Voice of the DBA

Category: Editorial

  • Choosing a VCS

    As someone that speaks and promotes DevOps, I get asked for recommendations and specifics all the time for tooling. One of the questions I’ll get asked regularly is about version control. First, use it. There’s no excuse for not using version control these days, especially as most of the software out there is free.

    My view is that Git is really the choice these days. Most IDEs and software tools work with git, and if they don’t, likely they don’t support version control. While there are lots of choices out there, and I’ve used a lot in my career, it seems that Git has really won and is the default choice for so many organizations. What’s interesting is so many of the surveys and tracking of version control systems tend to rank the most often used hosting services, all of which use Git.

    However, does that mean you should abandon your existing TFVC, SVN, or other system for Git? I wouldn’t necessarily recommend that, but I would start learning Git and considering it for new projects. Some people love the change, others see TFVC with more complexity, and many people recommend moving away from TFS. I see similar thoughts about SVN and other VCS systems. Even this svn v git site that links to repo stats shows the stated stats of 47% of projects on SVN v 38% for git is outdated. As I write this, it’s 71% on git. I think that’s a testament to the growth from 2016 to now in Git’s popularity.

    What would I choose today? Git, hands down, for any project at any company. I might live with the existing system in the short term, but I’d be thinking git, if for no other reason than future hires and staff will likely be more familiar with git than anything else. I’d move in that direction. I don’t know I’d spend time converting existing repositories to git, but if the need arose, I’d be ready to do so.

    Steve Jones

    Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher or iTunes.

  • Automation is a Key Skill for the Modern DBA

    This month we had T-SQL Tuesday #130, hosted by Elizabeth Noble. Elizabeth and I had some good talks about database development and DevOps last year, and I managed to convince her to host one of the blog parties. I had expected that people might focus on the software development side of automation, but many of the posts cover administrative topics.

    The recap is coming next week, and I look forward to it, but I shouldn’t have been surprised. Good DBAs, as well as many sysadmins and Operations staff, have known that automation is important for years. It helps to ensure a smooth running environment and helps us cope with the volume of work that is thrust upon us.

    There were a few interesting posts. Greg Dodd talks about the advantages for his employer when he automates things, which is important to think about. Spending time automating things can slow down the initial closing of tickets, but it pays dividends in the future. It’s an investment, which is something to think about when you try to reduce repetitive work. Especially if your boss is concerned about the time taken to solve some tickets.

    One of the big advantages of DevOps, as well as general automation, is consistency. Taoib Ali explains how he enforces trace flags with automation, and Kevin Chant talks about SQL Server updates. Deepthi Goguri explains how to handle DBA work at scale. These are all situations where a little automation is not only useful, but perhaps essentially to reducing mistakes and human error.

    As we move to a larger number of versions to support, a great variety of platforms, including the cloud, it’s critical that a DBA not be required to click around in SSMS or connect to lots of systems to manage them. Learning to automate can produce some great blog posts for your brand, give you interesting conversation ice breakers at events (or on social media), and generate some stories that will impress interviewers.

    If you aren’t sure how to get started, consider reading Eitan’s Laws of Automation. It’s a look at what to automate, why, and a few ideas on implementing changes.

  • Remote Work Benefits

    It seems as though many of us that have been remote working will continue to do so. I see some offices opening, but not many. I had one friend that had everyone go back to their office in Denver, but they tend to all close their office doors so they don’t have to wear masks and they do their meetings over Zoom. Seems crazy to go into the office for that.

    The weight of this type of work continuing for the next six or more months has been a little tough for me at times. That sounds crazy, for someone that’s been a remote worker for over a decade, but I used to regularly go to offices, visit people, or even go work in Starbucks. Those types of things aren’t happening for me now. I am going to try and see if I can get a few more lunches with friends, especially when the weather changes a bit.

    If we are going to continue to work from home, some things likely need to change for some of us. On a call recently a friend asked about my Secret Lab chair, since this individual had an old chair and knew their organization wasn’t bringing them back until sometime in Q1 2021 at the earliest. They needed to get better set up at home to work.

    I saw an article that some companies are thinking about this new setup, how they might save money on office space and infrastructure, but also perhaps invest some of this in employees. There are companies that pay for phones, broadband, and some necessities, but some are thinking about doing more.

    They may not only invest in computer equipment, but might do a stipend to allow employees to better set up their home office, which may just be their new office. Perhaps some allowance for furniture or other equipment. I know some are considering monthly allowances for the additional expenses employees have, such as more electricity for equipment or heating/cooling. I know Redgate has offered some of this to our staff.

    Ultimately, we need to ensure we have an ergonomic, long term place to work, which is challenging for some. I continue to see people working from dining tables, sofas, and more, which are fine for some ad hoc typing, but not good for sustained periods of concentration. If your company isn’t planning on going back to an office, perhaps you want to ask about some benefits. At least a chair, as I think having a nice chair has made a big difference to my comfort across the last six months.

    I do think it’s important to get a good ergonomic setup if you are going to be here for a long time. Especially if there are others in your house and you all need to be sure you can work effectively and concentrate on what your employer expects you to do.

    Steve Jones

    Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher or iTunes.

  • The Real Life Software Movie Plot

    It wasn’t that long ago that Firewall was released. In it, a security executive has his family taken hostage, with the plot being that the executive will help the criminals rob the bank that he’s spent years protecting or his family will be killed.

    While I haven’t heard of this extreme happening in the real world, I wonder how far away we are from this. Recently, there was a less violent attempt at hacking, with someone offering a Tesla employee over US$1mm to slip ransomware into their network. The idea would have been to threaten Tesla with data release unless they paid up. The details are interesting, and supposedly the ransomware cost US$250,000 to build, but another company paid US$4.5mm to criminals, so maybe this would have been very profitable.

    I’m sure there have been some shady offline attacks against companies and their executives or privileged staff. I hope there haven’t been any violent ones, but I am sure that something has happened somewhere in the world.

    Ultimately, I bet that the best defense might be to limit the knowledge of who can access sensitive data, and perhaps even ensure that no one can. Only systems, and that all queries, all access, and certainly all backups, are handled by some automated system, logging everything. This might not prevent this movie plot from coming true, but maybe you’d get a similar ending, with the criminals caught quickly because some system logged the action and alerted people.

    Security is a tough world to work in and think about constantly. Many of us know this, dealing with the stress and concern on a regular basis. Hopefully none of us add in the moral dilemma that might come from an actual criminal contacting us. If they did, hopefully all of us would be able to do the right thing.

    Steve Jones

    Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher or iTunes.