Mike Walsh

Mike loves mentoring clients on the right Systems or High Availability architectures because he enjoys those lightbulb moments and loves watching the right design and setup come together for a client. He started Straight Path in 2010 when he decided that after over a decade working with SQL Server in various roles, it was time to try and take his experience, passion, and knowledge to help clients of all shapes and sizes. Mike is a husband, father to four great children, and a Christian. He’s a volunteer Firefighter and EMT in his small town in New Hampshire, and when he isn’t playing with his family, solving SQL Server issues, or talking shop, it seems like he has plenty to do with his family running a small farm in NH raising Beef Cattle, Chickens, Pigs, Sheep, Goats, Honeybees and who knows what other animals have been added!

Hey Techies – Get Out of Debt

February 7, 2020June 2, 2017 by Mike Walsh

How do you eat an elephant? I’ll tell you at the end if you don’t already know. In the meantime let’s talk about another elephant – the one in the room – you are in debt. In some way, you’re probably in debt right now. Maybe you owe to student loan or credit card companies. … Read more

Don’t be too Afraid to Grow Your Career

February 7, 2020May 26, 2017 by Mike Walsh

What are you afraid of trying? Most people who are great at something were afraid before they started, too. Sure everyone does different things with their fears. And some people just don’t have that fear, but I bet most do. In this quick video, I talk about a few things I used to be afraid … Read more

You are Free: Career Lessons from a farm fence

October 10, 2023May 11, 2017 by Mike Walsh

When I put Database technology down, I run a 20-acre farm with my family. I love it. It’s fun watching the kids learn from the experience. Learning my life lessons and illustrations from the chores and animals is fun. A farm scare today made me think of you. There is a lesson for us all … Read more

SQL Server Security Basics

March 5, 2022February 15, 2017 by Mike Walsh

This isn’t the complete guide to securing a SQL Server, but these are some of the more common things I bump into and wish I wouldn’t when it comes to SQL Server Security. Read these practices, understand them by searching the web or come here and ask me for questions or advice. If it means … Read more

SQL Server Max Memory Best Practices

March 5, 2022February 8, 2017 by Mike Walsh

In this Straight Up SQL Server Tips series, we’re going back to basics, focusing in on SQL Server memory, specifically talking about setting SQL Server MAX memory. Many of these are findings in our SQL Server Health Checks or things I bump into on the forums and Q&A sites when I’m out answering questions. Today … Read more

How To Manage The SQL Server Transaction Log File

February 7, 2020February 4, 2017 by Mike Walsh

“Help! My SQL Server transaction log file has run out of space on my SQL Server!”, “Why is my SQL Server Log file so big?”, “How do I shrink my SQL LDF?” – I hear these questions all the time. I’ve been blogging since 2009 and way back then I wrote some posts about shrinking, … Read more

DevOps: Don’t Forget The Ops

February 7, 2020February 1, 2017 by Mike Walsh

I want to commend the team at GitLab.com – they had an issue that took down a key database and everything else with it effectively and when they came back, there was data not coming back. This happens. This happens in “Traditional” 1.0 IT companies (ask my usual airline, Delta, they’ll tell you two stories … Read more