SqlNews

TechEd is almost over and there hase been some great content for all aspects of development. Those of you that didn't get approval from your boss if you really are interested in the content and weren'tjust after a holiday ;) you can watch most (if not all the sessions) via on demand webcasts. The list is here

Blogs

I mentioned previously The Storage Engine Team's blog. The content is great, much of it is in BOL or common sense but even so many people don't know it. The lastest few posts ("Why are you backing up your database","When should you rebuild the transaction log" and "Which part of 'REPAIR_ALLOW_DATA_LOSS' isn't clear") all concentrate on looking after your data and making sure you have a copy safe, don't loose it and don't corrupt it. Your data is the most precious thing for your business. I remember an paper on 9/11 that said 80% of business in the two towers collapsed as a result because they could not recover their data. Everything except your data can be replaced.

Some interesting posts explaining how SQL Server Setup works in terms of add/remove programs and best practices for setting up domain groups on you SQL 2005 Cluster

Linq, DLINQ and entities

You must have noticed all the stuff coming out of TechEd about LINQ, DLINQ and something new Entities. Whilst I think these are great for ensuring their will be plenty of SQL performance tuning work in the future, the benefits from a rapid development are huge. Alex Barn has provided a few links including one to a Channel9 video

CTP feast.

Data Dude CTP is now available here

SQL Everywhere CTP.

Everything Else

If you hadn't heard Bill Gates is stepping down as Chief Software Architect to concentrate on his foundation.