Month: February 2009

I saw a link to a report by TechRepublic giving reasons to value certification in 2009. The idea behind the piece is that we are in a time of economic crisis, cutbacks and the like, and asking the question about whether or not people should be looking for certification or not. Most of the points made come down to differentiating yourself from the masses. For individuals I would have to agree. If you are trying to get a job, and are looking for every possible argument to get yourself in the door, certification can’t hurt (don’t expect to beat someone … Continue reading Reasons to consider certification

As a User Group leader, I have the chance to review books for MSPress (and then give a copy away to the user group too!). So at the end of last month I got sent a copy of Windows PowerShell Scripting Guide, by Ed Wilson (I hope that link works – if it doesn’t, find it in the Windows section). I wasn’t sure what to expect of this book. I had just done a presentation at the user group about PowerShell with SQL Server, and I was curious to see what kinds of things this book covered. People ask me … Continue reading A review – Windows PowerShell Scripting Guide

[ Hi – this post can now be found at http://blogs.lobsterpot.com.au/2009/02/16/a-reason-to-visit-manchester/

I shouldn’t knock Manchester – I’m sure it’s a great place. Being from the London area though, I’ve always had to find reasons to consider visiting Manchester. Now that I’m living in Australia, finding reasons to go is even harder. Manchester’s stock has risen recently, joining the ranks of Reading, Birmingham and Hatfield to host a SQLBits conference. Definitely a trip worth making if you’re in the UK. It’s on the last Saturday of March. Registrations are now open, so get along to the site and plan to be at this event. One day I’ll end up being in the … Continue reading A reason to visit Manchester

[ Hi – this post can now be found at http://blogs.lobsterpot.com.au/2009/02/05/poorly-scheduled-downtime/

Not me… someone else, but it did make me think. If you need downtime, you schedule it carefully. If your server needs a reboot for some reason (maybe some patch), then you find an appropriate window in which to place it. Typically this ends up being between 2am and 3am, but working out a time when a backup won’t be interrupted, or when overseas customers need the system to be up, and so on. I want to rebuild my laptop soon, but I want to make sure I do it at a time when I have a few days up … Continue reading Poorly scheduled downtime

[ Hi – this post can now be found at http://blogs.lobsterpot.com.au/2009/02/03/sql-2008-books-online-update/

I’ve just installed the January 2009 refresh for SQL Server 2008’s Books Online. I’ve only glanced at what’s different (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd408738.aspx), but I just love the fact that SQL Books Online is a work in progress. Books Online lets you provide feedback on any page, and that feedback often makes it into an upcoming refresh. Of course, the whole of Books Online is available online, but I like to have a local copy, which gives me better access to the Index page. Now, if they gave me an option to run it in a hybrid mode, querying online for updated data, … Continue reading SQL 2008 Books Online update