Voice of the DBA

Author: way0utwest

  • The DBA is Dead

    I love seeing articles like this one: The Database Administrator is Dead. They make me laugh and look back at previous incarnations of the same thought. I think I should save the text of this article, stick it in an appointment with a reminder for 2 years from now, and then read it again.

    The first time I heard this was back in 2000. I was working in a small company and SQL Server 7.0 came out with a marketing push that a DBA wouldn’t be needed. The developers I worked with crowded around and asked if I was worried about my job. I’ll admit I was a little worried, even as I denied any concerns to my co-workers, but as I read about the changes and thought about my job, I realized it was all for naught.

    While much of our jobs can be automated, the specific details and implementation of any automation at any particular job will vary widely at different companies. Even at different times. The work that DBAs do is not going away, and someone needs to continue to provide some administration and management of databases.

    I will admit that I think there is less of a need for DBAs at many companies, at least if the DBAs are strictly managing security and backups. The amount of time these tasks take now has been dramatically reduced with new tools for managing systems, both within SQL Server and from third party vendors. If you have a job that just deals with basic administration, good for you, but I wouldn’t stop learning. Those talents might not be enough to get you a new job if you need one.

    I also think that today’s DBAs need to be able to handle the limited administration that might be needed on other platforms, including the cloud. We need to understand how we can work with, and speed up development, with SQL Server databases while helping to improve the quality of any database code that’s written. We need to learn about how we can get the most from the platform while integrating with a variety of technologies.

    The DBA isn’t dead, and I’ve created that appointment for 2 years down the road. It will be interesting to see how things have changed in that time.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 2.9MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and Mevio . feed

    The Voice of the DBA podast 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.

  • Branding, Encryption, and Yoga in Cleveland

    It’s just under two weeks to SQL Saturday #241 in Cleveland. This will be my second trip of 2014 and I’m doing some planning for the trip.

    First, Yoga.

    I practice yoga every week and find it to be a good workout as well as a relaxing one. It helps with my flexibility, and since I’m having surgery in a few months, I’m trying to make sure I continue to work muscles. Erin Stellato and I started planning on a class on Friday morning, Feb 7, 2014. It’s the day before SQL Saturday, but since I’ll be in town, it’s a good choice. Erin uses the Inner Bliss Yoga studios, and if you’re interested and want some #sqlyoga, come join us. I’m not sure which class we’ll do, but we’re leaning towards the 9:15 at the River studio. Watch for me to post details on Twitter.

    After yoga (and a shower), it’s time for SQL in the City 2014. We have our first event in the US taking place on Friday, February 7, 2014 at the Holiday Inn in Westlake. It’s free to attend, but we’d like you to register so we can plan for attendees. We have a limit, so please don’t register if you don’t plan on attending. We’ll be talking about database deployment, version control, and continuous integration. It’s an interesting topic, and one that lots of people find interesting and inspiring.

    Saturday is SQL Saturday #241. The schedule has me talking Encryption first at 8:45 and Branding at 11:45am. Please feel free to come to my sessions, or check out Grant’s Statistics or Query Optimization talk. Please also feel free to say “hi” or shake our hands at anytime. My apologies in advance that I won’t make the after-party Saturday night. I need to get home to Denver, so I’ll be leaving a bit before the end of the day to catch a plane.

    If you’re in the Cleveland area, join us Friday for SQL in the City and come on Saturday for SQL Saturday #241. There are also pre-cons taking place on Friday if you don’t want to see us talk deployment and would rather hear Argenis Fernandez talk about disaster recovery or Allen White talk Powershell. They’re both great presenters and $99 is a bargain for their pre-con events.

    Hope to see you there.

  • Just use Version Control

    There are free systems out there. If you have no budget, and want to get started, download one of these:

    There are good ones to pay for as well, and some of them have other features and integration you may like:

    There are plenty more. Please, please, please, start using Version Control. There are compelling reasons from many successful developers, including those that want your database code under control.

    There are ways to do this, but please pick one. Version control is a must for professional software developers. That means if you write code, and get paid for it, use version control. If you write code, and don’t get paid for it, value your time and use VCS anyway.

  • Servicing SQL Server in the Future

    Service Packs have become the way that many of us patch the various Microsoft products we use. Many administrators find patching to be time consuming and difficult to justify, even for security patches, and as a result, often wait for a Service Pack before they inform clients and schedule testing. Most people used to always wait for Service Pack 1 before installing a new version of a server product, but I don’t think that’s necessary anymore. The quality of Microsoft server products has gone up quite a bit in the last 5 years.

    However, I don’t like the way that the servicing, or patching, of products has evolved. For SQL Server, we get patches every other month, known as Cumulative Updates. Exchange Server has also moved to this format, though it seems many of the other server products (Windows Server, Sharepoint, System Center, etc) still release Service Packs. A few years ago it was rumored that Microsoft would not release Service Pack 3 for SQL Server 2005. A number of us voted on this patch and it was eventually released.

    The strategy announced at that time was that SQL Server would receive a service pack 6 months after the RTM release and thereafter annual service packs until support expired for the product. In between, Cumulative Updates would be released. That seemed to be the case for a few years, but once again Microsoft seems to have quietly decided not to move forward with Service Packs. We’ve been getting cumulative updates, but no service packs in over a year and a half. The last SPs we have are SP1 for 2012 (Nov 2012), SP2 for 2008 R2 (July 2012), and SP3 for 2008 (Oct 2011).

    If you’re like to express your opinion, take a moment and vote for these items:

    It just takes a moment to click on them, and I’d also ask that you pass along the URL (or this editorial) to friends that work with SQL Server.

    Personally I’d also like to see a solid strategy moving forward that includes annual service packs, especially with a 2 year release cycle. I know some of my fellow MVPs and writers like the CU strategy and wish more people would adopt it, but I don’t agree. It’s time consuming to test and prepare for updates, and as long as this paragraph appears on CU pages, I do not think we should recommend CUs to DBAs.

    “This cumulative package is intended to correct only the problems that are described in this article. Apply it only to systems that are experiencing these specific problems. The updates in this package may receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by any of these problems, we recommend that you wait for the next SQL Server 2012 service pack that contains the hotfixes in this package.”

    To me that shows even Microsoft doesn’t completely want to stand behind their cumulative updates.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 3.7MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and Mevio . 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.