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!

5 Things SQL Server Should DROP

May 15, 2010May 11, 2010 by Mike Walsh

When I picture Paul Randal, I picture a guy who likes to run up to a bees nest at a crowded picnic and give it a good couple whacks. You know what I mean, it’s that laughing picture in his twitter profile. Or maybe it’s the devil’s advocate style he has. Maybe it’s his controversial … Read more

Speaking at SNESSUG Wednesday!

May 11, 2010 by Mike Walsh

Back in April, I invited Grant Fritchey to be our inaugural speaker to the Seacoast SQL Server User Group. My guess is he was frustrated with the traffic and time to drive from his office in Rhode Island up to New Hampshire in rush hour traffic. Why? Because shortly after his time speaking with us, … Read more

Check Out These Tools – SQL University

May 13, 2010May 7, 2010 by Mike Walsh

Some neat (and free) tools to help you out with SQL Server. This is my second contribution to the SQL University “Tools of The Trade” week series. In part one we had a quick chat about why to look at using various tools to help you out working with SQL Server. In this post, we’ll … Read more

Get You Some Tools – SQL University Spring 2010

May 13, 2010May 6, 2010 by Mike Walsh

I don’t know about you, but I’m too busy to do it all. I use tools to help me do my job as a DBA. Let’s talk about some of the tools or types of tools that might help you do your job. This is Week 4 of the Spring 2010 semester of SQL University … Read more

Made To Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die – A Review

April 29, 2010 by Mike Walsh

Having trouble getting your ideas accepted? I read a book that can help you. You can read the review or just go out and get the book, I recommend it. “Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die.” There is a link ‘below the fold.’ Yes, some readers got what they needed from … Read more

What Service Pack Are Your Client Tools At?

July 26, 2010April 27, 2010 by Mike Walsh

So you have a plan to apply service packs to your SQL instances. You test them out and try to keep a regular schedule to ensure they are up to date. That is great. What About SQL Server Management Studio? What about the copy of SSMS that a developer is using to create scripts? This … Read more

Day Job Lessons From The Garden

May 13, 2010April 23, 2010 by Mike Walsh

It’s spring and in addition to our usual vegetable garden and some existing fruit crops, we are putting in a row of 15 blueberry bushes. Well the past two nights I’ve been outside for 3-4 hours digging a trench (about 40′ long by 2.5′ wide and 1′ deep. right, I said feet.) by hand and … Read more