Craig Purnell

1. Everyone’s an accidental DBA (or database professional) – what’s your story? How’d you become a SQLPerson?

I guess you could call me the ultimate accidental DBA – because it has been accidental several times. Back in the 1990′s when I was working my way though college, I ended up at a local trucking company. They had this character based database system called PICK. Not many people remember what it is. Since I knew a little about computers, I got stuck running backups on their PICK system. So I taught myself PICK and learned how to care for the data and write code in BASIC. It had it’s own query language that was remarkably like SQL. So I was doing DBA work without even knowing it.

In 1999, I was recruited by a local consulting company that had staffed talent at one of the largest UniVerse (an emulation of the Pick database) sites in Ohio – a regional expedited logistics company. My talent in Pick plus transportation was a natural fit. I helped write some key modules of that system which featured realtime communications between dispatch and trucks using the Qualcomm satellite system. The mantra was mission critical operations with 24/7 uptime. Keep in mind that this was over 10 years ago. We ran the UniVerse database on AIX which was and still is bulletproof.

Fast forward a few years and my knowledge of Pick and UniVerse got me the job at my current company.

They were looking to do a migration from UNIX to an ERP financial system on SQL Server. After about 6 months there, my manager came to me and asked me if I wanted to learn SQL Server. I said “Heck, yeah, where do I sign-up?”. So they sent me to some training (remember PASS events in Chicago?) and I did a lot of self learning. I inherited some legacy SQL 7 servers and was tasked with migrating off of them. So I ended up building out their SQL Server infrastrucure as they migrated away from UNIX. It’s not perfect, but I’m pretty proud of it. We are now on the 4th generation SQL Server infrastructure. So I have been a DBA for quite a while, under different systems and wearing different hats over the years. What’s funny is that that old system that I helped build lives on to this day.

Now I am really interested in the NoSQL movement. You see, I am in a unique perspective to understand what is going on with NoSQL: My career started out using non-relational database technology and I came to the relational world later on.

2. What’s your favorite part of your current gig?

I like being the go-to guy. The developers and other analysts who poke around in SQL Server are always asking me how to solve a problem or my opinion on X or Y. Our culture is to take something apart, figure out how it works, and make it run faster and better.

3. Complete this sentence: “If I could do anything else, I would…”

Be a college professor. Unfortunately you need a PhD for that which I do not have.

4. Complete this sentence: “When I’m not working I enjoy…”

Boating, gardening, photography, networking and of course, going to and speaking at SQL Saturdays.

5. Complete this sentence: “I think the coolest thing in technology today is…”

NoSQL databases. I believe things are slowly going full circle back to non relational technology like it was in the early 1970s. But it’s important to remember that they will never fully replace the RDBMS.

6. Complete this sentence: “I look forward to the day when I can use technology to…”

Install SQL Server on a Quantum Computer. Just kidding. No, seriously – Quantum computing technology when it matures will change this world more profoundly than the Industrial Revolution. I am firmly convinced of that.

7. Share something different about yourself. (Remember, it’s a family blog!)

I like listening to Lady Gaga. I admire her because she’s a perfectionist, which I am myself.

Originally published January 30th, 2012.