🚀 go-pugleaf

There are two areas that any consultant could
make good use of knowledge in:  system admin/
database admin is one area, and database design
and implementation is the other.  In this
latter category I would also include writing
code in TRANSACT-SQL.

If you can afford it, it would be well worth
the investment to spend a couple of weeks at
a Microsoft Authorized Technical Education
Center taking a couple of classes.  Course
#243, implementation of a database design in
SQL Server NT, is a class in writing SQL
code and taking an existing database design
and porting it to SQL Server.  Included are
indepth looks at all the various database
objects, how indexes are implemented, how
to maintain all the types of data integrity,
etc.

Course #213 is system administration of
SQL Server which goes through the installation
process, how SQL Server integrates itself
with NT, network and SQL Server security,
database permissions, performance monitoring,
fine tuning for performance, estimating space
requirements, etc.

In addition to these classes, you will also
be much better off with learning as much as
you can about NT networks.

These classes are not cheap, they are going to
cost you in the neighborhood of $1800 to $2100
per week depending on the training center.  In
my opinion, they are well worth the investment.
I say this not because I deliver these courses,
but because I got my start as an administrator/
consultant contractor at Microsoft.  If I had
taken a course, I would have known much more
than I did going in, would have spent much less
time with trial and error and general floundering
around, and would have been able to command much
higher rates sooner.

If you don't go with one of the classes, find all
the books you can that deal with SQL Server and
Sybase (at least those that are no more than 2
years old).  These will also help.

By the way, there will be new versions of these
classes coming out when SQL Server 6.0 is released,
probably some time this summer.

Hope this helps.

Best,
Michael Culver
Microsoft Certified SQL Server Trainer
Mercer Island, WA

<---- Begin Included Message ---->
From: Dan Shookowsky <zippo@NETAXS.COM>
Subject:      Where to start?

I'm a computer consultant familiar with Microsoft Access and Visual Basic
(among other things).  I have decided that it would be a good idea to
learn a server type database package.  Since MS SQL Server is my first
choice, I was wondering if anyone has any good ideas on what concepts
would I most benefit from learning.  In other words, where do I start?

<---- End Included Message ---->