Yesterday, as I was pulling into my driveway, my front left tire gave. Thankfully, I was going really slow and I was right at my house. I did the requisite email to my boss that I was going to be in late and the check to see what time the tire… Read more

I've been dealing with a security product from a security company in recent days that breaks best practices with respect to the database configuration. This has reminded me of the list of issues I've seen over the past six months that have raised my ire. I'll rail mostly at products… Read more

 The Windows Server Performance Team has published part 2 of troubleshooting memory issues.

This one covers excessive paging and memory bottlenecks. I like how when they list the performance counters, they give some real meat to them. For instance, there is a calculation to determine whether or not pages/sec… Read more

Microsoft and Seagate have partnered togethered to put together an IT Heroes comic (daily even). The first one is here:

   Heroes Happen Hero Comic Day 1

It's pretty funny. The son asks dad what he does because the son has to do a presentation at school on what his dad… Read more

I know I'm not the first in the SQL Server community to post this, but Ken Henderson has passed away Sunday evening:

   Ken Henderson - We Will Always Remember You  (SQL Server Manageability Team blog)

I learned a lot from Ken Henderson's Guru's Guide books. They… Read more

The new version of Metasploit is out. Included is a GUI interface. It's a complete re-write in Ruby (note to self, learn more about Ruby) whereas the previous version were in Perl.

  The Metasploit Framework site

If you aren't familiar with Metasploit, here's what it does (taken verbatim from… Read more

First saw this off of Planet MySQL:

 New Vendor Neutral Database Certification (Dave's Stuff)

Following the link to the CIW site, there are six domains that are being tested:

1. Relational Database Fundamentals
2. Relational Database Design and Application
3. Normalization and Database Design
4. Structured Query Language (SQL)…

Read more

 Citrix is changing the name of its flagship product from Citrix Presentation Server (CPS) to XenApp. More from the blogosphere:

• Citrix Presentation Server has left the building, XenApp is the new name (Brian Madden)
  
• Citrix Presentation Server is now XenApp (MSTerminalServices.org)

I know the name change… Read more

Saw this first on Aaron Stebner's blog:

  .NET Framework 3.5 deployment guides have been published on MSDN

Guidance information for both developers and administrators are linked from Mr. Stebner's post. He also provides a list of his previous blog posts which contain information not found in the deployment… Read more

This one is geared towards IT management:

 IT Manager Webcast: Dynamic IT and Security (Part 4 of 5): Identity and Access (Level 200)

It looks like the idea behind the webcast series is to turn spending on security from just a cost center to something that improves business.

It… Read more

On the Microsoft Data Platform Insider blog, there is a post indicating new roadmap dates:

  Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Roadmap Clarification

It looks like SQL Server 2008 Release to Manufacturing (RTM) will occur in the 3rd quarter of 2008. Release candidate is said to come out in the… Read more

I first saw this on funsec security discussion list: 

  Dwarves zipped in suitcases steal from Swedes

The gist of the story is it appears gangs are putting dwarves in luggage on long-distance coaches. The dwarves are then able to roam the baggage holds and steal at will. 

What does… Read more

Here's a post from the Windows Server Performance Team:

   An Overview of Troubleshooting Memory Issues

The post discusses the following issues:

• Physical RAM shortage
• Memory leak situations
• Poor pagefile performance

There are performance counters given to be monitored, as well as a discussion as to what they mean and… Read more

 I saw this in my blog reader today:

You can pre-order the Kalen Delaney SQL Server Internals Course - Lesson 1 DVD right now!

The pre-order price is extremely affordable (as is the regular price):

 Pre-Order Price: $19.95 + Shipping
 Regular Price: $29.95 + Shipping

 Shipping:$2.98 US / $12.29… Read more

 Saw both of these on ComputerWorld:

   Oracle buying BEA

   Sun buying MySQL 

It'll be interesting to see how this changes the landscape.

  Read more

Back in 2000 I began writing for swynk.com in hopes of learning more about SQL Server and beginning to make a name for myself in the SQL Server community. That was a little over seven years ago. As SQLServerCentral.com came online, I transitioned to it, writing articles and contributing heavily… Read more

 One of the things I took from my overall performance last year is I need to get better at time management. While I feel I can get a lot done (and I've been told such by people I trust), I know I waste a lot of time. Too much time.… Read more