Voice of the DBA

Category: Editorial

  • SQL Is Always Going to be Popular

    Hiring staff is hard, and certainly it can sometimes be a challenge to find good people to build software and manage systems. Many of us want to be those good people, and we are looking to improve our own skills. I think that’s one of the reasons that SQLServerCentral has become so popular. Many of us want to become better at our jobs.

    It can be hard to determine what to learn and where to invest your time. I’ve talked with plenty of people that have worried about various Microsoft technologies and their longevity. Notification Services is the classic example, but I know people that have been wary of SSIS, Power BI, Azure, and more. It’s daunting to consider spending 100 hours across the next year on some technology, only to find it’s not likely to help you get the job you want.

    Recently there was an analysis of the coding tests that were given to developers by various companies. This is interesting to look at from an employee view, when thinking what skills to work on. One thing I see is that SQL is constantly in demand. It ranks on the second most test language, only behind JavaScript. That ranking makes sense in that lots of companies need help with web technologies, and there are lots of these jobs.

    What I’d also say is that most every job out there needs SQL. Whether you are a web developer, a mobile or client side developer, you use Java, Python, C#, or anything else, you’ll work with a database. Even many of the NoSQL class of databases have added SQL as a query language for developers.

    SQL, for all of its shortcomings, is a standard way of working with data. It’s a skill that isn’t likely to go away anytime soon and the more you can build efficient queries, the more likely it is that you’ll impress someone in the next interview. Read our T-SQL articles and practice answering questions in the forums, and you might be surprised at how much of a T-SQL guru you can become.

    Steve Jones

    Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher or iTunes.

  • Build the VCS Habit

    I’ve preached the value of Version Control Systems (VCS) for many years now. In various writings, in the talks I’ve given on development, CI, DevOps, and more, I always talk about the value of a VCS. One thing I often say is that if someone won’t use version control, they aren’t a professional. I don’t say professional developer, professional DBA, or anything else. You’re not a technology professional without knowing how to use a VCS in 2020. You certainly can’t work for me if you won’t use one.

    I saw a nice, short post from Kevin Chant on the ways in which a SQL Server professional can benefit from a VCS. Many of us working with SQL Server aren’t developers, we may not be some DevOps engineer. We might be someone that manages systems or handles backups. We might be someone that deals with complex HA, DR, or replication processes. We may be report writers or ETL developers.

    In all those cases, we have scripts, and these days, the majority of us need to work with others and often share these scripts with a team. We need to update the code over time, and we need to ensure that if anyone edits the code, we know what was changed. In other words, we need versioning, and we certainly need some easy way of sharing things.

    There are lots of choices, but there’s no downside to using a VCS and lots of upside. Changes are you have some VCS in your organization and adding another repo (database) of code is easy. I recommend git, but really, I think Subversion, TFS, Perforce, VCS, Vault, Mercurial, etc. are all fine. Even Visual Sourcesafe (VSS) works, though I’d say you could do better at a lower cost these days.

    Outside of becoming better at SQL coding, I think learning to use a VCS and becoming comfortable with it is a core skill for a tech professional. You can get git for free, and it’s easy to learn. I’ve written some basics on my blog and SQLServerCentral. There are plenty of tutorials out there (I like Atlassian), and you can even practice skills online. Do yourself a favor and become a better professional today. Start using a VCS for all your scripts and code.

    Steve Jones

    Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher or iTunes.

  • The WFH Challenges

    The daily protocol for some of the world is changing rapidly these days. The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting many people. Many of us working in tech are blessed that we have the ability to work remotely, and lots of companies have started to allow working from home (WFH) to rapidly grow in the last month. I worry about those that don’t have the option, and I hope they find ways to cope.

    I’ve been working from home for 17 years. My wife did it for large tech companies for almost 20 years. It’s not hard, but it’s not simple. Kendra gave us three tips last week, and I’m adding a few more since I ran across a piece in the NYT from a writer that’s been forced to work at home more due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It notes that working at home isn’t a panacea, and there are creativity losses from separation. I tend to agree, which is why I normally go to the Redgate offices a few times a year. The facetime is important.

    I will say that the switch to working from home is an adjustment. Alice Goldfuss has a long post on this, and there are a few thoughts from Andrew Pruski on his first two years. If you’re interested, Eugene Meidinger also talks a bit about working for himself at home, and the loneliness of the first three months. Mala also has some resources that might prove helpful.

    If I think back, I remember a lot of the challenges of being at home and not going to an office. I spent over a decade going to an office and starting to work at home was hard. My wife had been doing it for 7 or 8 years at that point and sharing an office was hard. She was always on the phone, which was louder than the open office plan I’d had at JD Edwards. Or she was gone, and I was lonely. I’d go for walks with the dog or hit the gym most days. I learned that I had a kitchen, but I was less prepared for lunch because I didn’t have to make it and take it anywhere.

    At one point I took a part time consulting gig to get out of the house. That gave me more purpose and satisfaction, but it meant my days were more busy and I struggled to separate work from home. I still struggle slightly with this, but I have learned to balance life out. If I need a break on a Tuesday, that’s fine. If I need to work on a Saturday to catch up, that’s fine. Sometimes I actively make that trade, especially during ski season.

    Working from home is a change, and it’s disruptive. I mostly work on solo projects, but I do need to collaborate and find the Slack, Teams, and video calls are helpful. I do have a separate office, and I’ve had to explain to family that working is working, and they should not just interrupt me at any time. I have to learn to take breaks, and I have to learn to build a routine. You will too, and it’s something I’d recommend. Take advice from others and try something for a week. See how it works for you, remembering you have to build some habits and try them out. Don’t abandon something immediately, and don’t think that the way you start working this week is something you’re stuck with forever.

    Stay safe during this time and work to keep yourself mentally health until the world gets back to normal activity.

    Steve Jones

    Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher or iTunes.

  • Secure Enclave Concerns

    We worry about security as data professionals. It’s a constant issue, though it seems that so many of the data breach issues come from simple mistakes. We have lots of automation, configuration as code, and more. These days we should have a protocol and automated process for setting up systems, file shares, and other ways of allowing others to access data.

    Awhile back we had attacks against hardware (Meltdown and Spectre), which required patches to systems to secure them. This was disruptive, but I haven’t seen any widespread security issues as a result of these flaws. Many systems were patched, though it’s entirely possible that there have been exploits.

    In a report this week, researchers have found a way to read data in the secure enclaves of some chipsets. That’s disconcerting because lots of secure software counts on the Intel Software Guard Extensions (SGX) protecting data. This is part of the Always Encrypted enhancements in SQL Server 2019, which I was happy to see added. These are supposed to help ensure you can protect data, even if you don’t have control of the physical machine, which is common in hosted and cloud scenarios.

    A new exploit could be a problem. Intel says it’s not, but they have an interest in saying that. The research looks complicated, and I could certainly see this is hard to do, but attacking a large environment, like a cloud subscription, might be something hackers try. Even if they aren’t successful, there may be performance issues with SGX calculations from a software patch.

    The point of this piece isn’t to alarm you. Likely this is more speculative than reality, but you should be aware there are potential issues. Encryption and security are complex topics, and I’m hoping Intel and Microsoft (and others) come up with better protections and mitigation for the issue. However, ultimately it’s up to us tech professionals to understand what possibilities there are and ensure we are taking every precaution we can.

    Steve Jones