Voice of the DBA

Category: Editorial

  • The Platform as Code

    data center
    Trying to manage all your servers individually is like tracing cables in this kind of setup.

    SQL Server has grown more and more complicated over the two decades that I have worked with the product. At the same time anyone can install it and set up a database with almost no training. There are more and more features and functions to learn, yet it’s become a much easier product to use. It seems as though one person may view the platform as very difficult to use while the next sees is as requiring almost no management. Both of these views can be true, but as we say often about SQL Server: it depends.

    When I started working with SQL Server, it was a cumbersome platform, the network configuration could be tricky and it wasn’t easy for developers to master the named pipe connections that were required. Since then it has become a very easy to set up and use platform, with many system administrators managing servers that almost manage themselves. “Almost” being the key word there.

    Just as with other Microsoft platforms, the days of having a set of procedures that handle your daily tasks and lead you through the solution are gone. The platform handles the simple stuff, the routine issues, but it is almost a requirement that a good system administrator be able to write T-SQL queries and string together segments of code.

    I was reading an interview with Jesse Robbins, the founder of OpsCode, a company focused on infrastructure automation. In the interview, he had a few quotes that struck me as very true. “What has happened over a period of time is that sysadmin skill set has been expanding more and more to include more and more basic infrastructure software development.” The second quote deals with managing more and more servers: ” That is not being built on your back every day, when you’re logging into the same 50 boxes and typing in the same 50 commands. ”

    Those quotes were similar to some of the presentations I saw on System Center 2012 at DevConnections. There is a focus on automation, on scripting, on working with groups of machines at scale, not as individual systems. The administrators, whether on Windows, Exchange, SQL Server, or some other platform need to learn how to better administer their systems with code, not with the GUI.Steve Jones

    SQL Server ConnectionsIf you want to learn more about Systems Center and SQL Server, come to DevConnections in the fall. It’s the best conference to learn about all parts of the Microsoft technology stack. Grant Fritchey and Steve Jones will be there speaking along with lots of other great Microsoft technology specialists.

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

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

  • Managing Risk

    Risk board game
    Are you managing risk appropriately? Or do you suppress contrary opinions?

    Last year I read Team of Rivals, a book about the Lincoln Presidency in the US. It was a very interesting read, partially because of the topic and times, but mostly I was captivated by the diverse cabinet that Lincoln put together. He chose a number of rivals for positions, people that didn’t necessarily get along, and often had very different opinions about how to govern the country. It felt strange at first to think about a leader welcoming in foes and enemies into their governing committee, but Lincoln appeared to make it work, and the variety of thoughts and opinions helped the country get through the Civil War.

    It’s an interesting idea, and this article on the JP Morgan trading losses reminded me of that book. It talks about the need for debate and argument in making decisions. It makes me wonder if too often in technology we make decisions and implement architectures without listening to the dissenting voices. In my experience, the loudest voices, from both technology people and customers, are often the ones that overwhelm discussions.

    Do you welcome dissension in your meetings? I’ve had managers that preferred everyone to be on the same page, or be willing to make a very persuasive argument. The better managers I’ve had encouraged debate, and didn’t allow any one personality to dominate, and usually wouldn’t let the process degenerate into an argument. The better managers also knew that decisions had to be made and debate could not drag on for too long.

    The process makes me wonder if the very outspoken and domineering people working with technology, either as the manager, the client, ro the technologist, cause more problems than they solve. Perhaps if they were more willing to debate and accept the information about risks and issues from the quieter people, we might have more projects completed with fewer issues.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

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

  • New Security Holes

    Geek Security Holes

    One of the big advertising campaigns of 2011 was the Apple campaign that centered around Siri. This is a voice recognition feature of the iPhone 4S that allows you to manage many of your phone interactions by speaking instead of touch interactions. There are a whole series of commercials about Siri and some rather funny parodies (NSFW). I used Siri briefly on my iPhone 4 before the 4S launch and I didn’t like the interaction, but my wife loves it.

    Apparently, however, IBM doesn’t like the idea of Siri being used inside of the company. IBM’s CIO has banned the use of the voice recognition because the audio and translation are not done on the phone, but rather sent to a series of servers controlled by another company. Apple is ultimately responsible, but there are other companies who a subcontracted for pieces of the whole process. There is a potential security hole, especially with a company like IBM that is involved in research and new technical products that might compete with Apple.

    I have to admit this is a data security hole I never expected to encounter. It’s a valid concern, as your location, the content of your message, which might be an appointment or reminder to yourself, could be mined and used by Apple. As more companies use voice recognition, or even other types of interactions that might require data processing at a remote location.

    Ultimately I think that we can’t let the market work out the way that our privacy should be handled. I don’t think companies will do a good job of protecting the individuals’ or business partners’ interests. Until there is a good framework in place, anyone that uses third party libraries for processing things like voice recognition ought to be concerned over the data security that is offered as part of the service.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

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

  • The Avalanche Upgrade

    Reprinted from Database Weekly.

    Microsoft logos
    The avalanche of products coming this year

    This year, 2012, is quite a year for Microsoft. We saw SQL Server 2012, Systems Operations Center 2012, and released earlier this year. Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 are due for release later this year. Office 15, Exchange 15, and Sharepoint 15 should enter beta this year, and IE 10 is certain to release at some point. We may even see a new version of Visual Studio in 2012. It is certainly a busy time for the developers up in Redmond.

    However that means that those of us that are working in IT are faced with a blizzard of upgrades. Even if you aren’t planing on performing the upgrades this year, I’m sure there will be requests and no shortage of stealth upgrades taking place in your company. There will certainly be Windows 8 installations coming on new PCs, which means wiping and reimaging.

    One one hand I like seeing Microsoft align the release dates of their products closely. This helps to ensure that the newest features are supported by the other platforms. It also means that we don’t have strange service pack/hotfix combinations of patches needed to get SQL Server to work with Windows or Visual Studio. That doesn’t help us with past products, and there’s already no shortage of compatibility issues between a few of the technologies.

    However this does mean that a lot of new learning and understanding is required in a short time by much of the IT staffs that must support these technologies. With many people dealing with multiple platforms, this means an even busier fall and winter as they try to understand all the changes that they will be tasked with supporting. My advice is that they start working with a product or two and reading about the changes now. That way you will have some background and context for the actual testing you’ll need to do next year.

    I don’t know how many people will upgrade this year, but even if you delay until late 2013, you’ll still have a lot of potential upgrades to plan, test, and schedule.