Introduction

I've been thinking about creating a database oriented blog for a while now. Gradually a stockpile of article ideas has been accumulating in my notes, and now is the time to starting expanding on some of them.

A little about my background - I've been working on databases for 15 years. I started out working for Microsoft in tech support on DOS 7, as a contractor. I had no formal computer background whatsoever, but it turned out that I really enjoyed it, and was pretty good at it.

I switched to tech support for Microsoft Access when it first came out, then started working more on ODBC and MS SQL Server issues. After a year or so of solving problems on the phone for people who were making about 5 times what I was, I decided that doing database consulting/contracting was the way to go. I got my MCDBA certification (I was one of the first!) and have been doing that ever since, focusing on MS SQL Server, but also with a heavy dose of OLAP, Perl, and various other tools.

It's been a great career for me - flexible and lucrative, and often quite interesting. This blog is a way for me to give back to the database community, share some of the strategies that have been useful for me and the companies I've worked at, and also to bitch and moan about some of the problems that always seems to come up, that are also very hard to change.

Unless it's something I'm really excited about, I'm going to stay away from SQL tips and tricks. That kind of information is plentiful, and just a Google search away. I'm planning on articles about topics such as:

- Why is it so important to set up and maintain great development and test
environments?
- Databases and bug tracking software - best practices
- Tracking database usage - why bother?

I welcome comments and ideas!