Help!!!

  • Hello guys,

    This is not a technical question...;-)

    I just moved to a DBA role. For now, I'm assigned to a simple creating of objects and some maintenance.

    I want to be a successful DBA someday and hopefully can write sql scripts without looking or using BOL. 🙂

    What do you think should I start with myself to make it happen? Should I buy some SQL Server books or reading online is enough. Can you recommend some good sql books to read?

    Thank you Masters! 😀

  • Hi. In the margin on the left of the screen <--- there is a link called Books, which is a good place to start. Some of them are kindly provided for free 🙂 but obviously you can buy them too.

    Also you might enjoy Brent Ozar's Accidental DBA 6 Month Training Plan (below-also free). You get an email a week and they're very interesting. The whole blog is good actually- have a read!

    http://www.brentozar.com/archive/2013/07/announcing-our-free-accidental-dba-6-month-training-plan/

  • Have a look at the Microsoft Virtual Academy:-

    http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/product-training/sql-server

    Lots of good resources available

  • This question gets asked a lot. You can search out the answers. In fact, I'd practice learning how to look up stuff on the internet. Don't assume that you need to memorize every T-SQL command. Instead just learn how to put them together and then rely on the fact that there is a gigantic resource available to you through the internet.

    But, the one book I absolutely recommend for those getting started is Itzik Ben Gan's T-SQL Querying. It's a must-read. He also has a fundamentals book that's very good.

    "The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
    - Theodore Roosevelt

    Author of:
    SQL Server Execution Plans
    SQL Server Query Performance Tuning

  • +1 for Itzik Ben-Gan's materials. I'm floating around the newb/ intermediate line and it's very helpful as a reference. It also does a very good job of basic logical processing that helped me immensely.

    Looking forward to reading more on some of these thoughts in his Query book.

  • I want to be a successful DBA someday and hopefully can write sql scripts without looking or using BOL. 🙂

    I've been a SQL Server DBA for 13+ years and I use BOL every day. For example, don't waste time deliberately memorizing syntax, just look it up. Instead, learn key skills, such a dealing with "big data", tuning indexes and i/o, etc..

    Edit: One of my interview qs is always something about BOL. If they say they (almost) never use, I personally don't consider hiring them.

    SQL DBA,SQL Server MVP(07, 08, 09) "It's a dog-eat-dog world, and I'm wearing Milk-Bone underwear." "Norm", on "Cheers". Also from "Cheers", from "Carla": "You need to know 3 things about Tortelli men: Tortelli men draw women like flies; Tortelli men treat women like flies; Tortelli men's brains are in their flies".

  • Beatrix Kiddo (7/10/2014)


    Hi. In the margin on the left of the screen <--- there is a link called Books, which is a good place to start. Some of them are kindly provided for free 🙂 but obviously you can buy them too.

    I was going to recommend the first book on the list - "Troubleshooting SQL Server: A Guide for the Accidental DBA". A great resource to get started.

  • WOW!! Thank you very much for the replies! I appreciate it so much! 😀

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