EditorsBlog

Is Downtime a Thing of the Past?

2009-01-05T20:06:00Z

In the past, January was always a quiet month as many people were still on annual leave and those that were at work were still in holiday mode. January was an opportunity to catch-up on all the things that were outstanding from the previous year and start planning for the next eleven months. Not so anymore, it seems. It being the first day back from annual leave I decided to have a late start today only to find that my voicemail already had a number of new messages. So it looks like my list of maintenance tasks has just been put on hold. Are you finding that downtime is being reduced in your organization and that the typically quiet months are no longer as quiet?

- Peter Ward

A World without Internet

2009-01-02T17:38:00Z

I have spent the last two weeks travelling around Vietnam and found it to be an eye-opening experience. One of the things it has made me more aware of is the challenges that developing nations face when compared to life at home. I am writing this article from the QANTAS Club in Singapore and it is amazing the difference between these two countries that are separated by only a 90-minute flight.

The definition of a third-world country is a nation that is underdeveloped in terms of their economy or level of industrialization, globalization, standard of living, health, or education. However, I think that the definition should be extended to cover access to the Internet, as the Internet has become a key resource for the advancement of a country. Although Vietnam is not classified as a third-world country, what I found interesting while I was travelling through Vietnam was that free Wi-Fi access was more accessible then in my home town of Brisbane in Australia. Is your city third world like or does it have ready access to free Internet.

- Peter Ward

Happy New Year

2008-12-31T18:10:00Z

The days leading up to New Years Eve I often use as an opportunity to reflect back on the year that was. I am not sure if it is because I am getting older, but every year seams to pass by quicker than the last. I also use this opportunity not just to reflect on the year that was but to start thinking about what I want to achieve in the following 12 months. Many people call these thoughts New Year's resolutions; however, I prefer to refer to them as goals. One of the differences I have found that separates a goal from a resolution is writing them down and having them as a visual reminder in a prominent place. So no matter what your goals are for 2009 I wish you all the best for the year ahead. Happy New Year.

- Peter Ward

What Does the Internet Say About You?

2008-12-30T15:53:00Z

Have you ever typed your name into your search engine of choice to see what is returned? This may sound vain, but if you have applied for a job in the last few years chances are this is one of the first things that your prospective employer has done. Recruitment companies and employers are using the Internet as a tool to find out more information and filter perspective candidates. Using the Internet it is very easy to find out a wealth of information about a person.

The advent of social networking tools such as LinkedIn and Facebook means that everything from your employment history to what you do on the weekend can now be viewed using a search engine. I recently read a story in a magazine of an employee that was reprimanded for taking a day as sick leave when instead the employee was at the beach with his new girlfriend. The employee's boss checked Facebook and saw that the status was changed and that there were a number of photos of the employee uploaded to the site. What does a search of your name reveal about you, and how would you feel if your employer saw the results?

- Peter Ward

Creating a Reputation

2008-12-29T15:47:00Z

In the restaurant industry, reputation is one of the most important things. If a restaurant has poor service or serves food that is not prepared to a satisfactory standard, it is not long before the restaurant has a bad name. Even if the standards of the restaurant lift, it's very hard for a restaurant to recover from bad press and often it will go out of business as a result. Likewise though if a restaurant receives great reviews or a Michelin Star often the restaurant staff will rest on their laurels knowing that their good reputation means that they do not need to work as hard as they did in the past (although this can be often to their detriment).

Just like the restaurant industry, being a SQL Server professional is also based around reputation. Have you wondered why some DBA's and developers always seem to work with the best companies and on the most interesting projects? These are also typically the people that earn more money as well. Most of this is based around reputation, as only about 20% of jobs are ever advertised and the other 80% are offered based on reputation. Reputation can be earned in many different ways. Apart from doing a great job, there are other ways to accelerate building reputation such as posting on forums, blogging or presenting at a conference. So what are you doing to help build your reputation as SQL Server Professional?

