I have often found it a little hard to keep up with PASS news, but after a little research, I found out that PASS offers many different sources of information about its activities, but it sometimes can be hard to find, as its news and information is dispersed over many different locations. If you want to keep up with what PASS is doing, then check out these links.
An Introduction to Data Compression in SQL Server 2008
This is an excerpt from my free eBook, Brad’s Sure Guide to SQL Server 2008.
There is one thing every DBA knows with certainty, and that is that databases grow with time. MDFs grow, backups grow, and it never stops. The more data we have, the more work SQL Server has to perform in order to deal with it all; whether it’s executing a query on a table with 10 million rows, or backing up a 5 TB database. Whether we like it or not, we are fighting a losing battle, and DBA’s can’t reverse the information explosion. Or can we?
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."
How Not to Write a Resume Cover Letter
Although I am not currently a hiring manager, I occasionally receive unsolicited resumes from people looking for work. I just received a resume attached to an e-mail with the following cover letter. I have masked some of the content so that it is not personally identifiable, but otherwise, I have not made any changes to spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar, or content.
Tsunami in Paradise
Not a tsunami, but high surf on the Kohala Coast, near where we live.
We received the first phone call at 4:35 AM Saturday morning. My wife answered the phone, and I figured that it was a wrong number or some friend or family calling from the mainland, forgetting about the time difference. I didn’t listen to the conversation, going quickly back to sleep. At 5:45 AM we received our second phone call. This time I put my pillow over my head to avoid hearing the phone conversation, but it didn’t work because this time around my wife shook me and called my name. I groggily uncovered my head from the pillow, and she said that this was the second phone call about a tsunami warning.
Should DBAs be Paid Overtime?
For the past several weeks, I have been running a poll on www.bradmcgehee.com, asking visitors if they thought that DBAs should be paid for off-hours work? With 259 votes, its very clear (see the graph below) that most DBAs think they should be paid overtime. Unfortunately, this is usually not the case.
Most DBAs work on a salary, and are paid the same no matter how many hours a week they work, whether it’s 40 hours, or 60 hours. In some cases, employers will offer compensation time (paid time off) to make up for working overtime, and some employers reward DBAs with annual bonuses, but this is more the exception than the rule.
Brad M McGehee 