Voice of the DBA

Author: way0utwest

  • Cleaning Up Registered Servers

    Another post for me that is simple and hopefully serves as an example for people trying to get blogging as #SQLNewBloggers.

    I was working with Get-DbaRegServer from dbatools and got some errors. When I dug through the errors, I noticed some interesting items listed in my server list. This is what I saw:

    2020-03-30 10_18_14-cmd - powershell (Admin)

    While all the servernames are valid, the names are a little silly. I initially thought some of these were the reason for my errors with the cmdlet, but they weren’t. Still, I want to remove a few of these.

    I can likely find these in the registry or elsewhere, but there’s an way way to see this: SSMS. Under the View menu, there is a Registered Servers item.

    2020-03-30 10_22_23-

    Clicking this will get me a new pane, where the Object Explorer lives.

    2020-03-30 10_22_35-Solution1 - Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio

    If I expand this, I see a few categories, including my Azure Data Studio (ADS) connections and groups. It’s a nice way to see what’s registered.

    2020-03-30 10_22_44-Solution1 - Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio

    For the Local Server Groups for SSMS, I can highlight an instance and click “delete” to remove it. You get a confirmation dialog, but it’s removed. I can this in PoSh. Instance001 and 002 are gone.

    2020-03-30 10_29_47-cmd - powershell (Admin)

    I can’t, however, remove the ADS ones. I get this with a right click (nothing with Delete).

    2020-03-30 10_27_29-Solution1 - Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio

    The integrations between SSMS and ADS do not extend to altering the connections.

    Simple stuff, but handy to have around, especially over time as you add lots of registrations over time.

    SQLNewBlogger

    This took about 3-4 minutes to figure out as a part of other things I was doing, but I made a few notes and then spent 10 minutes writing this up and taking screenshots.

    This is a good place to start blogging if you want to get going.

  • 1000 SQL Saturdays

    One thousand is just a number, but it’s also more than a number in this instance. One thousand is a milestone that I couldn’t have imagined a decade ago when thinking of SQL Saturdays. PASS has announced that SQL Saturday #1000 will be on October 24, 2020, in Portland, Oregon. Congrats to the team there, they’ve were one of the first to hold an event, have had many over the years, and I hope I have the opportunity to attend.

    I wrote a few thoughts for the PASS blog, as did my fellow SQLServerCentral founders, Andy Warren and Brian Knight. The three of us have spent a large portion of our careers trying to educate and help others become better data professionals, and we’re all proud of the way all the organizers have worked to plan and run SQL Saturday events. We’ve amazed that so many community members have stepped forward to share their knowledge and speak at the more than 100 SQL Saturdays that occur each year.

    Reza Rad produced a PowerBI report that shows we had 4 people speak at a 100 or more events. Kevin Boles (134), Kevin Feasel (115), Janis Griffin (107), and Rob Volk (100), all of whom deserve a virtual round of applause for all the time and resources they’ve donated to the community. Many others are on the list with dozens of events and hundreds more have spoken at a few events. If you scroll down the speaker section of the report, it’s an amazing and impressive number of people that have spoken at more than one event. An amazing way to support this community.

    We’re data people, and numbers often have an impact on us. While we’ve had 20 PASS Summits, we’re about to have 1000 SQL Saturdays in a fraction of the time it took for those 20. I hope that more of you get the chance to experience one in your area sometime in the next decade. I also hope more of you decide to step forward and help organize or speak at one of the next thousand.

    Steve Jones

    Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher or iTunes.

  • Do You Have a Mentor?

    It’s partway through the year 2020 and I’m wonder if many of you are continuing with your resolutions at this point? I know that the yoga classes at my gym were already thinning before the COVID-19 crisis as people that started out coming regularly at the beginning of the new year slowly started coming less often or dropping out. I see that every year as resolutions start to fade in importance.

    Goals are good drivers, but also stern taskmasters, especially for those of us that are more type-A and driven. I sometimes avoid putting down goals because I’ve struggled to accept my inability to attain them. I’m working to accept the fact I miss some goals, but it’s a hard balance to strive. The goal has to mean something to work towards it, and it should be hard enough to stretch me, but I can’t be upset for not making it. I also can’t just accept not trying. I am never quite sure how to best tackle this.

    Earlier this year I was reading the sqlSkills newsletter and saw an editorial from Paul Randal. In it he talked about improving yourself, the different things you might try, and also the need to post-mortem your previous efforts. One other thing he mentioned was the value of having a mentor.

    I wonder how many of you have a mentor that you can call on. I know I’ve tried to help in the past with The Mentoring Experiment, Paul does some mentoring, and there other efforts out there. I think it’s valuable to get some mentoring at different times in your life, and from different people.

    I have a couple people that I know I can ask things of with regards to my career and personal growth. I’ve leaned on them at times, asking for advice or feedback on different ways to change my life. My wife is one, but there are a few others that have had quite a bit of influence on how I move forward.

    If you don’t have a mentor, I’d advise you to seek one out. Or maybe more than one. Ask someone you like, you trust, that isn’t directly supervising you (spouses excepted here), and that you think can give you honest and supportive feedback on your career, life, or something else. It’s a valuable tool to help you cope with the world and assist you in achieving your goals.

    Steve Jones

    Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher or iTunes.

  • The Car Game

    I started this on Facebook, privately with friends. I heard about it from one of them and liked it. I didn’t get many guesses, so I took a chance and posted on Twitter.

    Some good guesses, but I decided to drop it here as well. Leave a comment with your guess. Play along if you like and give me a trackback and I’ll take my guess.

    The Game

    The game is to list some cars you’ve owned in your life (or your family has) and add a fake one. List however many you want, include years if you’d like/

    Here’s my list. Use the number when guessing. I added more and included some years, where I knew them.

    1. 1988 Porsche 911
    2. 1991 Acura Integra
    3. 1977 Pontiac Bonneville
    4. 1980 Chevy Suburban
    5. 2004 Honda Odessey
    6. 1974 Porsche 914
    7. 1977 VW Scirocco
    8. 1990 Isuzu Trooper
    9. 1982 Saab 900
    10. 2007 Dodge Durango
    11. 2010 Chevy Silverado
    12. 2011 2500 Dodge Ram 3500
    13. 1991 Mercedes 240D
    14. 2007 Toyota Prius
    15. 2010 Toyota Prius
    16. Pontiac Station wagon
    17. Ford F250
    18. 1997 Isuzu Trooper
    19. 1984 Chrysler Town and Country
    20. Jeep Grand Cherokee
    21. 1980 Pontiac Bonneville
    22. Yukon XL
    23. 2001 Chevy Suburban
    24. 2004 Dodge Grand Caravan