Voice of the DBA

Category: Editorial

  • OldSQL

    Support is expiring for SQL Server 2005. Does it matter to you?

    Support for SQL Server 2005 is due to expire in a few months, which means that no new patch work will be performed on that version for the general public. Some people might sign extended support agreements, but most won’t. If you are unsure of whether you should, this blog post might help you understand the implications of not having an extended support agreement.

    There have been quite a few blogs, tweerts, etc. about this date, asking people to  consider upgrades to SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2008 R2. It is good to see some awareness being brought to the situation, since many DBAs do not think about their version falling out of support, and assume they can get patches from Microsoft at any time.

    They can’t, but does it matter? I know there are still plenty of people running SQL Server 2000 right now and it performs well. They have stable applications, and stable hardware, and with virtualization, they could potentially run stand-alone systems on old versions of Windows or SQL Server forever. I even know of people still running SQL Server 7, or SQL

    Server v6.5 today in support of some applications.

    If you have a stable codebase, and your application has been running on SQL Server 2005, or even SQL Server 2000, I don’t think that support timelines necessarily mean you should upgrade. At some point you should upgrade, to ensure you can take advantage of new connection technologies, or better security, or some other feature, but not just because support is ending.

    Evaluate your environment, and upgrade when you think it benefits your business and you get value from the new version. Otherwise you are allowing your budget to be managed by someone else, on their timetable, not yours.

    Steve Jones

    (published at http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Editorial/72436/)

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

  • You Should Know

    Are you building your knowledge?

    What skills don’t you get taught about being a good database developer? If you are like most people, there is a whole list of things that are good practices for writing code, but you weren’t aware of. And like most people, you might be confused about what things you ought to start learning because of the huge amount of advice from people that are sure “their” way of building software is the best way.

    I ran across a great article that tackles this subject, and talks about a few fairly critical things that many developers don’t learn. Or maybe they learn them, but don’t believe they provide benefits (like version control). It’s amazing how often I find developers, and DBAs, reinventing some process, or struggling through the same tasks over and over because they haven’t bothered to build a repeatable process.

    The best quote in the article is this one:  Setting up a staging server should be easy.  If it is not easy, you already have a problem in your infrastructure…” It’s absolutely true, and if you don’t think this is an issue for your company,  I have two words for you.

    Disaster recovery.

    A staging server is the equivalent of setting up your system again in a DR scenario. If that’s not easy, then the likelihood of you doing it in a timely, efficient, and acceptable-to-your-boss manner in an emergency is pretty low.

    Do yourself a favor at get a staging/QA/UA server set up in your environment. In today’s multi-code, hypervisor-ridden technology shop, there’s no good excuse not to.

    Steve Jones

    (published at http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Editorial/72413/)

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

  • I lied, now what?

    Lies

    You have a job and realize that you’re in over your head. Perhaps you misled a manager that couldn’t really evaluate your technical skills, or maybe you memorized enough answers from Books Online to get through in interview. It could be that you took a test during the interview and used your cell phone to post the questions on SQLServerCentral and someone gave you the answers.

    Now you have been given a project and you don’t have the skills to complete it. You can’t ask for training or consulting help since you should know this stuff.  What do you do now? Should you continue to deceive your boss and ask for free help on the Internet? Can you muddle through it and hope that you don’t do anything that causes damage to the company?

    It’s a tough spot. I realize that you have bills, obligations, perhaps a family to take care of. Losing your job could impact other peoples’ lives. However my advice would be to be honest with your boss. Let him or her know that you need help, and move forward from this point.

    No matter what your skill level, you should be making an effort to grow your skills. You should be taking advantage of any help given to you by others to learn more.  If you are making an effort, learning to close the gap between your skills and your claims of knowledge, you should be fine. Your boss will be more understanding of you asking for help than he will be if your efforts fail and your deceit is uncovered.  Most people are willing to give others second chances, especially when they are working to make amends.

    If you’re just coasting, and happy to ask others to write your queries and not improving yourself, then good luck. At some point you will be exposed, and likely fired. And you would deserve it.

    Steve Jones

    (originally published at http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Editorial/72367/)

  • Life Without Keyboards

    Using SQL Monitor on a tablet. I'm on a horse!

    I used to think that touch screens were useful for some applications, like cash registers, but not necessarily  something you’d want to use regularly. However the more I use an iPhone and iPad, the more I see a lot of value in having a gesture based system that I can manipulate. It isn’t perfect for every situation and it’s not wonderful for typing, but it works very well in most of the places where I use it.

    I ran across this link about research from Microsoft that’s using more of the human body for input. It’s crude, and it looks a little funny watching someone try to dial a phone projected onto their arm, but it does raise the possibility that we might actually want to do this at times. There could be value in using the body or some larger surface, especially for those of us getting older and struggling to read anything on a small display.

    As we look to capture more data, about more events, more often, having input devices that are better suited to the situation makes a lot of sense. Often when we are away from a set location, there isn’t always a good place to put a laptop or keyboard, and other input devices might allow data capture or annotation in harsh environments, like outside or even underwater.

    I love my keyboard, and can’t imagine getting as much work done as I do without it, but I am open to examining new ways to input data if they work well for the situation.

    Steve Jones

    FYI: That’s me using a tablet at the ranch, watching the SSC servers on SQL Monitor.

    (published at http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Editorial/72414/)

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts