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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11 May 2012
11 May 2012

What Counts For a DBA: Imagination

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“Imagination…One little spark, of inspiration… is at the heart, of all creation.” – From the song “One Little Spark”, by the Sherman Brothers I have a confession to make. Despite my great enthusiasm for databases and programming, it occurs to me that every database system I’ve ever worked on has been, in terms of its … Read more
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26 April 2012
26 April 2012

What Counts For A DBA – Foresight

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Of all the valuable attributes of a DBA covered so far in this series, ranging from passion to humility to practicality, perhaps one of the most important attributes may turn out to be the most seemingly-nebulous: foresight. According to Free Dictionary foresight is the “perception of the significance and nature of events before they have … Read more
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22 April 2012
22 April 2012

Utility Queries–Column Metadata

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Very often, I find myself wanting to query system metadata for columns. Some of the metadata is fairly easy to deal with, like if you want to find column names, just simply querying sys.columns is very straightforward.  But if you want to query data types, it gets stickier.  There are type types listed, one that … Read more
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02 January 2012
02 January 2012

2012 Blog Resolutions

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I skipped last year making blog resolutions, but this year I need to get myself back on the straight and narrow and encourage myself to do a few things. 1. Finish my book quickly and efficiently – Well, duh, I supposed, but the quickly and efficiently is the biggest important part.  I have no idea … Read more
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20 December 2011
20 December 2011

What Counts For A DBA: Humbug!

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If you have seen the movie ‘The Christmas Carol’, you will remember that the evil bank owner Ebenezer Scrooge is not a proponent of the holiday season, claiming Christmas to be “a poor excuse for picking a man’s pocket every twenty-fifth of December” and doesn’t even want his employee Bob Cratchet to miss work on … Read more
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15 December 2011
15 December 2011

What Counts For a DBA: Practicality

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As a data architect, and writer on the same subject, I am completely entrenched in learning and applying the discipline of normalization. When I set my course down the road of great database design, my motto is “Fifth Normal Form or bust“, even if it takes months to finish the design for just a few … Read more
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14 November 2011
14 November 2011

What Counts for A DBA: Observant

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When walking up to the building where I work, I can see CCTV cameras placed here and there for monitoring access to the building. We are required to wear authorization badges which could be checked at any time. Do we have enemies?  Of course! No one is 100% safe; even if your life is a … Read more
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28 September 2011
28 September 2011

Chapters 9, 10, 11, and 12

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So I have been a bit remiss on my blogging the book duties. The fact is, the first 8 chapters were fairly heavy rewrites and reworkings, and even a good amount of new material.  But when doing a new version of a book that has already existed, you do need to reuse a good deal … Read more
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27 September 2011
27 September 2011

MVP Deep Dives 2: Coming Really Soon

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You probably have noticed that I haven’t blogged all that much these days. Part of the reason has been taking on way too many projects/speaking engagements/writing projects etc. I am generally proud of all of these things, but the most project that I am probably the most proud of is the MVP Deep Dives 2 … Read more
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12 August 2011
12 August 2011

What Counts For A DBA: Blindness

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Anyone who remembers the rock opera Tommy might have guessed that this blog will describe my forthcoming rock opera about a coder with hysterical blindness who becomes a Relational Wizard. Watching him, I jealously start singing…   “Ever since I was a newbie I wrote code like a storm My databases rendered In the fifth … Read more
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12 July 2011
12 July 2011

What Counts For A DBA: Education

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There comes a point in many people’s lives where they stop adding new knowledge and become stuck at a point in time. My father-in-law worked with technology for many years with a telecommunications company until he retired. He was an “early adopter” and a proud owner of one of the first satellite dishes, a big … Read more
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10 July 2011
10 July 2011

Chapter 8–Patterns and Anti-Patterns

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In this last kind of “creative” chapter, I will look at some of the ways you implement common problems in your relational database, and some of the ways you probably shouldn’t. The “should” sections will deal with: Uniqueness – Beyond the simple uniqueness we have covered in the first chapters of the book, looking at … Read more
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