Recently, my boss paid for me to attend Microsoft Course 2780 Maintaining a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Database at Solid Quality Learning (thanks, boss!)
Around 18 months ago, our department was put in charge of a SQL Server 2005 box. I've been using SQL 2005 since then which of course gave me a huge headstart in the course. Way back when, I attended the 2779 training (focused more on developers), and thought that the 2780 training would complement it and make me into a DBA :-)
Well, the training is over, and I'm not a DBA, but I got a lot out of the course; below is my quick review on the good, the bad, and the ugly:
The Good
- I would recommend this course if you are trying to come to grips with the DBA side of things in SQL Server 2005.
- Rob Farley did a fantastic job standing up front of the class. He was knowledgeable and friendly, happy to answer questions and go "above and beyond" the standard course material.
- I got to talk to a bunch of smart guys, like Greg Linwood, Brett Clarke and Simon Gerada from Solid Quality Learning.
- The other attendees were the most polite IT professionals I've ever met. Everyone got along, and the class atmosphere was relaxed.
- There was real food from a real cafe.
- Our machines were P4 2.8GHz with 3.5 GB of RAM, running Windows XP, and all course work was done in pre-configured virtual machines. I had no technical hitches (Vista would have been nice, though).
- Rob mentioned that originally the course was too short at just 3 days. 5 days was about right for the 9 modules covered.
The Bad
- Um, not much here. Possibly too much typing of SQL as opposed to using the GUI :-)
The Ugly
- The price - I realise we're actually paying for having an expert tutor and not the sum of all the good things like the PC's, lunch, and course book...but why is IT training so darned expensive?
- Documentation - The standard MS coursebook is overly verbose, and does not feature a single screenshot. You could never sell a book like that.
- Only instant coffee (unless you went to the cafe downstairs) :-(
All in all, this was a great training that a got a lot out of. Rob added real-world hints & tips, and it was also interesting to hear the other participants tales of managing multiple (several hundred, in one case) servers and different versions of SQL Server.
Tags: sql server, database, training, Solid Quality Learning, Rob Farley