Voice of the DBA

Category: Blog

  • Azure DevOps at the Data Platform Summit 2020

    I was lucky enough to go to the Data Platform Summit in 2017. I still have one of my favorite speaking pictures from the event:

    20800322_10213709692765472_429090589091695872_n

    I took my whole family and we enjoyed our time in India immensely. My wife asks me every year if we can go back.

    We can’t this year, as the event is virtual, like so many others. However the DPS team is working to put on another great event. There will be:

    • 72 hours of content, 2 Dec – 4 Dec
    • Pre-cons, 30 Nov and 1 Dec
    • Post-cons, 7 Dec – 8 Dec
    • On-demand access to recordings.

    All at a very reasonable US $109 Pre-cons are on sale for the next few weeks at $149.

    I’ll be talking DevOps and there are lots more sessions to choose from throughout the conference with chalk talks and open talks available as well.

    If you are looking for some late Q4 training, think about joining me at DPS 2020.

    If you’re looking forward to 2021 and dreaming, think about a trip to India. It’s a fascinating place, and I hope to go back next year.

  • Daily Coping 15 Aug 2020

    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.

    Today’s tip is to avoid saying “I ought to” or “I should” to yourself.

    My wife has reminded me of this for years, to avoid using “should” as it is a cognitive, or thinking, trap. I remember this every time I hear myself using should, either to others or to myself.

    As a result, I’m working to either decide to do something, or to let it go. I might drop it on a list for later, but I’m trying hard to not say I should do something. Do it or don’t.

    I’m better at this with home projects and chores. I don’t try to set myself up with an excuse. I’ll just tackle something or defer it with certainty.

    I still have work to do here with my job. I have too many “I should do xx today” conversations with myself.

  • Adding ApplicationIntent=readonly to SQL Data Compare

    Recently someone asked a good question about SQL Data Compare. How can they add applicationintent to the connection?

    If you are using Data Compare, and you are reading from production systems, load is a concern. With Availability Groups (AG), we can point SQL Data Compare to the secondary replicas and limit the load on the writable primary. How can we do that? Well, it’s actually easy.

    We have a doc page for encrypted connections, and we can use the same type of action to work with AGs.

    In a new project, I typically see something like this:

    2020-09-04 12_04_43-New project_

    What I can do is edit the server connection on the right. Just click in there, and then add this:

    Aristotle\SQL2017;applicationintent=readonly

    This will add the option in the connection string.

    2020-09-04 11_51_37-New project_

    If I open the project file, I will see the XML, where I can also edit these connections if desired.

    2020-09-04 12_09_42-E__Documents_SQL Data Compare_SharedProjects_(local)_SQL2017.SimpleTalk_1_Dev v

    I can do this for any of the options I need for connection strings.

  • Daily Coping 14 Sep 2020

    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.

    Today’s tip is to notice the things you do well today, however small.

    I live on a horse ranch, and there is never a shortage of work. While I do enjoy the break from sitting at a computer, I’m glad I don’t do that type of work every day. It’s hard, and gets harder on my body every year.

    There’s something strangely satisfying by accomplishing a physical task well. I take a lot of pride in being able to build software or deliver a presentation online, but it feels ephemeral.

    Shoveling a stall clean, or some other mindless task brings me a good sense of accomplishment. Yesterday, this was fixing fence. We have vinyl wires for horse fence, and those will break at times. It’s not hard to fix them, but it does take some attention to get a new line spliced in and tight.

    I planned on fixing a couple spots I’d noticed while feeding Saturday and ended up finding 3 more. I think I did a good job, since my wife noticed the fence was whole Winking smile