A busy week in the office, so a rerun of A Clock With Benefits
Author: way0utwest
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Redis University
As if I don’t have enough to do, I started a data structures class at Redis University. Someone recommended this to me as another way a company has structured learning, so I decided to give it a try. There were some things they liked that we might use as Redgate University.
I decided to start with the 101 course, since I have a rough idea of what Redis is, but now how it works. The class has a number of videos, with transcripts alongside that teach various concepts. One thing I like is that if I get lost, I can glance at the transcript, click it, and the video jumps back to that point. That’s handy, as life sometimes distracts me.
The quizzes every video or two are nice, but I wish there was a bit more chance to practice things in the middle. I could certainly grab a Redis VM or container, but I have no real idea of how to access it, and I’d have another project. I would actually suggest some “launch lab” points after each set of videos with some practice tutorials or exercises.
The class has two weeks, with a few chapters, each of which is about 6-7 videos. I don’t know about you, but that’s a lot in a week. If I could abandon some other things for an hour a night, maybe, but that can be tough to do consecutively. I’d really rather this was a 4 week class, with each of the items listed as a set of learning and practice for one week.
Overall I learned some interesting things about how Redis works. With the power and speed of this memory based key-value system, I can see why some of our customers are using it. If you are thinking about it, or your app uses it and you want to know more, maybe check out their university.
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Evergreen SQL
Colorado is a beautiful state, one that my family and I have enjoyed many times. We like the summer and winter outdoors, including lots of days skiing. We have plenty of trees on the slopes, which is both great to view and a series of obstacles to avoid. Fortunately, the pines and spruces keep their needles all year round and are easy to spot.
Recently I caught a press release from Microsoft about the Azure SQL Server platform. It was written as support for SQL Server 2008 and R2 comes to an end. Microsoft certainly wants to pressure those customers to upgrade, as there are lots of them out there and this would be quite a bit of revenue. It’s been nearly a decade since R2 and over that for SQL Server 2008. There are a few options Microsoft has for you, though the move to an IaaS system in Azure with 3 years of support might be the only feasible one if you need support for some business reason.
There are other options, and the post calls out some of these as evergreen SQL. Both the Managed Instance and Azure SQL Database are listed here, because there’s no need to patch or upgrade these platforms. Microsoft handles this for you, though that’s not necessarily as simple as you might expect. I don’t know how vendors will deal with Microsoft upgrading code, but certainly your in-house applications that might be built with workarounds for the various bugs that people stumble upon need to be prepared to change code if the bugs fix and behavior changes.
I do like the idea of not needing to patch SQL Server and having the code improve and grow. I also like the idea of my code working and not breaking. While Microsoft has noted they don’t plan on removing functionality (deprecated just means there’s a better way you should use), what about the features that have bugs and the current behavior needs to change? That can be challenging for in-house development teams, but also a hassle for ISVs.
Perhaps this will get ISVs to write code that handles patches and upgrades. Perhaps this means that we won’t get stuck on RTM or SP 1 of some old version of SQL Server because a vendor doesn’t want to test and certify their system on patched code. Perhaps it also means they’ll write the most basic, generic SQL that uses limited features and will work everywhere without them spending any resources verifying their code. I worry the latter more than the former will be the result of evergreen SQL Server.
Do you want a version of SQL Server, as an instance, a database, or some hosted service that you never patch, but Microsoft does? I wonder how many of you look forward to evergreen SQL for your code.
Steve Jones
Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher or iTunes.
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Data Challenges and Travel
I made a quick trip to Pensacola recently for SQL Saturday #884. I had a great time and consider myself honored to be picked to speak, as well as lucky that I can make the trip. I didn’t have a smooth trip, as I wrote on my blog, but things worked out. These were really first world problems and minor hassles for me.
When I wrote my blog, I was thinking about all the data I received, and didn’t receive on the trip. Across the last few years, United (my primary airline) has enhanced their apps and services to share more data with travelers. I get text reminders two hours before flights, which is usually my drop dead time to leave the house for the airport. A good reminder for me. I get an announcement when boarding starts. I’m usually there, but if I’m late, or busy in an airport trying to find food, coffee, or a restroom, this is a great reminder.
Maybe the best part for me as a frequent traveler is the information about what’s happening with the plane before I get on it. There’s a “where is this plane coming from?” and a “where is this plane currently” view that I’ve used to make decisions on how to handle delays or other issues. While this might not matter to most people, though kids will love it, this has helped me to decide to rebook, alter plans at times, or even just keep working a bit longer during delays. Timing can be everything for frequent travelers.
Perhaps one of the amazing things with the data from airlines is baggage. While I don’t know how things work, I have been amazed at times that my bags get from plane A to plane B in a short time. My frequent travels from Denver to London have had me running between planes at times. This means that baggage handlers have to know there are a few bags (I’m often not the only one) that are in a particular bin or bucket on plane A need to be separated out from other bags and routed to a plane, not the collection point. Add in the fact that many other bags might need to go to different planes in a short time, and it’s actually incredible that most bags get on the plane with their owners. Or maybe that’s a major source of “unexplained delays”. Who knows, but when you think about the challenges, it’s incredible.
Certainly the data sharing isn’t perfect, and I’m sure the companies are careful about what they share. At the same time, I appreciate that other companies are doing a better job of using data and technology. While on my trip, I got a picture from Amazon of a package that was delivered to my house. I know it was my house because the package was next to a planter on my porch. Useful in case one of the kids moves it and denies doing so.
Mistakes will continue to be made by companies all over the world, and certainly we should understand that. The more data they collect, and the more they share, the more we can better understand what went wrong and fix it in the future.
Steve Jones
Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher or iTunes.
