For me, one of the most rewarding things about blogging are the conversations we have together.

The opportunity to connect, share and grow with passionate people from all over the world is a great privilege. I’ve met so many wonderful people through our community, learning something from each of… Read more

Ensuring excellent performance for users and customers is a high priority for Database Administrators.

Today I want to share a free and easy way for you to get valuable insight into the performance of your Microsoft SQL Server instances.

There are so many features in the SQL Server product that… Read more

I recently encountered an interesting performance issue (due to implicit conversions) that I was able to solve using a lesser known technique and I wanted to share it with you here.

A customer environment was suddenly receiving high CPU alarms and I was called in to take a look.

Having… Read more

Every successful company has them. They’re the lifeblood of their organisations. Linchpins essential to getting things done and doing them extremely well. More commonly we know them as experts.

Experts are always in popular demand and they come in all manner of different flavours.

Of course they are just everyday… Read more

Continued investment in your professional development for career growth is hard. It’s also essential to being a successful Data Professional.

You’ve got a lot of competing priorities, we all do, it goes with the territory of being good at what you do. Managing the demands and responsibilities of your job… Read more

It’s SFTW Time, I hope you’ve had a great week!

Make sure you don’t miss this weekly round-up of SQL Server Links, community news and technology banter by Subscribing to the Blog Feed.

You can also Get posts delivered direct to your Inbox free via Email.

I don’t… Read more

Just a quick one today chaps, to show how you can restart the SQL Server Agent Service using PowerShell.

Whilst covering the Production Ops Shift in our shop over the weekend I discovered that Database Mail had not been configured for the SQL Server Agent on a number… Read more

I don’t! There’s no such thing as multitasking. At least, not how most of us think about it……

Being successful as a Data Professional is hard. When you’re good at what you do, you are in demand.

If you’re like most data professionals then there’s always something else that needs… Read more

It was early one morning and I was working on a production deployment to add a new Subscriber to an existing Publication. A routine task and one that I had performed many times before.

With SSMS open in front of me, I highlighted the relevant portion of my deployment script… Read more

Are you a Technical Expert or a Manager? You certainly cannot be both.

At least that’s the consensus that I frequently encounter. A belief that you can only be one or the other but definitely not both.

This is outdated thinking. It sounds to… Read more

The start of a new working year is often a time for self reflection. This is a great thing, it’s the first step toward you achieving growth, improvement and ultimately better results.

My fellow countrymen from Team GB know all about striving for growth and improvement to achieve outstanding results.… Read more

What better way to kick off a new year than with a look back at some of the top free SQL Server tools of 2012.

I know you all love talking about your favorite tools and maintenance scripts. Whether your pleasure is problem diagnosis, query tuning, index analysis or performance… Read more

This post is part of the T-SQL Tuesday Meme, this month hosted by Jason Brimhall. His chosen theme, to come up with a story where you “stood firm” and relate it to these words: resolve, resolution, or resolute. 

Regular readers will know and tell you that I’m resolute in… Read more

Short and sweet today, here’s what you enjoyed reading the most this year on the blog. No accounting for taste then.

1. How To Become a SQL Server DBA
2. My Guide To Passing Exam 70-432
3. Top 10 Junior DBA Interview Tips
4. The Database Administrators Primary Responsibility
5. Performing…

Read more

It’s holiday season which means it’s a time for you all to buy me gifts super busy time for Data Professionals!

Bosses are keen to take of advantage of the opportune downtime to get maintenance done and your colleagues are abandoning the office in droves. Leaving their… Read more

I am delighted to welcome to the blog someone who is without a doubt one of the biggest names in our SQL community.  A name that I am sure many, if not all of you will recognise, they’re one of the very first bloggers that I myself began to… Read more

It’s one of the most enjoyable things about being a consultant.

I’m not talking about my suspect dance moves here. I’m actually talking about a very powerful problem solving technique.

Customers don’t hire consultants to work on easy problems. They’ve got those covered already. My customers are some of the… Read more

It’s SFTW Time, I hope you’ve had a great week!

Make sure you don’t miss this weekly round-up of SQL Server Links, community news and technology banter by Subscribing to the Blog Feed. 

You can also receive posts via Email.

I don’t typically syndicate ( that’s share using… Read more

Have you ever looked back on a conversation where someone asked you “what do you do?” and felt disappointed with your reply? Same here.

So how do you explain to someone, who is not familiar with your field, what it is exactly that you do?

Just last week my girlfriend… Read more

I’m delighted to welcome a fellow Brit to the blog to share their story in today’s guest post. Many of you will have read and enjoyed their work before, being a prolific blogger of awesome content over on Simple-Talk. A renowned personality in the UK SQL community, he is… Read more