TechEd is finally over, and I have been overwhelmed by attending 20 different sessions over the last four days. As with any conference I attend, my head is swimming with a lot of new information that I hope I can retain over the long term.
Category Archives: Opinion
TechEd Impressions: Day Three
Today I attended four regular sessions, plus a special lunch session for Microsoft MVPs. The sessions I attended varied a lot in quality, although there were two sessions that stood out. Both of these sessions were by the same speaker, Sunil Agarwal, a Program Manager in the Microsoft SQL Server Storage Engine Group. His first session was on “Strategies to Get Maximum Concurrency for Your Workload in Microsoft SQL Server” and his second was on “Microsoft SQL Server Data Compression: Experience and Changes”.
Impressions of My First Day at TechEd 2010
TechEd 2010 started today, June 7, and will run through Thursday, June 10, 2010. In the past TechEd has run for five days (or ten days as an experiment a few years ago). At only four days this year, this TechEd is the shortest of the four TechEd events I have attended. Apparently reducing the event by one day saves Microsoft a lot of money, even though it is paid for by those who attend, and the rates to attend didn’t go down.
Are You a Full-Time or Part-Time DBA?
I’m always trying to find out about the DBAs who visit my blog, as it helps me to better understand them, which helps me to better target the blog posts I write. While I use Google Analytics to help me find out more about my audience (such as how often they visit or what countries they are from), I also run regular polls to find out even more information.
In my latest poll, I wanted to find out how many of my blogs visitors were part-time or full-time DBAs (administrators or developers). I wasn’t really sure what to expect, and in fact, I am a little surprised that about 80% of my blog’s visitors consider themselves full-time DBAs. The reason I am surprised is because when I make presentations at user groups or at free training events, generally less than half of the attendees are full-time DBAs. On the other hand, when I speak at paid conferences, such as PASS or SQL Server Connections, the majority of attendees are full-time DBAs, although they rarely exceed 75% of the audience.
Taking Advantage of SQL Server Tools
Reprinted from my editorial in Database Weekly.
An important question I think you should be asking yourself, when it comes to your professional development, is "Are You Taking Full Advantage of the SQL Server Tools Available to You?" I think it’s important enough that, when I make presentations at conferences or user groups, I often add this quote to one of my slides:
"One of the differences between an average DBA and an exceptional DBA is that the exceptional DBA thoroughly understands how to use the available tools to their fullest potential."
Questions About SQL Server Backups
SQL Server backups are a “funny” topic to talk about. If you are talking with experienced DBAs, the topic of backups rarely surfaces, as this is a fundamental skill most DBAs learn early in their career. On the other hand, there are thousands of part-time, accidental DBAs who are tasked with making backups, and they need a lot of help in learning these basics.
Brad M McGehee 