SQL Server Sprawl
Includes a link to 2 free chapters from SQL Server 2008 Administration in Action. Also has a link to another option of scanning your network for SQL Servers using SQL Ping.

SSMS Projects and Solutions
Buck Woody talks about some options for using the Project features in SSMS.

Auditing your Database Server
Colin Stasiuk covers auditing options in SQL Server 2008 as well as previous options.

Microsoft SQL Server Team Blogs
Kevin Kline covers the topics of Blogs from the Microsoft SQL Server Team and also provides some useful links to other resources.

SQL Server Consolidation Tips
Thomas LaRock writes his third tip about SQL Server Consolidation tips. Part 1 and Part 2 are also linked.

SSIS Configuration Files
Jamie Thomson covers a tip on editing the .dtsConfig file. I prefer to use a table to store my configurations and I highly recommend looking at this method.

Document your Environment
Jonathan Kehayias covers the importance of documentation. I would love to see more examples of this on the blogs as well.

I’m Certified, Now What?
Steve Jones covers the topic of what comes after becoming certified.

Elegance of Database Design
Andy Leonard continues to cover the topic of Database Design.

Q&A with Louis Davidson and Paul Nielsen on Database Design
Schema design is important, and these two SQL Server MVPs discuss the need for Normalization.

Free eBook from Quest Software
Marlon Ribunal finds a great eBook offering from Quest Software.

From the site:
24 Hours of PASS is a series of live one-hour webcasts broadcast over a 24-hour period that focus on a host of SQL Server topics. The 24 one-hour presentations will begin at 00:00 GMT (UTC) on September 2, 2009

Be sure to take into account the whole GMT issue. Since I’m on Central Standard Time it would start for me at 7:00 pm on September 1. I haven’t seen whether or not they will archive the sessions but I hope they do.

Session 01 (Dev) – Start time: 00:00 GMT
10 Big Ideas in Database Design
Presenters: Louis Davidson and Paul Nielsen

Session 02 (DBA) – Start time: 01:00 GMT
Using PowerShell to Get the Most Out of SQL Server
Presenter: Allen White

Session 03 (PD) – Start time: 02:00 GMT
Team Management Fundamentals
Presenter: Kevin Kline

Session 04 (BI) – Start time 03:00 GMT
Delivering Good Performance Consistently with SSIS
Presenter: John Welch

Session 05 (DBA) – Start time 04:00 GMT
Using SQLdiag to Troubleshoot SQL Server Problems
Presenter: Brad McGehee

Session 06 (DBA) – Start time 05:00 GMT
The SQL Server 2008 Vanishing Act
Presenter:  Peter Ward

Session 07 (BI) – Start time 06:00 GMT
Text Mining
Presenter: Dejan Sarka

Session 08 (Dev) – Start time 07:00 GMT
Tips and Tricks for Writing SET Based Queries
Presenter: Jacob Sebastian

Session 09 (DBA) – Start time 08:00 GMT
Mirrored Databases
Presenter: Thomas Grohser

Session 10 (Dev) – Start time 09:00 GMT
Working with Spatial Data in SQL Server 2008
Presenter: Greg Low

Session 11 (DBA) – Start time 10:00 GMT
Effective Indexing
Presenter: Gail Shaw

Session 12 (BI) – Start time 11:00 GMT
Reporting Services Inside Out: The Things You Should Know
Presenter: Simon Sabin

Session 13 (DBA) – Start time 12:00 GMT
Query Performance Tuning 101
Presenter: Grant Fritchey

Session 14 (BI) – Start time 13:00 GMT
Reporting from Analysis Services Cubes Using Excel 2007
Presenter: Peter Myers

Session 15 (BI) – Start time 14:00 GMT
Data Warehousing: Laying the Foundation to Success
Presenter: Erik Veerman

Session 16 (DBA) – Start time 15:00 GMT
Database Compatibility Settings: What They Really Do… and Don’t Do
Presenter: Don Vilen

