Voice of the DBA

Author: way0utwest

Build a POC

I have a few friends that work sales engineers for various companies. They often build a proof of concept (POC) project for various customers or potential customers, which is a great job. They get to showcase how a particular product or technology might work in a situation. We see this all time from lots of companies, including a great POC from BMW shown at the recent //build/ conference.

Sometimes the POC is more mockup than reality, but often this is a way to actually test some software and determine if you should invest more resources in that particular direction. I’ve used this myself, setting up a small project to test items, and I recommend this for others that might want to try something out.

For example, I like the idea of Continuous Integration (CI) for databases, but implementing CI in one of your production pipelines, on a production database is hard. It’s complex, and it can be distracting, not to mention stressful. Who wants to make a deployment mistake in production?

What I recommend instead is that you take a small database and practice. I don’t like Adventureworks, but you could grab a few tables from your system and build a new database, download a pre-built one from SQLskills, or even just create a Hello World type database with one table. Download TeamCity, or use the Visual Studio Online build system. Experiment and learn how to take your database code and programatically deploy changes to another system. Redgate has toolsto help, or you can roll your own.

No matter how you do it, try using a POC the next time you are wondering what the best way to proceed with new technology. You might find the POC makes a new technique more approachable and gives you confidence to tackle deploying the changes in the rapidly changing environments in which we work.

Steve Jones

The Voice of the DBA Podcast

Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 2.6MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and LibSyn.

April 13, 2016
T-SQL Tuesday #77–My Favorite Feature
This month is an interesting, but tough topic. The blog party is hosted by Jens Vestergaard, and his invitation is short and simple. Pick your favorite feature and write about it. This is good, because SQL Server has grown so much, I’m sure that many people will choose different things. However it’s hard for someone that works with many different features.

My Favorite Feature

I’ve been working with SQL Server since 1991. I’ve worked with all the Windows versions, and a few on OS/2. That means I’ve had the chance to manage and develop applications on:
- SQL Server 4.2
- SQL Server 6/6.5
- SQL Server 7/2005
- SQL Server 2008/R2/2012/2014/2016
I’ve seen the platform grow and expand quite a bit. I’ve spoken on a number of topics over the years, as my jobs have changed and my emphasis has wandered. Of all the features available, however, if I have to choose one, it would be…

SQL Agent.

I’m a programmer at heart. I grew up admiring the power of computers to execute code over and over again. I appreciate the ability of computers to remember things and remind me, or to handle them on their own.

SQL Agent allows that. Over the years, I’ve taken advantage of SQL Agent to perform maintenance on systems, to alert me to issues, to run a process that needed to be performed. I can even schedule one off jobs, having them delete themselves. I can’t tell you how many times someone has asked me to run something “later” on the server, often during the evening. It’s easy to schedule a job for later, have it run one time, and then let it disappear.

For example, Andy asks me to run a query tonight that gathers some data. I create a new job and step.

I set up a one time schedule.

Certainly I can set alerts and logging, but in notifications, I can have this job disappear.

I certainly want to make sure I have results saved, but this allows me to execute code, without much effort, and in a way that doesn’t clutter up my system.

I’ve found SQL Agent to be incredibly easy to work with, and quick to build jobs running against my SQL Server. I don’t need to setup connections, like I might need to with the Windows scheduler.

If you haven’t experimented with SQL Agent’s capabilities, or you don’t use it extensively in production, you should.
April 12, 2016
A Welcoming Conference

I’ve noted it in the past, but it bears repeating. SQL Bits is my favorite conference to attend, both as a speaker and attendee. The event is a rare combination of great technical content, first class conference management, and a casual, fun atmosphere. Add to all of this the fact that conference moves to various venues around the United Kingdom, and it’s become a can’t miss event for me.

Each year I’ve gone, I’ve learned some really fascinating things about the SQL Server platform. I’m not sure why, but I always see some great sessions that tackle interesting problems. Perhaps this is because many of the sessions are voted on by the community, rather than chosen by a small committee. Maybe it’s because the speakers have more leeway and aren’t bound by so many strict rules about what they can and can’t say. No matter what the reason, the content is top notch and worth watching. You can watch previous sessions at home, anytime you want.

However, I’d really recommend you attend the event. Saturday is free, like a SQL Saturday. The selection of pre-cons is amazing, and covers topics I don’t see often at other large events. Plus there’s the amazing party with a new theme each year. I’m excited to see what costumes come out this spring. You can check out the amazing super hero looks from last year or the Steampunk ones from the year before. Perhaps what I’ve really enjoyed is the casual way the party is run, with a few random spouses or friends coming and not being hassled by security. One of these days, I’m looking forward to being able to bring my wife to Bits, and have her enjoy the event with me.

Certainly this is a long way for many to travel for a conference, though it’s probably not that much more expensive than trying to make any of the large conferences in US if you must travel out of state. I’m lucky that I usually get to speak and I can combine this trip with a visit to the Redgate Software offices. If you have a choice of which conference to attend, I’d take a hard look at SQLBits, and maybe split the cost with your boss. It’s a great excuse to take a short vacation before or after an intellectually stimulating, emotionally relaxing, and thoroughly enjoyable event.

Note: You have until April 15 to post a review of a SQL Bits conference or video for a chance to win a pass to the conference.

Steve Jones

The Voice of the DBA Podcast

Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 3.0MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and LibSyn.

April 12, 2016
Changing the sa Password with SSMS–#SQLNewBlogger

Another post for me that is simple and hopefully serves as an example for people trying to get blogging as #SQLNewBloggers.

I wanted to make a quick note on changing the sa password, as this is a sensitive account, and the password should be changed if you ever suspect it is compromised. I’d also recommend you change this if anyone that knows the password leaves your group.

Changing sa with SSMS is really simple. Follow these steps:

Connect to SSMS as a sysadmin. You can check this for your login. Then expand the Security folder and the Logins folder. Right click the “sa” account and choose properties.

Once you do this, you’ll get the login properties dialog, and see the Password text field at the top in the General tab.

You can type a new password in the Password box, and confirm this in the Confirm Password box. Password policies checks are up to you, though I’d recommend you use them.

Click OK and the password is changed. You can then connect a new query window as “sa” and verify your password.

SQLNewBlogger

Make sure you know how to do this. It’s a basic skill, so learn it, blog about it, and use it where appropriate. Maybe write about why you’d do this in your own post.

April 11, 2016