Voice of the DBA

Category: Editorial

  • The Computing Revolution

    One of the keynotes at this year’s Build conference was on the Future of Tech. This was a mix of live talk and recorded pieces from Kevin Scott, CTO at Microsoft. This talk looks at the innovation of tech, with lots of AI/ML, but also with the idea that data is fundamental to the future. While he notes that there are different eras in computing as we have breakthroughs, one of the fundamental things that will change the world is the data explosion.

    We constantly push through boundaries and past constraints that limited us just a few years ago. I can still remember a professor in college bragging about the 32MB of RAM in his Solaris workstation, at a time when many of us had 1,2, or maybe 4MB. I think about that each time I get a new device. In a generation of my life, we’ve grown an order of magnitude, and pushed into a new world where I don’t have an exponential level of computing on my desk, but in my pocket.

    We might appreciate or worry about the growth of data, and it’s implications, or we may get excited and embrace it. Either way, big data is coming, and it continues to come to many organizations. While most of us aren’t pushing 10TB+ databases, some of us are, and few of us think in MB anymore. Makes you think that perhaps the default settings in SQL Server for MB in some cases are silly. Surely a MB is a like a penny (or pence in the UK), take one, leave one, but they don’t really count. Not until there are hundreds of them, and even then, maybe only a thousand is worth much mental effort.

    I do agree that the big win with the Internet, and with many pieces of software, isn’t the platform, but the ways in which people take advantage of the platform. I think that the creativity of developers, taking advantage of incredible computing on mobile, is what has created an amazing revolution. However, it’s not really just the creative software, but the understanding and use of data at scale that has really enabled software to change the world. Access to lots of data, whether this is people wanting car rides, sharing their thoughts and images, or just the bits that make up the music of the world are the ways in which software can become incredibly popular. Also, this is how things might get incredibly dangerous.

    I do think that AI has the chance to become an inflection point in computing, helping to create more applications that will work with humans in new ways that harness our knowledge, ethics, and vision with the computing power that continues to grow in incredible ways.

    The keynote is an interesting watch. It’s about 45 minutes, but if you want to dream a bit, it’s worth your time.

    Steve Jones

    Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher or iTunes.

  • The Ultimate Home Office

    When the pandemic hit, we were fairly well prepared at Redgate. We’ve had lots of experience connecting offices, we have an amazing IT staff that has built a great VPN setup, lots of SSO authentication, and a tremendous KB of info.

    However, many of our staff didn’t have a dedicated space in their residence. Even those that did often had to share with partners, children, and others. That was a challenge. I know because we created a Slack channel for people to share their work space pictures. I saw some creative solutions, and I also sympathized with way some people have had to work during the last few months.

    I’m lucky that I’ve been working from home a long time and have made some changes over the years to build a better home office. I’ve upgraded PCs, added some lights, gotten a standing desk, etc. in that time. The pandemic got me to finally upgrade to a Secret Lab chair and adding a ring light for video calls. I also rearranged the office slightly after refinishing our floors.

    After seeing Troy Hunt’s post this week on his ultimate home office, I’m a little jealous. Not that I want to spend that much time and money on my office, or do all the IoT and other configuration, I am still interested as a geek in what he did. It’s quite a write-up, and if you go through it, those of you that are hardware geeks will probably enjoy it and then frown at your setup. You might also get jealous if you read about some of the systems Glenn Berry has built, Brent Ozar’s home office, or even the studio that Adam Saxton has built.

    For now, I’m pretty happy with my home office, though I still have a few minor things to work on. A little more cable management, perhaps a few small storage boxes/places for my desk, and certainly a little sweeping and mopping. That last one is something that needs to be done on a more regular basis, at least while the pandemic is stuff affecting me.

    Steve Jones

  • Something Old Something New

    My neighbor had a 1978 Ford Bronco when I was growing up. He drove his kids and I around to various events, and I loved that car. The look, the removable back, the spacious interior. It was a car I’ve always wanted to own. As I’ve gotten older, however, the rough ride and lack of modern amenities have made me rethink buying an older version. I’ve become spoiled in my older age

    Ford just announced a modern version of the Bronco, bringing back the iconic truck after over two decades. What is interesting to me is that they appear to be trying to take a page from software design and customized websites by allowing lots of custom options. It appears in this look at the truck that much of the truck body can be removed and replaced with custom sections. I’m sure plenty of third party companies will offer new colors, shapes, lights, and even accessories that might truly make this car your own.

    Of course, car manufacturers want to make money, too. There are some mechanical differences with engines, transmissions, and suspension, but also a variety of settings for the drivetrain. However, different trim levels have different numbers of drivetrain settings. I wonder if there is a difference in the models or this is a software limitation (with a different physical switch). I wouldn’t be surprised if this were the case.

    I had hoped years ago that we would start seeing more customization in cars with manufacturers building a flat chassis and custom bodies, having features into software, providing interfaces, allowing for more plugins from their own and partner suppliers. Instead, it seems like we’ve gotten more and more proprietary designs, trying to lock in users rather than selling the flexibility of design. I guess that’s the way of capitalism, doing what’s best for the company rather than creating an ecosystem that might excite the consumer.

    While I know modern vehicles are built for efficiency and airflow, I think many of them start to look alike. I would hate to see every car look the same, as they have in some movies. I miss the different designs and details from the past. I would like to think that at some point we’ll see modern electric engines, controls, and features available in customized, 3D printed bodies and better software interfaces that allow us to bring back the look of the past with the best of today.

    Steve Jones

    Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher or iTunes.

  • Communicate Through Commit

    Using Version Control is a skill, and it’s one that most technical professionals should learn. Even sysadmins and infrastructure people can benefit from version control, especially as people use infrastructure as code and GitOps with products like Terraform.

    Writing a commit message is a bit of an art, and it’s a good skill to have. I saw a post on how to write one, and I like the overall advice. Talk about why you’re making the change, not what you’re doing.

    The post has good practical advice about structuring a commit message, especially to ensure the messages are terse and easy to understand. Like much of coding, to do this well requires practice, and feedback. Ensuring your team agrees on how to do this and reviewing messages to help everyone improve will build a more cohesive team as well as reduce the amount of explicit communication you need to have.

    Our time is precious as developers, but our attention is even more precious. Every interruption from Slack, a text, or any synchronous communication could break our flow. Many of us complain about meetings taking time out of our day, but the small questions and queries from others, especially at random times, can be worse than meetings.

    Building standards, habits, and providing short documentation in common areas, like commit messages, can reduce the need for one developer to interrupt another. The more we work together as a team, by agreeing on and adopting standards, the better we work together as a team.

    Steve Jones

    Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher or iTunes.