Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

A Brief Delay

2009-10-19

I was hoping to knock out a few tasks over the weekend:

I made some great progress on the SQLDiag presentation, but the other tasks had to give way to caring for my sick wife and fielding an inordinate number of escalation calls (it was my turn to be the on-call DBA, a duty that rotates to me every four weeks).

I haven’t forgotten these tasks… hopefully I can catch up tomorrow, since I have the day off from work. Please bear with me.

Tags:, , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

My First Anniversary at Terremark

2009-10-19

One year ago, last Tuesday, I joined the Database Escalations and Implementation team at Terremark Worldwide, Inc. Looking back on the last twelve months, this has absolutely been the right move for me, both personally and professionally.

Leaving Usability Sciences Corporation (USC) was not easy to do. Having worked there for nearly eight years, I have significant ties to the organization. I consider several of my teammates amongst my dearest friends. I am also extremely grateful for the opportunities given to me while at USC. It was there that I first encountered SQL Server, which is a pretty important part of my life now. I also matured, first as a software developer, then as a sysadmin and database administrator. Being a small company, there were always more roles than employees, so I was allowed to take on as many responsibilities as I could handle (and then some). I was very much an "accidental DBA" or "involuntary DBA." I was able to learn and grow, becoming a knowledgeable and skilled SQL Server DBA. Eventually, though, the systemic lack of resources (personnel and funding) took its toll and I got burned out. My SQL Server expertise also started to plateau and I realized the need to move on. Thankfully, my departure was on good terms and I’m still in frequent contact with my good friends at USC. They even let me rehearse my technical presentations there from time-to-time.

After I made my job search public, I sent an announcement to the NTSSUG mailing list to solicit ideas and opportunities. I received a fantastic response, including interest from three separate Terremark employees: Jason Massie (blog, Twitter), Kevin Hill (blog, Twitter), and Bill Lester (the manager of the Database Implementation and Escalations team). I knew Jason from the user group and considered him a role model (I still do), so I invited him to lunch for a good ol’ informational interview, which he graciously accepted. Then I got to meet Kevin and Bill at a Terremark open house (showcasing their new Enterprise Cloud product). Several interviews followed and Terremark made an offer, which I gladly accepted. My first day was Monday, October 13th, 2008.

Landing this job has been a tremendous blessing. I was glad to be on a team whose expertise and experience was far beyond my own (two of my teammates came directly from the local Microsoft campus where they were on the SQL Server support team!). For the first time in many years, I could learn database skills from co-workers and wouldn’t have to be out-in-front, teaching myself.

Jason originally worked in a different unit, but by serendipity he became my immediate manager a month later. I’ve learned a great deal about SQL Server from Jason, but he has also helped immensely with my entry into technological public speaking. This type of mentoring, which I don’t consider to be included in his job responsibilities, has been invaluable.

Like any job, there are pros and cons. However, with the exception of the beat down from Project Asculum (which still needs coverage on this blog), I have greatly enjoyed this job and the benefits have far exceeded the drawbacks. I look forward to many more years with Terremark.

Tags:, , , , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Ready to Get My Forum On…

2009-10-03

As I mentioned in my last post, I’m placing new focus on my goal of forum participation. I created a few accounts/profiles today in preparation to do so:

I’ll start putting these accounts/profiles to use this coming week.

Tags:, ,
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Taking Stock of My Goals for the Year

2009-10-02

The fourth quarter of 2009 has waylaid me; where did the time go?!?

This seems like a good time to evaluate the progress on my professional/technical goals for the year:

Begin answering questions in forums and newsgroups

I have been remiss on this goal. I continue to draw immense benefit from forums and newsgroups, yet I haven’t overcome my lurker nature. It’s time for this to change. I will create a few accounts this weekend and start small by attempting to answer one question per week.

Begin delivering technical presentations

This one has gone quite well, better than I could have hoped. So far this year, I have been the featured presenter for three user group meetings and I spoke at SQLSaturday #17. I’m also scheduled to speak at two more user group meetings, SQLSaturday #25, and the PASS Community Summit 2009!

Begin publishing a blog

You see the results before you. I need to start achieving some consistency and frequency in posting. I have so many good ideas, it’s time to increase the priority of blog posting in my crowded schedule!

