Voice of the DBA

Author: way0utwest

  • Teams in SQL Clone and SQL Provision

    SQL Clone v4 is out, and the big change is the addition of the Teams feature. I guess technically this is just for SQL Clone, which is included in SQL Provision, but hey, I need the Google juice with both product names.

    If you look under the permissions menu item, you see any specific permissions you’ve created, but there’s also a Teams tab at the top.

    2019-10-21 15_46_48-Microsoft Edge

    If you click on this, you will see the basic overview, and the chance to start using Teams instead of individual permissions. This is designed to let you group images and instances for groups of users, rather than the gross permissions at the admin/image/clone level.

    2019-10-21 15_46_59-Microsoft Edge

    There is an article that describes and an overview of Teams and another that talks through the DevOps Self-Service with Teams in our Product Learning section of the Redgate Hub. These will help you get started implementing the feature.

    Personally I like the matrix approach to security of using groups that have permissions to objects and then putting users, or groups, in the group to handle access. It worked well for me in SQL Server and in AD.

    Teams does this with a three phase approach, letting you limit the source (images), the target (instances) and the user in a matrix, which really simplifies the view that any particular user has of the clone environment. I like the blade we have that shows this.

    2019-10-21 15_50_06-Teams in SQL Clone and SQL Provision - Open Live Writer

    Once you start to get used to building images and deploying clones, there can be a lot of moving parts in a semi-mature environment, which can be confusing and problematic for developers that just need databases. Limiting the number of images or instances that a group can see will make it easier for them to just get the databases they should.

    What’s more, I could use this with masked and unmasked images for separate teams, allowing developers to use one set of data and customer service or QA to have another. With colors to designate teams, this makes things easier for admins.

    Ultimately the matrix approach is flexible, but also confusing, so limit the number of teams to what you need and try not to be too granular. That ensures new admins can understand the configuration and limits the chances you’ll accidentally grant too many rights to a user.

    Give SQL Provision (SQL Clone + Data Masker) a try today if you are looking for ways to quickly provision large scale databases for development.

  • Republish: Custom Schemas

    Pre-con one at the PASS Summit. A busy day for me, so I’m re-running Custom Schemas

  • A Mindset Shift

    I’ve been working with people at Microsoft for nearly two decades in different circumstances. It’s been interesting to me to work with developers, Microsoft consultants, and community people across the lifetime of SQLServerCentral, especially the last 5 years. For a long time, I never wanted to work there, but I’ve started to think I might find it to be an interesting company in the last couple years.

    There are two good articles that talk about the ways that Microsoft has changed. The first is from the high level culture perspective and tries to explain how the mindset has changed. If I hadn’t been witness to it, I wouldn’t believe it. These changes really happened, and they were amazing to me. I’ve been going to Redmond for 15 years, often working with a couple groups and since Satya Nadella took over, I’ve seen these changes get implemented. I’ve watched teams grow and change, and learn to re-frame the way they look at their work. I think it’s been a change for the better.

    The second one is a little more technically detailed, and perhaps more interesting to anyone that would like to get their organization to adopt DevOps. There are some specifics with tools, but really read about the mindset changes and the feedback they use to improve software. I think too many managers think automation and features are all you need to implement and forget that quality, experimentation and learning are keys to this working well. Make sure you point those out to managers if you pass this along.

    Not everyone at Microsoft made the transition. Some left, some were probably asked to leave. New people came, but plenty adapted, altered their mindset, and have bought into the way that the company has evolved. They’ve certainly gone from a company I wouldn’t want to work for because of the stacked ranking and competition to an organization I’d now consider employment within. That’s if they want someone remote in Denver.

    I’m proud that Redgate is also moving in this type of direction. We’ve learned a lot from DevOp and we’re learning that culture is important. We hire those that work well with us and help us build better tools for software developers in a team culture. Those that don’t want to work with a team, work in a DevOps flow, and be accountable for their autonomy will probably move on. That’s fine. We’re learning who we are and implementing that into our staff. I’ve tried to do the same in my life, know who I am and be that. I hope you can do the same.

    Steve Jones

    Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher or iTunes.

  • Good Resume Examples

    I talk about resumes, enhancing your career, and finding your dream job at various events. This might be one of my most popular talks, and I’ve been lucky enough to give it to many audience across the years. Quite a few people have taken my advice and used it to further your careers, and I’m always pleased when I hear from them.

    I don’t give any great advice, but I do try to get people to think about how they present themselves. Your resume (or CV) is often the first way that you present yourself to a potential hiring person. Even if you’ve used your network and someone gives a recommendation for you, your resume is the first way the interviewer sees you.

    In the Brent Ozar newsletter a few weeks back, he had a link to a “how to write a resume” guide. There are a lot of tips, but I agree with Brent that the layout in a number of these samples is really nice. At least, it’s well spread out and easy to read from an organizational standpoint.

    A couple things I’d disagree on. First, be careful of colors. Personally, in the “reverse chronological resume format” example, the blue is hard for me to see, even on my 26” monitor. Be careful about colors that don’t provide enough contrast. Plenty of people hiring are my age.

    The other thing I disagree about is the skills being too prominent at the top. Remember, I won’t spent a lot of time looking at the resume, so be careful of drawing too much attention away from your summary or work experience. I usually search for skills, so take advantage of the 30s of my attention and impress me with a well written opening.