Having a lab environment is an absolute must for any IT professional. You need somewhere that you can test out code and new functionalities with zero risk. But where’s the best place to host?

My lab is in Azure, it’s convenient and (relatively) cheap but there is one problem with it; it requires an internet connection in order for me to use it.

Now 99% of the time that’s not an issue. Internet connectivity is available pretty much everywhere these days but still it can be an issue. Ever been to a presentation where the presenter hasn’t been able to connect to the wifi? It’s the reason that my demos for more involved subjects are all pre-recorded (that’s not the only reason but it’s a big one).

So what are the other options? Well, I know a couple of people who’ve hosted their own lab but that’s not really an option for many people. It’s expensive, noisy (servers are noisy) and you need quite a bit of space.

Then there’s building one on your local machine, using Virtual Box or Hyper-V. That’s a pretty good way to go, if you have a powerful enough laptop.

Another option is containers. Now that docker allows you to run linux containers on windows you can host pretty much everything on a not-so-powerful laptop. I have multiple images on my laptop that allow me to spin up versions of SQL Server from 2012 to 2017 in seconds. I don’t need to waste resources running full blown versions of all the different versions of SQL that I work with, the containers give me (almost) everything I need.

OK, I admit that there are some limitations so that’s where my Azure lab steps in but for most things, spinning up a container is a fast and simple way for me to test out code and investigate issues.

I highly recommend that anyone working with SQL Server (or any other app really) download docker and get involved with using containers. There really isn’t a downside to doing so.

Have a good week!

I’ve always said that this blog is my way of giving back to the SQL Server community but there is also another reason I write, to learn.

I was chatting with a friend the other day who was thinking about start to write a blog and he was asking me how I find topics to write about. The technical posts that I blog generally fall into two categories; stuff I’ve been working on and stuff that I want to learn about.

I have to admit, when I first started this blog I was writing one post a month and still finding it difficult to pick a topic. I thought that I wasn’t doing anything new, there must be hundreds of blogs on SQL Server so how could I add any value?

It was only after a blog from Steve Jones that talked about that even though, yes, there are a lot of blogs out there you bring something unique to yours…yourself! No matter how much a subject has been covered you will have approached it in your own way.

I think some of the best blogs are the ones that talk about a common problem and what was done to resolve it. Everyone has their own take and there’s some novel solutions out there.

Anyway, back onto the subject of this post. Blogging to learn. We’re really fortunate as bloggers at the moment. There’s a whole host of new SQL Server features out there at the moment so take your pick!

Being the type of DBA that I am I’m generally picking new features of the database engine to investigate but there’s new features everywhere. Blogging about a new feature means you have to read the online documentation, deploy and then test that feature so it really is one of the best ways to learn.

So to anyone out there who’s thinking about starting to blog, pick a platform, pick a feature and, get writing!

Have a good week!