Voice of the DBA

Author: way0utwest

  • The June 2018 SQL in the City is coming

    We’ve got the schedule up and you can register today. Once again I’m heading to the UK, along with Grant, to broadcast a series of sessions that we hope will help you learn a bit more about building better database software and protecting data.  Kathi’s recording her session as she’ll be in Hawaii that week (she declined to trade with me).

    The theme this time is Compliant Database DevOps. Lots of people are struggling and coming to terms with the GDPR changes. I’d argue, as would others, that really most of the world ought to have better data handling, so we’ll give you some thoughts and ideas here of how to do this. We’ll use some Redgate products, but we’re hoping you get the overall concepts and ideas as well.

    Join me on June 20 and get a one day conference from the comfort of your own office.

  • SQL Server Tuning Skills

    Performance tuning a SQL Server instance, database, or even query is a skill that most of us could improve. In fact, I see that the query performance presentations are often the most popular learning items at any event. I’ve seen quite a few people asking for more tuning talks in different areas, which is a good thing. I think most SQL Saturdays could schedule a different tuning session every hour, or even repeat the same one a few times, and the room would be mostly full each time.

    Learning to look at the various possible problems in a SQL Server is both a science and an art. There are good methods, such as waits and queues, for examining where an issue occurs. There are basic techniques for looking at execution plans and then making changes to indexes or T-SQL. There are different options for queries, SET values, and more that will affect your query or even all your queries.

    Sometimes it seems there might be too many options for a beginner to decide how to begin examining a system, especially one that is having issues. I can’t cover all of the issues in this short piece, but I can give you some guidance that might help. First, make sure that you know how to gather information about your issue. We have forums at SQLServerCentral to answer your questions, but you have to do some work. Gail Shaw wrote a great piece on how to post performance problems.

    Ultimately, you need to understand the recommendations that we may give. It’s helpful to learn about indexes, and the differences in the various types (including Columnstore). You should also have a baseline so that you can measure the impact of your changes. How do you know the problem is fixed? Maybe the user gets lucky with a quicker experience when you tell them you’ve changed the system, but will they call again soon? That second call might be worse than the first one. Even getting a baseline of the poor performance now will help you understand (and prove) that the system is running better.

    You also need to understand what not to tune, and which items to ignore. I thought quite a bit about this after reading Paul Randal’s post on wait types to ignore. This is part of his 101 series, which are a good way to start improving your skills. Performance tuning takes practice and knowledge, which takes time to acquire. Even if you’re fighting a problem today, try and learn a little something about how you get your system to run better.

    I’d also recommend that you look to continue your education over time. Take advantage of those sessions at local events, like user groups, virtual groups, and SQL Saturdays. Take advantage of pre-cons at larger events, which pack lots of learning into a few hours. If you go, take a paper pad, not a laptop, and take lots of notes. If you can’t get away, maybe you can lobby for some tuning classes from sqlSkills, Brent Ozar Unlimited, or even self-paced courses on Pluralsight.

    Learning to become better at tuning is an ongoing process, and one that requires some investment. Perhaps some money, but definitely some time and practice are necessary. Don’t let this be a daunting task, but one that’s a journey. Your goal is to get a little better each time you work on this skill, not to be an expert that knows it all. I’m not sure anyone gets to that point, but you can become as good at this skill as any of the presenters you watch. It might take you longer than it took them, but you’re also able to build on their work and learn from their knowledge. Take advantage of that opportunity.

    Steve Jones

     

  • The Journey to DevOps

    Netflix is one of those companies that I find amazing. I was an early subscriber to their mail DVD service, and thought it was amazing how they processed both orders and physical objects with technology. As they pivoted to streaming, I continued to be impressed with their technology growth, from the chaos monkey to their DevOps deployments. They have been an organization often looked to as a model for other technology companies.

    I certainly think there are things to learn from Netflix, as they’ve scaled and build quite a resilient system. They aren’t necessarily worth copying, however, as the problem domain they solve is both narrow and also quite different than that many of us work in. If someone can’t watch a movie, it’s annoying, but they can pick another one. If a customer can’t transfer money, communicate with another user in an app, or schedule a ride, it’s a bigger deal for other problem domains.

    Still, Netflix didn’t build this system overnight. They didn’t come up with amazing DevOps techniques for building and deploying their software from the beginning. It’s been a journey, and they talk about some of the full cycle developer challenges in a recent blog post. This looks at one team’s journey across 6 years, from 2012 to this year. The piece is an interesting read, and it’s not advocating for their particular approach, but rather trying to explain the value that they received from moving to a DevOps model, where they have a group that must run what they build.

