Recently I had to patch nodes in a failover cluster and encountered a very strange situation. I decided to post about it just in case someone else out there encounters the same issue.
How to do a SQL Vulnerability Assessment in SSMS
Making sure that your SQL Server environment is secured can be cumbersome and tricky. In SQL Server 2012 (and later), Microsoft introduced a tool called, “SQL Vulnerability Assessment“, which helps in finding potential database vulnerabilities. It’s a great tool to help proactively improve your SQL Server database security.
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How to Enable Instant File Initialization SQL Server
There are few features in SQL Server that are disabled, or turned OFF, by default that, in my opinion, should be turned on/enabled. One of those features is something called “Instant File Initialization” (You can read about the other one here).
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BEST SQL Server Indexing Course
Understanding how SQL Server indexing works is crucial for diving deeper into SQL Server internals and overall becoming a SQL Server “badass” :) Having said that, it’s definitely not an easy topic to pickup and comprehend.
How I Overcame My Fear of Public Speaking
One of my goals for 2018 was to start speaking at events (i.e. User groups, SQL Saturdays).
A handful of people (including attendees) have asked how I picked the locations to speak at (i.e. OC, Albuquerque, Dallas and Pensacola). Below is the logic (or lack there of) that went into picking the locations:
- Orange County, California – C’mon. Any excuse to go to California :)
- Albuquerque, New Mexico – Breaking Bad
- Dallas, Texas – My cousin lives there
- Pensacola, Florida – A dear friend/mentor of mine will be speaking there as well (Tim Radney)
How I Overcame My Fear of Public Speaking
As I sit in my hotel room after giving my 4th (and most likely last SQL Saturday event for 2018), I was wondering how I overcome my fear of public speaking?
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SQL Saturday Pensacola 2018 – Full Circle
Back in 2015, I attended IEPTO1 by SQLSkills. It was there that I met Tim Radney. I remember asking him for advice on the best way to get out there in the community, etc. He said, “start a blog, then start speaking at user groups and SQL Saturdays…”
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BEST SQL Server Logging, Recovery, & Transaction Log Course
There is a great comprehensive training video series by Paul Randal called, “SQL Server Logging, Recovery and the Transaction Log.” This is a Pluralsight 7.5 hour brain dump of everything Paul Randal knows about logging, recovery and transaction log.
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A Rickshaw and SQL Saturday Dallas 2018
This past weekend I was honored to speak at SQL Saturday Dallas. I had the chance to meet some awesome #SQLFamily, a few of them I have interviewed for my blog. Mindy Curnutt (organizer), Tim Mitchell, and Kellyn Pot’Vin-Gorman.
I initially picked Dallas because my cousin lives there and thought it would be a great reason drag him along with me to attend his very first SQL Saturday event. Continue reading “A Rickshaw and SQL Saturday Dallas 2018”
Interview – Rob Sewell
I decided to start a series of blogs where I interview key people in the SQL Server community. Instead of me asking technical questions, I plan on asking about their outlook on the future, books they read (non-fiction and/or technical), and their overall thoughts on where technology (mainly SQL Server) is headed. You can find more interviews here.
Mohammad: Do you think people who dismiss the cloud as a “fad” or just don’t take it serious enough to learn about it (i.e. Azure, AWS, etc), will be in a tough spot to find a job 5 years from now?
Rob: I think you can compare it to something like COBAL where a 60 year old language is still in force today or Fortran where there are still plenty of job openings. There will be jobs for longer than 5 years but I think there will be less and less opportunities that are solely on-premises. I believe that it is really important that any person who is working in IT gains knowledge and experience in cloud technologies and their capabilities to be able to have a long and fulfilling career.
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Interview – Randolph West
I decided to start a series of blogs where I interview key people in the SQL Server community. Instead of me asking technical questions, I plan on asking about their outlook on the future, books they read (non-fiction and/or technical), and their overall thoughts on where technology (mainly SQL Server) is headed. You can find more interviews here.
Next up: Randolph West (b | t):
Mohammad: Do you think people who dismiss the cloud as a “fad” or just don’t take it serious enough to learn about it (i.e. Azure, AWS, etc), will be in a tough spot to find a job 5 years from now?
Randolph: You’ll need to have at least a passing knowledge of one or more cloud vendors to remain competitive in the future. It’s taken a while to get to this point, but as I predicted in 2009, the excuses to avoid cloud are less compelling than they’ve ever been (excluding legacy and legal restrictions of course).
Interview – Andreas Wolter
I decided to start a series of blogs where I interview key people in the SQL Server community. Instead of me asking technical questions, I plan on asking about their outlook on the future, books they read (non-fiction and/or technical), and their overall thoughts on where technology (mainly SQL Server) is headed. You can find more interviews here.
Next up: Andreas Wolter (b | t):
Mohammad: Do you think people who dismiss the cloud as a “fad” or just don’t take it serious enough to learn about it (i.e. Azure, AWS, etc), will be in a tough spot to find a job 5 years from now?
Andreas: Fair question. First of all, from what I see that number of people is declining a lot. Even in Germany ;-)
How To Install The STIG Viewer
In this blog I will show you how to install the STIG viewer. I have gone through the STIG Viewer User Guide (Version 1, Release 3) and only included the useful information below. If you would like to read the entire User Guide, you can do so here. Continue reading “How To Install The STIG Viewer”
How I Got High at SQLSaturday Orange County 2018
[I would like to ask a favor from those who attended my session; If you haven’t already, please go here to evaluate my session. I truly appreciate it!]
One of my goals for 2018 was to finally take the leap and jump into the world of public speaking.
So I went to the PASS website, navigated (myPASS –> mySQLSaturday) to the “Session Submission” section and scrolled through all the cities holding a SQLSaturday event. Continue reading “How I Got High at SQLSaturday Orange County 2018”
SQL Server 2016 STIG Overview
To make it easier for people in charge of “STIG’ing” their SQL Server 2016 environment, this blog is aimed to go over the newest MS SQL Server 2016 STIG Overview document (Version 1, Release 1) that was released on 09 March 2018. If you want to read through the whole document you can download it here. Otherwise, below is my summation of the relevant sections. Continue reading “SQL Server 2016 STIG Overview”
How I Studied For, and Passed, Exam: 70-764 Administering a Microsoft SQL Database Infrastructure
Two Sides of the Coin
I know there is a stigma about certifications. Pros and Cons.
Cons
- Certifications are too costly
- Easy to cheat
- Does not mean much without real world experience
- Does not reflect what really happens in the real production environments
Pros
- It’s great to get your foot in the door (for someone starting out)
- Validates what you already know (hopefully)
- Can create advancement opportunities (imagine an MCSE vs someone who doesn’t have a cert)
I actually agree with both sides. It all comes down to your intentions. If you are okay with lying/cheating to get a certification, then that’s your prerogative. If you want to get a certification to move up in your career or just prove to yourself that you can get a certification…that’s cool. Continue reading “How I Studied For, and Passed, Exam: 70-764 Administering a Microsoft SQL Database Infrastructure”