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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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

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...

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...

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'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...

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...

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

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

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