The NoSQL Rise and Fall

Posted on February 16, 2022 by way0utwest

I’m not sure this blog that seems to talk about the problems of NoSQL databases in general makes a lot of sense. If you read the comments, you certainly see lots of complaints, but I also think the post isn’t well written. It lists the problems of RDBMSes as possibly deleting all tables while changing a key or being unable to add a column easily. While I don’t know about all RDBMSes, I don’t know any that could lose all data with anything less than DROP DATABASE.

At the same time, the NoSQL complaints and problems seem to be generally presented, which isn’t good. The various NoSQL flavors of databases vary widely and the way you look at a columnar or graph database is much different than a document database. Really, the piece ought to be separated to look at a certain class of NoSQL database compared with RDBMSes.

That being said, I do see less hype around NoSQL in general. The class of problems handled by various types of databases vary, and I am sure that lots of people using NoSQL databases are quite pleased with them. At the same time, I’m not sure a lot of the RDBMSes did get replaced or continue to get replaced. RDBMSes have a lot of value and we have a lot of experience, both as developers and administrators.

There might be a shortage of NoSQL (pick a type) administrators for operating the databases. Even in some of the famous companies that use them, I find developers often explaining a RCA or the troubleshooting of a particular process. While that might be a choice that an organization makes, a lot of developers that I know don’t want to be supporting systems very often, especially at night and on weekends. A couple of bad incidents usually has developers wondering why there isn’t an expert on the Operations staff.

I do think that many of benefits of different types of NoSQL databases are a bit over-hyped. Not that a graph database can’t handle your e-commerce system, but it likely takes a lot of code, and likely a lot of mistakes in getting it to work well. I also feel that some of the downsides of RDBMSes are minimized. They are a pain for application developers to work with, and the SQL language isn’t very sensible.

That being said, we have a lot of experience with these databases, and that should not be discounted. Productivity is a big advantage in trying to build new software in a flexible manner. I am all for experimenting with different platforms to understand where they work well, but also learn to use your existing RDBMS platform well. Write better code and you might be surprised just how scalable your system proves itself to be.

Steve Jones

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

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Daily Coping 16 Feb 2022

Posted on February 16, 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 focus on being kind rather than right.

I’ve had this tip a few times, and I usually think about interactions with other people. Today, I’m thinking about myself.

I set some goals for myself at various points, and I want to revisit some of those things today, with the idea of being kind to myself rather than a straightforward SMART goals evaluation.

I set a January goal of working out every day.  Before I even started, I had to delay slightly with an injury. Here was my January progress:

2022-02-09 13_21_34-MapMyRun

I track my workouts on MapMyRun.com, and as you can see, I missed 3 days after starting back working out on Jan 4. If I check February, I managed to work out the first, but missed the second and third.

I didn’t get to the goal, but I understand why. Jan 9 and 23 I coached all day down in the Springs, leaving the house by 6am and not returning home until 6 or 7 at night. A long day, standing all day, and I gave myself permission to not push. The 24th I actually felt sick, a bit of a cold, and I mostly rested in bed that day.

It was a goal, not a requirement, so I can live with that.

I’ve also been dieting and trying to clean up my life this year after some slightly high health numbers. I set a goal of not drinking for a month, and I did a good job there. I had a beer on Jan 1, returning from Las Vegas. I didn’t have another until Feb 1, when I was celebrating with my wife. I had a couple while on holiday that week, but since then I’ve been avoiding alcohol again. Same with my diet. I’ve been fairly strict for a little over a month, but I am accepting a few meals here and there where I deviate a bit from the plan.

In both cases, it’s OK. I’m being kind, rather than berating myself for small breaks.

I’ve had a few days off as well, skipping some chores or taking it easy on the weekends, something I rarely do, but I’m being kind and accepting of life as it comes and I make decisions.

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Daily Coping 15 Feb 2022

Posted on February 15, 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 send an encouraging note to someone that needs a boost.

I reached out to a friend recently, just to check on them and see how they were coping with life. This person has had a hard year. In this case, they responded with an issue that was weighing them down.

I send back a few notes to remind them of good things, and the things that I appreciate and like about this person. I empathized with their struggle and told them I was hoping they would continue to dream of the future and what they could make.

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New Tagging in SQL Monitor to Keep Organized

Posted on February 14, 2022 by way0utwest

I recently got an update from the SQL Monitor PM on the progress we’ve made across all the teams. We have a number focusing on different aspects of the product, and they’ve built an impressive produce over the years. I remember when it was SQL Response and only provided alerting. Now it’s an Enterprise Monitoring solution for SQL Server.

One of the additions that was added across the last few months is tagging. Traditionally the monitored instances and databases are organized in categories, which is OK, but very limited. Below you can see at monitor.red-gate.com that we have instances in various categories: production, azure database, staging, test, and simulation.

2022-02-10 12_12_40-Global Dashboard

Tagging is a much more flexible structure that makes it easy to classify and filter your estate. There are plenty of cases where you might not only have an instance set as Production, but perhaps it’s a US or UK server and you want to know the geography. Maybe there is a need to know this instance also relates to CRM v a data warehouse system. Tagging makes that easy.

Filtering with Tags

At the top of the global dashboard shown above, there is a new filtering area where we can filter by tags. You can see below that I’ve filtered the 28 instances in our demo setup to the 2 that have the “sqlservercentral” tag.

2022-02-10 12_15_45-Global Dashboard

What’s more, clicking in the tag box shows me the existing tags that are applied.

Tagging is also available on the Estate tabs.

2022-02-10 12_28_55-Installed Versions

There are a few other places, and it’s slowly making its way across the product to all areas. You’ll see it slowly appear in other places as well.

Adding Tags

You can add these in the Server Configuration, which works fine. Pick a server and then you can add tags that correspond to what you care about.

2022-02-10 12_48_21-Monitored Servers

If I’m working with a server in the overview, I can also expand the right Alerts panel and in the top About section, I can adjust tags. A good way to fix these up as you work on issues.

2022-02-10 12_48_55-ssc-db-n1_ - Server Overview

Look for tagging to make it’s way into the PowerShell cmdlets as well.

There’s a post on the Redgate Blog about tagging as well. They are looking for feedback, so please send it along.

If you haven’t used SQL Monitor, it’s a great tool to help you keep an eye on your estate with minimal effort. You can get alerted of issues and even integrate with other tools. Download an eval and give it a try today.;

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