Allen White

[Speaking] Manage SQL Server 2012 on Windows Server Core with PowerShell

2012-01-17T17:26:00Z

This evening I'll be presenting a brand new session on installing and managing SQL Server 2012 with PowerShell. Here's the abstract: Windows Server 2008 introduced Server Core, the operating system without the Graphical User Interface. SQL Server 2012 is the first version of SQL Server to support Server Core. To gain the maximum efficiency from your servers you want to make use of Server Core and with PowerShell you can effectively manage SQL Server in that environment. This session will demonstrate...(read more)

T-SQL Tuesday #25 Followup - Just in Time for the Holidays

2011-12-17T21:21:00Z

T-SQL Tuesday #25 fell on the same day I brought my mother home from a 3-day emergency trip to the hospital. She's much better, now, but it was a bit crazy there for a little bit. Thanks for everyone's best wishes. Rob Farley kicked off the official start of the event with a post titled A T-SQL Tip: Working calculations . He showed us how to use the CROSS APPLY join operator to facilitate date calculations. Greg M Lucas followed up with a list of Management Studio shortcuts (not exactly T-SQL, but...(read more)

Speaking about Performance and PowerShell

2011-12-08T16:37:00Z

I'll be presenting at the South East Michigan SQL Server User Group (SEMSSUG) tonight. The session will be Gather SQL Server Performance Data with PowerShell . We all know how important it is to keep a baseline of performance metrics that allow us to know when something is wrong and help us to track it down and fix the problem. We don't always know how to do this easily and consistently. This session will walk you through a series of PowerShell scripts you can schedule which will capture the most...(read more)

T-SQL Tuesday #025 - Invitation to Share Your Tricks

2011-12-05T14:52:00Z

It doesn't seem that long ago that having cool little tidbits of information about SQL Server made a huge difference in how effective you could be. Well, that's still true, but let me give you an example. SELECT name FROM sysobjects WHERE sysstat & 4 > 0 In the early days of SQL Server, this was the way to pull a list of the names of all the stored procedures in your database. The 4 bit in the sysstat column represented stored procedures. (1 represented user tables and 2 represented view,...(read more)

We Are SQLFamily

2011-11-11T20:14:00Z

On Monday, Tom LaRock ( b /@sqlrockstar) presented his #MemeMonday topic as What #SQLFamily Means To Me . The #sqlfamily hash tag is a relatively new one, but is amazingly appropriate. I've been working with relational databases for almost 20 years, and for most of that time I've been the lone DBA. The only one to set things up, explain how things work, fix the problems, make it go faster, etc., etc., yadda, yadda, yadda. I enjoy being 'the guy', but at the same time it gets hard. What if I'm wrong?...(read more)

For Servers the Command Line Rules

2011-10-26T19:38:00Z

When I first learned to program, back in the fall of 1968, the first 'word' the computer I connected to said to me was 'READY'. That summed it up neatly. The computer was ready to do work, it was just waiting for me to give it instruction. As I progressed through my knowledge of programming and my focus on providing businesses useful applications for making decisions, whether my interface to the computer was via typewritten prompts on a scroll of paper, green text glowing from a black CRT, on through...(read more)

PASS Summit 2011 - The Final Day

2011-10-14T15:19:00Z

Today's the last day of the Summit, and Rick Heiges introduced Rob Farley and Buck Woody, who sang Rob's "Query Sucks" song. As is everything done by these two, it was way too much fun. Rick also did a retrospective of Wayne Snyder, PASS Immediate Past President. Wayne recognized Rick, who's rolling off the board this fall as well. Wayne ended with the wish that "as you slide down the banister of life, may the splinters of success stick in your career." SQL Rally Nordic is now sold out! SQL Rally...(read more)

PASS Summit 2011 Day 2 - Women In Technology & SQLKilt Day

2011-10-13T14:57:00Z

The second full day at the Summit is the day we recognize Women in Technology, and (merely by coincidence) the day we wear kilts to the event. This latter tradition started two years ago when Grant Fritchey, Steve Jones and Bill Fellows wore their kilts to the conference. Last year close to forty of us wore them, and it's grown beyond that this year. I'm sitting in the ballroom watching people walk in for the keynote, many in kilts, and it's awesome. Bill Graziano came out to start the keynote wearing...(read more)

PASS Summit 2011 Day 1 - At the Blogger's Table

2011-10-12T15:23:00Z

PASS selected me this year for a seat at the blogger's table for the keynote address each day. This is a singular honor, to be able to share with you my thoughts almost in real time. (How close to real remains to be seen - I'm having a bit of trouble with the overloaded network.) The level of excitement in the room is amazing. Dr. DeWitt came over to our table with Mark Souza to greet us all. (I really can't wait for his keynote on Friday.) The event starts with videos of people as they came and...(read more)

SQLBits Presentation Materials

2011-10-09T03:35:00Z

After a week of data recovery (see my blog post here ) and travel via train with no internet access, I've finally been able to get my presentation materials together from the Training Day and two regular sessions I did at SQL Bits #9 in Liverpool last week. I've uploaded the materials here for the training day. If you were in the room that day you know the password to the file. (If you weren't, please don't ask. My income is partly derived from producing training material, and I don't ask you to...(read more)

So Much To Do, So Much To See

2011-10-07T21:11:00Z

After spending last week in England, playing tourist in London, then presenting at SQLBits #9 in Liverpool, I'm now in Portland, Oregon, getting ready for SQL Saturday #92 tomorrow, and the Portland Marathon on Sunday morning. SQL Saturdays are always fun, and this one should be amazing, with all the speakers here before we all head up to Seattle for the 2011 PASS Summit . This afternoon I went to the expo for the marathon and the excitement there is just as high, as this is the 40th anniversary...(read more)

SQLBits 9 - Disaster and Recovery

2011-10-03T18:33:00Z

For those of you who weren't in my Saturday afternoon Service Broker session, the C: drive on my laptop crashed about 3 hours before that session and I was unable to boot my laptop from that point forward. Gert Drapers was kind enough to lend me one of his laptops, and even downloaded Virtual PC so I could run my demos for the attendees. I had my presentation and demo VPC on a USB drive "in case", and this time I needed it. For those of you who are waiting to download the decks and demo scripts,...(read more)

Getting Excited: SQLBits is Coming

2011-09-19T14:59:00Z

Other than changing planes once at Heathrow Airport, I've never been to England, so I'm getting really excited about traveling there next week for SQLBits 9 - Query across the Mersey ! My wife and I will be spending a couple of days in London first, and since I'm a descendant of the Howard family from the Tudor period, I'm most interested in seeing the sites relevant to that time. I also want to spend as much time as I can at the British Museum , home of the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin Marbles ....(read more)

Be Careful How You Spend Your Personal Relationship Capital

2011-09-04T01:11:00Z

In life as we develop personal relationships we build up what I'll call capital based on the value of that relationship to us and to the other person. Over time that capital builds up as that relationship grows, and it's this capital that helps you to decide whether or not to help a friend move for the twelfth time in the last three years, for example. (I hope none of your friends asks you to help them move that much - yuck!) This past week a friend emailed me to ask if I could come read for a part...(read more)

Check the Default Database Setting for your Admin Accounts

2011-08-31T19:30:00Z

Last weekend, as I was waiting for the start of the performance of the Cleveland Orchestra at its summer outdoor venue, Blossom Music Center , a client called with a problem. The databases on his principal production server had failed over to the mirror server, and now he couldn't connect to the principal server. After trying a couple of things we were able to determine that the principal server was indeed up and running, and on the mirror (now principal) server, he could see that mirroring was still...(read more)