You do not create a book of this size and scope in a vacuum, and this book would not have come together without a lot of help. First and foremost, I need to thank my family (Mom, Dad, and Dorine), friends (Dave, Mike, Shelley [Dude], Becca, Becky, and Ken, to name a few), and bandmates old and new for putting up with my lack of availability during the writing of this book, as well as for their support. I would be remiss if I did not thank my local MCS management for their copious support during the writing of the book. From a historical perspective, I would like to thank people like Robert Schroyer, Jeff Lesser, Ricky Ford, and Bob Toth for seeing potential in me that needed just the right amount of push and cultivation.
Now that the book is in your hands, I can get back to composing and arranging for a big band album to be recorded in the fall of 2003. Who would have thought I would have a nearly 1,000-page book on store shelves before a jazz CD on a "real" label? Dave, you were right about that one!
From a book perspective, I must first thank Cathan Cook, Frank McBath, and Kimberly L. Tripp, who wrote or cowrote some portions of the book. There is no way I could have finished this book all on my own. They all sacrificed their time, so I would also like to thank their friends, family, and colleagues for putting up with them during those times, all because I asked them to contribute. Cathan and Kimberly have been friends for quite a while and have been there from nearly the beginning when this was just a white paper! Special thank you wishes need to go to Jeffrey Aven, Maria Balsamo, Todd Bonner, Thomas Casey, Patrick Conlan, Filo D’Souza, Scott Gaskins, Brian Goldstein, Matt Hollingsworth, Marc Ingle, Tom Lucas and the rest of his team, Max Myrick, Greg Page, Vaqar Pirzada, Mark Pohto, Dave Poole, Mike Ray, Greg Smith, Azhar Taj, Don Vilen, Dave Whitney, Logan Worley, and anyone else who has influenced, contributed, or helped along the way with the book. I also consider some of these people friends, and I am glad they are on my side.
There are many more people at Microsoft who should be thanked for their support of me these past few years or for their friendship (and sometimes even both!), but there is not enough space here. A quick attempt at a list other than the aforementioned: Donald Elliott, Rebecca Laszlo, Steve Murchie, Joe Yong, LeRoy Tuttle, Tim Wolff, Dave Wickert, Mark Souza, Bren Newman, Prem Mehra, Alex Nayberg, Richard Waymire, Euan Garden, Will Sweeny, Steve Snyder, Howard Yin, and Lisa Pennington.
On the Microsoft Press side, I would like to thank Kathy Harding, Julie Miller, Michael Bolinger, and Maureen Zimmerman for putting up with me for all of these months. Maureen, in spite of me missing a few deadlines here and there, is an excellent editor who really knew when to push and when to let up. I would especially like to thank Kathy for her friendship during the past few years and for getting the book through the approval process and humoring me by talking about it much longer! I finally put my proverbial money where my mouth was. This book could not be in your hands without the team of editors from nSight, Inc., who did a yeoman’s job editing the manuscript and preparing it for production: Tempe Goodhue, Teresa Horton, Joseph Gustaitis, Piotr Prussak, and Robert Saley.
Technical reviewers were crucial for this project. Without them you would not be reading this. They made sure that what you’re holding in your hands is accurate and covers what it needs to. (Although, in a book this size, I am pretty sure that if something was forgotten, it will be covered in future editions.) The reviewers are Pankaj Agarwal, Rick Anderson, Pete Apple, Sandy Arthur, Ruud Baars, Tom Casey, Andrew Cencini, Brian Goldstein, Matt Hollingsworth, Michael Hotek, Jakub Kulesza, Ed Morrison, Max Myrick, Terrence Nevins, Vaqar Pirzada, Grigory Pogulsky, Ward Pond, Paul Randal, Steve Schmidt, Ray Schueler, Greg Smith, Xavier John Vetticappallil, Don Vilen, Landy Wang, Chris Whitaker, Dave Whitney, Mark Wistrom, and Michael Zwilling. If I accidentally left anyone off this list, my sincerest apologies!
Since we started collaborating on projects remotely several years ago, Allan and I have worked on many projects together. When Charlie Kindschi and Ann Beebe first brought me in on the Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Resource Kit project based on my real-world perspective, I never thought it would launch my career the way it did. Looking back on everything, I am amazed at the far-reaching effect a team united by dedication and enthusiasm can have, even when separated by thousands of miles and political boundaries in a large established company. This is a tribute to the difference you can make when you care about "doing things right," and to those we met along the way who really "get it."
