Welcome to StraightPath Solutions to attendees of the Alexander Technology webcast I participated in on 3/17/2010. Some of the links we talked about and some of the books I mentioned are below as well as some related posts. As always, please feel free to leave a comment here and I will get back to you in a public response or e-mail. You can also hit me on twitter. Thanks to Jason and team at Alexander Technology Group for setting this up! Check them out if you are looking for high quality candidates or a role to match your skills and interests.
Seacoast SQL Users Group – Portsmouth, NH
We are finalizing our logo selection and site design but our first meeting is on Tuesday 4/13/2010. It will be at the campus of Great Bay Community College right on Pease Tradeport in Portsmouth, NH. The doors will open at 6:00 with coffee and networking . Pizza and an introduction to the user group and what PASS is all about starts around 6:15. Our featured speaker, Grant Fritchey (SQL Server MVP, Author and Blogger) starts speaking at about 6:30/6:45.
Everything is free and there will be some giveaways from sponsors.
Set Yourself Apart And Play With The Tools
We talked about an eagerness to learn and grow being something that sets great candidates apart from good candidates. One way is to try out new technologies and new skills. Some ways you can do that:
- Free Labs online for SQL Server 2008 and 2008 R2 – http://test.sqlserverbeta.com/Home/Register/tabid/85/Default.aspx
- SQL Server Express Edition (free): http://www.microsoft.com/express/database/
- SQL Server Developer Edition – You have to buy it, but it’s about $50: http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/2008/en/us/how-to-buy.aspx
Find Local or Online Training
- SQL Saturday – www.sqlsaturday.com
- SQL Lunch (Online Webinars) www.sqllunch.com
- SQL PASS (Regional events, chapters and an annual conference with plenty of learning): www.sqlpass.org
Books
There are a lot of SQL Server books out there that are good. A few we talked about (Most of these books have 2005 versions as well if you want to read up on that but the 2008 is a good place to start, a lot of it still applies to 2005).
Belong In Every Library
- SQL Server MVP Deep Dives – A collection of great writings from over 50 SQL Server MVPs about Database Administration, Performance Tuning, Analysis Services, Integration Services and Reporting Services.
- Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2008: T-SQL Querying – This and the 2005 version are excellent resources for anyone who wants to write SQL code. I think it should be required reading for all developers. I think all companies should buy it for all developers 🙂 Really hammers home the simple logic in T-SQL and helps you think in set based ways.
Also Great Books
- Professional Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Integration Services (Wrox Programmer to Programmer)
- SQL Server 2008 Query Performance Tuning Distilled (Expert’s Voice in SQL Server)
- The Data Warehouse Toolkit: The Complete Guide to Dimensional Modeling (Second Edition)
- The Data Warehouse Lifecycle Toolkit
- The MicrosoftData Warehouse Toolkit: With SQL Server2005 and the MicrosoftBusiness Intelligence Toolset
- Professional SQL Server 2008 Internals and Troubleshooting
Haven’t Read But Knowing Who The Author Is, Should be a good resource for new DBAs
Some posts here that you might find interesting (Being a Better DBA Perspective)
- Tips for SQL Server DBAs Starting Out – This post was the origin of the presentation topic. I talk about the itties of database administration and a potential order of priority.
- Why I think you focus too much on your backups – As discussed in the presentation, the focus should be on restores. May seem like semantics, but the focus on restore means you are thinking of more questions.
- How Do You Install SQL Server? – The first of a 3 part series where we discuss some tips for installing SQL Server and planning for a successful implementation.
- SQL Server Benchmarking Tips – I introduced the Performance Analysis For Logs tool in this presentation, this post talks about that tool.
- Checklists, Recipes and Algorithms – As DBAs we can take lessons from Pilots, Chefs and Doctors and tools they use in their careers.
- Paranoid Control Freak? You Might Make a Good DBA – Kidding, but some aspects of these attitudes can help a DBA out.
- A Lesson On The Right Attitude – From a trip to the dump… The right attitude at work can make a world of difference.
- Find All SQL Server Instances On Your Network – I talk about using the Microsoft Assessment and Planning toolkit to locate all of your SQL Server instances. This post describes my discovery and use of this great (and free) tool.
Also check out my blogroll. Lots of good content on a variety of topics.