It’s Monday time for this week’s weekly link round-up.  If you want to catch these links “live” (so exciting), follow me on twitter (@StrateSQL).  And see these throughout the day as I tweet out links of things I find interesting.  While these links aren’t the answer to life, the universe, and everything, they often share a few things about SQL Server and related technology topics that others may find useful. The links included in this summary are those prefixed with “Reading” and are items I’ve read over the past few days, usually after hours when sharing would be less than useful, and spaced out to avoid spamming.  The content of the links usually pertain to SQL Server, technology, and career topics; which I think others would find useful.

The Most Popular “Reading” Link

This weeks most popular link is a post by Thomas LaRock (Blog | @SQLRockstar) on Microsoft Azure.  In his post he talks about the problem, or confusion rather, between SQL Database and Virtual Machines.  It’s a great read and one I recommend you check out now if you haven’t already.

Reading: "The Problem With SQL Azure" http://t.co/SgwR9Lv81y #azure

— Jason Strate (@StrateSQL) April 17, 2014

Last week’s top 20 “Reading” Links

Along with the top link, here are the top twenty items relating to SQL Server, technology and careers that were shared last week.  If you missed them throughout the week, here’s the opportunity to get caught up on some items that other’s read after I linked them out.

1. The Problem With SQL Azure [38 clicks]
2. BMW implements Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Enterprise [36 clicks]
3. Free ebook: Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2014 [27 clicks]
4. How I Setup TempDB [26 clicks]
5. Magic Quadrant for Data Warehouse Database Management Systems [23 clicks]
6. Maximum IOPS for a 10K or 15K SAS Hard Disk Drive is not 170! [18 clicks]
7. Facebook Profiles Can Predict Work Performance [17 clicks]
8. Save Money On Your Training Server [14 clicks]
9. Where Should You Use a Columnstore Index (with script)? [12 clicks]
10. New Performance Tuning using Wait Statistics Whitepaper [12 clicks]
11. Big data: are we making a big mistake? [10 clicks]
12. How to Scale Yourself and Get More Done Than You Thought Possible [10 clicks]
13. Speaker of the Month, April 2014 [10 clicks]
14. Recommended Intel Processors For SQL Server 2014 OLTP Workloads [7 clicks]
15. Choosing between Analysis Services Multidimensional and Tabular Models Part 1 [7 clicks]
16. SQL Server First Aid [7 clicks]
17. Magic Quadrant for Business Intelligence and Analytics Platforms [6 clicks]
18. Why I hate the ring_buffer target in Extended Events [5 clicks]
19. Microsoft Azure Automation [4 clicks]

Other Stuff Shared

Of course, no week would be complete without a few off-topic links.  These have nothing to do with technology or your career, but they are interesting and worth a second look.

1. Hungry Snake Picked The Wrong Dinner [66 clicks]
2. 10 Phrases That Need to Be Banned From the Office [58 clicks]
3. Boyfriend Makes Hilarious Vine Compilation Of All The Times He’s Scared His Girlfriend (Video) [45 clicks]
4. 6K gallons of scotch accidentally flushed down drain [40 clicks]
5. School bus used to crack down on distracted driving [39 clicks]
6. Doctor Who Series 8: Tom Baker admits ‘I’d blow up the BBC if I had the chance’ [15 clicks]
7. 22 Things You Need To Know About Minnesota Before You Move There [14 clicks]
8. Ore. officials drain reservoir after man urinates in it [8 clicks]
9. We’ve got your number – Allegiance [6 clicks]

Got something you think I should read and share, leave a comment below.  Also, if you want to see all of the links that were tweeted out last week?