My special appreciation goes to the people who sponsored my work on the first high availability project I worked on for Microsoft: Rebecca Laszlo, Billie Jo Murray, Steve Murchie, and Joe Yong. Well-deserved thank-yous go to Tom Lucas and his team in Microsoft SSITOPS for their outstanding monitoring code and perpetual willingness to help, and to Filo D’Souza and Todd Bonner for precision performance and scalability tips, based on their work on the benchmarks. I also want to express my sincerest appreciation to my mentors (in chronological order): Kevin Cook (who was the start of it all), Arnie Carlson (who taught me the HA mindset), J.C. Armand (who put me in charge and let me take my own risks), Jim Carroll (who perpetually challenged me to challenge myself), and Dr. Jim Gray (who taught me to reach for the stars).
Of course, my list of thank-yous would be incomplete without saying how much I owe my MCS management for their support in this and other similar "global reach" projects, and for making them enlightening and character-building experiences. Most of all, I am deeply grateful and indebted to my family, who have kept me sane and who I love very much: Travis, the coolest kid I know; Selene, Rorden, and Augustan, who taught me the value of nuisance; Kevin, my personal hero; Martha and Cookie, who did my work at home so I was free to do this work for you; and Pat and Chuck (Mom and Dad), for teaching me I could do whatever I put my mind to.
I would like to dedicate my contribution to this project to my wife, Nancy. To family and friends who were there along the way for me: Tom, Ginger, George, Marjorie, Courtney, and Martha Anne McBath. To great people who have given me opportunities at Microsoft: Bryan Krieger, Harry Merrill, and Peggy Seymour. To personal friends who helped me along in life: Tom Sanders, Bill Simon and Lynn Randolph, Clyde and Fay Moore. And to great people I’ve been able to work with: Harv Sidhu, Dan Ely, Dan Grant, Dave Sabaka, Paul van Wingerden, Lucy Fraser, Shrikant Parimi, Kay Johnston, Rick Stover, Kim Slee, Christoph Schuler, Jeff Collins, Hans Reutter, Mike Hatch, Juergen Thomas, Peter Scharlock, and Filo D’Souza.
I started working with databases in 1988 after an advertisement I produced for IBM (while working in marketing and advertising) went nationwide. It required customization for different IBM branch offices and therefore a database to track all these orders. It was a great project and introduced me to databases—DataEase, to be specific. One of my colleagues (Ward L. Christensen) recommended me for a FoxBASE project, and when they asked him how much I knew about FoxBASE, he said, "Nothing, but hire her anyway." Another nine months later, it was certain—working with databases was where I was going to stay. Thanks, Ward—you defined my career’s direction!
In the 15 years that have followed, there have been so many wonderful influences in my career that I know I’m not going to have a chance to thank them all here... and really, this isn’t my main work, it’s Allan’s, so I’ll be brief. To start, I’d really like to thank Allan and Cathan for their dedication and inspiration to continuously make the book better—revision after revision after revision. And where would I be without the SQL Server Development team; thanks for making my career possible and for keeping it interesting! Specifically, special thanks go to Greg Smith, Don Vilen, Patrick Conlan, Steve Schmidt, Mike Zwilling, Lubor Kollar, Richard Waymire, Gert E.R. Drapers, Lale Divringi, Ted Hart, Richard Hughes, Gavin Jancke, and Rande Blackman. Outside of the SQL team there are so many others from high school to college to the present: Craig Shaw, Ross Naheedy, Jeffrey Starzec, Garry Foreman, Charlie Spencer, Marshall Olsen, Scott Gaskins, Stacey Dickenson, William R. Vaughn, Kalen Delaney, and all of my partners at Solid Quality Learning, who always amaze me with their dedication and skills. Finally, probably more influential than anyone: my students and conference/workshop attendees who have asked great questions—many of which I needed to research to answer, and I only learned more myself!
Above all, I would like to thank my family, my friends (Stacy, Jenn, Philo, Liz, Ken and Kristen, Bobbi and Bill), and my partner (P.C.) for all of their support and understanding when I had to work instead of going out or seeing a band. I owe you guys a few beers!