Not too long ago the developer community got a fantastic resource called Stack Overflow. It's a question and answer site, so it's like forums, only it's not. The interface is well done, finding questions to answer is easy because of the tag system, and the site has in place a capability to give people who are active more and more capabilities to help manage the site. It's a really neat idea. The issue with Stack Overflow is it is development-centric and by design. So the powers over Stack Overflow have created a sister site called Server Fault which is for IT professionals - Same interface, same tags, and same increasing ability to help be responsible for the community site.

Now Server Fault is currently in "private" beta, but that should last only a week or two based on the post about Server Fault in the Stack Overflow blog. If you've been somewhat active on Stack Overflow, check out that blog post, because it tells you how you can get active on Server Fault right now. It is actively being used. If you don't meet the criteria, don't worry, one or two weeks go by fast.

Does this replace technology centric sites like SQL Server Central? Not really, it's just another resource. The great thing about SQL Server Central is it covers all things SQL Server. So there are a lot of great SQL Server pros at SSC and at SSC you don't have to worry about going to a different site if you have a programming question or a system administration/SQL Server administration type of question. SSC covers it all with respect to SQL Server. And you'll see a lot of us on both sites. I'm a bit more active on Server Fault right now only because I'm trying to stay ahead of Brent Ozar on reputation and to get a chance to answer some questions there. Brent is a question hawk who will snatch out your prey right from under you! If you post there on a subject related to SQL Server, SANs, or virtualization, do it quick and do it thorough, lest Brent swoop down from on high! Okay, I'm kidding about that. When he's on, he's just trying to help, just like the rest of us, and he has a very great in-depth knowledge of multiple technologies. He also helps support the actual Stack Overflow site as their DB performance expert.