"If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in five years there'd be a shortage of sand." - Milton Friedman

I've been reading a fascinating article about the Large Hadron Collider, or LHC facility. It's a scientific research facility that houses a particle collider, which generates an incredible amount of data. Their original plan was to stream the data to...

In my last couple of posts I’ve mentioned a new world of work environment put forth by the Gartner Group’s Tom Austin, with a few additions from my own perceptions. I’ve mentioned “swarming” and that we deal with more unique...

We can't solve problems using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them. - Albert Einstein

In a previous post I mentioned that I’ve seen some Gartner Inc. studies, among others, that state that we’re in a “new world of work”. Since I’ve been working in technology for quite some time, and working around the world...

I’ve been reading some excerpts from Gartner, Inc. and information from others on the changes they are seeing in the workplace. It’s holding true where I work and in the workplaces of the other data professionals I work with. One of those...

Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. - Winston Churchill

I talk a lot about “giving back”. It’s a personal issue with me – I grew up quite poor, and from time to time someone would take notice that my mom and I didn’t have enough to eat, and they would help us out. I’ve never...

Many times I'm asked "does Microsoft ever ask the users what they want in SQL Server"? Yes, we do. A lot, actually. And you can be a part of that conversation. For starters, you can hit the http://connect.microsoft.com site, read up on how it works, and...

The future is here. It's just not widely distributed yet. - William Gibson

I had a discussion with a friend in Microsoft IT this morning, and as we were evaluating some query plans we ran into more clustered index woes. Remember that clustered indexes affect the base table itself (which is why there can be only one) and are...

I’ve written a series on creating an “Application Profile” for your organization, which allows you to create a strategic plan on everything from Business Continuity to Disaster Recovery , but many of us just don’t have the time...

I’ve used a lot of working methods for my desktop environment (not my servers) over the years, but they fall into three “buckets” of systems: 1. Big Workstation, VM Server, all tools, documentation, test environments local 2. Laptop...

"To win without risk is to triumph without glory." - Pierre Comeille

I'm looking over some data retention strategy documents for a company, I noticed that they want to keep some data "forever". Now, beyond the quibble of determining how to store something for eternity, how permanent can data really be? There are atomic...

This is a very simple script - but it's one I run each morning. It searches the Windows System Event Log for an error condition. You can replace "System" here with "Application" or "Security", or any of the other logs that are created on your Windows...

There was a question yesterday on Twitter (hashtag #sqlhelp) wondering how to let developers create stored procedures and then grant the rights to those procedures to other people. I believe that question got answered, but it also brought up the subject...

Note: If you’re reading this more than a few months away from July of 2010, do more research. Never trust an old blog as gospel on anything, including my entries. Always refer to Books Online for the authoritative answer, and if it’s wrong...

Today's quote is from Ovid, a Roman poet: "Video meliora proboque deteriora sequor" (I see and approve the better course, yet choose the worse.) Unfortunately all too true for me far too often.

As data professionals, we plan for things. We plan for growth, we have a disaster-recovery plan, we have a plan for consolidation. Those are all good things. But I've seen very few shops that have a good data retention plan . This is a plan that basically...

I had dinner in Seattle ( three words: bacon-wrapped-steak ) with the folks that put on "How Microsoft Does IT" (get it? Does "it", "IT"? OK, I'm easily amused) and I wanted to point out this fantastic resource to you - again. I rave about it all the...

You're probably familiar with a Wiki - a document set that anyone can edit. Did you know TechNet (Microsoft's source for technical professionals) has one? And did you know there are lots of folks keeping it up to date? Well, Rick Byham, one of my friends...

As most of you know, I tend to spend a little time on social networks like Twitter, FaceBook and LinkedIn. On one of those networks, Ken Simmons sent the following thought: “One hour sessions give you great ideas you can explore; full day sessions...

Never stand begging for that which you have the power to earn. Miguel de Cervantes

At some time, all of us need technical help with something. Whenever you do, make sure you try and frame the question not necessarily in terms of what you want to know, but what you're trying to do. Spending time on thinking through your questions will...