Defensive Database Programming
Inside this book, you will find dozens of practical, defensive programming techniques that will improve the quality of your T-SQL code and increase its resilience and robustness.
How to Become an Exceptional DBA, 2nd Edition
Brad McGehee provides a "career guide" for DBAs. It is intended both to help prospective DBAs find a "way in" to the profession, and to advise existing DBAs on how they can excel at their jobs, and so become Exceptional DBAs.
Physical Security
The physical security of our systems might be a bigger problem in the future as more and more hackers are finding ways into secure areas.
SQL Server Backup and Restore
A DBA's tasks, from day-to-day, are rarely constant; with one exception: the need to ensure each and every day that any database in their charge can be restored and recovered, in the event of error of disaster. In this book, you'll discover how to perform each of these backup and restore operations using SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), basic T-SQL scripts and Red Gate's SQL Backup tool.
SQL Server Concurrency: Locking, Blocking and Row Versioning
Your application can have impeachable indexes and queries, but they won't help you if you can't get to your data because another application has it locked. That's why every DBA and developer must understand SQL Server concurrency and how to troubleshoot excessive blocking or deadlocking. Kalen Delaney's book is your guide.
SQL Server Transaction Log Management by Tony Davis and Gail Shaw
When a SQL Server database is operating smoothly and performing well, there is no need to be particularly aware of the transaction log, beyond ensuring that every database has an appropriate backup regime and restore plan in place. When things go wrong, however, a DBA's reputation depends on a deeper understanding of the transaction log, both what it does, and how it works. An effective response to a crisis requires rapid decisions based on understanding its role in ensuring data integrity.
The Red Gate Guide to SQL Server Team-based Development
This book shows how to use of mixture of home-grown scripts, native SQL Server tools,
and tools from the Red Gate SQL Toolbelt, to successfully develop database applications in a team environment,
and make database development as similar as possible to "normal" development.
The Third Evolution
Steve Ballmer is retiring in the next year and Microsoft needs to find a new CEO. Steve Jones has a few thoughts.
10 Things I Hate About Interviewing With You Webinar
This is a PASS VC Webinar, taking place on August 28, 1PM EDT. Get interviewing tips from both sides of the desk. Based on Thomas LaRock's 10 Things blog posts, this presentation by both Thomas LaRock and Karen Lopez will give you valuable insight into the interviewing process and how to improve your chances of landing that next job.
Blogs
Moving On-Prem PostgreSQL to the Cloud: Picking the Right Path for Big Tables
Every PostgreSQL migration eventually hits the same fork in the road. The database is...
A Spread of Vacation
By Steve Jones
I’m off on vacation today. Which is a little weird as I just got...
How AgentDBA Identifies Backup Failures
By Arun Sirpal
Every DBA has a box like this. Sitting untouched for months. Nobody’s proud of...
Forums
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From SQL Server On-Premises to Claude Desktop: How I built a Full MCP Pipeline
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Independence Day 2026
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Question of the Day
Independence Day 2026
In the original Independence Day movie (1996), what type of computer did Jeff Goldblum use to connect to the alien mainframe? Take a guess, don't look it up or ask AI.
See possible answers