Voice of the DBA

Tag: syndicated

  • Getting Started with KQL

    I saw an episode of Data Exposed with my good friend, Hamish Watson. He talked about KQL (Kusto Query Language) being the next query language you need to learn. I was skeptical of the title, but I decided to give this a try.

    In the episode, Hamish points out a cheat sheet from Microsoft, which I thought was a good resource. However, while watching the video, I browsed over to the demo site Microsoft has at https://aka.ms/lademo. You need an Azure account to log in, but this is a demo site where you can query some Log Analytics data. The new query window below is what appears when you go here:

    2021-12-22 14_37_43-Logs - Microsoft Azure

    Hamish shows some sample items, and I noted that to query a table, you just include the name. The query window in Azure has intellisense, and I used Hamish’ example to look at perf data.

    2021-12-22 14_38_36-Logs - Microsoft Azure

    The structure of queries is that you choose a table, then you can add a pipe (|) and add a where clause or other structures. I glanced at the cheat sheet, but really I played around a bit.

    For example, I saw in the demo there was a “take” option, so I tried this:

    Perf
    
| take 6

    This gave me six results, so it’s like a TOP clause in T-SQL.

    2021-12-22 14_42_19-Logs - Microsoft Azure

    Next, I tried a WHERE. This is also structured as a line after a pipe. I picked a value I saw and then ran the query.

    2021-12-22 14_45_03-Logs - Microsoft Azure

    I noticed there was a summarize option, so I tried entering this. What I liked was that I had some intellisense options to help me with the various aggregates.

    2021-12-22 14_46_15-Logs - Microsoft Azure

    I ran this query, and got an average of the free space across all disks.

    2021-12-22 14_47_04-Logs - Microsoft Azure

    That isn’t a number that really means anything. I tried GROUP BY in a few ways, but eventually had to look at the cheat sheet to see just “by” is needed. I ended up with this query to get space by disk.

    2021-12-22 14_48_54-Logs - Microsoft Azure

    In some ways, I found KQL to be easier to work with than SQL. It’s cleaner, and logically follows what I’d do when writing a query. I build this in a way similar to how the query is executed, which is unlike how SQL works.

    I don’t know if KQL is going to be that important to me, but I will play around with it a bit more.

  • Daily Coping 3 Jan 2022

    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 make a resolution that you can keep this month.

    Update: I wrote this before I went on holiday the last week of the year. However, I managed to tear a calf muscle and haven’t been able to do much. I’m going to need to delay this by a week and aim for Jan 10-Feb 10.

    I’m not big on New Year’s resolutions. I think often we pick things are too hard to sustain across a year. I typically set some goals, but don’t look to make major changes.

    However, focus is good, especially in this time of not really being in a familiar world. Many things are semi-normal for me, but plenty of things are not.

    I’m going to resolve to do two things. First, weekly calls back home to my Mom. I don’t do that enough.

    Second, I’m going to resolve to workout every day this month, barring injury. I like working out, and I find it keeps me feeling level headed. I’ve gotten close a few months, but I’m still often missing 7 or 8 days. I want to get back into the habit this month, knowing that I’ll miss some days, but hopefully less in 2022.

  • A Few #2021Wins

    It’s the end of the year. I’m on vacation, celebrating time with family now, but I wanted to write this post. I got a prompt from LinkedIn last week that said this:

    2021-12-22 14_21_39-Inbox - way0utwest@hotmail.com - Outlook

    I’m going to add this to an editorial and see what people might write next week, but for now, a few wins from me.

    Health – Given the state of the world and a pandemic, I think it’s a win that everyone in my family remained healthy in 2021.

    Travel – Despite the pandemic, I got to visit a new country, Belgium, and it was an amazing trip. Looking forward to going back.

    SQL Saturday – I convinced Andy Warren to run a SQL Saturday in Orlando, and it was the only in-person SQL Saturday in 2021. Easy to be disappointed there weren’t more, but happy there was one.

    Volleyball – A successful season, where we persevered and found ways to keep kids occupied. My team finished ahead of where we expected, winning 8 tournaments, getting into the top 30 in 3 national tournaments, and having extremely happy kids that wanted us to coach them again.

    Guitar – I felt like I improved a lot of skills here, really all through the pandemic, but as I’ve learned a few things, it was neat to hear my wife or kids recognize a song and sing along, even though I hadn’t told them what it was.

    Happy New Year!

  • Daily Coping 31 Dec 2021

    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 call a relative who is far away to say hello and have a chat.

    Too easy for me, as I usually try to call my Mom every week or two.

    However, I did something different. I had sent a couple texts to my brother, and asked him for a call. He actually called me before I could do so, and we ended up chatting for a bit. I rarely see him or talk with him. He’s busier tham I am, and often hard to get ahold of, but it’s nice to catch up and talk a bit.

    Looking forward to when I can get back to the East Coast and see him.