New SQL job responsibility

Chipsch

So I am reaching out here to get an idea of where someone without any SQL experience should start. I am currently a senior network administrator (pure cisco) that is being looked at to do some Microsoft SQL work. Lack of staff in one department has led management to this possible outcome.

I have some knowledge in programming c++ and java through school but that is about it. Another gimmick to this is certification is required. Soooo where to start? Any help would be extremely appreciated. By the way, just because this would be something they have me doing on the side, doesn't mean I will be doing the minimum. I have this impulse to always do it right and fix it until its as perfect as I can make it.

If a programming language would be recommended what should I be looking at as well? Lots more questions that I can't quite spit out due to a warped mind after finding this out. Last night with a nice cold glass of beer for a while it seems.

RobertKaucher

http://www.techexams.net/forums/sql-server-exams/52826-mcitp-dba-2008-resources.html

There are 3 books I would suggest upfront: the SQL Server in Action, T-SQL in 10 Minutes, and then DBA Survivor, which is not on page above. Those will certainly get you started.

Chipsch

Thank you so much for the response. So the link you posted would be to follow the proper certification path also? Normally i wouldn't concern myself with certs this early on but the company has a requirement that when you touch the technology you need to be certified within x amount of months.

So i will grab those three books you recommended and start looking at the link i suppose then. Any particular order that could be recommended for the certs also? Used to cisco stuff where it can be any order at the professional level.

RobertKaucher

Chipsch wrote: »

Thank you so much for the response. So the link you posted would be to follow the proper certification path also? Normally i wouldn't concern myself with certs this early on but the company has a requirement that when you touch the technology you need to be certified within x amount of months.

So i will grab those three books you recommended and start looking at the link i suppose then. Any particular order that could be recommended for the certs also? Used to cisco stuff where it can be any order at the professional level.

A certain number of months for the Pro cert? Like 3? Not going to happen without either some very, very serious study and practice or a brain transplant from a DBA. It took me nearly a year to get my first Pro level cert on SQL Server 2005. The issue is the exams are both broad and deep. You need to know a lot about server administration, storage, performance tuning, and server/db disaster recovery as well as the specifics about these things as they pertain to SQL Server. Not to mention the relational theory and RDBMS specifics. This is very different from other sorts of MS certs as it is not just some enterprise application cert. SQL Server is much more than that and the level and topics range from needing to know how the 1s and 0s are layed down on the disk subsystem (is it a SAN or DAS and is it alligned?) all the way to up to needing to know how to use DMVs (Dynamic Management Views) to determine if a specific query is causing locks. 6 months might be more reasonable - but even that might be pushing it...

phoeneous

Yeah, SQL is no joke but it sure is a lot of fun! Most of the networking guys that I've worked with in the past didn't want to touch it with a 10 foot table but I find solace in it. Trying different things to see how it manipulates or retrieves data is intriguing to me. What version of SQL are you guys using? What type of work are you going to be doing?

Chipsch

Looks like MS SQL 2008. Scope of work has yet to be fully determined. I am trying to get a jump start on this though. To be honest, I don't think that they know what they want yet.

Bokeh

You might want to look at this:

Amazon.com: Beginning SQL Joes 2 Pros: The SQL Hands-On Guide for Beginners (SQL Exam Prep Series 70-433 Volume 1 of 5) (Sql Design Series) (9781439253175): Rick A Morelan, Doug Fritz, Jessica Brown, Peter D. Kendall: Books

Author is very active on email, always will to answer questions, etc. I got a copy of the book, but haven't dug into it too much, plan to this summer.

Chipsch

Boke, that looks like another good one. I am going to have to really sit down and figure out what the best ones are or I can see myself getting overwhelmed with books alone very quickly. Thanks to everyone that has contributed to my request also.

Robert, thats a lot of stuff and honestly it looks like tons of fun. Maybe that is why my wife tends to think that I am not quite stable mentally.

