I have been involved in the SQL Server community since 2000, and during the past nine years I have seen hundreds of volunteers donate large amounts of their time to the community. For example:

• DBAs who answer tens of thousands of questions on SQL Server news groups and forums.
• DBAs…

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Ola Hallengren has recently updated his popular free SQL Server database maintenance scripts to support the newest point release of SQLBackup 6.3.

For those of you who are not familiar with Ola’s database maintenance scripts, they are designed to help you backup, optimize indexes, and perform integrity checks on… Read more

If you are interested in speaking at the PASS European Conference 2010, to be held in Neuss, Germany, April 21-23, 2010, the call for speakers is open at this link, and will close 1-1-2010.

If your not interested in speaking, but would like to attend the event, PASS… Read more

Virtually all successful DBAs I know put a lot of focus on education, and the best way to make it happen is to create your own professional development plan for the new year. This way, you will be better able to find time (and resources) to accomplish your learning goals. Read more

Not all DBAs have the opportunity to attend formal classroom training or attend conferences. While there are many SQL Server learning opportunities, one option you might want to consider is E-Learning from Microsoft. Official Microsoft E-Learning allows you to take many different SQL Server classes, all from your office or… Read more

This past week at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Convention Center in Las Vegas, November 11-12, SQLServerCentral.Com held its first SQL Server track at SQL Server Connections. The track’s three speakers presented nine different sessions to 373 attendees.

The SQLServerCentral.com track was one of four educational tracks held at… Read more

Although it’s buried on the SQLPASS website, the newest edition of the SQL Server Standard is now available here in the PDF format. The goal is to publish two articles a month on the website. The first article is from Thomas LaRock (aka SQLRockstar), and it is called “The Trouble… Read more

SQLServerCentral.com is sponsoring a track at SQL Server Connections this Wednesday and Thursday, November 11th and 12th. If you are attending this event, be sure to check out these sessions. Here they are:

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

8:00 AM – 9:15 AM—Joe Celko: Darling, Your SQL is Sooo… Read more

You have probably heard that the SQL Server 2008 R2 CTP is available, but you may not have given it a try yet because it is such a pain to download the huge install file, find a test server to run it on, and then install it. Under the best… Read more

The last full day of the 2009 PASS Community Summit was the first day I have had at the conference to attend sessions all day long. My day started with two keynotes. After the obligatory vendor keynote, Dr. David DeWitt presented a keynote on future trends in data and storage… Read more

The second day of the full PASS Summit was packed with sessions. If fact, it was hard to select from the 56 sessions that were available.

The day started with the Rushabh Mehta announcing the 2009 PASSion Awards, an annual award given by PASS to those volunteers that have given… Read more

Today was the first official day of the full (3-day) conference, with about 2,200 full conference attendees. Officially, PASS claims there are 2,998 registrations from 46 countries, but that number includes pre- and post-con attendees (who are also attending the full conference), plus Microsoft employees.

As you might expect, the… Read more

At the 2009 PASS Community Summit, I have gotten the opportunity to talk to many DBAs, and to find out about what it is like to work for their organizations. In my book, How to Become an Exceptional DBA, and in many of my presentations, I highly recommend DBAs… Read more

The 2010 PASS European Conference will be held in Neuss, Germany, April 21-23, 2010. Details are currently scarce on the event, but it will include one day of pre-conference sessions, and the full conference will include over 30 technical sessions over two days. The URL for the event is www.european-pass-conference.com Read more

Monday at the 2009 PASS Community Summit, for the most part, was reserved for pre-conference sessions, Microsoft Customer Insider sessions, and lots of meetings for the many people who put the Summit together. Monday evening, on the other hand, was devoted to networking and relaxing, with the PASS Welcome… Read more

Red Gate Software will be handing out a limited number of free paperback books at their booth at the 2009 PASS Community Summit. They include:

• Protecting SQL Server Data by John Magnabosco
• SQL Server Tacklebox by Rodney Landrum
• How to Become an Exceptional DBA by Brad M McGehee

If you… Read more

Registration for the 2009 PASS Community Summit started out strong with many attendees registering early the Sunday evening before the Summit’s commencement. What really surprised me was seeing so many familiar faces so soon. Lots of attendees were already catching up with each other and networking, even before the event… Read more