Are you a new or accidental SQL Server DBA, feeling overwhelmed by the complex world of database administration? Don't worry, we've got you covered! This talk covers the essential skills you need to know to get started as a SQL Server DBA.

We will start with SQL Server security, covering the basics of authentication, authorization, and encryption, as well as best practices for securing your databases against common threats.

Next, we will dive into backup and restore, which is critical for protecting your data and ensuring business continuity.

Thirdly, we will explore how to maintain your SQL Server databases, covering tasks such as monitoring, troubleshooting, and maintenance.

Finally, we will cover performance tuning, which is the process of optimizing your databases for maximum performance.

By the end of this workshop, you will have a solid foundation in the essential skills required to be SQL Server DBA, enabling you to confidently manage and optimize your databases for your organization. You will be equipped with practical knowledge and tips to keep your databases secure, backed up, maintained, and performing at their best.

You will learn

You will learn how to create logins, assign permissions, configure firewall rules, and use auditing to track activity and compliance.

You will learn how to create and schedule backups, restore from backups, and test your backups to ensure they are reliable. We will also cover common backup and restore scenarios, such as restoring a database to a point in time or to a different server.

You will learn how to use SQL Server Management Studio and other tools to monitor system health, identify and resolve performance issues, and perform routine maintenance tasks such as database backups and index maintenance.
You will learn how to use tools like SQL Server Profiler and Database Engine Tuning Advisor to identify and resolve performance bottlenecks, optimize queries and indexes, and improve hardware and storage performance.

Additional notes
You will be introduced to the following tools during the day
• Dbatools
• Sp_whoisactive
• Sp_blitz suite of tools
• Ola Hallengren’s SQL Server Maintenance Solution

Prerequisites
The ideal attendee for this workshop will be someone new to SQL Server database administration or would consider themselves an accidental DBA. I’d say if you have been working with SQL Server as DBA for more than say 18 months then this session won’t be for you, I probably won’t introduce anything you don’t know already.