Voice of the DBA

Author: way0utwest

  • The 2011 SQL Saturday Schedule is Filling Up

    I have been trying to figure out where to go in 2011 for SQL Saturdays, especially as Red Gate is looking to have me do a few more demos and sessions at events. It seemed that there were relatively few events, and I’d already decided on these two:

    I’ve never been to these cities, but I have a relative in one, and a number of friends in another. So I decided to skip Tampa (they have lots of speakers) and Houston (can’t travel two weekends in a row) and hit those.
    So when I saw the announcement of SQL Saturday #71 from Grant Fritchey (Blog | @gfritchey), I thought “cool, another event.” Then I saw the date: Apr 2.
    😦
    That’s the same day as SQLSaturday #63 in Dallas, and I’d already submitted a session as well as semi-committed to the organizers there. So it looks like I’ll miss Boston, which is a little disappointing. I like that city.
    As I checked thhttp://www.sqlsaturday.com/default.aspxe schedule, I saw a few other conflicts as well. I have somewhat committed to Chicago (#67, Mar 26), which is right before Dallas. A busy time for me, and with Tech Ed and the Rally before that, I’m going to have to limit some travel. Right now I’m thinking to skip TechEd since it’s not the best show for me to go to anyway.
    However Columbia is getting ready for another event on Mar 19 (SQL Saturday #70). If I went there, I’d be gone 3 weeks in a row, which is a lot. Actually it’s too much, both on the family and me, so I’ll have to miss Columbia again.
    However it’s good for the community. Already there are:

    • Jan – 3 events
    • Feb – 4 events
    • Mar – 3 events
    • Apr – 3 events
    • Aug – 1 event

    I’m sure more are coming, and I will really, really try to get to new cities next year and meet more of the SQLServerCentral community.

  • Shrinking Databases

    Every time you shrink a database, an angel gets its wings torn off. Or Paul Randal feels a disturbance in The Force. In other words, don’t do it.

    But people continually do shrink databases. Despite the constant advice and guidance from Microsoft, MVPs, and more, the fact that shrink is available easily in maintenance plans and with a DBCC command, people do it. I understand it since it’s natural to not waste space and so many other tools, like Access and Outlook, have files that only use the spaced needed.  Why not SQL Server?

    It’s Friday, and I thought I might see if there might be a oslution tht makes sense. For this poll, I want to ask you about shrink:

    Should shrink be removed or fixed?

    By removed, I don’t mean completely take it out of SQL Server, but make it harder. Maybe require a trace flag, maybe something else that might reduce the regularity with which it’s run. I’d certainly recommend it be completely removed from maintenance plans, both the wizard and the designer.

    Is there a better solution, however? Should perhaps shrink be fixed to be a more intelligent operation that doesn’t cause lots of fragmentation? Even if it’s slower, or maybe an operation that requires more resources to complete, would it be better to actually “fix” shrink?

    Put your answers in the discussion and let us know what you think

    Steve Jones

  • Certified Private Clouds

    Cloud computing is becoming more and more popular, or at least, more and more talked about in the tech press. Like many of you, I am not sure that I want to run my database servers from the cloud, but that might change. I ran across a note that said Microsoft is looking to certify private cloud stacks with a number of vendors, similar to the Fast Track program that they implemented for data warehousing.

    For some time now I’ve felt that to really get large scale adoption of the Azure cloud framework, Microsoft really needed to have a way for corporate IT departments to build and deploy to private, internal “cloud services.” Clouds they could build, expand, and most importantly, secure, according to their own requirements, on their own premises. The idea of trusting a central provider seems foreign to many companies, especially when governments could subpoena your information or the cloud provider could shut down your business. To what extent you are more protected on premises is unclear, but many companies do no want to trust a third party to safeguard their rights.

    The idea of a service that you can deploy to, connect to, and use to abstract your applications away from specific machines is one that makes sense. We constantly build abstraction layers to simplify the interconnections of our systems. The “cloud”, whether public or private, is another extension of this. I know I’d like to be able to manage one large SQL Server cloud, rather than individual machines.

    Actually, it seems like  a lot of the work I’ve done over the years is to try and make all my instances appear as one single group that I can manage together. Kind of my own type of “cloud.”

    Steve Jones

  • Put Your Thinking Caps On

    A repost from SQLServerCentral.
    What would you like for Christmas?

    Hint, hint, a little visual imagery of the kind of prize that you just might win from Red Gate software next week. And just in time for Christmas!

    To celebrate the release of SQL Monitor, Red Gate is letting me give away 10 iPads along with 10 licenses of SQL Monitor to 10 lucky winners. But it’s not just me, there are a few others that get to give away prizes as well. Anyone know this guy?

     


    or these guys?

    All three of us will be giving away 10 iPad/SQL Monitor combos next week. Each of us will be running a separate contest, with separate ideas, that will give you the chance to win an iPad. Keep an eye on the daily editorial for Steve’s contest, BrentOzar.com for Brent’s, and ScaryDBA.com for Grant’s.
    You can only enter one contest, so don’t enter too quickly. Put some thought into your one and only chance for a Christmas iPad. The standard rules will apply (no family, employees, etc) and will be posted on each site Monday.
    A few hints for you to think about: SQL Monitor (of course), life balance, traveling far away, and synergy.
    Good luck!