SQL 2008 R2 Utility Control Point (UCP) Videos

While Playing around with the UCP inside of SQL 2008 R2 I found some videos to help you get started. The November CTP has six videos listed but only five of the links are currently working.
Here is the splash screen you will see to help you get started:

The link to “Enroll instances…” does not seem [...]

SQL 2008 R2 Upgrade

I set aside some time today to install the latest SQL 2008 R2 CTP. You can download the CTP yourself by clicking on this link. I have a handful of test servers that I can use to install the CTP onto, and the idea was to do an in-place upgrade on an existing SQL 2008 [...]

DBA Thanksgiving

Last month I went to visit some friends in Montreal. It just so happened to be the weekend right before the Thanksgiving holiday in Canada. While there we happened to meet some new people, which is always nice while traveling. During the discussions with our new friends we came about the topic of Thanksgiving, how [...]

EDMPASS Meeting Next Week

Next Wednesday night, November 25th, I will be taking part in a panel discussion hosted by the Edmonton PASS Chapter. Yeah, Edmonton. Alberta. Canada. America’s Hat. Just slightly West and North of Moose Jaw. But still south of Nunavut. Bonus points if you have even heard of that place.
All that is my way of saying [...]

Style and Comfort

I have been speaking in front of others for most of my life. And it has never been a comfortable feeling for me. Oh, sure, there are some days when it is easier than others. Over time I have learned a few tips and tricks that help me get through any talk. But there was [...]

Unicorns and Rainbows

How awesome was this year’s PASS Summit? Awesome enough for some unicorns to drop by after their show was done:

Yessir, unicorns and rainbows were in town. For those of us that ventured down to Zig Zag on Sunday night you would have seen them.

SQL University Hoops Practice

OK everyone, nice job against DB2 U the other night. Now, we don’t have any games this week but next week we have to travel up to play UDB. We know they are disciplined on defense, so we are going to work on some set plays. We have been getting lazy with some of [...]

The Highlander

I was sitting in Paul Randal-Tripp’s (blog | @PaulRandal) session at PASS last week (he saved me a seat in the front row bless his heart) and listened to him talk about logging and recovery. At some point Jonathan Kehayias (blog | @SQLSarg) asked a question and I remember hearing the question, thinking that I [...]

People On The Move

I updated my blog rankings today. Joe Webb and Jorge Segarra are moving up, and Jason Strate gets to stick around because he can make the pizza. If you weren’t at SQLKaraoke then that last sentence makes no sense.
I am going to try my best to update the page a little more frequently than I [...]

Thrive

Apparently, I am the IT Pro of the Month for Microsoft Thrive:
https://www.microsoft.com/click/thrive/default.aspx
That, along with $2, will buy you a cup of coffee in most places, providing you do NOT forget the $2.
If you are not familiar with Thrive then I urge you to navigate the site and check on the valuable resources it contains.