October 2, 2007 at 8:50 am
I've been a member for years and find the email subscription particularly useful. It's the first place I look for script examples and I've used and/or modified several of them for my job over the years. This is definitely the most useful SQL Server site in my opinion.
Have you ever imagined a world without hypothetical situations?
October 2, 2007 at 8:51 am
My agency can't afford to buy me a SQL Server magazine. Yet I'm still the only gal around who has to (really: GETS TO) create the databases which my applications rely on. So, while I'm not a DBA in the sense that I'm not classically trained as such and that databases are not my whole job, I still have to create and maintain professional databases.
The articles from SSC help me learn, a little bit each day, which is all I have time for. Between the articles and the comments which often help put an article in perspective, *SSC rocks*.
October 2, 2007 at 9:04 am
Pay for itself Steve... I think it went a little beyond that!!!!!!! :w00t::w00t:
BTW, when is the next hitfix release??? (, *SSC rocks*. )
October 2, 2007 at 9:08 am
Congratulation!
I've been a member since 2001. I used to read Steve's, Brian's, and Andy's articles
at swynk.com and jumped to SSC when I found out they'd started it. I look at other
SQL Server sites, but I don't get as much out of them as I do from this site. This
is always my first stop when I'm researching a SQL Server issue. I'll admit I've
become addicted to the forums and learn a ton from asking and answering questions.
I don't get to go to the PASS conference every year because my agency is careful
with the travel budget, but checking out SSC every day more than makes up for the
education and networking I would get at the conference.
Here's to Steve, Steve, and the other 499,999+ SSC members!
Greg
Greg
October 2, 2007 at 9:12 am
The "featured script" in the SQLServerCentral.com daily email is the most impactful resource I use. It's like mixing room service and code. I'm spoiled now, and I can't live without it.
October 2, 2007 at 9:15 am
I have been a member for years and I can't begin to count all the ways SSC has come through for me; perhaps more importantly, I can't remember an instance when I could NOT find what I needed here.
My only formal SQL training was the SQL Server 7 admin class, and even though it was a full week, it only scratched the surface of what one needs to learn in order to earn a living working with SQL Server - SSC is my SQL 'bible' and bests even BOL as a reference resource.
Between the briefcase feature and the daily emails, I am all over this site; many, many thanks from a dedicated fan.
October 2, 2007 at 9:30 am
I'm a developer turned defacto dba for an SMB going through the growing pains of creating an effective data warehouse. At the same time we're also in the middle of a migration from MSSQL 2000 to MSSQL 2005, a migration of all of our production databases to a hurricane-proof collocation, and an internal database/application performance triage. Needless to say, my plate is full...
With all of this going on, I don't always have time to monitor the impact of design decisions made by the various SQL developers who've migrated through the company over the past two years. When planning the migration of the data from our production data warehouse to the new collocation, I found that we had three separate working databases that had grown over 30 gig a piece. One was a "scratch" database that had accumulated production processes over time, the second was a production database that had a lot of scratch tables left over from sloppy developers, and the third was a "summary" reporting database which had some how grown larger than the OLTP database it was supposed to be summarizing.
I'll probably be cleaning up lingering garbage for a couple of months, but my primary goal was to identify the biggest space hogs and see about cleaning them up so I could move the databases over the comparatively narrow pipe to our collocation without resorting to scheduling multiple driving trips to carry physical copies of data that would only be purged later.
Almost as if on queue, the 8/29/07 edition of the newsletter appears in my inbox with an article on "A Technique for Determining the I/O Hog in your Database"; this article included a script to analyze and output the effective data size claimed and actually used by the tables in a database; With a little bit of tweaking, I used that script to audit and sort the information so that the biggest tables popped up at the top of my list. Surprise, surprise! I found that there was one poorly designed flat table in the summary reporting database which accounted for almost 90% of the space used. Armed with that information, I have been able to map out a strategy for refactoring the table into a proper star schema data mart.
Since then I read every issue of the newsletter for more tips, tricks, and insight.
October 2, 2007 at 9:32 am
SQL Server Central is one of my favorite web sites. I check it daily. The really neat thing is that you never know what you are going to find. I have had some times where I am working on an issue and "BAM", SQL Server Central has an article on just that issue!!! When that happened, I was sold!!
Keep up the outstanding work. It really helps (in ways you may never hear).
Highest regards,
Don Prentice
DBA
McLeod Software
October 2, 2007 at 9:40 am
Why I like SSC.
Earlier this year, I was blessed by a company who saw through the fact that I knew almost NOTHING about SQL Server. I had some experience with Sybase and could be called a Master DBA with Oracle, but almost no experience at all with Microsoft. Even given that, they chose to hire me to fill their sole DBA position. Not wanting to make them regret their decision, I had to get up to speed as soon as possible.
Thanks to some Google searches early on, I found this site. I joined and now visit it multiple times per day. I have always enjoyed helping when it was Oracle, but I was now on the other end as a poor Newbie. The QOD, the summary emails, and the GREAT contributors that are out there all make this the most helpful site I have ever come across. I am not going to mention the names of any of the contributors since I will no doubt leave some out, but there are many.
