Database Search in SQL Monitor

Posted on July 18, 2022 by way0utwest

I learned something new recently. I can search in SQL Monitor for a database name, not just a server or instance name.

I tested this over at monitor.red-gate.com recently after a developer mentioned this feature. If you look at the Global Dashboard, there are a lot of machines. You can see 28 instances monitored, but many more databases.

2022-07-12 09_20_30-Global Dashboard — Mozilla Firefox

If I were looking for the DatabaseWeekly database, I would need to know which instance this was hosted on. I do know, but someone in our IT support org might not.

However, if they start typing in the search box at the, the instances shrink. This is the top left box that has “Filter by name” in light text. If I type “database”, you can see fewer instances.

2022-07-12 09_22_07-Global Dashboard — Mozilla Firefox

If I add the weekly, then you see there is a cluster of two machines that have this database.

2022-07-12 09_22_17-Global Dashboard — Mozilla Firefox

If I pick one of these machines, I can see the databases with this name listed.

2022-07-12 09_25_56-ssc-db-n1_(local) - Server Overview — Mozilla Firefox

A handy little feature I knew nothing about.

Give this a try if you have SQL Monitor and save even more time digging into performance issues. If you don’t have SQL Monitor, download an eval today and give it a try.

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The Limited Cloud

Posted on July 18, 2022 by way0utwest

The cloud is truly someone else’s computer, and it’s not limitless. From the perspective of the individual, it might seem like you could scale infinitely if you need more boxes, storage, or networking, but ultimately the cloud vendor (Azure, AWS, GCP, etc.) needs to have spare machines around. Many of them do, and that works well at the scales in which they operate.

To a point.

Azure is having capacity issues in some of its data centers. I’m sure that all of the major cloud providers buy lots of hardware constantly, but there have been shortages during the last year, which has meant for Azure that DCs are running out of capacity. At least for the rest of 2022, which is likely driven by both a limited supply of new machines and the growth of cloud usage by their customers. I know I’ve seen continued growth in companies moving to the cloud for various services, including their data services.

I haven’t seen reports of large AWS issues, though they do have plenty of instances of insufficient capacity errors and solutions. GCP has similar reports.

Truly, the cloud is the cloud vendor’s computer. It’s also the cloud vendor’s infrastructure with lots of tooling to help you manage software configured networking and storage in addition to compute engines. It is limited in capacity, especially when lots of customers want to use these resources in one particular data center. That capacity is usually quite high, but there is definitely a limit.

Does this mean that the cloud isn’t better than your data center? That’s an “it depends” questions. The cloud is great in many ways, and far superior to a lot of private data centers (or colocations facilities) that I’ve worked in or seen. I think the cloud is fantastic, but it’s not perfect. There are limits and issues at times, and you should be ready to work within or around those limits.

Steve Jones

Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher, Spotify, or iTunes.

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Daily Coping 18 Jul 2022

Posted on July 18, 2022 by way0utwest

I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here. All my coping tips are under this tag.

Today’s tip is to shift your mood by doing something you really enjoy.

A different type of tip for a Monday. Usually Friday is when you might aim to do something fun for the weekend. However, let’s shake things up on Monday.

What do I really enjoy? Time with my wife and kids, coaching, yoga, and snowboarding. July in Colorado takes the last one out, but I do enjoy getting outside anyway. For this Monday, I’m going to schedule yoga for the evening.

I do yoga regularly, but I’ve been practicing in the mornings almost exclusively the last few months. There is a great teacher that I enjoy, and I’m scheduling a Monday night to change up my routine and enjoy time with a person that makes me happy.

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Using Telsa Dog Mode

Posted on July 15, 2022 by way0utwest

This is part of a series that covers my experience with a Tesla Model Y.

It’s summer in Colorado. Actually, it’s a hot summer, with quite a few days approaching 100F. While I tend to work at home, the other day I was working remotely between a few doctor’s appointments. At various times I was in and out of coffee shops, or even working in my car. The latter is convenient when I have a meetings and need a quieter space than a coffee shop.

While I was working at one point, the climate controls turned off. Not a big deal, but I decided I wanted to avoid this, so I turned on Dog mode. This is a change to the car software Tesla added a year or so before I bought mine. This allows the car to control the climate, which makes it safe to leave a pet in the car.

I’ve used it a few times with our dogs when we’ve been running errands and we want to be sure they’re safe, and a cracked window might not be comfortable enough, especially on 90F+ days.

I used it for myself, and it worked well. I didn’t get the message on the screen, but it did keep the car at a comfortable temperature. I’ve also had a few friends note they enable this when running errands so the car doesn’t get too hot (or cold) in between stops.

I might start doing this when I got to the gym in the summer, just to keep the temperature a little more even.

One more thing I love about my Tesla.

A short video of this is on my channel.

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