/ Thomas LaRock

Thomas LaRock

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Thomas LaRock

Thomas LaRock is a Head Geek™ at SolarWinds and a Microsoft® Certified Master, Microsoft Data Platform MVP, VMware® vExpert, and former Microsoft Certified Trainer. He has over 20 years’ experience in the IT industry as a programmer, developer, analyst, and database administrator. LaRock has spent much of his career focused on data and database administration, which led to his being chosen as a Technical Evangelist for Confio Software in 2010, where his research and experience helped to create the initial versions of the software now known as SolarWinds® Database Performance Analyzer. LaRock has served on the board of directors for 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 on working with customers to help resolve problems and answer questions regarding database performance tuning and virtualization for SQL Server, Oracle®, MySQL®, SAP®, and DB2®. He’s made it his mission to give IT and data professionals longer weekends.

The Latest Posts Featuring Thomas LaRock

The Disappearing DBA: Embracing Automation to Advance Your Career — SolarWinds TechPod 054
November 23, 2021
Podcast TechPod
A good DBA is hard to find. This is because a good DBA wears many hats, often equating to 3 – 4 full time jobs. How can this be achieved or sustained? The secret is automation, and automation…
George Westerman | Building the Culture for Digital Transformation — SolarWinds TechPod 052
November 2, 2021
Podcast TechPod
In this episode of TechPod, Thomas LaRock sits down with George Westerman, senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management and principal research scientist at J-WEL Workforce Learning, to talk about the…
The Disappearing DBA: Career Advice From a Data Janitor — SolarWinds TechPod 049
September 28, 2021
Podcast TechPod
The DBA role is complex. Pitfalls exist everywhere you turn, and it can be difficult to survive and thrive. On this episode of TechPod, we’ll help accidental DBAs become a DBA survivors with career…
The Parallax View [of Your IT Career]
August 23, 2021
News
The Parallax View is a 1974 movie starring Warren Beatty. It’s one of many 1970s-style “conspiracy” movies, if you’re looking for something else to binge while we ride out the…
The Disappearing DBA: Nobody Goes to School to Become a Data Janitor — SolarWinds TechPod 045
July 20, 2021
Podcast TechPod
Automation has been a disaster for the traditional database administration (DBA) role. As more systems and processes are automated away with code, the need for DBAs decreases. In time, the…
Sins of Data Management
July 1, 2021
Database
Every company needs data for various reasons, but hoarding too much data can be a dangerous habit. An overload of data can turn the average IT pro into a hoarder…
Secure by Design | The CISO Perspective — SolarWinds TechPod 044
June 29, 2021
Podcast TechPod
CDW Technology Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer Ruben Chacon, SolarWinds® CISO and VP, Security Tim Brown, and SolarWinds Head Geek™ Thomas LaRock talk about what CISO need to know to face…
How to Become Data Centric
May 11, 2021
Database
According to Dr. Stephen Hawking and the conservation of quantum information theory, information can neither be created nor destroyed… unless you work in IT. OK, he didn’t really say the…
Secure by Design | Securing the Supply Chain — SolarWinds TechPod 039
April 7, 2021
Podcast TechPod
The recent SUNBURST cyberattack reveals new threats to the supply chains fueling today’s businesses. SolarWinds and FireEye have raised the alarm for leaders everywhere to reexamine their security, to prepare…
Secure by Design | Securing the Software Development Build — SolarWinds TechPod 038
March 24, 2021
Podcast TechPod
The recent SUNBURST cyberattack on the SolarWinds software build environment is a concerning new reality for the software industry, representing the increasingly sophisticated actions by outside nation-states on the supply…
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