Now I have been working here for a little over 6 months. I think I have come a long way in that time. I will leave it to others to judge how far I have come (anyone can read my posts.) In any case, thanks for having this site. I really appreciate it.
I’ll also add one shameless plug; we also use Red Gate Software. The SQL Bundle Pro+ SQL Prompt. GREAT PRODUCTS!
October 2, 2007 at 9:40 am
It was just a starting of my career as a SQL Server DBA. My situation was like a boat in mid-ocean which is not getting a right direction to move forward and than comes SQLServerCentral as a Mariner's compass. I exactly remembered a day when I needed a quick help to understand and resolve a problem and I searched it on Google for solution. There comes SQLServerCentral with an in-depth, clear and to the point article. I got immediate solution which I successfully implemented and that brought a smile and satisfaction on my face. Than I visited some other articles, scripts and QA on SQLServerCentral and I felt it as a perfect place for SQL Professional and I become its member immediately.
Now it’s almost 3 years and visiting SQLServerCentral regularly has become a kind of part of my job. Apart from providing SQL knowledge, first time ever I could gather courage to send two scripts for publication on SQLServerCentral which got published and that helped me to boost my confidence for which I got lot of appreciation from team members and my manager.
Thank You SQLServerCentral, You are like a centre of gravity to which all SQL Professionals remain bound and attracted and that's what a half million mark suggests.
October 2, 2007 at 9:44 am
Well, one of the things I really like about the site is that it's free (unlike some other SQL Server sites out there). Of course, price by itself doesn't mean anything. The authors and the forums really keep me coming back. I know that I can usually post something in the forums and get at least an idea of what to do next, if not someone giving me their experiences. Of course, I've also found that I'm sometimes on the cutting edge of what I'm doing and have resolved my issue and been able to help others.
I've been helped greatly by the various articles and code snippets, both to get me started and to give me a new perspective on all things SQL Server.
What keeps me coming back? The newsletter to help me see what's going on and the content. I know I can always get some help here or sometimes just read up on a forum thread that may provide some entertainment.
Thanks for the hard work you've done and congratulations on the growth!
-Peter Schott
October 2, 2007 at 10:03 am
How SSC has helped me as a junior dba.
My job description is actually a systems analyst, but with a small IT staff supporting a very large manufacturing facility, I was asked early in '06 to assist with some of the database development and admin. No training was provided so I had to get it myself. I have a background in programming/network admin so it wasn't hard to apply some of that knowledge and learn to develop/admin on sql server. Through your site/daily emails full of great article links, I've been able to broaden my understanding of what it takes to be a junior dba. I enjoy the daily editorial and question of the day and I've put to use quite a few of the daily scripts you've shared. Currently, I have developed numerous sp's, reports, functions, triggers on production servers that help drive our business. In addition to reporting services, I've developed asp.net front-end web apps to enable us to see relevant views of our data and convenient/secure entry points to edit the data. Thank you for providing me with this awesome tool to advance my technical knowledge that has provided me job security. I look forward each morning I read my email to learn something new. I'm proud to be a member of your community, congrats on your success!
October 2, 2007 at 10:10 am
i like getting the daily email with 3-6 articles of interest and the editorial. i almost always read at least one and learning something new about querying, reporting, integrating, etc. i like the editorials because they're not just about sql and it gives some insight into IT in general and the personality of the author in particular.
thanks,
burke
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October 2, 2007 at 10:42 am
Wow, where do I begin. Well I guess I would start by saying Thank You!! = ) This site has helped me within in my career as I am sure it has others. The thing that I like the most is not only the wealth of knowledge but the accuracy of it. It has helped me by being the central place to keep me up to date and when I need some quick help everyone is very professional and respectful.
I come here daily to see what's next and read on other facets of the technology that our current environments do not allow us to really use here. I got my first computer when I was 5 and knew that is what I wanted to do. After taking Pascal in 7th and 8th grade I knew it was fun but wanted something beyond just programming. I found a book on databases and from that year 1994 on I studied to be a DBA. After my first 2 years of college at Syracuse I got my MCDBA at 20 years of age and through the years when there where projects that only experience could have taught me, I did not have any mentors or places to go until I found this site.
I think that this is a great community and with the challenges our positions face along with all of the misinformation that is out there, it is nice to have a place like this.
If I do win a prize an gb iPod Touch would be nice since the real boss "Wife" wont let me buy one.
October 2, 2007 at 11:02 am
What makes SSC so valuable to me is the community of other SQL Server professionals who can share their lessons learned, their insights, and their opinions. Whenever I need to solve a tricky issue, I know I'll find something here to help. This value can only increase as the number of community members increases.
I also love to read the editorials because they aren't always focused on some intricate technical detail, but deal with the real, practical side of working in IT...or just living in the larger real world community.
Keep up the good work.
Karen
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