I’m doing a basic presentation at the Rocky Mountain Tech Trifecta later this month on what SQL Server is from a basic viewpoint. I had a request for this at the SQL Saturday #17 in Baton Rouge last year and I’ve been meaning to get it written. Apparenltly there are a decent number of developers, managers, PMs, etc. that attend events, trying to better understand technology and it seems that we don’t often get to a basic enough level for them.
So what is SQL Server? A set of Excel spreadsheets? Is it a filing cabinet? Is it a library? Is it a storage mechanism or something more complex?
You’ll have to see the presentation to get my thoughts. However I would be interested in analogies or ideas that others have for explaining SQL Server to a manager, a new developer, or maybe even your Mom or kids.
I’ll try to record a version and stick it up on the Internet at some point.
Voice of the DBA 
My wife asked me why I was so shocked to find the indexes of my company's SQL Server in such bad shape. The company hasn't had a real DBA in over five years, and the servers have been running SQL2000 without any maintenance since 2004.I explained to her that a database is a lot like a national library, and the indexes are like the card catalog. When people change the order of cards in the catalog it takes people a lot longer to find the books they need. When people move the books around on the shelves, the Dewey Decimal system doesn't save anyone any time. I wanted to re-organize the library so that people could quickly find what they needed to go about their business.She nodded and asked me a few more intelligent questions about databases and seemed to have taken to the answer.Unfortunately, I don't think anyone under the age of 25 would know what a "card catalog" is anymore, so the analogy might not work for everyone 😛
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