Bluedog67

Random Thoughts About SQL Server and My Dog Blue

About Bluedog67

My name is Stephen Horne. I am a well-trained owner of an Australian Cattle Dog named Blue. I also develop software mainly using SQL Server, ASP.NET, and C#. I love data, databases, T-SQL, and turning raw data into actionable information. My plan for this blog is to write about SQL Server and sometimes my dog Blue. Please contact me at stephen at bluedog67 dot com. Follow me on Twitter at bluedog67.

Core SQL Server DBA Skills and My Home SQL Server DBA Learning Lab

I recently completed 14 days of SQL Server MCITP Bootcamp in both Admin and Dev in Atlanta. The course went well. I learned a great deal. I plan to write more about the experience soon. The most important thing that I learned was how much there is to learn in the SQL Server DBA world (and how little I really knew about that side of the house). Being an experienced SQL Server developer, the Dev coursework was very familiar (except some of the XML-related stuff!). Going into the training, the Dev coursework and certification was my focus - the Admin stuff was a nice-to-have but wasn't my real interest. But I found that learning more about the DBA world opened my eyes. My interest in possibly doing that type of work went from effectively zero to now where it is a real consideration.

I knew when I got back home from the training that if I were going to pursue this idea of possibly doing SQL Server DBA work that I needed to set up a home lab to learn more. I have started this process and had some success (probably small to an experienced DBA but not small to me!). On my Windows 7 system using Virtual Box (thanks for recommendation @cfrandall and @venzann), I set up a simple network containing 3 VMs (all Windows Server 2008 R2) - one VM the Domain Controller & DNS box, the second a SQL Server 2008 R2 box, and the third another SQL Server 2008 R2 box (for testing replication, mirroring, linked servers, etc). I got things working - likely not optimally - but working. I will likely start over from and scratch and really take my time stepping through the process to make sure I understand it and try and get things more correct. I am in the process of writing this up and will share shortly.

I have some ideas about what to work on and learn using my home SQL Server DBA "Learning Lab", including things like backup and recovery, rebuilding indexes, understanding the various log files, monitoring, the SQL Agent, replication, mirroring, and clustering. I wanted to ask the SQL Server DBA community for some specific ideas about what the "Core SQL Server DBA Skills" are. I plan to work on this skills using my home lab. I also plan on sharing these ideas and what I have learned via this blog.

Thanks in advance for your ideas about "Core SQL Server DBA Skills" and my home SQL Server DBA "Learning Lab". Please share ideas, recommendations, links, etc that might help me or other readers to learn more about becoming a SQL Server DBA. Any useful criticism or suggestions or other feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Posted by stephen on Tuesday, February 16, 2010 2:55 PM
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Comments

Jorge Segarra United States

Tuesday, February 16, 2010 4:25 PM

Jorge Segarra

Man, you're in luck! Next Monday I'll be presenting on JUST that topic for PragmaticWorks SQL Server 101 series: www.pragmaticworks.com/.../...uary2010Webinar.aspx

I'll be kicking off week with how to get started on admin side and rest of the week follows with stuff you need to know to hit the ground running. In addition, if you haven't seen it already, I have at my blog something called SQL University where we start from scratch and walk folks through the various aspects of the SQL world. That can be found at http://sqlchicken.com/sql-university . This semester will focus on more higher level stuff (like HA/DR, more BI stuff, etc.) as well as practical application of stuff learned in first semester. Hope this helps!

Rich United States

Tuesday, February 16, 2010 4:40 PM

Rich

I'd suggest creating an additional VM with another SQL instance.  I started out with a very similar home learning lab when I was studying for my MCITP Admin cert.  I quickly found (coupled with my work experience) that I needed another VM to simulate different situations that I've seen to expand my skills (for example, having a separate instance for the witness in mirroring, for the distributor in replication, for SSRS/DW repository, etc).

stephen United States

Tuesday, February 16, 2010 5:05 PM

stephen

Jorge: Thanks for posting your comment. I am now registered for your PragmaticWorks topic - looking forward to learning more. I started going through some of the Fall SQLUniversity posts. I remember seeing this before and seeing related tweets about it - at the time I was like "I am Dev. That's DBA stuff." I am much more interested now. Will look for the Spring class. Thanks!

I am sorta rethinking my plan to work with my home SQL DBA lab. I played the heck out of World of Warcraft. I know that sometimes when playing my level of concentration and focus was beyond ridiculous - if I could replicate (heh) that in my real work I could do some real damage. What I was thinking about was possibly treating my work with my home lab as a game. I start out as a Level 1 DBA. I gain experience through doing Quests. An example of Quest would be something like "Build a VM network with a Domain Controller VM and a SQL Server VM. Set up the SQL Server instance to use Windows Authentication." or something similar. Some of the tasks you recommend in your SQLUniversity course (especially homework) could become my Quests. My idea is still a bit fuzzy though. The process of blogging and writing really seems to help motivate me and helps me learn. Plus, if instead of always taking from the SQL Server community, I might be able to give a little back.

Thanks again, Jorge!
Stephen Horne (Bluedog67)

stephen United States

Tuesday, February 16, 2010 5:52 PM

stephen

Rich: Thanks for the recommendation for adding another SQL Server VM. Can definitely see the value of having a third. Thanks! Stephen (Bluedog67)