Voice of the DBA

Category: Editorial

  • Are Auto-Updates Good?

    I don't use IE, but I am glad auto updates are coming.

    There has been news recently about automatic updates coming to Internet Explorer. I haven’t paid a lot of attention for the simple reason that I almost never use IE. Since most every site I use these days support Firefox and Chrome, including many Microsoft ones, I use those browsers. While IE might have improved, I’m not sure that’s a reason for me to switch from the Firefox browser that I am very comfortable with.

    On one hand, I think this is a great idea for the browsers. It has the potential to not only ensure better security on the desktop, but potentially also making life easier for developers. If the browsers automatically update to the latest code, that means that the majority, or maybe all, of your clients will be running the same browser. That would greatly simplify the testing and coding requirements for developers.

    It might also greatly enhance the application experience for clients since every IE9, or Firefox 4, or Chrome 15 browser will be the same. I don’t know that I would want this for SQL Server, but for the browser, and potentially other software, I think it’s great.

    However silent updates could also break applications. That could result in a mad scramble when an update occurs by software developers that race to fix problems. I’ve always preferred to apply updates regularly, but not too aggressively. I like to be able to test changes before I deploy them to all my clients. This doesn’t give me that flexibility, but there is one benefit that I do like: my clients won’t have excuses for delaying updates.

    Now when I get an update on a developer’s machine, and they perform a build, I can be confident that the client will have installed the same updates.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

  • Truth and Demos

    Demoing SQL Server on stage

    In my career, I’ve given quite a few demos of various types of software, usually in an attempt to show how the application in its best possible light. I suspect that most people giving software demos engage in some level of simplification of a problem, or contriving one completely so as to make the software appear as simple as possible to use. One university thinks that Oracle went a bit too far, promising capabilities and misleading them about the costs and customizations that would be needed.

    I’m sure there are similar examples of this for all software vendors, especially those that sell large software packages such as ERP applications. Some are probably without merit, and are the result of customers not fully understanding what they are buying, but some are probably valid complaints where salespeople have misled customers in order to complete a sale.

    Most of us that work in technology and develop applications never sell our products for money. We often build our systems for internal users, but we are still selling something that I think is more important than money: our professional reputation. We work with clients, we promise to deliver some feature or solve some problem. If we do not complete the work as we agreed to, either we are not doing a good job, or we are misleading our clients. It’s the same way we might feel misled by salespeople when some purchase we make doesn’t work as expected.

    It’s your career, it’s your reputation, and I’d hope that most of you would want to ensure that when someone speaks of your work, they do so positively. Learn to communicate well with your clients, but do so in a fair, and truthful way that not only promises when you can deliver, but warns them about what you cannot. Or at least what it will cost.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

  • Cloud Patches

    One of the very cool things that I find in technology is that I learn new things constantly, usually from other people. In this case, I heard about a new site from my employer, Red Gate, that is designed to talk about the challenges and solutions of working in a cloud computing environment. It’s called A Cloudy Place, and it’s slowly getting moving as we develop new tools to work with cloud services.

    I was reading an interview with our main administrator, Simon, who also manages the SQLServerCentral servers, about the recent challenges of managing infrastructure for the DBA in Space contest. We had no idea how big the contest would be, and we knew that there might be a need to scale up rapidly to handle thousands of users accessing the site in a short period of time as new web-isodes of Brad’s adventures were released.

    Typically when you need to handle a large load, you set up a load balancer (hopefully clustered) and then you have a dozen or so web servers behind it to handle requests from clients. If you need to patch the web site, you typically make a change to one server (hopefully scripted), then make the change to the next server, and the next, rotating through them in order. The good administrators have some automated mechanism to do deploy changes, but those change scripts need testing, error handling, and more. It’s a simple process that can end up being fairly complex in it’s execution.

    However Simon had a different solution. He would make the change on one machine, then clone it using the Rackspace cloud environment, deleting the old machines from his environment. That’s pretty cool and a neat solution. Make changes on one machine, then clone the machine.

    That’s a neat idea, and it’s a great example of a place where cloud computing and the rapid provisioning of resources can cause us to rethink the way we deploy changes. I’m not sure if we’ll find advantages for databases, but I hope that we get people pushing the limits of cloud computing to see if there are better ways to handle database work in the cloud.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

  • The Data Resolutions

    Happy New Year

    Making a new year’s resolution is an annual tradition for many people on January 1. Breaking those resolutions seems to be another annual tradition that often takes place during the month of January as we struggle to live up to the changes that many of us often want to make in our lives.

    It’s the last Friday of the year, and rather than ask you about the resolutions you are making overall, I wanted to ask this question:

    What would you like to do differently in your career in 2012?

    It’s easy, and I hope it makes you think a little about where you want to go ni the future. Are you looking to move to a new job, a new kind of work with SQL Server? Do you want to learn more about some aspect of SQL Server? Do you want to get out of technology?

    As you think about what you might do differently in 2012, it’s not always about growth. Perhaps 2012 is a year where you slow down a bit and maintain some skills, or even reduce your hours as you spend time on something outside of work.

    For me 2012 will be a slower year. After attending over a dozen events in 2011, I am planning on many fewer in 2012. My wife’s career will take a little more precedence over mine, and I’ll concentrate on writing more, and bringing you more news, knowledge, and training as SQL Server 2012 is released.

    Happy New Year, be safe and responsible over the weekend and I will see you in 2012.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts