Voice of the DBA

Author: way0utwest

  • Make a Backup First

    Mat Honan
    Are you protecting your digital life?

    I was reading in detail about the Apple / Amazon hack that targeted a Gizmodo writer.  A hacker used a few techniques to get from his Amazon account to his Apple account, his GMail, Twitter, and more. His iPhone, iPad, and Macbook were remotely wiped, and he ended up losing quite a bit of data that wasn’t backed up. That’s a horrible situation, and I know every time I’ve lost a picture or document at home, I regret not making another backup.

    The situation caused some discussion and comments on Twitter about the various things you should do to prevent this type of issue. Updating your security, choosing better passwords, and other ideas are great, but the number one thing you need to do is make a backup of your data. No matter what happens to your security or even hardware, if you have a second copy of your data somewhere else, you can recover from the situation.

    While listening to a Brent Ozar, PLF webinar recently, I heard this interview question: what is the first thing you do on a new server you’ve never worked with? The answer is ensure it’s being backed up. Not run a backup, since you can cause problems, but make sure there is a backup plan in place, or get one started as soon as possible. Why? Because if you have a backup, you can recover.

    I think this is the number one priority for any data professional, and perhaps for anyone using a computer. I know I have backups of my home machines run to a Windows Home Server. I take a backup of my Macbook regularly, and leave a copy at home when I’m traveling. I also carry backups of my VMs on separate disks, in a separate suitcase when I travel. I know that if I have one of those copies of my data, I can recover from almost anything.

    What’s the saddest part of this story? There wasn’t any intent (allegedly) to target the writer’s work or his data. The hacked just wanted to use his cool Twitter account, @mat.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

    We publish three versions of the podcast each day for you to enjoy.

  • Disabling DDL Triggers

    Suppose you want to stop using a DDL trigger for a short period of time, such as the login trigger I created recently. If you want to disable an index, you use

    ALTER INDEX xxx DISABLE

    That doesn’t work for triggers. The ALTER TRIGGER syntax is used for changing code.

    You could use ALTER TABLE on DML triggers, but not for DDL triggers. The DISABLE TRIGGER DDL can be used.

    To stop tracking user logins, I can use:

    DISABLE TRIGGER CatchLogins ON ALL Server
;

    There is an ENABLE TRIGGER syntax as well to turn the triggers back on. These two commands allow you to save the trigger code, but have it enabled or disabled as needed.

  • Big Data Jobs

    big data
    Big Data opportunities are growing.

    If I asked you to give me five industries where Big Data jobs are likely to be growing, what would you say? Everyone’s data is growing, but a few places may grow faster than others. One survey lists banking, retail, pharmaceuticals, government, and insurance as the top growth areas, which makes sense. Despite the slowdowns in the worldwide economies, retailers and banks have improved their systems to gather more and more data. There’s no shortage of government growth with regards to the data being collected, and the drug companies see more data analysis as the way to reduce the costs of introducing new drugs.

    What if I asked you to pick the places in North America where there will be lots of new Big Data jobs? According to the same report these cities lead the way with job openings: San Francisco, CA, Maclean, VA, Boston, MA, St Louis, MO, and Toronto in Canada. These are all areas with large concentrations of organizations from the industries with the most Big Data jobs.

    I’m not surprised at the list, though there are plenty of other places that are likely just below these five in terms of jobs. I wouldn’t look to move to any of these places just for the Big Data job, but if you are looking to work in this field, you might think about checking out various recruiters and contracting companies’ sites to see where there are lots of jobs.

    As slow as the worldwide economies seem to be moving these days, our fields of technology and data seem to be growing, with plenty of companies looking to improve their systems and tackle new initiatives that might improve their ability to take advantage of the all the data they store. There are lots of jobs out there, and with some work you might find one is a great fit for you.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

    We publish three versions of the podcast each day for you to enjoy.

  • Running in Central Park at SQL in the City New York

    I just booked my tickets for New York City. I’m coming into the city on Sept 27, at 2pm, with just enough time to get to my hotel, drop my bags, and then hit Central Park for a run. I love to run, and Central Park is great. It’s on my list whenever I get back to the city.

    SQL in the City is coming to New York City on Friday, Sept 28, 2012. It’s a free day of training from Red Gate Software, and I’m delivering two out of many SQL Server sessions there. Mine are one on database essentials, and one on preparing for disasters. In addition, Grant Fritchey (b | t) will deliver a few on development, we will have Red Gate developers talking about tools, and a few Friends of Red Gate will have sessions on development and administrative topics.

    Red Gate is sponsoring a mini-tour of free training days across the US this fall. We did this last year in Los Angeles, and recently finished a two events in London. This is a chance to learn about topics that are important to SQL Server professionals, just like so many other one day conferences. We’ll feed you, provide coffee and snacks, and good conversation, knowledge, and debate on different ways to attack the challenges you face at work.

    We’d love to have you attend. Registration is free, and I hope you’ll join us at the Concierge Convention Center in New York City on Sept 28. Come meet all of us, and please feel free to stop any of us and shake our hands.

    You can even join me for a run in Central Park on Thursday night if you’re inclined. I’ll post details on Twitter once I figure out how quickly I can get there. I’m guessing I’ll be at the park around 4:30, SE side, but we’ll see.

    I love New York, and my kids keep asking if they can come. I’ve been there many times, from road trips in college to taking my oldest to see a Broadway play one weekend. I’ve toured much of the city, and one fond memory is standing on the 80th floor of the World Trade Center in 2000, looking out over the Hudson. I wish I could take a kid and spend a few days there, but this is a quick trip, starting off the US SQL in the City tour.

    Register today if you can come. I hope to shake your hand in New York.

    This is part of my SQL in the City series, covering a few thoughts on the US tour.