Essential Skills for SQL Server DBAs: Session 1 Resources

For those of you that attended my 3 part eLearning Series on “Essential Skills for SQL Server DBAs” with WindowsIT/SQLMag, here’s a list of additional resources and links for things that I mentioned, alluded to, or wanted to provide additional information on from within session 1.

It’s Good to Be the DBA

During this session, I mentioned some of the benefits of being the DBA, and quoted job and salary surveys from CNN/Money, and Indeed.com – showing that being a DBA can be a rewarding career, has a great outlook in terms of looking like DBAs are going to be around for a while, and salaries aren’t bad either.

I also called out that there were different KINDS of DBAs. Gobs of them. And quoted a list defined by Craig S. Mullins and Brad McGehee. (Brad’s list of different types of DBAs can be found in his applicable chapter in SQL Server MVP Deep Dives – a great book.)

Technical Details / Basics / Fundamentals

During the second part of this session, we took a look at core, or basic, SQL Server concepts that all DBAs should know about. And, after providing a VERY high-level overview of how SQL Server works as a proxy to manage access to your databases/files, we then touched upon how SQL Server uses, well, SQL Server databases, to meet its own needs. And, in that regard, we touched upon SQL Server’s system databases. So, to that end, I wanted to make sure that I provided a bit more depth or detail on some of those databases, and therefore have a couple of links to Books Online:

SQL Server’s System Databases

The Resource Database (I could tell you more, but I’d have to kill you… )

Likewise, the following two links can be great resources to check out if my overview of how SQL Server works was new or something you’re not terribly familiar with:

The SQL Server Database Engine

Managing SQL Server

And, finally, I also wanted to drop off a link basic documentation within SQL Server’s Books Online for Security as well:

SQL Server Security

And, as always, feel free to ping me if you have any questions that weren’t answered during the Q&A portion of this session.