CMU 15-721 Advanced Database Systems [video]

Andy Pavlo's lectures are one of the best database internals resources available for free on the web.

I haven't watched these videos, but I'm interested. Over time I've begun to consider database systems among the most important subjects in CS. For example, being able to perform multiple changes in a system within a transaction makes fault tolerance much simpler. Consider how many software installers are unable to handle a simple system crash. Although it's completely unsurprising, as modern operating systems don't typically provide tools to help with these kinds of issues.

Would you really start a junior off with this?

The thumbnails are pretty funny.