    As I try to help customers and clients move to Database DevOps models, I see lots of similarities to what’s in this post. As we look to optimize the entire software development life cycle, this requires a changing of roles and closer cooperation between groups. As I look at the evolution of Netflix, using a centralized group to build tools and then ensuring you have a better staffed development team that works to both build and support their software, ensuring clients get the value (or features) they need quickly.

    I’ve worked in orgs that did this in groups, and for the developers to be involved in operations is an eye opening experience. Developers will learn ensure they think about their design and test more because they don’t like getting woken up. They listen Operations and learn about the ways in which they can better build a system that works. They start to realize “works” is a feature, perhaps the most important one.

    I’ve also found my role as a DBA can facilitate DevOps. I’m often between development and Operations, with a foot in both camps. I help developers build better tools and techniques to work with databases. I understand the impact on production databases, meaning I can help ensure that deployments are smoother, and we avoid risky changes. We build indexes early, install primary keys, test queries for performance, and more. The DBA is the one of the ways in which DevOps can grow in an organization, if they work with the developers instead of against them.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 4.7MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and Libsyn.

  • Prepping for Mastering Index Tuning with Brent Ozar Unlimited

    I got the chance to sign up for a few courses from the Brent Ozar Unlimited team and took it. I struggle to find time for training, between work commitments, travel, and family time, it’s hard to fit in a day or two. I’ve almost given up on going to in-person classes mostly because of the time involved.

    I’m trying this online, both to learn something and see how the experience is. I’ve watched Brent present many times, and I think he does a good job of explaining concepts. While I suspect there’s a good amount of things in this course that I’ll already know, my experience is that it’s both good to get reminded of concepts from a different point of view as well as get some tips/tricks that I might not know. I’m always amazed how I might learn one small thing in a beginner session that I never knew.

    Signup

    The signup is simple. Go to the class page and add this to your cart and pay for it. The process is simple, and you get a good agenda as well as a schedule. I really appreciate the schedule, including the breakdown into what’s covered during different blocks.

    There are multiple dates/times to choose from, but this is online during the workday, Eastern US time, so plan accordingly. For me, this means a slightly early morning, but since I can turn up the speakers and walk to the coffee machine, this works out well.

    There are other classes on their home page, including Database DevOps, PowerShell, SSIS, and Data Science. There are plenty of more mainstream DBA/developer type SQL Server classes as well.

    Prep

    A couple weeks before the class, I got one of those automated emails from GoToWebinar. I’m used to receiving 3-4 of these before an event, so I promptly ignored it.

    Then I got a second one a few days later, and I decided to look at this one. I managed to actually read this section:

    “To get ready, go here:
    https://BrentOzar.com/xxxxxx
    And read the “0.1 Before the Class” module. There’s a ton of prep work and instructions in there for you, including a few videos to watch to prep, and you can download the slides to follow along. ” 

    I removed the URL, since I’m not sure this is public, but in any case, I clicked the link to find a description of the class, in usual well-written Brent style. There was also a series of links on the side, for various slides and labs.

    The Before the Class is a page with 4 videos from Brent that are supposed to prep you and give you some background. It’s 69 minutes, so I set aside some time and got moving.

    And I ran out of time. I watched 3 of the videos, but ended up not getting the fourth one done before the class because of family and travel commitments. I should have tried to watch more in short periods, but I kept putting things off. I know a lot of this stuff, but if you’re new to the class and want to learn this, spend the time to get some basics down.

    Testing Equipment

    I didn’t bother, mostly because I use GoToWebinar every few weeks, between my work or watching other things. As a result, I know my PC works. If you don’t do that, make sure you set things up.

    Contact and Notifications

    I went back and looked. I got these notifications:

    • A confirmation of the purchase
    • A 2 week notices that asked me to go to the class page, and also get started on Slack.
    • A 2 week (minus 1 day) email that asked me to read the “0.1 Before the Class” module.
    • Two 4 day notices, a day apart (one was a 3 day notice). Not sure if this was correct, but these were roughly the same.
    • An email the day before the class with a VM URL and credentials
    • A “start in 1 hour” notice

    That might seem like a lot, but I think this is pretty good. I might miss one of the advance notices in a busy world, so it’s nice to get the second one. I could glance at it and delete it if I had read the previous one.

    There’s a good amount of prep stuff out there, and Brent has each module of his class recorded, so I could have gotten ahead and watched some of the class ahead of time. I could have also played with labs a bit, though he warns you IN CAPS to be careful about not breaking some things.

    Overall

    The process before the class was well done. There is a good amount to help me prepare, but I won’t know until I get to the class if the prep was good enough.

    Looking forward to starting. Actually, but the time this publishes, I might have started, so we’ll see.