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...

I worked with a team of folks brought together by Quest software, and we presented multiple sessions on SQL Server Performance Tuning. Here are the links I mentioned during those presentations: Blitz! SQL Server Takeovers (Brent) You're minding...

I use Extended Properties on databases and their objects all the time. They are a great way to include information about the object – I use them for versioning the database, detailing what a column is used for and so on. They can be a little tricky...

Quest Software is a great partner with Microsoft, and I’m honored to be able to present with Brent Ozar, Kevin Kline and Ari Weil at a day-long event that you can attend for free. We’re going to cover many aspects of performance tuning, from...

“Motivation will almost always beat mere talent.” - Norman Augustine

I was asked yesterday if it was “OK” to install SQL Server 2008 R2 on a system that already had SQL Server 2008, but without upgrading. In other words, they wanted to keep both versions of SQL Server running at the different levels. That’s supported;...

Not all data professionals get into the "front end" of the applications that hit their data. But most of us end up having to do a "dashboard" of information, even if it's a dashboard of our system information and performance tracking. I do this quite...

I was reading this post on J.D. Meier's Blog, which deals with the “cloud” (I really dislike that term) . You might wonder what that has to do with SQL Server, since it isn’t specifically about SQL Azure. I’ll come back to that in a moment. I play a little...

A “Gotcha” is a “got you” or problem when you try to do something. Last week I blogged that I would be installing the Best Practices Analyzer for SQL Server 2008 R2. And I did – but not without a little trouble. I ran into an error that said: There is...

“I have found that many issues in life can be placed into proper perspective by the application of a motorcycle and a sufficiently twisty road.” – Buck Woody

The SQL Server Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) came out for SQL Server 2008 R2 recently , and I’ve been asked what the difference is between the BPA and Policy Based Management (PBM) that was introduced in SQL Server 2008. While it’s true both of these...

I read a very interesting (and lengthy) article yesterday from Reuter’s ( you can find the whole thing here ) in which the author goes into some detail about people in the government that are self-described “data dogs”. I find it an interesting study...

HADR is an acronym that stands for H igh A vailability / D isaster R ecovery. Although you can think of these two concepts individually, I prefer to think of them on a continuum. If your system is spread out across multiple locations, for instance, it...

I’m just back from Missouri, and I stayed in the Mark Twain State Park for a week. I visited Florida, MO where Samuel Clemens was born, and Hannibal, MO, where he grew up. He’s a fount of knowledge and wit, and one of my favorite writers. I though it...

I was speaking with some folks yesterday about tuning a system, and they asked me about my methodology. As time goes on, I find myself doing things differently based on the situation, but there is a general approach I use that I'll explain here. This...