[read this post on Mr. Fox SQL blog]
A couple of weeks back I presented the keynote at SQL Server Saturday Sydney, which was an absolute blast. It was my first keynote, so honestly I wasn’t quite sure what to talk about. Now I’ve been to many seminars, conferences, etc and seen many, many key notes – and so in the end I decided to have a bit of “light-hearted” fun and simply tell a story!
So I decided to talk about SQL Server – yes, I know its exciting – but moreso about how it is that we all got to be there in that very room that morning, listening to some guy present a keynote on SQL. And most importantly how everyone else in that room had their own related personal journey with SQL Server.
And so – this journey starts all the way back in 1989; 3 great friends got together one summer and built something AMAZING; SQL Server 1.0. And it ends some 30 years and 13 versions later with SQL Server 2019 – more amazing than anyone could have imagined when they cut that code all those years before.
So sit back, reminisce, and have fun!
(click link to download PowerPoint presentation file)
An Incredible Journey – where does your journey start?
For reference, a lot of people have asked me where the heck did I get all of this content… and so, here you are…
- Wiki – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Microsoft_SQL_Server
- Wiki – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_SQL_Server
- SQL Builds – http://sqlserverbuilds.blogspot.com/
- SQL 2019 MS Docs – https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/sql-server/what-s-new-in-sql-server-ver15?view=sql-server-ver15
- Lastly – from my loooong-term memory (I started on SQL Server 6.0!)
For those interested, all my other presentation collateral can be viewed / downloaded from here – https://mrfoxsql.wordpress.com/presentations/
Conclusion
Well there you have it, a quick flash summary of how we came to be with SQL Server 2019 today. If you have ever worked with SQL before (either box-product or public-cloud), then I hope you had a chance to have a bit of a laugh, and reflect on where your own journey started in all of this database awesomeness!
Finally, there’s just a few really important key points I want to leave you with…
- The success of modern data platforms like SQL Server don’t happen by accident – there’s a lot of sweat-equity from many people that’s gone into building, supporting or contributing to SQL Server over a very long time. What you see in the various SQL product SKU’s, including in the public-cloud, has matured over many years.
- The success of the SQL data platform isn’t just a function of the SQL product team, its also a function of the SQL Community – which I have always said is one of its greatest strengths. So I must ask – what have you done to help your own local technical community? Attend a SQL Saturday or Meetup event, write a cool blog post, answer a forum question – this is what makes our community great!
- SQL Server and the Azure Data Platform are very large, and growing very fast. Learning is continuous, so embrace the change. If your own Azure cloud journey hasn’t started yet – then I must ask why not? There’s heaps of free Azure training out there – try MS Learn (for starters) – https://docs.microsoft.com/en-au/learn/paths/azure-fundamentals/
- Lastly, this wasn’t meant to be too serious or be a This is Your Life!” old-school TV-show for SQL Server – so I’m certain I’ve got parts of this history wrong. But hey bottom line – have fun – and don’t take it all too seriously.
And you know, what the heck…
SQL Server Forever!
(Mr Fox SQL, 2019)
So as usual, and as I always say, give this a try yourself, as your own mileage may vary!