somebody with storage virtualization experience – hoo, boy.  But something is coming that’s changing the game, redefining what storage virtualization means.…
Read More

When will you use SQL Server 2008 in production?

Brent Ozar
5 Comments
The last several times I’ve spoken at user groups, I’ve asked for a show of hands to find out when people plan to put their first SQL Server 2008 instance in production. I ask because it helps me write better presentations – there’s no sense in me talking about something you don’t plan to use,…
Read More

Spend a Day with the Experts – Oct 14 – Redmond, WA

Brent Ozar
0
So you’ve been dying to meet me, but your job at Microsoft won’t allow you to leave the Redmond area?  Or maybe you’re tired of hearing all those bright people at Microsoft speak, and you want to hear a rank amateur fill your head with gobbledygook? Or maybe you just want free breakfast and lunch?…
Read More

Steel Cage Blogmatch: How to Configure a SAN

Brent Ozar
SQL Server, Storage
13 Comments
Jason Massie and Brent Ozar work with SQL Server for a living and write blogs for fun, but that’s where the similarities end.  Jason’s a fan of shared storage SANs: putting SQL Server data and logs on the same set of physical hard drives.  Brent’s a cheerleader for dedicated configurations where the arrays are separated…
Read More

The Glamour of International Travel

Brent Ozar
3 Comments
Saturday It’s Labor Day weekend.  I would love to hang out and relax, but I have a plane to catch.  I pack my laptop bag and a single large suitcase.  I’d love to take a carryon too, because it’d be a nightmare if my luggage didn’t arrive with me.  I’m going to be checking the…
Read More

Surprise! I’m on the intrawebz!

Brent Ozar
4 Comments
Me! I opened the company intranet this morning and got a surprise – I’m featured front and center.  Looks like I’m going to have to change my browser’s home page for the next couple of weeks, because I can’t face this first thing in the morning without coffee. When I first started at Quest Software,…
Read More

LiteSpeed v5.0 is out!

Brent Ozar
0
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…
Read More