The Virtual Conference is NEXT WEEK!
Have you registered yet? Don’t forget too, we have group rates available, just drop me a note.
Curious about what it’s all about? Check out this quick video (30 seconds, wmv) then head to the conference site.
Featured Article(s)
Outsourcing and Improving Productivity
I recall having a discussion with a Vice President of a company that I was working for. I was being told that we were going to start using other companies to start developing our applications. Being the worry wart that I am, I immediately started to think, How could this be good at all for the staff that works here?
How Often Do You Review Best Practices on Your Server?
I was talking with a friend about best practices – both on a general level with SQL Server and the OS, and on a specific level with SQL Server and approaches to particular configurations. It got me thinking about best practices in general and how we do, or don’t apply them to the servers.
When was the last time you reviewed and updated your best practices? If you did, did you find that you had significant updates to make, or were the steps and approaches you had in place sufficient and not require updates?
It seems that a couple of things impact and influence best practices – first, the version(s) of the different database platforms surely drive the things you need to do, manage and monitor. The types of things you’d monitor with SQL Server 7 are fairly substantially different from what you’d be paying significant attention to with SQL Server 2005. While there may be similarities, the implementation of things like security approaches and tools will surely be different.
Second, the tools and technologies you have available to you, and lessons learned. These both are evolving things that you need to track and manage to as your experience and usage of SQL Server grows. These are the things that take the worst beating in terms of things we "should be doing" but aren’t. Growing your base of best practices or written, documented lessons learned is an ongoing process that takes a beating – it just doesn’t happen in many cases.
Do you have a formal review and update process? Where do you go looking for additional tips and approaches for your SQL Server? Do you rely on lessons learned, things that you run into and solve with brute force? How do you go about documenting these and what have been some of the successes you’ve had?
These are big questions – questions that can fundamentally change how well your "SQL Server Legacy" continues to grow and eventually live without your specific involvement. This isn’t to say you won’t be involved, but you need to be thinking about helping others benefit from what you learn.
Once you do, that vacation is within reach. You won’t be the only one knowing what’s happening and how to respond if issues arise.
Featured White Paper(s)
Selecting the Right Change Management Solution
Frequent application updates, data migrations, service level requirements, and new compliance mandates mean your company need… (read more)
ESG Lab Validation Report of the HP PolyServe Database Utility for SQL Server
ESG Lab, the testing facility of industry analyst firm Enterprise Strategy Group, reports its comprehensive testing of HP’s s… (read more)