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 loves the architecture talks about the cloud - and he's enjoying building a Managed SQL Server DBA practice that is growing while maintaining values and culture. 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, and father to four great children and lives in the middle of nowhere NH.

New Video: PASS Summit Networking with Tim Mitchell

February 7, 2020September 22, 2017 by Mike Walsh

What are you doing at the end of October this year? Nothing?! It’s not too late to sign up to go to the biggest annual SQL Server conference there is – the PASS Summit. It’s, as it often is, in Seattle this year. I’ll be speaking there – giving a talk on Azure SQL Databases. … Read more

The Parable of the “Turd in the Punch Bowl”

February 7, 2020August 23, 2017 by Mike Walsh

Lessons for life, technologists, career, and consultants from a punch bowl problem…(mostly because I just feel this title requires a subtitle and that won’t fit in the title block). I’ve heard it said There are two kinds of people out there. Those who group people into categories and those who don’t. (I’ve also heard it … Read more

Important Lesson during a Job Interview – #TSQL2SDay

February 7, 2020August 8, 2017 by Mike Walsh

This month, Kendra Little his hosting T-SQL Tuesday. The monthly blog carnival among SQL Server, Microsoft Data Platform, Data People. It’s been around for quite some time. I hosted the 4th T-SQL Tuesday back in 2010 or 2009 about Storage and IO. So cool to see it going this long. And a topic that I … Read more

“Ex-Admin Deletes All Customer Data and Wipes Servers”

February 7, 2020June 10, 2017 by Mike Walsh

My headline is borrowed from a headline on bleepingcomputer.com. This just happened to a Dutch hosting provider in 2017. You can read the article. Actually, you must read the article. If you didn’t here’s the basic gist: An administrator quits or was fired or whatever. He or she didn’t get their access terminated right away. He … Read more

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