2012 was, simply stated, a year that kicked my butt.  When I wasn't struggling professionally, I was struggling personally.  Health issues, culminating in a diagnosis of Type II diabetes, and the passing of my father soon after Thanksgiving marked my biggest struggles.  I apologize to those of you who are normally on my Christmas ...

I have two new articles up on Database Trends & Applications magazine.  I'd love to get your thoughts and feedback!Welcome to the Weird, Wild World of SQL Server LicensingNot long in the past, SQL Server licensing was an easy and straightforward process. You used to take one of a few paths to get your SQL Server licenses. The first ...

Ok, I have to admit the painful truth. I'm reliably slow to the finish line. This year, I got my slides into PASS HQ by the skin of my teeth, the weekend before the event was to begin.  Although I could say with a straight face ''I uploaded my slides!''.  I have to be honest that I wasn't surprised when many of my attendees said that ...

Click this link to register: http://www.houseofbrick.com/education/sqlserverbootcamp/Registration. Presented by my buddy, David Klee at House of Brick, one of the nations top VMWare consultancies specializing in Oracle and SQL Server deployments. David has a great write-up of this boot camp ...

Even though I've recently changed jobs, I'll still be speaking at a lot of SQL events across the country and internationally.  There are still a few trips that I've yet to finalize, in particular with the fine folks in Houston, run by my friend Nancy Hidy (blog | twitter), and my friends in San Francisco and Silicon Valley, run by ...

E.T.L. That's Extract - Transform - Load. That doesn't sound like a lot of work when all you need to get loaded is a simple Access database or an Excel spreadsheet. In a situation like that, the process is so simple, all you really need to focus on is the L in ETL. There's not a whole lot of E.T. to process, despite how wonderful that movie ...

Several attendees at the SQLRally were asking about NoSQL (''Not Only SQL'') and its benefits. This article gives a quick overview: HERE. Also, two good resources have come out from my friend Guy Harrison. This piece on Cassandra, one of the most popular NoSQL databases, was published a while back in Database Trends and Applications Magazine. I ...

I always enjoy spending time with my friends from Atlanta, as well as meeting folks and making new friends. If you live in the Atlanta area, I hope you'll join me on the evening of Wednesday, February 9th, 2011. Details are at the Atlanta SQL Server user group website. It's common knowledge that I have a terrible memory for many ...

Sometimes I'm timely in getting the news out on useful resources.  And, other times, I'm a bit slower on the draw.  As I told my friends back at New Year's Day, ''As an official member of the Procrastinators Club, welcome to 2008!''  On the other hand, it's always good to remind folks of great resources that are still ...

I'm speaking tonight on Top 10 Mistakes DBAs Make at the Atlanta SQL Server User Group meeting in Alpharetta, GA.  You can find all of the details here.The Best Dang Design Book for SQL Server Professionals - EVER!I thought I'd liven things up a bit with a little contest.  The rules are simple: A. If you don't follow me on ...