Session 17 (PD) – Start time 16:00 GMT
Building a Better Blog
Presenter: Steve Jones

Session 18 (Dev) – Start time 17:00 GMT
Building Flexible Data Services for the Web Using the ADO .NET Data Services Framework
Presenter: Artemakis Artemiou

Session 19 (Dev) – Start time 18:00 GMT
SQLCLR or T-SQL? A Brief Survey of Performance Options
Presenter: Adam Machanic

Session 20 (BI) – Start time 19:00 GMT
Loading a Data Warehouse in SSIS
Presenter: Brian Knight

Session 21 (DBA) – Start time 20:00 GMT
What’s Simple about Simple Recovery Model
Presenter: Kalen Delaney

Session 22 (Dev) – Start time 21:00 GMT
What’s New, Harder, and Easier in SQL Server 2008 Security
Presenter: Don Kiely

Session 23 (DBA) – Start time 22:00 GMT
Analyzing File and Wait Statistics
Presenter: Andrew Kelly

Session 24 (BI): Start time 23:00 GMT
Embed Reporting Services into Your Applications
Presenter: Jessica Moss

Props to Brent Ozar for sending me this link for a comparison of Database tools. If nothing else it’s a good reference.

I’m really going to have to check into this one.  Aaron Alton has a neat idea that might help you retain all that SQL Syntax while you’re studying. All I have is a treadmill so that should be interesting.

In the past few months, we’ve gradually been implementing a new SAN solution from Dell that uses iSCSI. We are kind of learning as we go and there are always bumps in the road. I’d noticed we had some I/O issues on our main production SQL Server but nothing seemed to add up and I couldn’t find where the problem could be outside of tuning indexes or putting data files on a different drive. We are on SQL Server 2000 but we are moving towards 2005 and I’m sure that might have helped me troubleshoot the problem. I came across something the other day about Jumbo packets. As I read more and figured out where to check things I figured out I might have been onto something. Brent Ozar passed me this link that helps check on the packet size. I looked at the iSCSI connection(NIC card –> Configure –> Advanced) and noticed that the Jumbo Mtu was set to 1500. I asked more questions of our admin and everything else along the pipe had been raised to 9000, but somehow the card got missed. Once I set this to 9000 I saw that I had far fewer I/O problems. They are still there due to poor indexes and disk contention but they are better than they were. Just thought I’d pass this along in case anyone else had a similar issue with iSCSI.

My first article has hit the interweb @ sqlservercentral.com.  I hope it can help some folks.

Once I passed the 70-431 I think it gave me the positive reinforcement that I was able to do this and I just need to keep at it no matter how difficult things got. Here I am, not a SQL DBA by title, but getting thrust into the position due to circumstances and desire to get it done I have to try and become really good at what I do. I decided to go with the 70-443 next so I purchased the 70-443 Self Paced Training Kit from Solid Quality Learning as well as the Sybex MCITP Administrator: Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Database Server Infrastructure Design Study Guide. I’ve since bought all 3 of the sybex in this series as I like them for referrence better than the Self Paced kit. I continued to spend hours every night pouring it into those books and practice. I also set a date and paid my testing fee to give myself a deadline, and I passed the test on my first try. The only test left was the 70-444 and I was relieved to hear that it may not be as hard as the 443. I purchased the Self Paced kit for this exam and went through the same process to finally become a MCITP Database Administrator. For me, it wasn’t about becoming a “Paper Tiger” as much as it was forcing myself to learn. I wanted to gain credibility and experience in a field that was new to me in a sense. I also understand that it’s not that hard for some people to pass these test without knowing the material. For me, there’s no way I could have passed it without an understanding because of how I function. It helped me to stay focused and I would encourage you to find what will keep you focused as you seek to be the best DBA or developer that you can be.

