SQL Server Monitoring – With No Bad Days
When I think back to my early years as a junior DBA, I can’t help but cringe. Man, did I have some dark days! Mainly because I had no idea what was even possible when it came it to SQL Server monitori...
3 Ways the Essential DBA Playbook Gave Me More Control Over SQL Server
There’s so much beyond our control in our jobs. As DBAs, we’re at the mercy of our bosses, application developers, end users, growing demands and inefficient processes. But what if we could gain more ...
Express Scripts Cures Slow SQL Server Performance with a Prescription for Database Health
December. It’s cold and flu season. We’re all a little rundown from holiday stress. And oddly enough, it feels as if our databases aren’t even immune. Maybe it’s Murphy’s Law. Maybe it’s just life. Bu...
MySQL DBAs Are Obsessed with This Freebie for Five Surprising Reasons
Hearing you’re getting MySQL is like hearing you’ve been “volunteered” to pet sit your neighbor’s rabid ferret: There’s confusion, mild panic and the frustrating realization that someone else is savin...
PostgreSQL Anxiety? Three Truths I Wish Someone Would’ve Told Me
Adopting PostgreSQL is not unlike adopting a crazed monkey: It’s new. It’s exciting. It’s also downright terrifying. You’ve got questions. What if I can’t handle it? How hard will it be to get it to p...
DBA Saves the World from Bad Pizza and Gets Promoted with Spotlight
Imagine a world without tomatoes. Sure, it’d be great if you’re Fozzie Bear or some other old-timey comedian. But for the rest of us? It would totally suck. Pizza would just be circular cheesy bread....
DBTA Reveals the Best Database Tools of 2018!
I’ve been talking to you guys forever about how much I love database management tools from Quest®. How I rely on them to save time, cut down on stress and look like I’m working a heck of a lot harder ...
Are You a Workaholic DBA? The Secret to Achieving Enviable Work-Life Balance
I’ll admit, the concept of the DBA workaholic used to be an oxymoron. Not too long ago, many of us worked strictly in “Oracle shops” where we had time to indulge our photography hobbies in between tas...
E-book review: New Zombie Survival Guide for the Database Administrator
All right, my fellow database administrator. Today, we’re talking zombies, and I want to know which flick is your favorite: “Night of the Living Dead”? “Resident Evil”? “28 Days Later”? Do me a favor ...
DBAs: The Ultimate Jugglers in the IT Circus
Some days, as I’m pulling up to the office, I feel as if I may as well be driving a clown car to a circus. With so much chaos in tech right now, so many database projects and all the growing demands p...
The International Day of Awesomeness is upon us and you should celebrate
DBAs are all kinds of awesome. We’re smart. Stylish. Capable of administering databases! Who else can say that? Yeah. Just DBAs. Our technical wizardry is second to none. Because we’re awesome. And g...
How to Avoid Extinction in the Database Evolution
Friends. Change is here. All of us DBAs are dealing with it. Look at the number of new database platforms. It’s relentless. They just keep coming. And we’re expected to take on any or all of them that...