Most of us haven’t learned everything we know about technology from books or classes. Instead, when things go wrong, a quick search on Google or Bing typically brings up possible solutions from others who have experienced the same problem. I often wonder about that unfortunate guy who is the first to tackle a difficult issue. … Read more
Just recently, my local .NET user group asked me to present at their meeting on the topic of graphical execution plans. I love presenting for developers on SQL Server topics. I’m often describing something well known by database administrators, but completely new to the devs. I think the group learned a lot from me that … Read more
I recently took two of my grandchildren to a McDonald’s restaurant for some lunch. We were greeted by a young woman with a big smile on her face asking if she could show us how to use the new kiosk to place our order. My first thought is that she must have been instructed by … Read more
St. Louis, MO, has a wonderful museum called The St. Louis Science Center. If you are ever in the area, it’s worth a visit. I’m lucky enough to live less than an hour’s drive away and visit once a month or so. My favourite event at the Science Center is called First Friday, an evening … Read more
As I write this, my mind is focused on my big holiday trip, just two days away. It’s a trip I’ve been planning for five years, and it includes our children, their spouses, and our grandchildren – eleven people in all. I’m still debating on whether to take a laptop along, but I’m leaning towards … Read more
At the center of all businesses is a company culture. This culture exists whether the leaders created it or not. If the leaders did not create the culture, then the loudest voices at the company define the culture. Business leaders need to stand up, define, implement and live their company culture. Some view company culture … Read more
You may have noticed a recent flurry of activity in your email inbox as many companies sent out new privacy policies and, in some cases, asked you to opt-in to continue to receive communications from them. This coincides with the deadline to comply with the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). This regulation is meant to … Read more
Typewriters have become rare over the past twenty years or so as we began to use computers more often at home and in the workplace. Correction tape, whiteout, and those typing erasers with a brush on the end have been replaced by the backspace and delete keys. Most people welcome this progress or have never … Read more
I was recently asked about which tools I used back when I was a full-time SQL Server database administrator. I had a tool to compress backups and a monitoring tool with licenses for just a fraction of the servers I was responsible for. Over time, I figured out ways to gather information or automate processes … Read more
One big question for software developers and IT departments in small companies is always “should I hire a DBA?” The fact that one is asking this question demonstrates that there are some symptoms that need a deeper diagnosis than you can handle. This may be a concern about backup procedures, database slowness for users, or errors … Read more
About ten years ago, my friends and family were abandoning their Myspace accounts and heading to Facebook. I fought it for a while but eventually assimilated and ended up with over 650 Facebook “friends” at last count. Even my mother embraced the platform, very happy that she could see frequently updated photos of her many … Read more
It was a rough winter for flying in and out of Heathrow as the UK experienced unusually cold and snowy weather. Unfortunately, one of my colleagues and I landed at Heathrow on 10 December during one of these storms. There was just a small amount of snow on the ground, but thousands of passengers were … Read more
A myriad of laws regulate data retention and generally compete with each other. William Brewer provides an introduction to the principles, but gives good advice -- leave the details to the specialists. … Read more
We make a special effort in March to acknowledge the accomplishments of women. Women have been making gains in many professions over the past several decades but are still underrepresented in technology. There are several hypotheses about why this is the case, but often women find they are not welcome in the “brogrammer” cultures of … Read more
Time management is simply the ability to plan how and where you spend your time throughout the work day. When you have a proper time management strategy in place, you will be more productive, enjoy your work more and have less stress. The process of implementing time management is really quite simple; it’s all about … Read more
News reports about data breaches are common occurrences. Even the companies that exist to keep our data safe are not immune. William Brewer answers the question about data breaches that you may be too shy to ask. … Read more
I’ve been fortunate enough to work from my home office for the past six years. My commute is about twelve steps, or, occasionally, a 45-minute drive to the nearest airport. It may not be for everyone, but I think that more employers should let their workers take advantage of an arrangement like this. Since I … Read more
Database administrators have enormous responsibility whether they manage one or hundreds of servers. Monica Rathbun tells us how she survived as the Lone DBA for 56 database servers for over a decade. While many DBAs work on teams instead of alone, she has great advice for all.… Read more
While software is among the most widely used products in human history, it also has one of the highest failure rates due to poor quality. In this article, Cynthia Dzikiti explains how quality should be part of all aspects of the software lifecycle. … Read more
Technology is constantly moving forward, but it is also helpful to understand how we arrived where we are today. Joe Celko reminisces about the history of database design and how it relates to the concept of ‘Degree of Duplication’ in this article.… Read more
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