SQL 2008 on August price list

OK, I guess this means we can order it next month. However this articlefrom a TechNet blog only states that 2008 will be on the August list, not that it will ship then.

But this is still good news. If it doesn't ship in August, surely it will be very soon after.

Catching up after vacation

First and foremost, I passed 70-447 on June 27th. I'm done with the 2005 exams, not going to worry about the BI track since I'm not that fluent in SSAS or SSIS (I do know SSRS pretty well, though). So I made my goal of being certified in SQL 2005 before SQL 2008 came out.

Speaking of which, Microsoft just announced yesterday that 2008 will ship in August. More on that later.

Installing RC0, Part 1

OK, so I installed SQl 2008 RC0 yesterday. It was mostly successful. But it was missing the Business Intelligence stuff. I know that there's an issue where you can't upgrade an existing BI install. But I'm running SQL2005 and I was able to install CTP6 with no problems. Unfortunately I don't remember the steps I took to install BI for SQL2008. I did uninstall CTP6 before starting in on RC0.

I've reverted back to CTP6 and I'll try again. This time I'll document the uninstall steps. I obviously missed something.

SQL 2008 RC0 is out

At least it's available through TechNet and MSDN. I'm downloading it now, and I'll play with installing it on my train rides next week. I can't really dig deep since I'm concentrating on 70-447. But once that's over...

One to go..

I passed 70-442 on 5/30. Now I've got my MCITP as aDatabase Developer. Next up, and probably my final SQl 2005 exam,will be the update exam 70-447. I've scheduled that one for 6/27. That means I'll have taken 3 exams in 2 months. It seems to be working. Scheduling the test early forces me to be more prepared. I can focus better on the study material when I have a real deadline in place.

Taking 70-442 Next

I must be crazy, or overconfident, or both. I just scheduled to take 70-442 on May 30th. I'm figuring 2 things; 1, I'm pretty sure of the test material since I work with SQL 2005 daily and I've already read the MS Press training guide and 2, Microsoft's free Second Shot voucher expires at the end of the month. So this way, even if I fail (but that won't happen, right?)I get to retake it at no extra cost. So there's less pressure.

And since I've already passed 70-431 and 70-441, this will make me MCITP as a database developer.

Passed 70-441

Yesterday I passed Microsoft's 70-441 exam, Designing Database Solutions by Using Microsoft SQL Server 2005. Since I've already passed 70-431 and I'm also a MCDBA, I just need to take (and pass) 70-442 and 70-447 to become MCITP as both a Database Developer and a Database Administrator. Maybe I can run across another free exam voucher!

I don't want to break any confidentiality rules, so I won't talk about the exam in detail. But I will say that this exam was the easist Microsoft exam I've taken to date. I've been working with SQL on a daily basis for nine years now, and 2005 since it first was a CTP. That experience, plus now being the de facto DBA on my team at work, was major in preparing for the exam. The MS Press Training Kit was good for studying areas I don't know as much about, like the Service Broker and Notification Services, and it has a good exam simulation. And of course I must thank Microsoft for having the series of 4 webcasts on 70-441 (they're available on demand, I'll post the link later), and Tim Kashani for the great job of presenting the material. Not to mention receiving the free voucher.