Andy Eggers has just organized another certification training class at TCU. The class will run from June 20 - June 28 on Saturdays and Sundays. The detailed course outline is here.

I just submitted the last chapter I was writing for the MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-433): Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 Database Development (Certification) book. Now it's finally time to take a short break and catch up on all of the things that I've put off. It's kind of weird, since I've been writing one book or another for the last 3+ years, so more than likely I'll probably decide to start writing yet another book. It'll be nice to finally see this one hit the book shelves.

I just started work on MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-433): Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 Database Development (Certification) along with Tobias Thernstrom and Ann Weber. The 70-433 training kit targets the second SQL Server 2008 MCTS exam - Database Development. This book should be on the shelves sometime between the end of Feb. and mid-April. Hard to believe that this will be my 9th book (8 of them on SQL Server) that I have authored/co-authored.

MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-432): Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 - Implementation and Maintenance (PRO-Certification) is now done and should be on the bookshelves by the end of January. The 70-432 training kit targets the SQL Server 2008 MCTS Database Administrator certification exam. Just like previous training kits that I've written, this book covers the topics included on the exam, but the material goes well beyond the exam to provide an on-going resource in your day to day work.

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Step by Step (Pro - Step-By-Step Developer) is now on the bookshelves. The Step by Step book takes you on a tour of every feature that ships with SQL Server - relational as well as BI. This is an introductory book that is designed to get you up and running on all of the SQL Server 2008 features.

The Rational Guide To SQL Server 2005 Security is now out and shipping. This book provides end-to-end coverage of the entire security infrastructure in SQL Server 2005.

For almost 3 years we have been delivering SQL Server training seminars in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. These seminars are always free and are designed to provide either an introduction to a large subject area such as high availability or OLAP as well as delivering comprehensive education on a more narrow topic such as security, SSIS, or partitioning. Our seminars page has the overviews of each of the seminars that we deliver. To date, we have had a combined attendance of more than 900 at these events and look forward to providing even more traininig in the future.

I have put the Rational Guide to SQL Server 2008 Replication on hold to focus on the other 3 SQL Server 2008 books that I have in progress. As soon as those are done, I'll be picking back up on this book.

In cooperation with Texas Christian University, we successfully delivered a series of SQL Server 2005 certification bootcamps with a combined attendance of 282. Each course covers the subject material for each individual exam. However, these courses are not targeted at memorizing and regurgitating on an exam. We teach you the material so that whether or not you decide to take any given exam, you have the knowledge necessary to either start a job in the SQL Server world or to dramatically expand your SQL Server knowledge. S0870-431 is the introductory course for the relational engine within the series and covers all of the basics topics across the relational engine. S0870-441 is targeted at database development for designing solutions. S0870-442 is targeted at database development for optimizing data access and performance tuning. S0870-443 is targeted at database administration for designing a secure and highly available SQL Server infrastructure. S0870-444 is targeted at database administration for optimizing and maintaining a SQL Server infrastructure. S0870-445 is the introductory course for the Business Intelltgence track covering an introduction to SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS), SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), and SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS). S0870-446 is targeted at the professional Business Intelligence developer for SSIS, SSRS, and SSAS. Each course is 32 hours of comprehensive SQL Server education for the unheard of price of $300 per course. You will NOT find more detailed instruction anywhere else and you certainly won't find instructor led training at this price range.

Merge replication has the ability to propagate DDL changes to subscribers. However, if you are not very careful, perfectly legal DDL changes will explode merge replication.

In partnership with SQLearning, we are pleased to be able to offer the second in our series of SQL Server Master classes. SQL Server 2005 Architecture, Internals, and Tuning was developed by Kalen Delaney and covers the deep internals of the storage engine to enable you to better understand how your SQL Server is operating as well as how to tune your database for optimal performance.

We have been teaching the most advanced SQL Server High Availability Course in the world for the last 4 years through partners. While we still utilize partners to deliver our training courses, we also offer this class as a private course which can be customized to your company's needs. View the HA course outline. Look for additional course offerings to be posted shortly including Reporting Services and Integration Services.

My newest book has just rolled off the printing press and is headed to a book store near you. The 70-431 Training Kit from Microsoft Press will prepare you for the first certification exam in the SQL Server 2005 certification series. With my co-author, JC Mackin, I am also working on the 70-443 Training Kit also from Microsoft Press.