Voice of the DBA

Author: way0utwest

  • CTRL Scroll and Getting Old

    The handiest thing that I’ve used lately for a computer is the Ctrl button and the scroll wheel on my mouse. If you’ve never tried it, do it now on this web page. Scroll different directions and you’ll see what I mean.

    Here’s the default view of my blog:

    scroll1

    It’s not bad, and from about 2, 2.5 ft away, I can read this. However if I CTRL and scroll up a couple clicks, I get this:

    scroll2

    Not a huge difference in the images, but much easier to read.

    As I get older it gets harder to read images on the screen, especially when I’m trying to get a lot done. It’s easy to scroll down, but I was finding myself scooting forward on my chair and leaning in. Not the best ergonomics. So I sat back (in my new chair), and made all my fonts bigger. I upped the default sizes in Word, OneNote, EditPlus, etc.

    Getting old is hard, but technology makes this easier. I even run a larger font in my Kindle apps than I Delaney because it’s just easier to read.

    And more fun than browsing the limited supply of large print books at the library.

  • NoSQL Basics

    Last year there was quite a bit of press devoted to the NOSQL movement, emphasizing the scalability and power of this class of databases. They have not been well known, but have been used to power some of the very well known Internet companies out there. Companies like Google, Facebook, and others are using NoSQL databases in places, achieving the scalability that many RDBMS’s have struggled to achieve without enormous costs.

    I ran across an article that talks about some of the basics of what is classified as a NOSQL database. It’s written more for managers, and it does a good job of warning them that NOSQL is not the “answer” to all your performance problems. It’s a piece of technology that fits in some places and in some situations.

    Should you care about NOSQL? I think you should, if for no other reason than some manager will ask you about it at some point. Or a developer will want to build an application using a NOSQL database. A flat “no” from the data group is counter-productive,  and is not appropriate. If you are going to rationally argue against a new technology, you should have some basic understanding of how it works, what problems it solves, and engage in a logical debate.

    There are lots of good NOSQL articles out there, and perhaps the first thing you should learn is that there are different types of technologies for solving different problems. Cassandra is not interchangeable with MongoDB, and Voldemort is different from the other two. None of them is a direct replacement for SQL Server (or another RDBMS), but they do work in different areas. If you’ve never seen the CAP triangle, take a look at it now.

    Many of you are data professionals, and SQL Server specialists, and that’s fine. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t learn a little something about other technologies, and how they might compare and contrast with SQL Server. Here’s a nice basic article from SQL Server Master to get you started.

    Steve Jones

    (originally published at http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Editorial/72127/)

    Podcasts:

  • T-SQL Tuesday #14–Resolutions

    tsql2sdayIt’s T-SQL Tuesday time again, and this month the Midnight DBAs (Jen’s blog | Sean’s blog | @MidnightDBA) are hosting the party. You can read about the whole T-SQL Tuesday blog party idea from Adam Machanic (blog, Twitter) if you want, and if you want to participate, you have a few hours left.

    Resolutions

    The theme this month is resolutions. That’s interesting because this was the first year in quite some time where I haven’t set goals or resolutions for the new year. I’m behind and somewhat unsure of what I want to do in life.

    However, it’s T-SQL Tuesday, so I need to think of something if I want to participate.

    I recently received an offer to take the MCM written test for SQL Server. There was no downside for me, so I signed up. And I pushed back the test a month since I wasn’t ready. I could say that my goal is to get the MCM this year, or to pass the written test, but that wouldn’t be right. I have reasons I’ll blog about later, but suffice it to say those aren’t resolutions.

    However I would like to make an honest effort to pass the written test. I haven’t had production responsibilities on a SQL Server instance in years, and while I know a lot about SQL Server, and understand how many things work, I don’t have to practically apply that knowledge, and so I’m rusty.

    I’d like to remedy some of that this year. I have been watching the MCM readiness videos, trying to learn some things and get prepared. Part of the reason I pushed back the test was because I hadn’t had a chance to watch all the videos and read the other prep material. I’m still working my way through things, and hope to be better prepared when the test comes around.

    My resolution is to really make an honest effort over the next month. Not cramming, and making this a single-focus-I-have-to-get-it-all-done, but make a good effort, my best effort given my busy life, and do as well as I can on the test.

    Kind of a nebulous resolution, but I can say that I didn’t make a solid effort in December, and I’m working to fix that now.

  • Background Rebuilding

    I moved my blog over the weekend from Blogspot to WordPress. Mostly because I like the WordPress platform better, and because I wanted to consolidate my editorials, blogs, etc.

    However on the import from Blogger, which was very cool and smooth, all my posts came in with their tags as the categories. I think that was my fault, but I wanted to fix it and so I started to re-classify the posts as I get time. It’s good background work, and will continue over the next few weeks, so if the blog looks funny for now, that’s why.