Be the best you you can be

Ho-Jon: "How can I ever thank you?" Hawkeye Pierce: "You just go and be the best you you can be." "Won't you please, please tell me what we've learned?  I know it sounds absurd, but please tell me who I am..." -- Supertramp, "The Logical Song" "Who are you?  Who, who, who, who?" -- The …

The checklist manifesto

Some time ago, I came up with a new presentation idea that I tentatively titled "The magic of checklists."  The idea is to demonstrate how checklists can improve tasks in any organization.  I have a number of ideas regarding this presentation, and I'll expand upon them in a future 'blog article. As preparation for this …

SQL Saturday #615, Baltimore, MD

My next speaking engagement is set!  On Saturday, May 6, I will be speaking at SQL Saturday #615 in Baltimore, MD.  I will be giving not one, but two presentations that day: "Tech Writing for Techies: A Primer" and "Disaster Documents: The role of documentation in disaster recovery." Hope to see you there!

“I lost my job. Now what?!?”

Before any of my friends panic, no, I didn't actually lose my job (at least not at the time of this article); this is just what I'm using for the title. Having said that, here's a little background for what prompted me to write this. A few weeks ago, I saw a Facebook post from …

On memorization

About a week ago, I got a text from a friend saying that she was taking up the accordion again.  (If said friend is reading this, I didn't know you played the accordion!)  Knowing that I have a background as a classical pianist, she asked me my advice on how to memorize music.  I told …

The Migration Checklist

I am working on a future presentation regarding checklists. I saw this post from my friend, Steve Jones, and I figured it was worth a reblog (not to mention that I can refer to this for my reference).

Voice of the DBA

One of the things I always recommend is that when you upgrade a SQL Server instance, you perform a side by side migration to a new host instead of an in-place upgrade. My main concern is risk. While the upgrade process is fairly smooth, I still have hiccups installing SQL Server at times, and for a live server, the last thing I want to do is have to uninstall SQL Server and reinstall an old version.

Apart from the risk, I also think an upgrade is a great time to refresh hardware. If you’re paying for the latest bits, I’d spend a little more for newer hardware if I can. The cost usually isn’t much compared to SQL licenses, especially these days with hardware being very cheap and powerful. New hardware also gives me a staging place to test the migrations, without disturbing the existing system.

Planning the migration across…

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