I saw then that they have a 12 month subscription for $2000.
And I know that the next twelve months will see me covering all sorts of topics, not just Windows or just SQL or whatever. I'm not that motivated, and with a product I'm new to, I need to go over the material many times. If you buy a course (eg SQL), you get access to it for four months.
The thing about CBT Nuggets is that their content is not available for offline viewing.
I got to see not only their SQL 2008 training, but their Windows, VMware, Exchange etc etc. So I figured, what the hell, I've got a few spare bucks in my PayPal account, why not? It was well worth it. And it gives you access to their whole library. Interestingly, however, they have a 24 hour subscription for $24. Hardly enough to get an idea of how good the product is. You get a TWO MINUTE taster of a presentation.
The good news is that you can download the content to view it offline, which made it very appealing.ĬBT Nuggets' demo, quite simply, sucks. I noted they also have a MCITP:EA course, listed at $1000 or thereabouts. It was well-presented and I found myself wanting to buy the course. In this case, it was an 18 minute segment on SQL. TrainSignal's demo system lets you view a presentation. Two companies stood out: CBT Nuggets and TrainSignal. I started looking at online/CBT training. Classroom training for SQL is around the $5K mark, and I just don't have that sort of money to spend. Since BlueScope's training budget is zero, I knew I'd have to pony up the $$$ myself. So last week, I decided I had to do something about it. They say it is best to truly know one's enemy. Largely, I regard SQL as something that must be defeated. I spent the first six months in this job hating/resenting having to deal with SQL on a daily basis. So I am now something of a reluctant DBA. But since nobody else wants it, and I'm "new" to the new IT organisation, I've been lumped with it. I know just enough to get by, and possibly just enough to be dangerous.
I've always had a bit of a hate-hate relationship with SQL. Of particular "joy" is the fact that I've had to take over a departed team mate's SQL responsibilities. That I need to know it all now is not quite so good. That I'm getting exposed to it now is a good thing. Rightly or wrongly, my workplace's IT infrastructure is largely outsourced, so I've never had the exposure to directly administering some of the fun parts of our infrastructure – eg Exchange, VMware, to a lesser extent, SQL. It also means I'm getting exposed to a lot of technologies my fomer role didn't expose me to. This is good for me in lots of ways, but my favourite thing about it is that I get to focus on just one thing instead of having to spread myself across so many disciplines. Instead of being a 3rd-level-tech-cum-team-leader-cum-project-manager-cum-network-admin-cum-you-name-it-I'm-it, I'm now a server engineer. As the one or two regular readers of this blog would know, about six months ago I moved into a new role.