Voice of the DBA

Category: Editorial

  • Getting Close

    Last week we saw the release of SQL Server 2019 CTP 2.5, with enhancements for Big data clusterrs and a Java language SDK for SQL Server. This is the 6th public release of the next version, and one that’s coming at an increasing rate. If you look at the cadence, there was a release in September, then November, then December, about once a month. A long delay at the beginning of the year, but now 3 releases in a month and a half, which lead me to think that they’re getting close to being done with features. I have no idea when the product will release, and I do think that //build/ is a little too close, but I do think that it will release in the next few months.
    For fun, I’ll send someone this mug (or a fun one of your choice) if you can guess which day the new version will release. Drop a note in the discussion with your guess.
    For SQL Server 2017, we had seven CTPs and 2 RCs. For SQL Server 2016, we had 11 CTPs and 4 RCs. SQL Server 2014, I only had 2 CTPs tracked, though I think this was barely a major release. You can flip back through our build lists and check, but there has been both an increase in the pace of CTP/RC release as well as an increasing volume through the versions. I think this is a direct result of an better engineering process that has adopted DevOps to ensure the release of software is easier than ever.
    I have to admit I’m torn on this. There is some effort to download and update software, and at times these versions have to be uninstalled to install a new version. That makes sense, and I certainly don’t want them spending time ensuring they can upgrade between CTPs if they can fix some bugs instead. Even if i have time to install the software and check a few things, I often don’t want to then recheck a number of things that used to work, and like many people, I probably just check one or two new things. Or if I haven’t finished checking something from a previous CTP, I might stick with that version.
    This is one place that I think containers can really change the world. I can get the updated software without effort. Other than the download, starting a CTP 2.5 image is no different than starting a CTP 2.4 image. There is still a challenge with data files, but in a very rapdily changing world, we want to be able to upgrade quickly. With the changes made with CUs to allow roll forward and roll back, containers make even more sense. Stop one container, start a new one, same IP, same name, same data, new version of binaries. Upgrade or downgrade.
    I’m both excited and intimidated by the new version. There are lots of enhancements that are going to make this a new generation of the platform, but as developers and customers request the use of new features, I’m going to be scrambling to better learn and understand some of the tricks I need to get the system to run well. Of course, with Intelligent Query Processing, maybe I’ll have a bit more free time away from some of the poor code that I’m stuck running.
    Steve Jones

  • Give Hugs

    Tomorrow I fly away again. Next week is our first 2019 SQL in the City Summit and I need a couple days to adjust to the time and prep, hence the trip starting tomorrow to get to the UK by Sunday. I’ll ensure that I say good bye to my wife and kids, and give them hugs before I go. I’ve done this dozens of times, and things always work out well. I’ll be back Wednesday and more hugs will ensue.
    I don’t usually worry about travel, or really any major issues affecting my family. They do happen, and we’ve had our share of ER visits because of something, but I don’t worry about the potential issues. I do, however, appreciate every day I get with family as I have seen tragedy befall others. I have had too many friends die in their 40s to not respect the wonderful life I have.
    I was reminded of this recently as I read Jim Donahue’s post about his father. It’s a look back at a trying year in his family. I won’t repeat things here, but it’s worth a read, and maybe send him a virtual hug and support. I can sympathize with both Jim and his father about the struggles of aging. I feel it often myself, and I know that life will continue to get tougher through the years, both for me, my family, and friends.
    I strive to enjoy the small things in life. The little parts that pass me by each day and I can appreciate. The joy of our dogs, the satisfaction of a success at work, even the wonderful pictures I see friends post online. As busy as life can be, it’s important to stop and enjoy many parts of it, smile at the world when you’re happy, look forward to better times when you’re not, and make time for family and friends.
    I’ll be away this weekend, but I’ll communicate with my family, enjoy some time with friends, and hope to smile and chat with some strangers in my travels. Life is amazing, but so much more so when you make an effort to appreciate how beautiful the world can be when you stop and smell the roses.
    Steve Jones

