A quick note to let you know that SQL Power Doc version 1.0.1.0 is now live. This release fixes issues reported since version 1.0, adds 11 new assessment checks, and improves error handling in multiple places. The nitty-gritty details of what's changed are available in the changelog.

You can… Read more

We all know that we should document our SQL Servers, right? RIGHT?

So let's say you had some time on your hands and decided that today's the day you're going to get it done. You might open SSMS, connect to a server in Object explorer, start clicking around, and copying… Read more

This blog post is part of T-SQL Tuesday, a monthly SQL blog party with a rotating host and common topic. This month marks #41, hosted by Bob Pusateri (@SQLBob), and the theme is how I came to love presenting.

Presenting Changed My Life

My story starts in early… Read more

This blog post is part of T-SQL Tuesday, a monthly SQL blog party with a rotating host and common topic. This month marks #39, hosted by Wayne Sheffield (@DBAWayne), and the theme is "Can You Shell What The PoSh Is Cooking?"

For many years I made learning… Read more

During the last few years I've worked extensively with transactional replication and have written a handful of scripts that have found a permanent home in my "useful scripts" toolbox. I've provided these scripts as downloads whenever I've presented about replication...but not everyone who has worked with replication has been to… Read more

This blog post is part of T-SQL Tuesday, a monthly SQL blog party with a rotating host and common topic. This month marks #36, hosted by Chris Yates (@YatesSQL), and the theme is "SQL Community". This post is not mine, but the handiwork of Andy Levy (@ALevyInROC Read more

I'm a candidate in the 2012 PASS Board of Directors elections and believe that an important part of what makes a good candidate is support from the community that they wish to represent. During the last 5 years I have connected with people in PASS community from chapter members to… Read more

I'm a candidate in the 2012 PASS Board of Directors elections and believe that an important part of what makes a good candidate is support from the community that they wish to represent. During the last 5 years I have connected with people in PASS community from chapter members to… Read more

I'm a candidate in the 2012 PASS Board of Directors elections and believe that an important part of what makes a good candidate is support from the community that they wish to represent. During the last 5 years I have connected with people in PASS community from chapter members to… Read more

I'm a candidate in the 2012 PASS Board of Directors elections and believe that an important part of what makes a good candidate is support from the community that they wish to represent. I've worked hard to connect with people in PASS community from chapter members to speakers and from… Read more

It's time once again to vote for the 3 candidates we feel will best represent the SQL Server community with a 2 year term on the PASS Board of Directors. Voting is open until Oct. 11 and if you were a PASS member prior to June 1, 2012 you… Read more

Split-Path is a cmdlet built into Windows PowerShell that returns a specific part of a path, e.g.  a parent directory or a filename. Here's a simple example of how it works:

PS C:\Users\Kendal> $Path = Get-Location
PS C:\Users\Kendal> Split-Path $Path
C:\Users

But try it on a Path that doesn't exist… Read more

During the January board meeting we were told that attendance at the 2011 Summit exceeded expectations and as a result there was more money in the budget than originally planned for. The outcome is that some money gets put into reserves for future use and collectively we have to figure… Read more

When I ran for the PASS Board of Directors last year I committed to providing a monthly update on PASS related activities. I wasn't elected, but in mid-January I was appointed to a one year position; long overdue, it's time to make good on that promise. This marks the first… Read more

Writing - be it a technical language like T-SQL, C#, PowerShell, etc. or blogging - is like exercise. When you do it often it becomes easier while at the same time you get better at doing it. Conversely, when you let it slip you get rusty and it gets harder… Read more

Results of the 2011 PASS Board of Directors election were officially announced this morning. I want to congratulate my friends Adam Jorgensen (Blog | Twitter), Denise McInerney (Blog | Twitter), and Rob Farley (Blog | Twitter) for each being elected to a 2 year… Read more

As I write this the final hours for the 2011 PASS Board of Directors elections are ticking away. Before the results are announced to the candidates and general public I wanted to share how I thought this year's election cycle went.

Random Thoughts

• Whereas each of the last two elections…

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Session evaluations from the 2011 PASS Summit have been entered, calculated, and officially released to speakers. While I didn't make it into the "best of" sessions (hey, room for improvement right?) I did improve over last year's scores.

Following a similar format from previous years, each question is rated… Read more

One of the requirements for the PASS Board of Directors application was a collection of recommendations - 3 from volunteers, 3 public, 1 personal, and 1 work-related. Every candidate's application is available for review (here's mine) with some minor amount of information redacted. One such section was for the… Read more

Voting for the 2011 PASS Board of Directors elections started earlier this week and if you were a PASS member in good standing as of June 1 you should have received an email with a link to cast your vote. If you've already voted - thank you! If you're undecided… Read more