RobertKaucher

Getting into SQL Server was the bast choice I have made in my career. It is a ton of fun and you need to know a lot about a lot things.

phoeneous

RobertKaucher wrote: »

Getting into SQL Server was the bast choice I have made in my career. It is a ton of fun and you need to know a lot about a lot things.

Agreed. It's one thing to design a network but understanding the data that passes through the network and how to manage it is very fun for me. They never did reporting services at my job until I got there and now they love me for it.

RK, do you work with mySql too?

RobertKaucher

phoeneous wrote: »

Agreed. It's one thing to design a network but understanding the data that passes through the network and how to manage it is very fun for me. They never did reporting services at my job until I got there and now they love me for it.

RK, do you work with mySql too?

I have in the past for personal stuff. At work we are an MS shop nearly exclusively.

Chipsch

So last night while awaiting and ios and asdm push to an asa i placed some orders on amazon. Wells, it's going to be a heavy box when it gets here! 6 books in all that were carefully handpicked from the wonderful advice you all gave me. That doesn't include the 70-646 book that was also ordered to brush up on some server admin stuff. Should be getting them by Thursday so the slow journey will begin. Who knows this could end up prompting a career field change. Time to go eat a burrito and follow it up with a scrumpchous margarita, or two .

RobertKaucher

Good luck! Help us keep this forum active

Chipsch

Looking at purchasing a new computer as well to run a more sophisticated virtual environment at my house. My home computing environment currently consists of a laptop from 2007, served its purpose. Looking for a quad core with atleast 8 GB RAM to run everything. Found a deal on a AMD quad core at Wal-Mart with those 8 GB for 550$ earlier. Gonna keep poking around in the meantime though.

RobertKaucher

Make sure you check the outlets (Dell outlet) I just got a 17" laptop i7 processor, 1 GB video card, 8 GB RAM, 500 GB hdd and other features for $1000. An amazing deal.

Chipsch

Thank you very much for that reminder. Will check that out in a bit.

Chipsch

Books came in the mail today. Will be cracking open SQL 2008 real world tonight. Unfortunately i have to do some serious reconfiguration of my book space to fit everything in there just right. Can't seem to get myself to switch to reading from a Kindle or something....just doesn't feel right.

Bokeh

Dont forget, you can get a copy of SQL 2008 developers edition for around 50 bucks if your employer didn't give you a copy.

Don't go rippin on the Kindle, lol. I have one right now with me at work, reading over Win 7 stuff in between support calls and emails. One of the best Xmas gifts I ever got. The DX is the way to go.

phoeneous

Bokeh wrote: »

You might want to look at this:

Amazon.com: Beginning SQL Joes 2 Pros: The SQL Hands-On Guide for Beginners (SQL Exam Prep Series 70-433 Volume 1 of 5) (Sql Design Series) (9781439253175): Rick A Morelan, Doug Fritz, Jessica Brown, Peter D. Kendall: Books

Author is very active on email, always will to answer questions, etc. I got a copy of the book, but haven't dug into it too much, plan to this summer.

I might have to get his dvd's, the reviews are pretty good.

Chipsch

So fortunately the project here has been put on a back burner. The amount of information in these books is astounding. Haven't even put a dent in the first one due to my current college load also, learning VB and ado.net for one of my classes. What bit I have gone over though has made me realise how out of touch I am with my windows administration side. This is definitely going to be a long treck, but exciting.

LCA

Chipsch wrote: »

So fortunately the project here has been put on a back burner. The amount of information in these books is astounding. Haven't even put a dent in the first one due to my current college load also, learning VB and ado.net for one of my classes. What bit I have gone over though has made me realise how out of touch I am with my windows administration side. This is definitely going to be a long treck, but exciting.

It is very important to have indepth knowledge of Windows Server before going anywhere near SQL Server. I cannot imagine how I could have got to the point of being ready to do my first SQL Server 2008 R2 exam in the next couple of weeks without having done the MCITP:EA exams first.

It's taken me close to 6 months just to get comfortable with the basics of SQL Server which puts me at junior DBA level. I intend to do the MS exams in this order:

1. 70-432
2. 70-433
3. 70-450
4. 70-448