Phew, I’m not going to complain about the hot weather…I’ll miss it when it’s gone.

Linux Load Averages: Solving the Mystery
Good post by Brendan Gregg (t) explaining a critical metric

SQL Server on Linux – I/O internal thoughts
David Barbarin (t) on IO internals for SQL on Linux

The History of Kubernetes & the Community Behind It
It’s 3 years since Kubernetes 1.0 was announced so Brendan Burns (t) tells us the story of its creation

July 10, 2018 Windows updates cause SQL startup issues due to “TCP port is already in use” errors
Literally had this happen to me yesterday, something to watch out for

Have a good weekend!

Last week I posted the following “joke” on twitter: –

I’ve called it a “joke” but I wasn’t really joking. This is a subject that I’ve wanted to talk about for a while but have really stalled on it because I don’t think that I can tackle it sufficiently, but here goes anyway.

First things first, here’s the definition of Imposter (or Impostor) Syndrome: –

Impostor syndrome (also known as impostor phenomenon, fraud syndrome or the impostor experience) is a concept describing individuals who are marked by an inability to internalize their accomplishments and have a persistent fear of being exposed as a “fraud”

Sound like anyone you know?

OK, so here’s a (maybe) unpopular opinion.

I think Imposter Syndrome can be a good thing.

Let me explain why.

I get impostor syndrome, a lot. However I’ve learnt to recognise when it’s affecting me and can push through it. Don’t get me wrong, it still sucks. I question myself over and over but I don’t want my own head to stop me from achieving what I want.

I guess that this has come from experience. I’ve succeeded in a few things and a failed in a few as well.

And as much of a cliché as it is, I have learnt more from the failures than the successes.

I’ve failed and the world didn’t end. All that happened was that I needed to go back, review what went wrong, and make sure that it won’t happen again (I know that can be easier said than done).

So if you’re reading this and are thinking about starting to blog or speak or anything…I urge you to go for it.

Yes it’s hard work, you may fail, but the rewards for just trying are unbelievable.

All I can say is…Go for it 🙂

Have a good week!

After a considerable amount of “umming and ahhing” last year I decided to start presenting full hour long sessions. Well, I decided to start submitting sessions to events and see what happened.

I’d presented a few lightening talks at SQL Saturdays and my local user group so I wanted to see if I could actually present a 60 minute long session to a group of my peers.

At first it really was just to see if I could do it. Public speaking terrifies me and I honestly thought I’d clam up and not be able to say a single word. But I started submitting…like crazy.

The first full session I did was at SQL Saturday Iceland and oh boy, was I nervous. I was on at 3pm and I think I spent most of that day wandering around the venue, trying not to freak out.

And then I was on. I was nervous but managed to get through it. All my demos worked, the attendees asked questions at the end (which to me means that I conveyed the topic clearly) and I finished on time, so goal achieved!

As the year went on, it became not just about being able to present my session but being able to present a high quality, thought provoking, well delivered session. I now knew that I could do it, it’s now about how well I can do it.

And that’s what I want to build on this year. I’ve got a couple of new sessions written and I’ll be presenting the first of them at SQL Bits in February.

I’m still working on the demos, I want them to be broken down into easy to understand parts so that each attendee will be able to download and run through with ease. That’s the key part for me.

As long as the demos work, the slides come second. I’m not great at designing slides so I keep them minimal, just with the points on that I’m trying to get across and I practice without looking at them (to avoid the dreaded “reading what’s on the slides” presentation).

So over the next year I’m hoping that I can build on the skills that I already have and be able to deliver the highest quality presentations that I can.

I’m really looking forward to the challenge.

Have a good week!

Phew, what a week! Have been looking for a new flat to live so it’s been a bit mad. Have hopefully found a place, let the paperwork begin!

In between running around like a madman, I’ve been reading…

Free SQL Server Quizzes
Kendra Little (t) has written a whole bunch of tests on various aspects of SQL! Try your knowledge 🙂

RIP Swag Bags (and some other changes for SQL Relay 2018)
Alex Yates (t) drawing on experiences from SQL Relay 2017 and the changes to SQL Relay 2018

SQL Server 2017 CU2 Bug with msdb Compatibility Mode
Tracy Boggiano (t) details a bug with SQL Server 2017 CUs (yep, it’s in CU3 too)

SQL Server Configurations – Back to Basics
I’ve been working on automated checking of SQL config settings. Always good to have a refresher, here’s Jason Brimhall’s (t) back to basics article

Kubernetes Deployments Compared To Docker Swarm Stacks
With Docker announcing support for Kubernetes (it’s out for Docker on MAC), what is the difference between K8 & Swarm? Viktor Farcic (t) discusses

Have a good weekend!

Fun week, lots of stuff to organise and prepare for! Whilst I’ve had some downtime I’ve been reading…

Write your first Pester test today
Rob (t) takes us through the steps to write a Pester test (something I’ve been meaning to do for ages)

How To Enlarge Your Columns With No Downtime
Gianluca (t) demonstrates how to make column enlargement less painful

Do not pass GO
Monica Rathbun (t) talks about the GO statement in SSMS

Streamlining SQL Server Management Objects (SMO) in PowerShell Core
Max Trinidad’s (t) cool post on using SMO objects

Introducing Visual Studio Live Share
VS Blog detailing the new Live Share feature (this looks very cool)

Have a good weekend!