Voice of the DBA

Category: Blog

  • AlwaysOn and Contained Databases in SQL Server 2012

    This talk is mostly based on contained databases in SQL Server 2012. The first part of the talk goes over the problems with current database movement, the idea of containment, and the implementation in SQL Server 2012. There are demos that cover the user and collation scenarios. The second part of the talk goes into the basics of AlwaysOn. I talk about the architecture, the various scenarios you can have, and the advantages and drawbacks of the technologies involved. There are no demos of AlwaysOn mostly due to time.

    Length: 60 minutes

    Slides: downloadable after the SQL in the City 2012 tour.

    Code: Demo code

  • Prepare for When Disaster Strikes

    When disaster strikes you have to respond and get things fixed ASAP. However if you could turn back the clock, and think about the potential problems and possible issues, can you decrease the time it takes to get things back to normal?

    This presentation looks at reducing your RTO by examining four common disasters, of which most disasters are a variation. We examine the components of RTO and then how you can reduce each one of them with a little forethought and preparation. The disasters are

    • Hardware Failure
    • User (or DBA) error
    • Corruption
    • Bad Deployment

    The talk includes a few demos of how you can respond quicker using Red Gate tools.

    Level: 100

    Length: 60 minutes

    Slides: Available after the SQL in the City 2012 tour.

  • A Long Day

    Flying all night from Houston, arriving in London at 6:40am, taking a train into the city and then finding a Starbucks to work in was the agenda for today. It worked out, but it feels like a long extension of yesterday, with very little sleep on the plane.

    Hotels don’t usually let you check in this early, which means that I’m struggling a bit to concentrate in the  center of London, people wandering in and out of the Starbucks by my hotel. Hopefully I’ll get checked in soon, and get some rest and then work in a little piece on my presentations for tomorrow. They’re done, but I want a little more practice.

    Traveling is always a little challenging when you need to get work done and you are out of your routine. Add in the lack of cell phone service in another country, and it’s a tough spot to be in today. Fortunately I got most things done before I left home, just working on a few Database Weekly things, which are easier to handle in a busy atmosphere.

    At least I found a Starbucks.

  • Time Zones

    Why don’t we have a function like the one in this article to convert from time zone to time zone? Seems like something SQL Server should have added awhile ago.