Voice of the DBA

Category: Blog

  • Tagging in SQL Monitor

    For many of us, we’ve learned over time that we need to filter out the amount of things that we deal with in an given situation. We certainly often do this in queries with a WHERE clause.

    While plenty of software comes up with ways to group and filter items, often they are done in a way that doesn’t fit the needs to the user. An example of this is categories in SQL Monitor. They’re good, and people use them, but they aren’t enough. You can see the grouping/categories below from monitor.red-gate.com. The filter is at the top and the various cards are grouped under the three areas: Production, Azure database, and Staging.

    2021-12-02 10_40_13-Global Dashboard — Mozilla Firefox

    That is a gross filter, but often customers might have multiple ways they want to filter servers, so we’ve added something new: tags.

    In the demo system, there aren’t any set up yet, but you can see where these are added in the Monitored Servers configuration. You can create multiple tags for a database or select multiple databases and apply a tag to all of them.

    2021-12-02 10_37_38-Monitored Servers — Mozilla Firefox

    On the Overview page, you can then quickly filter down by tags at the top. Just to the right of the groups.

    2021-12-02 10_37_14-Global Dashboard — Mozilla Firefox

    Not a huge change, but it’s one that is requested a lot and it’s rolling out now to your SQL Monitor installs. Give it a try and as always, give us feedback on how it works.

    If you haven’t tried SQL Monitor, download a trial and see how easy this makes monitoring your SQL Server databases.

  • Daily Coping 6 Dec 2021

    I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here. All my coping tips are under this tag.

    Today’s tip is to look for new reasons to be positive about the week ahead.

    I have a few reasons.

    It’s the holiday season. I have plenty of work, but less deadlines and pressures this time of year. All of this means that while I need to keep getting things done every day, I have less stress. This means I can look forward to making progress on various things without the stress of feeling I have to get a particular thing done this week.

    I’ve scheduled lunch with a friend, so I’m looking forward to that.

    My volleyball team is coming together and making progress, so I’m enjoying the time with them, less frustration and more continuing to work on improving play.

    I’m also traveling this week, heading to the SQL Server and Azure SQL Conference in Vegas, which is exciting.

    I’m looking forward to a good week.

  • Tesla Service Challenges and the Paradigm Change

    This is part of a series that covers my experience with a Tesla Model Y.

    I had to bring my car into the service center to get the tire fixed. While I was there, doing a little work, I had the chance to interact with service personnel, but more fascinating was watching others do the same thing.

    I saw some older people that were happy with the cars, but struggling to use the technology. Maybe some of the car reviewers have a point here with the paradigm change.

    One older gentleman was struggling to get his new phone to sync as a key. He struggled with getting email logged in, a general problem with older people. He couldn’t figure out his email, and I mentally applauded the rep that was trying to help him get logged into email on his phone so that he could authorize it as a key.

    Another lady had come in for service, which she’d called to schedule. When the tech asked her to check her mobile app for instructions and approvals, she said she never looked at the app. In fact, she wasn’t carrying her phone in her purse. They worked with her to look up her account and get her car in for service.

    What was more interesting to me was that this was an integrated system, with one rep handling the walk-ins for both service and car pickup. I saw 6 people processed in the first 30 minutes by one person. At other dealerships, I’d see 10 or more people wandering around, with about the same level of inefficiency.

    My Service Experience

    When I realized my tire was leaking air slowly, I knew I’d need to do something. I reached out to the roadside service group, but they only offered a tow to the service center or a tire shop. Since I’d paid for a repair, I was looking for some credit. A tow to the repair center is less useful to me than just driving over and waiting.

    The roadside people were too busy to schedule anything in the next few days, so I decided to try the service center. I tried to schedule through the app, but I couldn’t find appointments this week in Denver. I could have driven to the Colorado Springs location, and I was tempted, but I decided to call the Denver location first. I talked with a tech who told me to come in early one day and they’d fit me in.

    I arrived and since I didn’t have an appointment, was told to call them. The only person outside at opening time was busy with a customer. I called and was told a tech would be outside in a few minutes. About 3-4 minutes later a  rep walked outside and grabbed me. I explained the issue and he checked for tires. He told me if the patch didn’t work they wouldn’t re-patch it. I needed a new tire, but he said he’d credit the patch cost.

    He scheduled me and said it would likely be about an hour as they slipped me into the schedule. I sat down with my laptop, worked about 40 minutes, and my car was done. I approved the charge in the app and paid and was on my way.

    All in all, a good service experience, and in general, faster than I’ve had in the past if I just show up.

  • Daily Coping 3 Dec 2021

    I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here. All my coping tips are under this tag.

    Today’s tip is to enjoy new music today. Listen to a recommendation from someone else.

    I’ve had a lot of music tips the last 18 months. Today, I’m branching out. The other day in the car, my wife searched for an artist she’d discovered and played a couple songs for me. I enjoyed them, so I spent some time going through the artist catalog while working.

    Anderson .Paak is a singer/rapper/songwriter that is funky, soul-y, fun to listen to artist. If you like those genres, give him a try. Not always safe-for-work, so be warned.