You know you’ve been at this thing called writing a long time when people ask how many books you’ve written and you just have no idea. (This is number 61 for those who may be wondering.) For me, it’s always been about the craft of writing. I love writing, and I love challenging projects most of all. Two of the most challenging books I ever wrote were SQL Server 7.0 Administrator’s Pocket Consultant, published in 1999, and SQL Server 2000 Administrator’s Pocket Consultant, published in 2000. Writing SQL Server 2005 Administrator’s Pocket Consultant was no less challenging.

The challenge in writing a day-to-day administrator’s guide to SQL Server is that there’s so much to cover. When all was said and done, I ended up with a book that was over 750 pages in length and that just isn’t what a pocket consultant is meant to be. Pocket consultants are meant to be portable and readable—the kind of book you use to solve problems and get the job done wherever you might be. With that in mind, I had to go back in and carefully review the text, making sure I focused on the core of SQL Server 2005 administration. The result is the book you hold in your hand, which I hope you’ll agree is one of the best practical, portable guides to SQL Server 2005.

As I’ve stated in Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Administrator’s Pocket Consultant and in Microsoft IIS 6.0 Administrator’s Pocket Consultant, the team at Microsoft Press is top-notch. Denise Bankaitis was instrumental throughout the writing process. She helped me stay on track and coordinated the materials after I submitted chapters. Martin DelRe was the acquisitions editor for the project. He believed in the book from the beginning and was really great to work with. Completing and publishing the book wouldn’t have been possible without their help! Julie Hotchkiss managed the editorial process. This was a new series for her and our first time working together, so it was a challenge, but a good one I think. Thank you so much!

Unfortunately for the writer (but fortunately for readers), writing is only one part of the publishing process. Next came editing and author review. I must say, Microsoft Press has the most thorough editorial and technical review process I’ve seen anywhere—and I’ve written a lot of books for many different publishers. Robert Brunner was the technical editor for the book. I believe this was the first time we worked together and it turned out to be a wonderful experience. He was very thorough and helped with testing to ensure things worked as expected on both Windows XP Professional and Windows Server 2003.

I would also like to thank Lucinda Rowley and everyone else at Microsoft who has helped at many points of my writing career and been there when I needed them the most. Thank you also for shepherding my many projects through the publishing process!

Thanks also to Studio B literary agency and my agents, David Rogelberg and Neil Salkind. David and Neil are great to work with.

Hopefully, I haven’t forgotten anyone but if I have, it was an oversight. Honest.