Voice of the DBA

Category: Editorial

  • What is the Future of Monitoring?

    I read Tom LaRock’s post on the future of monitoring, looking at the rise of machine learning and complex algorithms to evaluate systems. Tom notes that the data input into a system is crucial in determining whether the system can produce a prediction or output that has value. Since the humans that decide what data is included may not choose wisely, the system won’t necessarily reduce the time required to manage a system.

    I tend to agree. From my conversations with those people having success with machine learning systems, the data preparation is the most critical (and difficult) step. Shortcut the cleansing and organizing, or make poor choices of what data to include and you won’t likely get actionable results.

    However, I have a different view of monitoring. After my watching of the Darpa Grand Challenge (editorial on this recently), I think the future of monitoring is perhaps actually making changes to code in-line. Perhaps with approval from humans, but I suspect that we can train some process to understand how particular batches can cause issues. We can certainly set filters that might note index changes on large tables could be problematic and should be investigated before an issue arises. We can teach a system to recognize code deployments, perhaps even roll back certain changes if the application fails. We certainly could have a machine learning system watching index usage and query plans to recommend indexes in a real time manner, perhaps even turning on and off on-line rebuilds.

    I think there is possibility, but where I’d really like to see advanced monitoring is not in production environments. I’d like to see better systems that can watch development, helping suggest or rewrite SQL before it’s deployed. Perhaps applications can warning developers of potential performance or security issues. Such systems could help us in building more consistency into our applications. We can have systems that help our developers code better.

    As our databases and software become more critical to the functioning of most of our businesses, we certainly need more reliable and robust development practices.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 3.6MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and Libsyn

  • DevOps at Microsoft

    I’ve been watching Microsoft for quite a few years, with my career being tightly intertwined with the company for 25 years.  I’m amazed by the way the company has changed in the last five years. It’s probably been longer than that, but from the outside, the last 5 years have been surprising. Certainly the way Microsoft produces software is a process worth studying by almost any organization with developers. There are some scale advantages Microsoft has, and their mission is to reach and touch people at a level far beyond what many of us deal with, but there are lessons to be learned.

    There’s a great piece that shows some of the ways in which Microsoft is practicing DevOps in their own software development. I like that the focus isn’t just that developers do more, but that operations staff are involved in working closely with the development teams. In fact, there’s a quote I like that notes in addition to technology changes and habits, ” we found that the organizational changes and cultural shifts required to embrace these practices have been just as significant.”

    As I talk about smoothing the database development pipeline and creating efficiency in the process, I want people to be aware that cultural change is required. My employer, Redgate Software, can sell you tools that solve the technology challenges, but if you don’t change the way you build software in your culture, with your staff, the tools don’t help. At best they make a few tasks easier for developers, but you will still have issues releasing your software consistently on your schedule, whatever that may be.

    There is also the emphasis on developers deciding when to release. In Microsoft’s domain, this probably works, but not likely for many line of business applications in organizations. However, the focus should be getting changes to customers quickly after development. The sooner they see features, the sooner they can provide feedback on whether the software works as expected or changes are needed. This quick feedback also means that developers have the architecture and flow of the code in their recent memory. Always a recipe for smoother continued development and quicker bug fixes.

    Testing isn’t emphasized much, though I think as developers become more accountable, and they can get changes to customers quicker, they’ll start to want automated testing that allows them to check for regressions, as well as ensure requirements are being met. Microsoft has the advantage that many of their internal teams can actually use the end product, something that isn’t always easy for those of us in other industries.

    DevOps works. The principles are sound, and it doesn’t matter if you’ve followed the principles for decades (maybe under another name) or just started a new process by asking for more coordination and collaboration from your teams. Learn to build a coherent system with your developers and operations staff, throughout your software development process, and your whole organization will benefit.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 4.6MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and Libsyn .

  • The Black Boxes

    Machine learning and artificial intelligence seem to be the hot topics these days. From bots that can interact with people to systems that learn and grow as they process more data, it seems that science fiction is becoming reality. At least, in limited ways. Autonomous cars, perhaps the highest profile example of these topics, are advancing and being tested in a few locations around the world, but I think we are a long way from having human controlled and autonomous cars interacting freely at any scale. There are still plenty of issues to work out, and the consequences from mistakes require serious consideration.

    I was thinking of this as I read an interesting question: Whose black box do you trust? It’s a look at algorithms and machine learning, and the impact they have on the world around us, despite many of us not understanding how they work. The main examples in the piece are in the area of journalism as it relates to social media (primarily Google and Facebook), but also touches on autonomous vehicles, both autos and planes. The latter was a bit of a shock to me as I assumed humans always handled takeoff and landing, something the author says doesn’t happen at SFO. Some searches around pilot sites seem to note that automated landing is done regularly to test systems, but is used in a minority of cases.

    The question is, do we trust the black boxes that run our systems, and really, does it matter? In the piece, Tim O’Reilly says he has four tests for trusting an algorithm:

    • the outcome is clear
    • success is measurable
    • the goals of the creators align with the goals of the consumer
    • does the algorithm lead creators and users to better long term decisions.

    Those are interesting ways to evaluate a system, though I think the problem is that the last two are a bit nebulous. One of the things that I see more and more as I get older is that the same data or the same facts can lead two different people (or groups) to two different results. Our goals, our interpretation of events, even the weights we place on the various factors in a complex system vary dramatically from person to person. In such a world, can we truly evaluate what the goals of a creator are? Forget about consumers, assume one person building a software system. They will have multiple goals, and do we really think their goals can be easily listed? Or weighted/ranked appropriately? What about when the goals change?

    I really think that the black boxes need more disclosure, though I freely admit there isn’t a good way I know of to do this. However, I do know one thing that can be better disclosed: data. We can have more openness and analysis of data from software systems along with some accountability by creators for the impacts of their software. Again, I don’t know how to enforce accountability, especially at scales that encompass millions of consumers and easily cross country borders. That is a problem I think we need to find ways to tackle, at least at some manageable level. Maybe using the 80/20 rule where 80% of consumers and creators find the outcome to be a good one.

    The world of technology and software are advancing and growing extremely quickly. Certainly hardware advances, but it seems the last 5-10 years have been more about new and different software applications that fundamentally alter the way humans can interact in social, business, and government situations. Underpinning all the changes is data. New data, more data, and novel ways of working with this data in ways that were unheard of 20 years ago. It’s an amazing time to be a data professional.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 5.2MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and Libsyn .

  • What Helps You Learn?

    There was a post recently asking how to train a junior DBA. What tasks do you give them, how to get them productive, etc. The responses were interesting, but I was struck by one note from a person that is a junior DBA. This person mentioned a few things that have helped them get better at their job, some of which I hadn’t thought about before.

    Since I try to teach people about SQL Server in writing, in presentations, and longer formats, I decided this might make a good poll question. If you spend a few minutes thinking about how you’ve improved your skills at your job, let us know what works best for you.

    What things can others do to help you learn more about your job?

    Are there specific things that have actually worked better for you? Perhaps you prefer to learn alone, but even then, what works well for you that builds skills. Is there a format or style of presentation that reaches you?

    I’m a big believer in multiple voices and multiple ways to teach people. This is one reason we sometimes have 2-3 articles on the same topic from different authors. Each will reach different people, and speak to them in different ways. I think the format (text, video, live, etc. ) also has some impact on what helps different people learn. Let us know today what works best for you.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 2.1MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and Mevio.