WayneS (4/5/2010)

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CirquedeSQLeil (4/5/2010)

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How about we move on to a new topic?

I think the next viable topic would be to hash out how the review board should be handled.

So, how will we propose this particular requirement?

Well, to start off, there are several distinct areas to cover:

1. Who qualifies to be sit on the board?

2. Where will the board convene?

3. How often will the board convene?

4. What topics will be covered by the board?

5. How large should the board be?

I suggest that we actually tackle these individually. However, it might be best to just throw things out that can cover all of these for a little bit, to get the conversation going.

It has been mentioned that it would be good to have boards at events / conventions (i.e. PASS, SQL Saturday, etc.). I agree with this, but we need to ensure that there are enough different people there to run multiple boards so that we don't end up with one group of people where all they do is do boards... they probably want to see what all is going on at the event also. (Unless they are being paid to be there for the purpose of conducting a board...)

It has also been mentioned that the board should be local. And in cases where it becomes a hardship to attend a board, that provisions to conduct the board via web-cam be available. I like both of these suggestions, but recognize that in order to have quality people sit on the board, we may need for some of them to actually be there virtually via web-cam also.

My initial thought as to who should sit on the board was to use MVPs. However, I immediately shot this down... because MVP does NOT mean that they are knowledgeable of the product to that depth, but instead this is a recognition of their evangalism of the product. This isn't to say that we should exclude MVPs; but that depth of knowledge is more important. I'm certain that MVPs will be on this board, but that should not be the criteria. I think that every attempt should be made to get at least two board members physically at the board, with the board consisting of 4-5 persons.

Does someone that has earned this certification automatically qualify to sit on a board? After all, they have demonstrated a deeper knowledge of sql.

What should be covered?

Index structures.

Indexing.

Clustering.

Mirroring.

Log shipping.

Replication.

Performance tuning (how to read execution plans / statistics).

Server configuration.

Time to let other people in with their thoughts...