Voice of the DBA

Category: Editorial

  • Does Connect Work?

    Sometimes I wonder if the Connect bug reporting system is really working.
    Sometimes I wonder if the Connect bug reporting system is really working.

    I had a brief conversation on Twitter about the Microsoft Connect bug reporting system, and received the tweet pictured above. It notes: “I like how you used ‘Connect works’ in that sentence. Great work of fiction.” That made me laugh because it does sometimes seem that Connect doesn’t work all that well for those of us that use it.

    Connect was supposed to be a place where users could report bugs and make suggestions. Some people file a lot of bugs and suggestions, though more than a few seem slightly silly. Others file what appear to be support requests, and I’ve had a number of documentation notes. There are even Connect items filed on Connect itself, though I can’t understand why this particular one is “postponed”. There are some items that have been open for years, even with hundreds of votes.

    The Connect system is supposed to feed directly to product groups and there are more than a few times I’ve received feedback through the system from developers I know personally that provide comments. I know developers are seeing the items, but there appear to be a few times of year when the SQL Server group mass closes lots of Connect items, often without any feedback. The twitter conversation I had above included one of these items.

    I remember being excited when Connect was introduced, thinking this would be a good way to get feedback to the product groups, and hopefully influence the managers to prioritize some of the common requests. However that excitement was tempered with the idea that so many items would be submitted, and it would be hard to triage and rank them. Indeed, I rarely find something in the searches I make before submitting, even I’ll have submissions closed as duplicate.  The number of items submitted is so high, it’s hard to even comprehend how any group works with the submissions.

    With the state of Connect, the lack of feedback, and the mass closures, I’m not sure how well Connect is working these days. However it’s not all bad; I did submit one item that received enough votes to actually make a change in MS policy. Outside of that, I think @SirSQL’s statement might be closer to the truth than I would hope.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

    We publish three versions of the podcast each day for you to enjoy.

  • Why SQL Server?

    I love this logo, and I love working with SQL Server.
    I love this logo, and I love working with SQL Server.

    Over the last few months I’ve met quite a few people that were just starting to work with SQL Server. For many of them, they’ve attended talks or presentations of mine or others, trying to learn enough to become more competent at their jobs. As is the case for many people starting out with a technology, they were thrown into it at their job and are struggling to understand the technology.

    That’s how I started, but I’m wondering if that’s how most of you started. I would guess most of us didn’t necessarily choose to work with this platform, but since that time, many of us have had other choices. This Friday, I wanted to ask about your work in the SQL Server world and participation at SQLServerCentral.

    Why do you work with SQL Server?

    It’s a simple question, but one that many of you might not think about. Are you stuck with SQL Server? Did you fall into this role and enjoy it? Or have you never considered moving on? A lot of people get stuck in ruts, especially ones that work well for them, without ever considering other options.

    For me, I fell into SQL Server when an instance was installed on my Novell network. I enjoyed working with sets of data and was amazed at how much easier it was to work with SQL Server than Oracle, and how much better performance was over dBase. It didn’t hurt that the pay for database work was great, but I have enjoyed working with SQL Server, and with short forays into the DB2, Oracle, and MySQL worlds, I’ve learned that I enjoy SQL Server more.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

    We publish three versions of the podcast each day for you to enjoy.

  • More Evolution, More Complexity

    I'm not sure, but we might have more knobs and dials in SQL Server than this in 2012.
    I’m not sure, but we might have more knobs and dials in SQL Server than this in 2012.

    Recently I had the chance to learn about some of the changes coming in the SQL Server platform in the next few years. At the MVP Summit we had the chance to talk with people that showed us features and changes coming in the next version of SQL Server as well as some ideas and thoughts about what might come after that. I greatly enjoy the latter sessions, since the ideas and goals of brilliant architects are always interesting to listen to.

    As I heard about changes and additions, it occurred to me that while some of the features and functions become easier for people managing platforms, others become more difficult. The tuning decisions we might make with regards to resources become more complex. We have new knobs to turn, and more decisions to make on how to best balance the hardware available on our servers.

    I’ve known a lot of people over the years that have feared for the evolution of software, which eliminates some of the “easier” tasks that administrators and even developers have had to manage in the past. There’s no denying that the days of making a career of babysitting boxes, changing tapes, scanning logs manually, and more are likely over. Those menial, easy-to-automate tasks will become the domain of software at some point. We still might perform them, but it will be rarely.

    As platforms advance, however, they do not become more autonomous. New decisions and management tasks are needed. That means new skills for those of us that want to remain in information technology. It’s means a little more work for us, more studying and more time. However your career will span decades, so plan your learning along those lines. Don’t try to learn everything this year. Pace yourself and plan on regular learning across the next five years and you might be amazed what you accomplish.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

    We publish three versions of the podcast each day for you to enjoy.

  • The Microsoft Sideshow

    Has Microsoft been a sideshow? I don't think so, but they haven't been well led.
    Has Microsoft been a sideshow? I don’t think so, but they haven’t been well led.

    Last year I read a piece in Vanity Fair that talked about Microsoft and how the company has appeared to stagnate somewhat over the last decade. As a stockholder, I’ve been a little disappointed in Microsoft’s performance, especially as I’ve seen many other technology companies grow rapidly in that time. The performance has been more suited to some of the stodgier industrial companies than a high tech offering.

    There was a time when Microsoft courted developers, and created an excitement that resulted in many individuals and companies writing new applications for the Windows platform and caused an explosion of growth, not just for Microsoft, but for everyone in the ecosystem. The last six or seven years it seems Apple has taken over that crown with the excitement generated by iOS. Even as Microsoft made a fantastic update to its core OS with the lean and fast Windows 7, and even as SQL Server has grown to become a platform that can power almost any application in the world.

    Overall, however, I think Microsoft has become more of a business than an innovator. There is an incredible focus on business and sales first, and awesome technology second. I don’t think leadership is inspiring or even leading the company well. I feel that there is a lack of focus across the business, with such a disparate set of products and efforts, that the overall view of one of many independent groups vying for resources and lacking a coherent vision of where the company is headed. That results in a lot of products that don’t seem to integrate well, at least without lots of patches.

    Microsoft isn’t doing badly, however, as they just posted record revenues. Even better for us data professionals is the fact that SQL Server revenue was up 16%, which shows the product is popular, solid, and selling well. I expect we’ll continue to see lots of advancement in the features we can use in future versions. Now if they’d just get rid of the sideshow of “R2” naming….

    Steve Jones