Voice of the DBA

Author: way0utwest

  • How Much for a Laugh?

    I’ve supported a few fundraising efforts in the community over the years, including trying to raise money for a friend’s sick child.

    Argenis Fernandez, friend, MVP, MCM, and well respected member of the community agreed to embarrass himself if a co-worker could raise money for Doctor’s Without Borders. The goal was $5k and was achieved in July, so Argenis was on the hook for the PASS Summit. However a few others in the community agreed to join and try to raise even more for charity.  Brent Ozar, Adam Machanic, and Grant Fritchey all agreed to Rainbow Leggings at the PASS Summit, with Gail Shaw sporting wings and a halo. I joined in as well to get to $10,000. There’s even a stretch goal of $25k, in which Gareth Swanepoel, Jason Strate, Ed Watson, and Kirsten Benzel will get SQL Server tattoos!

    At $6500 in donations right now, I’m not sure I need to go shopping just yet. I hope I have to, and I’m counting on some of you wanting to contribute for the sake of a few laughs.

    We have hundreds of thousands of you in the SQL Server community. I know not all of you see this as a cause that inspires you, but surely a few pictures of your speakers on stage, giving presentations in rainbow ensembles, is worth the $5 price of a drink and tip? I’m sure we can get to $25,000 to help this worthy cause, and have some fun along the way. And if this is a cause the speaks to you, I hope you’ll consider donating a bit more.

    I’m going to wear the leggings, but I’m considering a few other decorative items. What would you like to see me wear in a rainbow theme? Drop a comment with your donation and I’ll take a look.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 2.4MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and LibSyn. feed

    The Voice of the DBA podcast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. Support this great duo at www.everydayjones.com.

  • One System to Rule Them All

    As I read this piece about a failed software procurement by the US Air Force, one section stood out:

    “In the original contract solicitation, the Air Force said that it wanted a system that was “truly ‘off-the-shelf’: unmodified and available to anyone.” But it also wanted a fully integrated system out of the box. What it got instead was three separate software products from Oracle and a collection of tools that a system integrator could use to put them all together ”

    I’ve been involved in this type of decision before, both at large and small companies. Many times I’d have liked to buy a single piece of software, but rarely could I find one I wanted or that even met my requirements. Even by sticking with a single vendor, I’ve often found myself with disparate applications that are somewhat cobbled together and didn’t work smoothly as one unit.

    That makes me wonder if it’s a silly dream to continue to pursue large single systems to handle our needs. Are we better off choosing specialized systems and planning on development efforts to integrate information together? Is the future of software a series of dashboards, web sites, and reports that access a disparate group of databases and services, each built, supported, and upgraded separately?

    On one hand I think that’s a better way to build large systems, mainly from the standpoint of size, scale, complexity, and likelihood of completion. However I also realize this means that all companies need to account for some level of software development, either in-house or on a contract basis.

    Perhaps there is no good solution and some companies will accept disparate systems while others perform their own integration work. In either case, I suspect we will continue to bemoan the state of software for the foreseeable future.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 2.2MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and LibSyn. feed

    The Voice of the DBA podcast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. Support this great duo at www.everydayjones.com.

  • MS14-044–Security Alert for SQL Server

    I just saw this, but you should be aware. There’s a potential Denial of Service/Elevation of Privilege bug in SQL Server. Here’s the bulletin:

    MS14-044

    There are QFE and GDR patches for versions since 2008, but you need to read carefully to determine which one to install on your systems.

  • The Brittleness of Replication

    I’ve used replication for years in different positions. I first discovered it in SQL Server 6.5, using it to simulate a queuing system to keep two disparate applications in sync without requiring transactions between the applications and causing errors. As handy as replication was, it was also brittle. Small things would sometimes break replication and the quickest way to repair the system was to drop replication and re-initialize it. Fortunately my data was small in size.

    As I’ve watched replication grow through the years, I’ve been happy to see enhancements, like the ability to replicate schema changes to objects contained in articles. However I’ve been disappointed that the tooling has barely improved and the brittle nature of the process has not been addressed.

    It seems that as SQL Server grows, we find more and more features and subsystems that are being managed like replication. They get built and then languish with few resources devoted to improving their tooling and robustness. Service Broker, spatial data, and more are examples of features that were introduced, but have received little attention in newer versions.

    I have to believe there are developers at Microsoft that would love to make the product better. I understand the need for new features, and continuing sales, but devoting a percentage of time to improving existing features, regardless of the Connect votes or marketing wishes, would help make the platform that much better for everyone.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 2.2MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and LibSyn. feed

    The Voice of the DBA podcast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. Support this great duo at www.everydayjones.com.