  • The Database Giveth and Taketh Away

    How many of you have ever run a database query with the wrong parameters and produced a report that you sent to fulfill a request? How quickly did you send another note to ask the report be discarded as a new one was coming? Probably a few of you. I know I have been in that situation during my career. If not a bad query, perhaps some of you incorrectly gathered data from other sources or made the mistake of killing the wrong session or updating the wrong data. Database errors occur, and often we have to decide how to pick of the pieces from a mistake.
    Recently there was a fairly high profile database query error with Southwest Airlines. Apparently a mass email went out to let customers know they had been awarded the valuable “Companion Pass” from the company. Many customers with a heavy travel schedule aim for this to allow a companion to travel for free with them. After receiving the email, many contacted the company as they didn’t expect the award. As someone that travels a lot, I know most of us do know exactly when we achieve some status and when we’re short of the level.
    Southwest admitted this was a “database error” and gave away a few coupons to customers, but this an embarrassment as well as an annoyance for customers. Most probably got the notice and didn’t feel bad when it was taken away, but a few people were probably close enough to try to change plans and book another person, only to find they weren’t getting a reward. I know, this is a first world problem, but still somewhat embarrassing for Southwest IT.
    I doubt this was a database error, unless a DBA updated some rows incorrectly. That’s certainly possible as an UPDATE with the wrong (or missing) WHERE clause is a common occurrence. My guess is that this was likely either a bug in some software that posted mileage completed or it was a poorly written query used to send out emails to customers. In any case, this likely wasn’t a big issue, but it is something that has occurred before. Sometimes with worse consequences.
    There will always be data entry errors, and certainly query mistakes in what we run. I don’t know of how we’ll eliminate more of these mistakes, other than to create more alerting that looks for anomalies and let’s someone know to double check that the values are correct. Actually, to me this is one area where AI is useful. It can detect things that look wrong, as it does with spell check or next word suggestions, and then let a user decide to keep or change the data. That might be something we would appreciate in SSMS. It could offer to correct my “selcet” to “select” while also letting me know that setting a price to $150 might be wrong when all other prices are $1500 or greater.
    Steve Jones

  • Can Azure Stack Reduce Software Development Costs?

    There’s a piece, called The Real Value of Azure Stack, that caught my eye recently. This seems a little promotional, as lots of vendors are mentioned in the piece, but the gist of the piece is that one of the largest line items for most enterprise IT shops is software development and maintenance. Part of Microsoft’s strategy to address this is with Azure Stack, a hybrid solution that allows you to build a platform in your data center that can extend to the cloud if you need it.
    Software development is hard, and from what I can see now, Azure Stack still doesn’t have a great data story. While one can develop against SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, etc., these databases instances used would be the same standalone services that we would use without Azure Stack. The platform does provide some features that smoother the use of SQL Server or MySQL, but it’s a far cry from the Azure SQL Database or Azure MySQL Database offerings or even CosmosDB. I hope to see those on Azure Stack at some point, perhaps with lower performance capabilities and promises.
     That doesn’t mean that there aren’t advantages to Azure Stack because there are. The consistent development platform, the use of functions, known VMs or App Services mean that your developers can build and test things inside your data center or in the cloud, knowing that these services will run smoothly when deployed on Azure Stack. I’d expect that we will see container and k8s support at some point as well, which will further help us smooth the process of moving software from one machine to the other.
    I don’t know of any customers for Redgate that are using Azure Stack right now, but I am hopeful to meet some and see the system in action. I don’t hear about it often, but every time I do, I get a little excited. I think this is the type of platform that could get more people interested in writing more cloud native software, with all the requirements to build more fault tolerant, resilient and scalable applications.
    Of course, moving to Azure Stack is likely most beneficial for new applications. While existing ones might port into an IaaS infrastructure and reduce some sysadmin costs, I doubt that there would be significant savings without a lot of development work that takes advantage of more modern software frameworks. There likely isn’t going to be any software maintenance savings on those old thick client applications or ASP websites.
    If any of you are moving to Azure Stack, let me know. I’d be interested in your experiences.
    Steve Jones
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