
“Basic” Availability Groups – Some Rumors Persist
February 19, 2019
I was having a twitter interaction the other day. Since High Availability and Disaster Recovery topics are on my mind as I just wrapped up delivering an online class on SQL Server HA/DR last week and am preparing for my next free webinar series talking about HA/DR, that twitter thread piqued my interest. The short … Read more

DBAs Beware: “Hacker destroys VFEmail service, wipes backups”
February 18, 2019
My headline is borrowed from a headline on Malwarebytes blog post. In fact, many headlines like it are across the internet right now. This post is going to sound fairly similar to an earlier post I published, “Ex-Admin Deletes All Customer Data and Wipes Servers“. It’s from June of 2017, about a hosting provider who … Read more

Why Upgrade SQL Server? SQL Server Upgrade Webinar Episode 1
February 16, 2019
This article is part of our SQL Server Upgrades Made Easy series: Why Upgrade? Before You Upgrade During Your Upgrade After Your Upgrade Recap Chat Upgrading SQL Server – Week 1 “Why, Why, Why!” This is the first video from the series from two weeks ago. This is an introduction to the SQL Server upgrade … Read more

Tara’s favorite SQL Server 2012+ Feature
February 16, 2019
If you’re still on SQL Server 2008/2008 R2, you’re missing out on some great features. It’s no secret that Availability Groups are my favorite feature since SQL Server 2012. Back in the day, I was supporting complex environments with aggressive SLAs. On one particular system, I had Failover Clustering for HA, Asynchronous Database Mirroring for … Read more

What do YOU want to learn about?
February 13, 2019
I just finished the first week of our SQL Server Upgrade webinar series webinars. It went well. In fact – I’m pumped up! Because the interactions were significant, the feedback was good, and I think my primary goal is going to be reached – help people out. It’s funny – just doing that 35/40 minutes of … Read more
SQL Server 2008 is Dead…
February 4, 2019
… Long live that other SQL Server version you should have upgraded from long ago … It’s January of 2019. 2019 and I’m writing a post reminding you that you it is time to upgrade from SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2008 R2!! Eleven years later.. That’s a testament to the amazing product that SQL … Read more

Hey DBAs: Be Prepared
January 24, 2019
I’m a big fan of bringing ideas and concept in from other industries to the world of technologists, particularly those of us in professions operating in and around data. I’ve written posts before about lessons from aviation, a string of failures at the Secret Service, some corollaries to farming or our gardens at home, some experiences … Read more
Welcome Tara Kizer!
January 14, 2019
So you probably saw the announcement from our friend Brent Ozar last week. He’s going to be focusing on his really cool training and tools and a bit less on consulting. When that announcement came, it didn’t take very long for a couple people on the team to nudge me about it. I was sort … Read more
PASS Prayers – Year 10!
November 1, 2018
Quick note: From time to time I blog about the Bible here. I try to keep those posts on my personal blog – Open Mike (it’s been too long since I’ve posted over there!!)– but sometimes it makes sense for a quick cross-post over here. I always tag those posts with the Bible category and you are … Read more

Straight Path Solutions is Announcing the Arrival of Mike Clark
September 11, 2018
Back in June, I wrote a blog post called “We’re Growing Again!”. I thought I would likely be writing another one maybe by the end of Q4 this year, possibly in Q1. After all, three years ago it was just me. Two years ago, it was just Bruce and me at the company. Without giving … Read more