Since that time, I’ve tried to take advice from others about getting involved in the community. I’ve gone from reading blog posts and forum questions to writing blog posts and answering questions. Sometimes the best way to learn something is to try and find an answer for someone who can’t find it themselves. That covers most of the introductions for now and I hope you’ve gotten a little better idea of how I got to where I am at and how we can learn from each other and continue on our journey of becomming a master SQL DBA (or whatever you want to master in the SQL world).

I hope to give you a little background on myself in the first few posts as well as catch you up to speed on where I am today and how I got here. While this may not seem technical a sense, I believe that’s important for those who are embarking on the journey from the beginner mindset. Everyone has been there at one time or another, and the more resources they have the better chance that something will click.

After sitting in the IT World for so long and becoming someone who knows a little about a lot, I decided it was a good time to become the guy who knows a lot about a little. Having a wide range of knowledge has its advantages, but if you really want to excel in your career it helps to have at least one primary focus. One thing that you are as good at/or better than anyone you know. If you are not there and you are working on it, then that’s the same thing. Personally, I felt that it was time to try and become a SQL DBA Master and that’s how I started the journey.

It was a blessing in disguise that I was asked to look over a problem that had been occurring with SQL Server 2000 at my new job. I had not done any work with performance tuning, and my experience with SQL Server involved creating the database and items lower than that. I really dove into the deep end with a passion, and found that this was something that I enjoyed doing. I learned some things the hard way, but that is how it goes sometimes. If you haven’t experienced a moment where you realized you “don’t know it all” then I welcome you to have a moment and come back in a few minutes. I had found the area that I wanted to pour myself into and try to become the best I could be.

I had been holding onto the 70-431 Self Paced Training Kit from Solid Quality Learning for several months trying to set goals only to see everything else get in the way. Never mind the fact that I had a young child and pregnant wife so my responsibilities were many. It was real easy to put the book aside and play with my little boy. As I stated in my earlier post, the ebook from Brad helped get me over the hump. It was time to put in the sacrifice to become an exceptional dba. For me, that meant putting a great deal of effort to learning from the 70-431 book and getting ready to take the MCTS : SQL Server 2005 Implementation and Maintenance exam. I also determined that it help me a great deal to go ahead and pay for the testing fee and set a date in the near future to take the test. If an emergency came, I could always move it back if I had to. What I found that is even when an emergency(a death in the family and a flight back from Florida the day of the exam) came, I was still so passionate about getting this under my belt that I went ahead and took the test and passed. Getting that first certification was a big deal for me since it gave me confidence and the energy to move forward. Throughout this whole time, I was dedicating 2-3 hours a night to studying and trying to learn. For someone with ADD and a terrible memory this was a huge step for me. In my opinion, this journey takes sacrifice. It takes learning how to manage priorities in a way that I could have never imagined myself being able to do. It means making a committment and being ready to stick to it. I hope that I can one day inspire someone the way that Brad’s ebook inspired me.

It has been quite a long journey to come around to getting this blog up and going. I remember talking to Brad McGehee months ago about the community and ways that I could learn from the best and slowly become one of the best. I hope to have an interview from him at some point in the near future that will help other beginner DBA’s in their journey. I can’t replace the purpose that the great blogs and forums that we all frequent serve, but I hope to add a small niche in our huge community that will help someone get that extra little fuel they need to begin or keep going on the SQL Server DBA journey.

The timing of this post is to coincide with my first article published on sqlservercentral.com with the hopes that it will help me stay motivated and keep giving back in the same manner that I have received. That article should be published in the next week or two and I’ll link to it from here. I hope that it will get the ball rolling for everyone to talk about ways to improve our workflow.

I want to finish by passing on a resource that was invaluable to me and helped push me over the hump when I first began the journey or working primarily with SQL Server. I came accross Brad McGehee’s excellent ebook entitled “How to be an Exceptional DBA” that really motivated me and I look back over at regular intervals. I would recommend it as a great tool for anyone beginning their journey or looking to refine their role in the community. You can find a copy of the ebook here. The link takes you to the Red Gate Software page offering a free trial of Red Gate’s DBA tools but you can also download the ebook without the software. Go grab a copy now.