I like to think of myself as a fairly hardworking, motivated person. However I recently met someone who regularly gets up at 5am, works a 12 hour day and then (somehow) works out in the evening. They also ran 18km before 10am last Saturday. You know what I was doing at 10am on Saturday? SLEEPING!

Madness nearly overcame me as I started thinking, maybe I should be getting up earlier?

But when I really thought about it, I knew that that is never going to happen. I’m simply not a morning person, I do most of my work in the late evening. Everyone has different work patterns and is more productive at different points during the day. So I’m going to use this person as motivation for me to get more stuff done in my own work schedule and not get disheartened because whilst they’re out blitzing 18km, I’m sound asleep.

Plus, I’d never be able to get up at 5am.

Have a good week!

I’ve been a scribbler for as long as I can remember, in fact I’m not sure that I write everything down because I have a bad memory or if I have a bad memory because I write everything down.

About a year ago I stopped using notepads and tried to go completely digital. I bought a premium Evernote subscription and started using Wunderlist for reminders. I have to say that it was a difficult transition for me, I’m so used to jotting things down constantly that it was difficult to start typing away on my tablet or phone. I found that I’d have to force myself to do it as it just didn’t feel as natural but slowly it became easier.

Now a year later, my Evernote account is a hugely valuable resource. One of the best tools for it is the chrome extension that allows you to clip web pages. Combine those notes with the ones that I entered in manually from my many notebooks and I honestly don’t know what I’d do without it.

That being said, I have found I’ve started taking rough notes back on a notepad (which then I copy into Evernote if I find I need them) so when a colleague showed me this Kickstarter Project I immediately backed it. I’ve never backed anything on Kickstarter before so I really don’t know what to expect. Hopefully it’ll turn up but until then I’m back scribbling away on a traditional pad of paper.

Have a good week.

Speaking and presenting

One of my biggest fears is public speaking and judging by this article, I’m not alone.

However it’s something that I’ve always wanted to do and as such this year I’ve done a few lightening talk sessions at various events. For those that don’t know, a lightening talk is a short (5 to 15 min) session on any subject that you are free to pick and they’re bundled up together so you’ll get 4/5 speakers within an hour.

They’re a great way to get into public speaking, the time goes incredibly fast and there’s no time for Q&A afterwards (usually). I would advise anyone looking to get into presenting to do a couple of these sessions first, just to get a feel for it. I’d also say that, as the session is so short, you should memorise your entire presentation. Practice it over and over so that you can do it in your sleep!

I’d also say that even though I’ve just said you need to memorise your presentation, don’t have a script that you need to stick to. If you plan what you’re going to say word for word and lose your way, you’ll get lost and find it difficult to recover. Instead have a general guide in your head that allows for things to be moved around a bit.

Now demos, if you’re going to do a demo, it needs to be flawless. There’s no time for you to be fixing things. There’s also no time for typing so have everything prepared to be run immediately. Time is short but I’ve seen a few great demos done in lightening talks!

Hopefully that’s a bit of advice that will help you out if you’re thinking of doing one of these talks.

I’m going to move onto some longer talks in 2017, I’ll post up any that I do and let you know how they go! Thanks for reading.

You are the DBA your company makes you. Aren’t you?

SQL Server has such a wide range of features that no DBA role will implement all of them. So, you use a certain subset in each role that you occupy throughout your career. What those features are depends on the role.

However your job as a DBA is to (at the very least) be aware of the features that SQL Server has to offer. That way when you’re presented with an issue from your business you can suggest ideas based on your knowledge of those features.

Need an efficient archiving solution? Partitioning and stretched databases will help you out.
Need your systems to have 99.999% uptime? Always On availability groups are there.
Need a cold standby in your disaster recovery environment? Take a look at transaction log shipping.

The list goes on.

What the absolute best thing about working with SQL Server is, is the amazing community that has built up around it. Online communities like SQL Server Central, Stack Exchange and the #sqlhelp tag on twitter are brilliant resources filled with people who dedicate no small part of their free time to helping other data professionals out.

In addition to those resources there’s also a tonne of free training events on offer. In person events such as SQL Saturdays and online events such as the Pass Virtual Chapters.

Technology is always evolving and SQL Server is no exception. Just look at all the new features that have become available in the last month alone! It can feel like keeping up-to-date with everything that going on is impossible but with such great resources available to your average DBA, it needn’t be so taxing.

Thanks for reading.

MCSA SQL Server 2016

The new SQL 2016 MCSA exams are out and joy of joys, the DBA path no longer requires the Data Warehouse exam! I say this as a DBA who has had limited practical exposure to the topics covered by that exam so it’s always put me off going for the MCSA.

I feel that the MCSA should be a test of the knowledge that you’ve acquired through practical experience, so that the award is recognition of skills earned. Of course there’s going to be areas that you need to study as nobody works with every feature of SQL Server but having limited experience of the entire subject matter (such as mine with the subjects covered in the Data Warehousing path) is another thing completely.

So now I have no excuse to get certified. Well, the exams are still currently in beta so I might wait…

Or will I go for them at all? I’ve never had an employer ask if I have the MCSA and I’ve met lots of people who have various Microsoft certifications but got them not by studying, but by finding the exam questions online and practicing them. To me that vastly devalues the certifications but now that Microsoft no longer the MCM the MCSA (and subsequent MCSE) are all we have.

Looking at these exams and knowing myself, whether I do them or not solely depends on my workload next year. I’ve a few projects lined up so if they go smoothly and if I have time, I’ll go for them (maybe).