Voice of the DBA

Category: Blog

  • Building a Better Blog – Next week during the 24 hours of PASS

    I’ve got a new presentation on blogging slated for next week during the 24 hours of PASS. The event is a series of presentations, 24 in all, on Sept 2-3, running continuously from people all around the world.

    I’m scheduled for the 10am MST, which is 5pm GMT, which works well for me. Kids will be at school and it should be a quiet time around here.

    The presentation takes some ideas and thoughts I’ve had from working on the Modern Resume for people as well as looking over those blogs from technical people that seem to be highly ranked, as well as those that make a good impression on me.

    So sign up today! There’s all kinds of SQL content to choose from.

  • Analysis Services Memory Limits

    I attended a presentation recently from Steven Wright of SQL Sentry on Analysis Services (SSAS) memory management and it was really interesting. I haven’t done much work at all with SSAS, mostly goofing around with basic cube setups, so I haven’t really had to administer a production instance. And I haven’t run into memory issues, which look like they could be a regular part of your day.

    SSAS manages memory much differently from SQL Server, and there’s a lot to learn, but there was one amazing fact to me about the settings. There are two limit settings, the Low Memory Liimit and the Total Memory Limit, both of which determine how aggressively SSAS starts to try and clear out objects from memory to free it up. These are settings you make on the server, either in the properties or an .ini file (what is this SSAS 3.1?) and the defaults are 75 for the low limit and 80 for the total.

    These are documented in Books Online, and it says this is the percentage of total physical memory.What is doesn’t say, however, is this: If you enter a number greater than 100, the value is interpreted as the “bytes” of memory to be used. That’s bytes with a little “b”, not kb, not MB, but b. It’s documented here by Greg Gonzalez.

    You’d think that would be something they want to call out in the documentation. A few people have been bitten by this thinking it was kb or MB, since most counters are expressed in one of those scales.

  • PASS Board of Directors – Call for Nominations

    Well I feel a little strange making an announcement about this since I’m not running. A number of people have asked me to run, and I considered it, but I can’t this year. Or at least I’m not willing to right now. I’ll give you a few thoughts on the position and then give you my reasons.

    The Call for Nominations

    It’s open now, and if you want to run, or know someone, you can nominate them here. The page lists a bunch of qualifications and benefits that board members have to deal with or get.  The deadline is Sept 3, so just a week left.

    If you have been working with the community, and enjoy it, then think about running. It’s the chance to help the community and make a difference in how our professional organization runs. You can get some good experience and have a nice resume bullet. It won’t hurt if you are looking for an MVP award as well.

    My feelings are that a board member should be:

    Employed as an FTE at a company – Nothing against consultants, but I think they have a hard conflict in dealing with clients when PASS calls. We’ve had a lot of consultants over the years on the board, and I don’t always think it has worked out well.

    However you should be in a stable situation with your company, and your boss needs to support 3-4 3 day trips a year. I’d ask if your boss is OK with it, and ask them to treat this as an educational experience, just like tuition reimbursement. Only instead of $$, you need some time off.

    Have Volunteer Experience – It doesn’t have to be with PASS, but you should have some nice long term volunteer experience. It can be with your church, Scouts, or some other group, but it’s hard to understand what type of commitment this can be if you haven’t been through it. I don’t think a board of directors is the place to start.

    Have Completed Projects as the PM – This can be a development project, a deployment, but something where you had to manage or direct other people to get things done. As a board member you’ll need to manage volunteers, keep them on task, and be aware of what they’re doing. Again, if you haven’t done it, this isn’t the place to learn.

    Enjoy the community – You can’t just be a great DBA. You have to enjoy meeting new people, working with them, and have a passion for helping the community. If you don’t like speaking, attending user group meetings, or working with groups, this isn’t the position for you. You don’t have to be a super-go-getter that’s at every event, but if you don’t enjoy getting out and networking with other DBAs, this isn’t the place to start. You could be a great volunteer for PASS, but not a director.

    Again, if you think you might fit this profile, apply. If you want another look at what’s involved, check out Andy Warren’s blog.

    My Situation

    I really thought about this last year, and was prepared to apply. I ended up missing the deadline for no good reason, and then decided not to do it. Andy Warren did run, and has been keeping me up to date on what it has required from him. We’re business partners and talk a couple times a week, and the subject of PASS commitments comes up often.

    This year I have a wife that travels a lot, often on short notice. She’s gone about 24,000 miles on airlines so far this year, and that can make it hard for me to travel at times. I also have 3 kids in 3 different schools, and managing all their events is a bit of a juggling trick each week. Add to that my son and I are both closing in our black belts in karate and I do a fair amount of scout volunteering with one son and my daughter, so I’m limited in the time I have available for PASS.

    Red Gate was supportive of my running last year, and I’m sure they would be again this year, but I’m a little worried about the distraction of work for the PASS board. I have a mixed schedule already of short and medium length work that makes it hard to context switch some times. I’m also a little worried about the conflict of interest if both Andy and I are on the board at the same time.

    Next year things should be different. One son leaves for college, karate will slow down, and Andy may not run for a second term. I’m not committing to run, but I’ll be in a better situation to handle the load.

    In any case, I’d like to see some new directors on the board. I think PASS has had too many people run for multiple terms in the past and I’d like to have a few new faces to congratulate in November.

  • SQLSaturday #23 – Session Submitted

    I’m committed to SQLSaturday #23 in Louisville on October 24, 2009. I got a note the other day from the organizer and today I sent back my session. I’d been waiting to hear from Red Gate that it was OK to go and commit, and I did last week.

    I submitted The Modern Resume presentation again, since that one has proven to be popular and I could use another delivery before the SQL Connections conference. I’m also working on a Hierarchy ID presentation that I’ll bring along. The last couple of events I’ve attended have had a cancellation, so it’s good to have something to present in case it’s needed.

    I also found out my wife is traveling that week, so it will be a bit of a kid shuffle. I think my sister-in-law can help, but I might end up taking a kid with me to Louisville. Fortunately my other sister-in-law lives there, so I don’t have to bring a kid to the event.