Year End Wrap-up

This is my wrap-up for 2009 and a preview for 2010.

A big chunk of my year was testing virtualizing our production servers with different configurations. After months of testing we learned that our workload wasn’t conducive to virtualization.

During the last few months I began testing SnapManager from IBM for use as a backup tool. While SnapManager is a great tool for bringing a server online quickly, I can’t see a way of restoring individual objects. Unfortunately in our shop it’s far more likely to have a table accidentally updated or deleted than have a whole database go corrupt. I’d like to find a way for both to work, having the best of both worlds.

I started to learn Microsoft’s BI stack. I’m already pretty familiar with Reporting Services, but I’ve only played around with Integration Services and I’ve done nothing with Analysis Services. So far I’ve just scheduled a simple package to collect database sizes so I can track growth. I’ve got a long way to go.

I’m on vacation this week, not going back to work until January 4th. I’m using my downtime to create a virtual Win 7 pc to run all the 2010 betas coming down. I also want to set it so I can boot directly to it, using the new functionality in Windows 7.

So what’s coming up next year?

• I’ll finish my testing of SnapManager and I’ll post my results.
• I’m going to attend the first SQL Saturday in the Chicago area in April. I’ll post info about this early next month.
• Continue my education into BI using the SQL tools.

One of my resolutions for next is to continue studying new technologies – new to me that is. I want to become more proficient in Powershell and Silverlight, among others.

Happy holidays to all, and I’ll see you next year.