Voice of the DBA

Category: Editorial

  • Virtualization for Security

    Will we see VMs on phones for security?

    This editorial was originally published on Nov 7, 2006. It is being re-run as Steve is at SQL in the City today.

    I read a novel some time back about the CIA. Well, not exactly about the CIA, but it was a spy novel and the CIA was in it. One thing in there that caught me eye, and probably the only thing since I can’t remember which book it was, was the use of a secondary computers by one of the analysts.

    In this situation, the analyst had a computer that was connected to the internal network, but not anything outside. Instead there was a second machine that could connect to the Internet and allow research, checking on things outside the internal network, etc. There wasn’t an easy way to transfer information between the computer (other than typing it in), so it provided some aspect of security.

    That same type of architecture may be the answer to IT control of user’s browsing. Imagine if a virtual computer were installed on everyone’s machine. With the high power we have and free Virtual PC, this might make sense. Have it automatically installed and connect on a different IP network than the regular machine. This virtual machine could have outside access for Hotmail, browsing, etc., while the internal machine would only allow access to corporate information.

    I know there are some issues and the cut-and-paste problem could still exist. There also might be issues with trying to track browsing for regulatory and compliance purposes, but it would prevent some of the secruity issues.

    Have a virus hit? Clean out and reset the virtual machine.

    It would also help propgations by users who run as adminsitrator. I know you’re not supposed to do this, but sometimes it’s not practical. You’re doing a lot of administrative work and need to check something on TechNet. With cross site scripting issues, even this might not be safe anymore.

    Actually the more I think about it, this might be the solution out here at the ranch for letting the kids browse their music sites 🙂

  • The Good Job

    I have the best job in the world.

    These days it also seems that many people are disenchanted with their jobs. They work for the paycheck with little loyalty or concern for their company’s business, and I think that’s fair. When I hear about companies that are not very loyal or concerned with their employees, asking for more work every year without more compensation, with less people and the threat of layoffs hanging over the employee’s head, I think employees have to start treating themselves as self-employed. They should consider their employment as a “contract” with their employer, one that is temporary.

    However I don’t know that this is how the majority of people feel. It seems that I regularly meet people that like their jobs, and feel their employers treat them fairly. I feel that way, and think my employer does an excellent job of partnering with employees, rather than exploiting them. People are treated fairly, trusted, and in return, they do a professional job, to the best of their abilities.

    In the last few months, I’ve attended quite a few events and spoken with hundred of people. While the people that often attend events are a self-selective group, but most of the people I’ve had conversations with like their jobs. For the most part they think their jobs are fairly secure. That’s comforting, especially at a time when much of the news in the world relating to the economy and job outlooks is bleak.

    If you don’t have a good job, it’s up to you to look to make a change. It can be a slow, drawn out process, but it doesn’t get done through delay. Make a plan, build up your skills, improve your brand, and set a goal to make a change to find a better job across the next year or two. Life’s too short to live with a crappy job for a long time, no matter how much they pay you.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

  • The HR Scorecard

    Dundas controls make building interesting dashboards easy

    Are you looking for a BI project in your company to get some experience with? I’ve got an idea that you might try tackling as a side project, or even an informal project within the business.

    One of the problems that many corporations face today is a regular turnover of employees. That causes a loss of productivity, moral suffers, and projects may run late. This might be because of poor working conditions, poor management, or some other factor. While you might not be able to change that, perhaps you can help bring some visibility to potential problems.

    Human Resource departments are similar to IT departments in that both of them are a cost to the organization without generating revenue. These are overhead departments, and often receive limited budgets and assistance to accomplish anything beyond the bare minimum. These departments can add value, and the good ones help companies in many ways, reducing the costs that might otherwise occur.

    I have rarely seen HR departments with deep analysis tools available to them that might help them function more efficiently. If you want to tackle a BI project, think about building a detailed scorecard or set of KPIs for the HR department that might help them better understand what is happening in the company. Watching for the impact of vacations, turnover, etc. and aggregating exit interview data might help HR improve the conditions at the company, perhaps even for you.

    I’d consider working on an HR BI project, even during some off hours if you have an interest in this area. I’m sure the HR people will appreciate it, and they might be the ones that are in the best position to help you with your career down the road.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

  • The Cost of Architecture

    Falling Water is an amazing architectural wonder.

    I saw a note recently about the cost of decisions in programming made over time (thanks to BrentOzar, PLF). It’s an interesting look back at what decisions might have ended up costing computing a tremendous amount of pain and problems over time. It’s a nice read, especially if you remember something about the history of computing and how technology has evolved over the last forty or so years.

    Making decisions and choices early on in the development of a system is hard work. There’s a reason why architects are paid well, and sometimes seem slow to decide how to proceed. The high pay, however, is a reason why so many people crave the architect title, and even find reasons why they should get it, even when under qualified. Unfortunately we have no good guidelines on how to decide what titles someone should have, or they have earned.

    A great developer, a great architect, is often worth much more productive than an average one. Not only while building a system, but also in the future as the system is used, evolves, and is improved by others. Making good choices early on can result in much better software over time, as the ways in which software is improved are often based on the way it was originally built. Future developers try to continue to add to the project, or are constrained, by the early decisions made about the architecture.

    Hindsight always gives you a better view of a decision than you have when you are making it. Even in the article the author points out that the biggest mistake he found in computing was still the best decision at the time. We will hopefully make many good decisions, but all of us will make some bad ones. Whether in specifying hardware, writing T-SQL, or some other choice, we will find over time that some of our choices were poor ones.

    The best thing we can do is learn to look back at our architecture decisions over time and evaluate whether they were good or bad. Learn from our mistakes, and learn from the mistakes others have made, trying to strive to do better in the future with the knowledge that comes from examining the past.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts