Blogs

3 Things I Wish I Learned Earlier as a SQL Server DBA

3 Things I Wish I Learned Earlier as a SQL Server DBA

By Kendra Little on January 14, 2016 • 3 min read

Hindsight is everything. I was lucky to be trained by a great team of DBAs back when I first started with SQL Server. But it’s hard to know exactly what you really need to know, particularly as new tools are becoming available.

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Useful Whitepapers for Planning SQL Server Migrations

Useful Whitepapers for Planning SQL Server Migrations

on January 12, 2016 • 2 min read

Planning to move to new hardware for your SQL Server? Techniques like log shipping and database mirroring can be incredibly useful to make the change fast and painless– but you’ve got to pick the right techniques for your environment ahead of time, and know how to do a few things that aren’t in the GUI.

Here are some of my favorite whitepapers and resources to get you going.

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New Class! SQL Server Index Formulas: Problems and Solutions for $99 in Huntington Beach, California

New Class! SQL Server Index Formulas: Problems and Solutions for $99 in Huntington Beach, California

on January 7, 2016 • 1 min read

Category: indexing

My new one day training session, “SQL Server Index Formulas: Problems and Solutions”, is now available for just $99!

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Join me at SQLBits for a Day of Index Design and Tuning

Join me at SQLBits for a Day of Index Design and Tuning

on December 30, 2015 • 2 min read

Wednesday, May 4, 2016 Liverpool Exhibition Centre One day session* *£349 until April 9, 2016. £399 thereafter – This training day has sold out!

I will be presenting this session in a Training Day at the SQLBits conference in Liverpool, UK. Reserve your seat for this one day session here.

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Why Teaching Makes You a Better DBA and Performance Tuner

Why Teaching Makes You a Better DBA and Performance Tuner

on December 29, 2015 • 2 min read

I’ve known for a long time now that teaching makes me a better database administrator and performance tuner. But I’ve had a hard time figuring out why.

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3 Things Every Junior SQL Server DBA Must Know

3 Things Every Junior SQL Server DBA Must Know

By Kendra Little on December 23, 2015 • 4 min read

Sometimes we learn things in the wrong order. Or skip a step. If you’re just starting out as a SQL Server DBA, here are three questions that you need to be able to answer at any given time. If you aren’t 100% sure that you can handle these questions at 3 AM when you’ve had a few drinks, it’s time to revisit them.

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How to Write a  Presentation Abstract for a Tech Conference

How to Write a Presentation Abstract for a Tech Conference

on December 22, 2015 • 4 min read

I Hate Writing Abstracts.

I love writing presentations. I like outlining them, I like writing the demos, putting the slides together. I even like reconsidering everything, backing up, scrapping it, and starting from a new approach!

But I hate writing abstracts. It’s just tough to capture your vision in the format a conference organizer wants. And often, if I’m writing the abstract before the presentation is done, I’m wary about possibly describing something that I’ll want to change later.

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