Louis Davidson

Louis is the editor of this Simple-Talk website. Prior to that, has was a corporate database developer and data architect for a non-profit organization for 25 years! Louis has been a Microsoft MVP since 2004, and is the author of a series of SQL Server Database Design books, most recently Pro SQL Server Relational Database Design and Implementation.

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14 February 2013
14 February 2013

What Counts for a DBA: Realism

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“I need a database designed, which will not only clear up our current order processing issues, but will make our processing 1000% more efficient …” The manager had that charismatic gleam in his eye that makes you just about believe anything he says. “… and I know you guys can do it…”. Just as our … Read more
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07 January 2013
07 January 2013

What Counts For a DBA: Amnesia

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As we rush headlong into 2013, many of us prepare the annual document of self-deception otherwise known as our “New Year’s Resolutions”. Most people don’t intend to lie to themselves; it just often ends up that way. If you are lazy then the act of writing down “don’t be lazy” won’t transform you into a … Read more
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11 December 2012
11 December 2012

What Counts For a DBA: Replaceable

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Replaceable is what every employee in every company instinctively strives not to be. Yet, if you’re an irreplaceable DBA, meaning that the company couldn’t find someone else who could do what you do, then you’re not doing a great job. A good DBA is replaceable. I imagine some of you are already reaching for the … Read more
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18 October 2012
18 October 2012

What Counts For A DBA – ESP

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Now I don’t want to get religious here, and I’m not going to, but what I’m going to describe in this ‘What Counts for a DBA’ installment sometimes feels like magic. Often I will spend hours thinking about the solution to a design issue or coding problem, working diligently to try to come up with … Read more
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and 11 October 2012
and 11 October 2012

Tune Your Indexing Strategy with SQL Server DMVs

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SQL Server Indexes need to be effective. It is wrong to have too few or too many. The ones you create must ensure that the workload reads the data quickly with a minimum of I/O. As well as a sound knowledge of the way that relational databases work, it helps to be familiar with the Dynamic Management Objects that are there to assist with your indexing strategy.… Read more
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01 October 2012
01 October 2012

What Counts For a DBA: Simplicity

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Too many computer processes do an apparently simple task in a bizarrely complex way. They remind me of a strip by one of my favorite artists: Rube Goldberg. In order to keep the boss from knowing one was late, a process is devised whereby the cuckoo clock kisses a live cuckoo bird, who then pulls … Read more
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11 September 2012
11 September 2012

What Counts For a DBA: Ego

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Leaving aside, for a second, Freud’s psychoanalytical definitions, the term “ego” generally refers to a person’s sense of self, and their self-esteem. In casual usage, however, it usually appears in the adjectival form, “egotistical” (most often followed by “jerk”). You don’t need to be a jerk to be a DBA; humility is important. However, ego … Read more
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14 August 2012
14 August 2012

And interview, an online session, a long drive and a SQL Saturday… This week!

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Later this week I will be doing an episode of the Greg Low’s excellent SQL Down Under podcast (http://www.sqldownunder.com/Resources/Podcast.aspx), something I did once before back in 2006.  If you haven’t listened to any of the previous editions, there are some amazing people who have been on his podcast. On Thursday at 12:00 Central Time, I … Read more
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07 August 2012
07 August 2012

What Counts For a DBA: Tenacity

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By ‘tenacity’, I mean working passionately at some task until you complete it, it kills you, or what you were working on isn’t needed anymore. The goal of tenacity is successful termination of the task and not about gaining esteem, monetary rewards, pride, or truly anything else. Nothing breeds success like tenacity. Pete Townshend put … Read more
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20 July 2012
20 July 2012

What Counts for a DBA: Time

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As far as I know, nobody’s last words, when their time was up, were “I wish I had worked more.” Perhaps a better time in one’s life is when there is still an opportunity to benefit from the insight. It dawns on many of us. I know people who wish they had worked harder when … Read more
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14 July 2012
14 July 2012

Louisville SQL Saturday…

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One more week until we get to SQL Saturday 122 in Louisville KY. I have a couple of sessions on the calendar this time. First, the one on Sequences: ———————————— What Sequence objects are (and are not) SQL Server 2012 adds a new object to our arsenal called a sequence that can will give us … Read more
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