Voice of the DBA

Tag: databases

  • 2014: The Review

    I tried to keep a running list of headlines from 2014, and as I look back at them, I find a few things standing out. The first item is that we got a new version of SQL Server. In April, SQL Server 2014 was released, which was a bit over two years after SQL Server 2012. There was a lot of interest and excitement in the Hekaton, In-Memory technology, but the reality of the limitations intruded and it seems relatively few people have been willing to upgrade for this technology.

    In fact, I might argue that apart from Hekaton, this wasn’t necessarily worthy of a full release. PowerBI, BPE, the cardinality estimator changes, some Azure improvements and AlwaysOn changes, all were included, but this felt like a bit of a mish-mosh of features. We didn’t see many of the technologies from previous versions (Service Broker, Contained DAtabases, SSRS, SSIS, etc) enhanced or improved. With the additional costs for core licensing that were introduced in SQL Server 2012, it still seems that many companies are trying to continue to use SQL Server 2008 R2 and below to handle their workloads where possible.

    This isn’t to say that the product hasn’t improved quite a bit. It’s just that the value received for the increased licensing costs is becoming lower. That concerns me a bit as other platforms mature at lower price points. We’ll see what this means as we move forward.

    It does seem that 2014 was year of the data breech. We had Target, Yahoo Mail, Home Depot, Kmart, Sony, and more. I know there were plenty more, but these were the top ones I tracked in 2014. I expect more to occur in 2015, and I would not be surprised to find more attacks against smaller companies as the techniques and tools used by hackers spread. I wouldn’t be surprised to find hackers practicing on smaller targets, like the companies you and I work for. Security will become more important, so learn more, set up auditing, and continue to improve your monitoring.

    This year we also see SQL Server really evolving for the professionals. We’ve had Hadoop use grow quite a bit, and a continued emphasis from Microsoft on the PowerPivot/Power Query/Tabular technologies. The press for BI technologies from both Microsoft and PASS, almost one and the same now, seems to be regular and consistent. I’m not sure if this push will become commonplace for most data professionals, but I do know quite a few BI consultants that are very busy. We will see how much adoption increases, but if more organizations don’t start using these technologies more, it’s not for a lack of trying.

    We had lots of events in 2014, over 20 for me, and I expect to see more opportunities, in more places, for people to learn about SQL Server. More SQL Saturdays, more smaller conferences, and of course, plenty of big conferences (DevConnections/DevIntersection/PASS Summit) to choose from. If you want an event near you in 2015, think about organizing one. It doesn’t have to be a ton or work if you can get 3-4 people to help, and it seems there is no shortage of speakers to help teach people about the platform. Send a note if you’re interested, and if you move quickly, maybe I’ll come.

    Steve Jones

     

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 4.2MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and LibSyn.

  • How Often Does Production Drift?

    One of the new products that Red Gate Software is working on is SQL Lighthouse, which is designed to track and alert you on “database drift“, which are the changes in your schema. I hadn’t really heard the concept in the past, though I’ve found there are a few people using the term to describe the changes being made to production that aren’t inline with the development project that created (and updates) the database.

    Vendors that sell products backed by a SQL Server database, like Microsoft Dynamics, often consider database drift to be a violation of their EULA. When a customer changes the database, even by just adding indexes, it causes them support costs, though arguably those costs are lower than if no indexes were ever added by enterprising DBAs.

    However this also happens in databases built by companies. It seems there’s no shortage of “quick fixes” in production, in addition to the “improvements” that DBAs and others seem to make to their live databases in order to solve some short term issue. I know there’s a need for this, and even seen recommendations to ensure production differs from development schemas. However I haven’t had many issues with this in the past and I’ve tried to prevent any drift.

    Maybe because I’m a controlling DBA, or maybe because I’ve been lucky. In either case, while I’ve had to implement hot fixes and changes in production, it’s been rare. Most of the time I’ve been able to backfill these changes in development (and test) environments, or delay the fix until it could be tested.

    However I’m sure there’s a need for a way to manage drift, and detect it as the number of databases you manage grows, so I’m excited by SQL Lighthouse and hope it helps DBAs avoid those late night phone calls by being aware of what’s changing in their systems.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 2.2MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and LibSyn.

  • The Next Five Years

    On one hand, the next five years don’t seem too far away. Five years, that’s a year more than most of us spent in high school or college. On the the other hand, 5 years ago was a long time in the computer world. Azure first gave us the ability to create a database, as opposed to just a key value store. SQL Server 2008 was the current version of the platform. SQL Saturday #26 was held the first weekend in October in Redmond. 8GB was the large size for flash drives and the iPad hadn’t started the current tablet revolution.

    The world of data has grown dramatically in 5 years. Our cell phones and other devices are drastically changed the amount of data that is collected and consumed. Advances in bandwidth have almost removed the need for us to move all but the largest sizes of data without any physical media. If we look to the next five years, does anyone think they can accurately predict how much storage we’ll maintain in our pockets or how fast we’ll expect to move data on a daily basis?

    I ran across a prediction of surprising things in the next five years, and while I’m not sure I think they will all come true, I do think that similar things will come to pass because of two things: amazing increases in computational power available to any individual and tremendous amounts of data. That’s no great surprise, but I am excited. I can’t help but think that there will be so many opportunities for data professionals that most of us will be gainfully employed for decades.

    I do think, however, that the mundane, easy jobs of administering individual instances, checking logs and backups, and setting security will be few and far between. Unless you know how to do those things for thousands of instances at a time.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 2.5MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and LibSyn. 

  • Saving Hard Dollars

    This week I ran across an analytics piece that talks about how Big Data and analysis can do more than help marketing, it can also create hard dollars for your company. Companies are using sensors and technology for mundane tasks, but tasks that can save the company substantial, hard dollars.

    You may have heard of UPS and FedEx optimizing their routes, and tracking the actions of drivers. Those companies (and others) have learned that a little programming work to analyze and create instructions for their workers can reduce wasted time and fuel, which ultimately means less wasted money. Other companies have reduced their heating or cooling costs with more data and small investments.

    I don’t know how many additional cost reductions can take place in most companies, but there are likely changes none of us have thought of that could be easily implemented with technology. It seems like a no-brainer that technology can build better routes, but early on, it wasn’t considered as an option because it didn’t replace a formal manual process. It wasn’t worth paying someone to design routes each day for a truck.

    As computer power increases, and more data becomes available, I predict that we’ll find many ways to analyze that data and change the way we run businesses. Many of the ideas will be unexpected, and some may be counter-intuitive, but those of us working with data will have a front-row seat to the ways in which data analysis can transform our world.

    Steve Jones