Voice of the DBA

Author: way0utwest

  • The Standard Limitation

    Is 64GB of RAM enough for a SQL Server instance? It was in the past for most servers that I’ve developed software on or administered. These days I know some people have 2TB of RAM in their big database servers, which makes 64GB seem paltry. After all, I’ve had 32GB in a laptop before. However I know most of the SQL Server databases out there, in absolute numbers, are fairly small. In the low GB in size. I’d think 64GB isn’t too much for these.

    The reason that number comes up is that it’s the limitation for SQL Server’s Standard Edition (SE), and apparently, it’s my fault the number is set so low. Not just my fault, but all of you out there that keep buying SQL Server licenses. I’m not sure I agree with Brent’s verbiage, but I do agree with his conclusion. As long as SQL Server sells, and it’s selling well, why wouldn’t Microsoft push people to buy Enterprise Edition and pay more to use larger servers?

    Personally I think we should be charged by the scale of the system we use, rather than this weird, limited feature/scale list that MS has. They could easily say that SQL Server is $2000/core and $500/4GB. They could play with the numbers and come up with something that might be cheaper for some, more expensive for some, but it would allow us to easily buy more capacity and pay more as we needed to add hardware.  That’s how the cloud works, and even how many of our virtualized systems work. Want to move from 4 cores and 16GB of RAM to 16 cores and 64GB of RAM? Flip some switches. Depending on the version of Windows, you might not even need to reboot.

    I know some of you think SQL Server should be $5000 and we put it on any size hardware we like, but that’s certainly not going to happen in today’s world. We tend to value computing resources by scale, and I think that’s a reasonable way to examine software.

    Steve Jones

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    Today’s 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.

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  • SQL in the City in the fall of 2013

    This fall I’ll be attending a number of SQL in the City events in the US. Once again we have a tour, though it’s a shorter tour than the 5 events in two weeks I was on last year.

    One of my feedback items last year was that we should be able to do a SQL in the City event that’s smaller. The big events are fun and amazing, but they’re also hard to put together and expensive. I’d rather do an event for a smaller audience, and at a much lower cost, and get to do 10 of them a year.

    Someone listened to me and we ended up scheduling 5 seminar events  (2 listed for now) along with 3 big ones in the US. We held a DBA oriented event in March of this year, and a development based one in Sacramento in July. Both went over well, and we have a few more scheduled later in the year.

    SQL in the City – The DBA Team, San Diego, CA, Sept 20, 2013 – We covered a number of items in Richmond, and we’ve scheduled a few sessions on backups, monitoring, and one TBD. This will be a half day on Friday, before SQL Saturday #249 on Saturday. I’ll be speaking there as well. If you can come, register for both.

    SQL in the City – The Development Seminar, Denver, CO, Sept 27, 2013. This seminar flows well as we present talks on putting your database under version control, automating your database build and test with continuous integration and smoothing out the deployment of your application and database. I’ll actually be presenting all three talks myself as Grant is other commitments this weekend. I’ll also be at SQL Saturday #190 on Saturday in Denver.

    SQL in the City – Pasadena 2013 in Pasadena, CA, October 9, 2013. The first of our large events in the US this year. We’re back in LA, near the Red Gate office in Pasadena. We’ll have a large staff for this all day event, which should be a great time for all. We hope to see you there for a mix of administrative and development topics.

    SQL in the City – Atlanta 2013, Atlanta, GA, October 11, 2013. We’re crossing the country for a Friday event in the South. My first time speaking in Atlanta, and I’m hoping to see something in the city before I leave. This will also be a mix of administrative and development topics.

    SQL in the City – Charlotte 2013, in Charlotte, NC on October 14, 2013. This is the final stop on our 2013 large tour, with us again covering administrative and development topics. If you can’t attend the PASS Summit and you live nearby, here’s a full day of free training. If you are attending the Summit, feel free to register for this on Monday if you are in town.

    We’ve tentatively scheduled one final Stairway to Development in Washington DC in December, just before the SQL Saturday there. More details to follow soon, and there’s a chance we’ll add a sixth one as well.

    Hopefully I’ll see some of you at one of these events. Whether we’ve met before, please feel free to say hi and shake my hand.

    SITC13_Banner_300x250_Speaker

  • Separation of Duty

     In the Vietnam war we found people gathering data that had to support the analysis or decisions of the leaders. That’s a fundamental problem. Arguably this led to the extension of the war, and more lives lost, without more decisive actions being taken.

    We should not have the people or systems designed to collect data that supports a particular position. We want data that is accurate and complete, which can then be used for analysis. We ought to have people gathering data separate, both in terms of hierarchy and process, from the people that analyze and make decisions. We know that keeping them in the same area leads to data that supports what the boss wants, or what the bonus warrants, rather than what the data can show.

    Have you heard of the Franklin Gambit? I was reminded of that recently while reading Obliquity, a book that examines how we pursue goals and achieve success. Franklin’s Gambit says that we often use data and explanations to justify a decision we’ve already reached, rather than actually prove that some choice is the best one. I’m sure most of you feel you don’t live your live this way, but as I’ve thought about some of my decisions, I think this isn’t necessarily true.
    It’s a natural tendency of humans to do justify their actions, regardless of the data, and I suspect many of us suffer from it. I think it also can extend to the data analysis and interpretation that many of us perform at work. We’d like to think that our reports and even data gathering are objective ways to examine a problem, but it can be easy to influence the data, especially in the way that data is gathered if we are not careful.
    We want to separate the data gathering from the analysis. It might not ensure that the data analyzed is as complete and accurate as possible, but it helps prevent one side from influencing the other.

  • Winning

    “From the beginning to the end, losers lose, winners win” – 50 Cent

    It’s not always true, and there are no guarantees, but it is clear that those who put effort into improving themselves, often find more opportunities and the chance to succeed.  The definition of success may vary among all of us, but I would guess that succeeding for most of us has something to do with accomplishing more in some endeavor. Whether that’s getting more work finished, or improving the quality of our craftsmanship, it’s a movement forward. It’s winning.

    “Winners train, losers complain” – Brian Kelley

    I was reminded that not everyone looks at the world as a war, or as a zero sum game. There are lots of people that view the world as an environment where we can each improve, and help each other do better than we might on our own. However we must work on our own. We must take the responsibility to do something, not just talk about it, and not wait passively by as life passes us by. We also can’t just complain about our jobs, about the demands we face, the compensation that’s lacking, or anything else.

    This industry gives us the opportunities to change positions, learn new skills, and grow our compensation faster than many other fields. However it’s up to us to make the effort, stop making excuses, and start getting things done.

    Steve Jones

    Video and Audio versions

    Today’s 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.

    Follow Steve Jones on Twitter to find links and database related items and announcements.
    Steve Jones Windows Media Video ( 15.4MB) feed

    MP4 iPod Video ( 18.7MB) feed

    MP3 Audio ( 3.8MB) feed

    Feeds are available at iTunes and Mevio

    To submit an article, rant or editorial,
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