Voice of the DBA

Category: Editorial

  • Which Problem Are You Solving?

    One of the problems I’ve seen for years in computing is people seeing the forest or the trees. Not that either is good or bad, but far too often I’ve run across people that only see one of these, meaning they examine problems from a high level perspective, or a very low level perspective. While either of those can help you solve your issues, there will be a problem or a time when you need to examine the situation from another perspective. Knowing when to look at a higher or lower level can be invaluable in troubleshooting.

    This past week I ran across a great post from Grant Fritchey called Understand the True Source of Problems. In this post, Grant talks about some strange DBA “best practices” that were implemented to solve problems, but aren’t necessarily the best of anything. It’s an interesting list, and you might read it for entertainment, though I hope none of you are following these ideals at your place of employment.

    However the thing I liked about this post is that in the beginning Grant begins with an old doctor joke, which is still funny to me, but it often is the approache taken by people trying to solve problems. They just avoid the issue, and never solve it. That can work in the short term, but I’ve seen this build up over time to the point where people are afraid to make any changes to a system or code because of the fear of causing some unknown issue.

    I don’t think that every issue needs to be solve to the root cause. There are plenty of times something goes sideways on one of my computers and a reboot fixes the issue. I’m fine with that, but if it occurs more than two or three times, I do need to solve the problem. I need to be able to dig deeper to diagnose what resources are failing, what performance issue exists, or maybe what line of code is broken. Perhaps I need to step back and examine if some other part of my system, like the disk or network, is causing an issue that appears to be isolated to code. In other words, I need to be able to look at the wider environment (the forest) or dive into the particulars of a process (the trees).

    Knowing how to strike this balance is a bit of an art, and it’s what really makes the best problem solvers experts. I can’t teach you that part of computing, but I can teach you this. When you don’t think you’ve completely solved the issue, stop for a minute and take a wider or narrower view. Or maybe both. Look for what you might not have thought of. If you’re like me, there are probably plenty of possibilities that come to mind when you stop and re-examine the issue. Then work your way through those items, discarding the ones that aren’t relevant. Sometimes opening your mind a bit is the best way to find the exact cause of an issue.

    Steve Jones

  • Custom SSMS

    In my career, I’ve gotten used to working with SSMS on a variety of machines. It seems that as I toiled in various environments, I’d often connect to different SQL Server hosts, or use various consoles that only had the stock Enterprise Manager/SSMS environments installed. I do like larger fonts and a few other settings, so I learned how to quickly change those items, but otherwise I often have just learned to work with the default SSMS.

    However that’s not a very efficient way to work. SSMS, and the Visual Studio shell on which it’s based, have a number of ways to customize and modify the application to suit the way you work. You can also even export and import settings to transfer them across machines.

    Most software has a variety of settings, though I still don’t change many of them. As I’ve matured in my career, I do look to customize my environments to suit me, but somewhat lightly. There aren’t a lot of changes that I make, but I suspect that’s because of the nature of my work. I tend to do what works, and I don’t often explore other settings. This week I’m wondering if you have tips and tricks.

    What customizations or add-ins do you use to customize SSMS (or other development software)?

    I’m curious what many of you do and how you do it. I don’t often explore the possibilities as I’m usually concerned with just getting work done. However I’m sure that I’m missing opportunities to work smarter. I’ve never been a big fan of the function keys, though I know some people love them. I’ve tended to rely on templates (and snippets in SQL Prompt) to work faster.

    If you’ve got idea, tweaks, or software, let us know. I’m sure that many of us would appreciate suggestions that might help ease our jobs.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 2.0MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and LibSyn.

  • Getting IT Out of the Data Center

    The subtitle to this article says it all: IT isn’t a monolithic cost sink. I support this idea, though I don’t think it’s always accurate. Some companies just want an IT cost sink, where the data processing infrastructure is a utility. It provides a service that’s requested, technology automates specific processes, and that’s it. Certainly many companies think they do more than this, but in reality, IT is just a utility like power or water in many organizations.

    However the article points out that an Information Technology department can be so much more. IT can work with the business, improve processes, even provide strategic advantages over your competitors if you structure your environment to do so and allow it to work.

    Building a culture that encourages and promotes collaboration between technical and business people takes work. You need to find and nurture technical people that want to work with other people as much as they want to work with computers. It’s great to have highly skilled technical staffers, but you need to ensure they are willing to use their skills to collaborate with business end users.

    You also need business people that are willing to work with the technical developers. They need to be excited, and open minded about technology. They have to be willing to think outside the box, understand the limitations of current platforms, and be excited about building something in an iterative fashion with people whose primary focus is on technical work.

    I do believe, and have seen, IT groups dramatically increase the efficiency and effectiveness of an organization, but it takes time, and it requires both sides to commit to work together, in a way that ensures each learns from and compromises with, the other.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

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

  • R-E-S-P-E-C-T

    Working for one company for your whole life. Spending your career with a small company that engages and lives in the local community. Seeing your management and co-workers around town and at leisure events. Being a part of, and loyal to, a company doing business around the globe.

    This sounds ideal to me, as I prefer working for smaller companies, and I want to work for a company that respects my time. In fact, I do work for a company like that. Red Gate, is in many ways, like the German Mittelstand described in this article on work life balance in. We work hard, we do need to respond to issues outside of “normal hours”, but for the most part employees treat others in the company (and our customers) with respect. That’s the key to managing an around-the-clock, global business that you are proud of.

    It’s unlikely that most companies will change their view on how employees should be treated, and what amount of work is expected. Certainly many companies in the US have had lots of success by driving employees to work harder and longer, especially requiring this of their technology staff. Many of us that do work with computers have been well compensated, but the time lost and stress induced are high prices to be paid and many employees struggle with these requirements. There is numerous evidence that long work hours don’t result in more productivity over time, but when companies want to move forward, or systems are broken, companies expect that staff will work.

    I don’t think laws like the German Anti-Stress law that limits contact after work hours can help things. The culture of work really needs to evolve to find a balance between getting work done and respecting employees. I’m not sure I’ll see that change at any scale, but I do know there are more companies, especially smaller ones, that do want to retain and invest in their employees, respecting their time and efforts. They don’t guarantee lifetime employment, but I do think they make life better while you work for them.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 2.5MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and LibSyn.