About the Technical Reviewers

David Cobb is a system architect for CheckAlt Payment Solutions, providers of automated and electronic check transaction processing since 2005. David is a Microsoft Certified Trainer, training people on SQL Server since 2002. He is also the principal consultant for Cobb Information Technologies, Inc., founded in 1996, providing technology consulting with a focus on SQL Server. David’s passion for new technologies includes PowerShell, Azure/cloud, and Docker.

David and his wife, Eivina, are raising two wonderful boys in Boca Raton, Florida.

Thomas LaRock is a head geek at SolarWinds and a Microsoft Certified Master, SQL Server MVP, VMware vExpert, and a Microsoft Certified Trainer. He has over 15 years’ experience in the IT industry in roles that include programmer, developer, analyst, and database administrator.

LaRock has worked in numerous IT roles, with much of his career focused on database administration, leading to his role as technical evangelist for Confio. While at Confio, his research and experience helped to create the initial versions of the software now known as the SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer.

LaRock joined the SolarWinds family through the acquisition of Confio in 2013. His many Microsoft accreditations include SQL Server MVP, MCSM, MCM, MCT, MCITP, MCTS, MCDBA, and MCP—whew!

LaRock is also president of the Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS) and is an avid blogger, author, and technical reviewer for numerous books about SQL Server management. He now focuses his time by working with customers to resolve problems and answer questions regarding database performance tuning and virtualization for SQL Server, Oracle, Sybase, and DB2, making it his mission to give IT and data professionals longer weekends.

Ahmed Sabbour started at Microsoft three years ago as an Azure Technical Evangelist. He then moved on to drive the Platform as a Service scenarios as a technical solution professional. He is now a Technical Black Belt for Enabling Application Innovation on Microsoft Azure.

Prior to Microsoft, Ahmed worked at Nokia as a technical manager, enabling partners across India, the Middle East, and Africa in building solutions for the Nokia ecosystem. Ahmed holds a master’s of computer science and engineering degree from the German University in Cairo.