Voice of the DBA

Tag: sql server

  • The Endless Upgrade Cycle

    Security posts are always interesting to me, and this one on Tesco security is no exception. It’s an analysis from the outside of a number of problems that are blatantly obvious with the way Tesco deals with passwords for their web systems. A great read, one that even your managers might use to better understand why some security processes should be followed. Developers certainly should read this as well, and I’d recommend this as one post to pass around.

    There is one point in the piece that I want to talk about.  In the post, Mr. Hunt mentions that the server software and development platform in use are old, 7 and 9 years old respectively. This section rightly points out that these technologies have been vastly improved, and security has changed. The company should have upgraded.

    Or should they? Obviously if they were really worried about the security of their systems they should have, but how often do they upgrade? When is the upgrade treadmill from software vendors a costly path with little benefit and when is it really necessary? I’d argue that some of the security issues in software should be back ported and fixed. After all, vendors sold these products with the promise they’d work and be supported. Microsoft offers 5 years of mainstream support and 10 years of security support, so at least for the web server, Tesco should be OK.

    I find myself torn on this issue. I certainly understand that software companies need to sell new versions of their products to maintain their businesses, but I also think they bear some responsibility for the security worthiness of their previous versions. Where and how we draw this line, I’m not sure, but I certainly don’t think the answer is as simple as “just upgrade.”

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 2.3MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and Mevio . feed

    The Voice of the DBA podcast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. Support this great duo at www.everydayjones.com.

  • Your First Week as a DBA

    Summary: There are many accidental DBAs as well as people new to SQL Server who are assigned the responsibility of managing a database system. Learn about the most important things for you to examine on your first week.

    Abstract: Developers, system administrators, junior DBAs, and even managers often find themselves responsible for a new SQL Server system without knowing what things they need to worry about. Since a SQL Server instance can run for months without issues, these accidental DBAs don’t realize that they are neglecting maintenance and other operations that will ensure their systems are protected and running smoothly. This session will teach you the most important things you should do on your first week with a new instance.

    Length: 60 minutes

    Slides: (coming soon)

    Code: (coming soon)

  • #sqlhelp

    I know that Twitter is really representative of only a fraction of the people in the world, and arguably it’s not even a good representation of any group because it’s a self-selective group that chooses to share thoughts, ideas, news, etc. with the world. However I do enjoy the medium, and find myself learning about the world, thinking about opinions, and once in awhile, getting help.

    There is a hashtag on Twitter called #sqlhelp. It’s an amazing tool that I’d highly encourage all of you to consider when you want a quick answer to a problem. Hashtags are a way of denoting tweets about a common subject, though there is no official set of hashtags. You can make one up yourself and see if it catches on.

    #sqlhelp certainly did, and I find it useful for many short, quick questions. While I was writing this piece, I saw questions come up on licensing, Oracle->SQL Server conversions, security in a database, and how to read an execution plan. I also saw some noise, with requests for consultants to teach, product advertisements, and a webinar notice. I’m slightly worried that noise level might overwhelm this channel, but if you’re on twitter, you should try using it for your next problem.

    As with any answer you get from the Internet, you should test things yourself and decide how trustworthy the source is. You might get an answer from Brent Ozar or Paul Randal, but you might get some new DBA on his first day of work. Also be aware that 140 characters can severely limit the questions you can ask. If it’s complex, I’d suggest you try the SQLServerCentral forums instead.

    Whether you like Twitter (and #sqlhelp) or not, I do believe that this is a great example of how our community does a great job of helping each other out. We teach, learn, support, and inspire each other, arguably more than any other industry or technological group I know of. It’s a joy to be a part of the community, and I’d encourage you to join us on Twitter, forums, or local events.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 3.3MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and Mevio . feed

    The Voice of the DBA podcast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. Support this great duo at www.everydayjones.com.

  • A True SQL OS

    Today’s editorial was originally published on Aug 26, 2009. It is being re-run as Steve is on vacation.

    I have heard a number of talks from SQL Server developers at Microsoft that refer to the internal SQL Server database engine as the “SQL OS,” since it almost exists as its own operating system from their perspective. Much of the development work these people have done in scheduling, threading, memory management and more, is reminiscent of the work done on operating systems. So it’s called the SQL OS.

    As SQL Server has grown wider and wider, incorporating more and more features, it almost seems to have all the features that might qualify it as its own operating system, but it still has dependencies on Windows, and exists as a service under Windows. That is both good and bad, since you can easily use your physical server for other applications, but those applications can take resources away from SQL Server and cause contention.

    Since it seems that many people make a practice of only installing SQL Server on a machine, it makes me think that we’re actually ready for a true SQL OS, one that is installed on a machine and has no other capabilities other than what is inside SQL Server.  I think this could be done today, perhaps using a specialized Server Core installation in Windows, and eliminate the possibility of anything interfering with SQL Server itself. We could still add it to a Windows host if needed, but we’d have the option of a specialized SQL box, maybe as an Enterprise feature.

    There could be some great advantages of going down this path. Windows I/O and scheduling could be tuned specifically for SQL Server, or just incorporated into the SQL Server platform. With VMs, you could still partition your hardware to have a SQL VM and another Windows VM for other applications. The new Filestream features could be extended to allow file operations to the SQL Server instance, and what’s more, we could then access and manipulate these files from within the server. Doing so in a separate file system is a constant challenge for many developers and DBAs.

    I don’t think this will happen for a few reasons, not the least of which is licensing. There’s a Windows and a SQL Server license for every instance, and I can’t see Microsoft wanting to sell less copies of Windows.

    However it’s nice to dream of a way to build a SQL Server platform that only requires DBAs.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

    Everyday Jones

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    Today’s podcast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. Support this great duo at www.everydayjones.com.

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