Begin participating social computing

I am really enjoying Twitter (I’m @SQLServerSleuth)! It is my primary source for blog posts and whitepapers to read. I’ve learned a great deal from the other SQL Server professionals and I’ve had the chance to help out a few that I’d never met.

I have a LinkedIn profile, but I haven’t started connecting to others or joining groups.

Find a way to make it back to the PASS Summit this year

I am tremendously blessed, honored, and humbled to be speaking at the PASS Community Summit 2009 this year! To add to it, my employer has graciously agreed to cover my travel expenses! My wife and I saved quite a bit of money in our “conferences” budget category, but now those funds can be put to good use in another way!

Get the test server up and running

I purchased a refurbished Dell server in mid-2008 and it has proven valuable several times this year. I have several blog posts planned on this topic.

Play a bigger role in the local SQL Server community

I consider this a success for the year. I have done more this year in my leadership position for NTSSUG. In addition to maintaining the web site, I have also run one of the meetings, helped to line up speakers and sponsors, and have been the featured presenter for several meetings. I’ve also made several new friends!

I am also working hard on the committee that is bring a SQLSaturday event to North Texas.

Overall, I’m pleased with my progress. I’m going to dedicate more time to this blog and to participating in forums and newsgroups.

Tags:, , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Back from Hiatus

2009-10-02

It has been two months since my last blog post. I was tremendously busy in August and September; the months seem to have passed so quickly! I have a lot to discuss from this period, including:

  • SQLSaturday #17
  • A grueling upgrade project for one of our larger customers (hereafter referred to as “Project Asculum”)
  • A disaster with a customer’s environment one weekend while I was on-call (hereafter referred to as “Project Gordian Knot”)
  • The user group
  • The effort to bring a SQLSaturday event to North Texas
  • My upcoming speaking engagements
  • Helping to retain a customer on the brink of leaving
  • A vacation of sorts

It’s time to get this blog going!

Tags:, , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

I’m Finally Catching Back Up

2009-04-09

March was an incredibly hectic month for me. Actually, February was too! In light of so many other commitments, this blog was one of several endeavors that had to be put on hold. I’m finally getting caught up, though, so it’s time to get some entries posted!

Why have the last eight weeks been so busy?

In February, I had invested somewhere between forty and fifty hours in my first user group presentation, Refactoring T-SQL Code for Better Performance. I took a few days to catch up on my rest (and the various things put on hold because of the effort). Then, about a week later, I accepted the opportunity to speak at the March meeting for the other local user group, Greater Fort Worth SQL Server Users Group. This presentation didn’t require as much preparation, probably closer to fifteen hours, but it still required a significant investment of time. I’ll write more on the presentations in upcoming posts.

On the work front, I have been nursing a few longer-term tickets. Obviously, in a service desk environment, we want to close our tickets as quickly as possible. It’s always nice to take a call and quickly resolve the issue. However, I enjoy performance and in-depth troubleshooting tasks (such as root cause analysis). Unfortunately, while very intriguing, they also take a great deal of time and effort to complete. A colleague insists that I’m too thorough, and he’s right, but it’s hard to pass up a chance for some good SQL Server sleuthing! Also, I want to provide certainty to our customers and actionable recommendations that keep the situation from recurring. So, in early March, it just ended up that quite a few of these larger tasks landed on my plate. Then two of the four guys on my team took off the same week for spring break. For the first time at this job, I started feeling overloaded. Fortunately, my teammates jumped in and helped clear up a lot of the back log.

Finally, my wife and I adopted a puppy in the middle of the month. Our sleep schedule has definitely suffered from this, as we all grow accustomed to each other. By the way, I am tremendously impressed with the volunteers at the Miniature Schnauzer Rescue of North Texas. They were so friendly and helpful in finding the right addition to our family.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Preface

2009-02-28

A colleague of mine is a big proponent of social computing and, largely due to his influence, I have decided to take the plunge. Historically I’ve been a lurker, but I’m abandoning those tendencies for two main reasons:

  1. it’s time to give back after all of the problems that other people’s blogs have helped me solve, and
  2. I’d like to play a bigger role in the SQL Server community and this will help me to be more involved.

I hope that my contribution is valuable to others.

I imagine that most of my postings will relate to SQL Server, but I will likely also touch on automation, performance, system administration, and troubleshooting.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »