Recall back in January 2011 that I profiled the cool tool, FineBuild for SQL Server, which helps you configure and quickly deploy installations of SQL Server.  Not only does FineBuild help you install a new SQL Server using the settings and configuration options you desire, it goes a few… Read more

Looking back on 2011, I’m surprised by two occurances. First, I got a lot of work done, despite myself. My biggest obstacles to high-performance are all self-derived; procrastination, disorganization, and plain ol’ laziness.  Second, I’m surprised I survived my personal travails. I’ve had my fill of frowns this year, from… Read more

I do a lot of public speaking over the course of the year at many different conferences and events.  I always try to carve out time during and after the presentation to take questions from the audience.  While many of these questions are de riguer, I often get questions that… Read more

One of the things that drives me crazy as I’m getting older is that my brain is losing the capacity to differentiate version numbers.  As I speak travel around speaking with customers and at conferences, I find my self saying things like “I can’t recall if this problem was… Read more

I hate to admit it, but I’m a hoarder.  Yes, like those insane people on the A&E TV show.  Only my hoarding is all virtual.  For example, take the image above.  That’s just a tiny part of my Google Reader home page.  That’s a tiny part of my Google… Read more

When you’re developing new Transact-SQL code or modifying some existing code, do you just launch directly into programming?

I know that I did just that, for years.  It wasn’t until I was trying to performance tune some existing code that I realized I hadn’t actually taken caching of data and… Read more

Data files containing comma separated values, or CSV, are some of the most common data formats used for data representation and storage outside the database.  When it comes to loading CSV data into the database, many options exist, however, few make it as simple as CSVexpress, powered by expressor software.… Read more

 I’d recently experienced a situation where I was getting repeated login failures to a SQL Server where I knew that I had the correct user name and password.  Each time, I’d get error 18456 in response.

“Login failed for user ‘<user_name>’. (Microsoft SQL Server, Error: 18456)”.

The challenge when troubleshooting… Read more

First things first, Wayne Snyder is rolling off the board of directors for PASS this year.  We’d worked together, shoulder to shoulder along with Joe Webb (blog | @joewebb) and other outstanding members of the SQL Server community, for many years of on the PASS board of… Read more

I’ve already had a few good days in Seattle/Redmond this week, meeting with the Microsoft SQL Server program teams and with other Microsoft SQL Server MVPs.  I was as excited as a squeeling Justin Beiber fangirl waiting for his new video, wishing I could tell you all of the cool… Read more

The last quarter of the year is usually my busiest due to the fantastic PASS Summit and SQLBits events.  The fall looks a little different … BECAUSE IT WILL BE EVEN BUSIER!  Here’s a rundown of where I’ll be this fall through mid-October:

BASTA! SQLCON.NET

September 26 to 29;…

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A bit of background:  Those aren’t grand daughters of the Clampetts in the picture at right.  Those are my three daughters and three stepdaughters, all of whom I want to inherit the world – as little or as much as they want to take hold of.  (I already talked a… Read more

I’ve had enough time off from traveling after my surgery to finally travel again.  First on the circuit , set for August 27th, is Omaha, Nebraska and SQL Saturday #91.  As a former Crimson Tide alum, I was stoked about going to the University of Nebraska, our once and… Read more

In last month’s column, “2012 Might Really Be the End of the World as We Know It,” I described a number of major developments in the IT industry that are likely to disrupt the life of database professionals everywhere.  I categorize those four disruptors – virtualization, cloud computing, solid state… Read more

Back when my day-to-day duties included database administration work and enterprise architecture, I became rather obsessed with the idea of operational excellence.  I read everything I could on the topic.  I made a list of favorites, which became somewhat shabby over time, as I dog-eared important pages and scribbled… Read more

A little over a month ago, I wrote an article (Is There Such a Thing as Easy ETL) about expressor software and their desktop ETL application, expressor Studio.  I wrote about how it seemed much easier than the native ETL tools in SQL Server when I was reading… Read more

EPIC FAIL!  This was supposed to go out last week.  But I didn’t schedule it properly, so I’d just like to point out that there are lots of other great webcasts to watch at the Pragmatic Works webcast URL below.  Plus, my session will be available via streaming by the… Read more

I read too much, and that, my friends, is an entirely separate topic for a blog post. But I thought I’d share with you a little more about what I’m reading because sometimes, if I’m lucky, it might be something you’d enjoy too.

So I’m going to start sharing what… Read more

Remote Desktop Services Component Architecture Poster

Grab your own poster! A visual guide to key Remote Desktop Services technologies in Windows Server 2008R2

Virtually Free

Get the latest update rollup package for the Hyper-V role in Windows Server 2008 R2 and be sure to bookmark the Windows Virtualization Team… Read more

I have to confess that I’m incredibly excited about BigData.  I haven’t been this excited about new innovations in IT since relational databases first appeared on the scene early in my career.  But what is BigData?

Back in those days, I can still feel the echos of adrenaline when I… Read more