Voice of the DBA

Author: way0utwest

  • Temporary Indexes

    Temporary placeholders can be valuable

    Recently I was studying for the MCM exam and one of the things that came up in my research was the idea of temporary indexes. I had never used them before and was intrigued by the idea. I have dropped indexes before a large load and then recreated them, but these are indexes I planned to keep on the table indefinitely.

    There are always processes that you run periodically on some schedule. These might be end of month, or end of year processes where you run a series of reports or queries that aren’t necessarily run at other times in your business cycle.

    Since this was a new concept for me, I wanted to ask and see how many others might actually be using this. Maybe you’ll get an idea for how to speed up some of the periodic, but very important, processes you run. For this Friday:

    Do you use temporary indexes?

    By temporary, I mean indexes that you create for a process and then discard at the end of a process. These could be indexes that you use to supplement some type of data load, perhaps indexes used in staging tables. Or they could be indexes that are added to some OLTP tables for the processing of certain reports in a short period of time.

    However you might implement them, let us know how you use them, and how they have improved performance for you.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

  • When To Hire a DBA

    How busy should someone be before you hire a DBA?

    One of the things that I often see on SQLServerCentral’s forumsis a developer struggling with an administration issue or a complex query. It’s natural and even expected since many developers are not as familiar with SQL Server as they are with their development platform. It’s great to see them trying to get help and work through issues and there are many generous volunteers that give their time and knowledge to help.

    Recently I found a post where a developer was struggling with a variety of problems: design, backups, and more. It was obvious this person was overwhelmed and when someone suggested hiring a consultant, this person noted their boss didn’t want a DBA consultant, and wasn’t willing to hire a DBA. Management didn’t feel like there was enough work to justify a full-time employee.

    That’s an issue that I think many companies face. When do they hire a DBA and when is it beneficial for them? I’ve had this conversation before with employers, and while I’ve seen small companies benefit from having me as a DBA, I also know that I’ve contributed in ways other than just with helping with the database platform. I have helped administer systems, develop applications and more.

    I think part of this is the fault of the database professional, who has a stereotype of being difficult, stubborn, and resistant to change. It’s also hard for many database professionals to quantify exactly what they do and show explicit value for their services. They don’t build new features into applications, often don’t interact with customers, and regularly answer question with “it depends.”

    The ROI for a DBA is something that can be hard to explain to management, but it’s something that I think needs attention from all SQL Server professionals. If we can better explain our jobs, develop standard tasks and benefits that DBAs show, we can help ensure that more companies see the benefits and value from employing a DBA. If you have any ideas, please add them to the discussion for this editorial.

    There’s also a nice opportunity here for hybrid DBAs, the kind that come to conferences like SQL Server Connections. Doing a little developer alongside your DBA work might get you some jobs in smaller, more flexible, and more fun companies.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

  • What’s Mentoring?

    We have just kicked off The Mentoring Experiment after talking about it for months. There has been a lot of interest and quite a few applications submitted. We’ve even had a lot of people ask if we needed help mentoring people, which is great. If you’re interested, you still have a couple days to submit an application.

    The past week or two, after getting started, I’ve been surprised just how often I’ve seen or heard the word “mentoring” used in many ways. I’ve seen it talked about on TV, on the radio, and in various Internet spots. It’s almost like our experiment kicked off a slew of other projects from other people. That’s not the case, and my guess is I’m a little more aware of how often mentoring is used by various people.

    Definition

    Webster’s dictionary says that a mentor servers as a guide or advisor. Wikipedia sees a mentor as a counselor, friend, or teacher that helps to advise a protégé or serve as an example.

    Those tend to fit my definition which is someone that is providing some counsel, advice, and perspective to another in a way that has the best interests of the mentee or protégé at heart. It’s private, at least to the extent that the mentee wants it private, and there isn’t any exchange of money or quid pro quo for the time. It’s a volunteer effort on the part of the mentor.

    Mentoring is part setting that example in your own career, which allows the mentor to help the mentee learn from experience. This experience and wisdom should establish the respect that is needed for the mentee to take a mentor’s advice under advisement. Mentoring is also acting as a sounding board, almost as a psychiatrist does, in listening to the mentee, asking questions, and helping to give an outside perspective on a situation or decision. 

    A mentor should act as a guide, helping and leading, but not setting the direction or goals, but helping the mentee to find their own way to a better career.

  • Showing Its Age

    Are these computer too old to be in production?

    I went to register a new car recently at the DMV and couldn’t do it. Apparently the state DMV system in Colorado was down that week, and had been down for two weeks because of a DR situation. The primary system had failed, and after being down, the state agency moved to their older, backup system. However when that failed, many of the remote offices were down and were issuing extensions to car owners for registrations.

    I am guessing that the Colorado state DMV system runs on some sort of mainframe or mini, and not on a 15 year old PC architecture. However I do know lots of companies that are working on older software, often on older versions of Operating Systems that might struggle to work on newer hardware. It makes me wonder if we will start seeing these types of problems for database applications over time as companies look to extend the lifetime of their IT infrastructure.

    There was a time when it seemed many companies were refreshing servers every 2-3 years, and they would upgrade to a new version of their OS or database platform whenever the vendor released it. However the last 5-6 years have seen many people holding on to older systems. I know lots of companies that are on 4 or 5 year hardware refresh cycles, and there are still lots of SQL Server 2000 instances still running out there.

    For awhile it felt like keeping a database application alive for 10 years was a stretch, but as I look at the evolution of SQL Server, and the power that we have with modern hardware, it doesn’t seem like a stretch. The advances in virtualization can prevent newer hardware architectures from being a problem, and perhaps even extend the lifetime of old software significantly.

    I do think that the latest releases of SQL Server are much, much more efficient and powerful than previous versions. Today’s hardware can even be more cost effective given the price of power and cooling. However if all you need are core database engine features, I’m not sure it’s worth upgrading. Just be sure that you have a better backup plan than the CO DMV.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts