Posts by Brent Ozar

In high school, I threw a huge party in Grandma’s house. It had long-lasting implications – among other things, I got disinherited.

Learn why SQL Server data compression has a lot in common with me after that Jungle Juice bash.

Erika and I have moved a lot lately! Chicago Skyline In 2005, we left Houston, Texas and moved to Miami Beach, Florida so Erika could pursue her education as an air traffic controller.  In early 2008, when she finished her degree and got an offer from the FAA, we moved back to Houston.  Later that…

Wanna play with R2, but you don’t have the time to do it? Yeah, I remember what it was like having a real job. R2 Splash Screen That’s where I come in.  It’s my job to learn the latest and greatest from our friends in Redmond, and I’ve already got my SQL Server 2008 R2…

R2 makes it easier for DBAs to move databases around from server to server in much the same way virtualization admins move guest OS’s around between physical hosts.  In my last blog post about SQL Server 2008 R2, I explained that databases are becoming more like virtual servers, and today I’ll talk about what that…

Today’s quiz from Chris Shaw is a two-parter, and for once in a web quiz, the second part really is a quiz. 1. Do you feel that you have a reliable SAN solution? If so, what’s the secret? Your SAN Admins The key to getting a reliable SAN solution that no human being can mess…

Ladies and gentlemen, start your downloads. The SQL Server 2008 R2 community preview is now available for downloading.  Read the Data Platform Insider blog entry for more details. The download link in that blog entry didn’t work for me, but the ever-insightful Wesley Backelant pointed out that it’s available in MSDN/Technet too.  In your product…

I’ve gotten quite a few questions over email about Twitter being down, and here’s a couple of tips. When you wonder whether a site is up or not, check DownForEveryoneOrJustMe.com. When you’re having a Twitter problem, check the Twitter status blog. When you’re bored because everything’s down, go to a random Wikipedia article. Update 11:30AM…

Denis Gobo (Blog – Twitter) wrote an article yesterday about SQL Server sprawl – the problem of database servers popping up from under desks, datacenter corners, and developer cubicles.  Part of the problem stems from SQL Server 2005 and earlier not requiring a license key, so they didn’t need a keygen hack or fake serial…

Billy Bosworth (Blog (not updated recently)), the head honcho of the database business unit at Quest Software, has been posing an interesting question lately: “Are DBAs losing their power?” We used to be all-powerful.  When we walked into a development team meeting, we could pound our fist on the table, demand a primary key on…

Tonight, Twitter changed their public page – the one you see before you log in – to focus on something completely different: New Twitter Home Page Now the home page revolves around search by saying, “See what people are saying about…”, offering a big prominent search box, and showing the trending topics at the bottom…

Microsoft just put out a service pack for Microsoft Office 2008 for the Mac. Don’t install it. Nothing about this service pack appears to be unusual until you try to open certain files in Excel, PowerPoint or Word: Microsoft PowerPoint Error Clicking Yes takes you to a page titled, “I can’t open an Office document…