Voice of the DBA

Author: way0utwest

  • The Need for New Technology

    Do we need specialized technology for the large scale analysis of data? I read a report (registration required) that talks about the need for specialized technologies to handle the needs and requirements of complex data analysis. As often is the case, this report is written by someone that isn’t very technical, and is likely using information put out by the companies who are building these specialized technologies. However that doesn’t change the fact that the premise if valid.

    Just recently the Parallel Data Warehouse edition of SQL Server was released, providing a specialized, and extremely powerful platform for large scale data warehouses. The release of Powerpivot as well as all the BI enhancements added to SQL Server 2008 R2 mean that you have a diverse platform that isn’t just built as a “transaction stack” processor.

    As technical people should we care if about articles like this? Absolutely we should, since these articles often influence executives who are the ones that might end up signing a purchase order for some other technology.  If management is going to be spending more of the technology budget in your  area, don’t you want to try and influence them to spend the money wisely? That means you ought to understand what is being written and be able to intelligently talk about the choices.

    SQL Server isn’t necessarily the best solution for all environments, and it’s not necessarily even the platform on which you want to build your BI system. However SQL Server has an amazing array of capabilities, and it is a product you should consider.

    Steve Jones

  • iPad Update

    I updated the iPad tonight to iOS 4.2. I had no particular reason to upgrade, but I saw a few people posting that they had upgraded, and noticed a few apps people had talked about the productivity upgrades of a few apps that required iOS 4.x.

    It took a long time. I started at 3:10, but it required iTunes 10.1, and then I had to download the firmware, and it was still updating when I last checked around 6. So I left it and went to karate.

    When I got home, it looked the same. The only difference was the addition of “GameCenter” on the main screen. I checked settings, and sure enough it had been updated, but nothing showed multi-tasking, and I couldn’t create a folder.

    However a double click on the home button brought up the multi-tasking window, so I could see what was running. Semi-cool, but not sure how useful. We’ll see as I try to use it more. I added DropBox, EasyReader (for PDFs) and a few more items people had mentioned, including a Twitter app.

    Now I’ll play with it a bit and see how useful it is.

    I also sent a note to a friend to see if they wanted my tablet. If not, I’ll be looking to sell that on eBay and recover some funds. I have the feeling I won’t be traveling with it, and instead I’d like to have the money and look to perhaps upgrade my phone instead.

    One thing I noticed last week was in typing on the iPad. I grabbed it to do a bit of blogging and I was surprised at how fast I could type on the virtual keyboard. The spacing is similar to what I like and the audible clicks were very handy. I can see those as being annoying at a conference, so I’d likely need headphones for the feedback for me, set low enough to let me still here what I’m taking notes on.

    A cooler, and cooler device, the more I play with it.

  • Semi-Crippled

    When it rains it pours.

    Last week my Nano died. It won’t hold a charge, or at least it won’t play more than about 4 minutes before it reboots. It also can’t get the Nike + sensor to work, and it’s out of warranty. So it’s essentially DoA right now and not worth fixing. My guess is it would be $50 to fix it at a minimum, which seems silly. Not sure what I’ll do for run tracking for now other than manual stuff.

    Then two days ago I bent my jawbone headset and snapped off the ear loop. It was already semi-flaky since the case got disconnected, so I ordered a new one.

    Yesterday Twhirl stopped working on my desktop. I got an update and all of a sudden it won’t log in. It reports a bad password if I put one in, but the correct password just freezes at the login screen.

    Today Livemeeting broke and I couldn’t easily participate in a work meeting. It somewhat sucked since I had things to discuss.

    What will go wrong tomorrow? Almost afraid to go skiing.

  • Real World SQL Azure

    Worthy of an editorial, but this is a pretty good use-case for why SQL Azure might make sense. This is a business where

    • clients pay by the use of software
    • there needs to be distributed data center access
    • there’s a client application that is distributed
    • usage of versions/databases may scale up or down

    Not everyone is in this type of business, but if you are, then SQL Azure might be worth looking at.