- Peter Ward

Happy Holidays

2008-12-24T14:42:00Z

The 25th of December means different things to different people. However, no matter what your culture is, December 25 is one week before the start of the New Year. There is a famous song with the lyrics 'so this is Christmas and what have you done, another year over, and a new one just begun'. As the year 2008 starts to close out, it is a time for reflection on the year that was and to start planning for 2009. So no matter whether you celebrate Christmas or not best wishes for the December 25.

- Peter Ward

SELECT * FROM Employees

2008-12-23T19:25:00Z

As someone that can speak fluently in just one language I always feel inadequate when I visit other countries where English is not the native language. As not only can the locals speak the native language they often can speak English as well. Having spent quite a bit of time travelling throughout Europe I am always amazed when people can also fluently speak the languages of the surrounding countries. In many professional circles such as science, mathematics, and IT, most communication is performed using English. Where it starts to become interesting is when trying to communicate a topic using a language other than English.

Often the uptake of a particular concept is more appropriate in the local language as it means that the concepts can be concentrated on rather than the translation. What is interesting though is the current rate of growth in countries such as China and India. Currently English is the most widely spoken language in the world; however, on current predictions, in 25 years time Mandarin will be the most commonly spoken language. English will become the third most spoken language behind Mandarin and then Spanish. So I wonder if SELECT * FROM employees will change if English is no longer the dominant language?

- Peter Ward

Time Off

2008-12-22T17:46:00Z

I am not sure if it is an Australian thing, but many IT workers do not take annual leave until they are forced to. In Australia, full-time employees are entitled to four weeks of annual leave - that is holidays with full pay. However, despite the fact that the time off is paid for, it is only when an employee is forced to take holidays due to their leave liability that they take a break. I personally think that a person does not function at optimal levels unless they stop and take some time away from work to recharge the batteries. I think that people in the IT sector need this break more than many other industries especially due to the high levels of mental activity and the long hours that many people work.

In fact, I am using the excuse of going to Vietnam for a friend's wedding to take a two-week break and unplug for a little while. Being in IT I know how hard it can be to put the computer down and leave the inbox for a few days. With the ability to connect from almost anywhere, I think that there are now even more opportunities for people to take a break, as even in the worst-case scenario you can always RDP into a server from an Internet café no matter how far off the beaten track you are. Are you planning on taking some time off so that you can start 2009 all refreshed?

- Peter Ward

Staying on Top

2008-12-19T17:30:00Z

If you look at many of the top 100 companies on the stock exchanges around the world and compare them to the top 100 companies from 10 years ago, one of the startling facts is that over half the companies did not exist 10 years ago. This phenomenon is the same in the IT sector, as there are jobs today in the workplace that did not even exist 10 years ago. For example, SOX Compliance Officer and Virtualization and SAN Engineers are all roles that did not exist a decade ago. I recently attended a presentation that really drove home the fact that the jobs that we are performing today may not even exist in 10 years time.

When you think about it though, it is not that startling really, as the .Net Framework was not around 10 years ago and neither were SQL Server specialties such as Reporting Services and SSIS. Something I have been seeing more and more of is people in the IT sector that do not want to re-learn new skills, as they are happy in their current domain. If you think of other professions, IT is one of the few where skills can become redundant in only a few short years. Where do you see yourself in the IT industry in 10 years time? Do you think your job will still exist?

- Peter Ward

Workplace Challenges

2008-12-18T17:11:00Z

There have been a lot of people of late that have been blogging about their most challenging work situations. I have worked with a large number of organisations over the years and I would have to say that the most challenging experiences have always been related to soft skills rather than technical skills. There are many places that you can turn to in order to solve technical challenges such as a cluster not failing over correctly or a database that is marked as suspect. There are online forums such as at SQL-Server-Performance.com and blog posts and a myriad of Microsoft knowledge base articles or even old-fashioned methods such as talking to a colleague. However, often there is nowhere to turn to when there are issues such as a manager not responding or more-serious matters such as workplace harassment. There are H.R. teams in larger organisations to deal with these challenges, but as a consultant you are often out on your own. What strategies have you used to deal with some of the soft skill challenges in the workplace?

- Peter Ward

DIY Patching

2008-12-17T16:17:00Z

I was reading a journal from the Australian Computer Society on a flight home yesterday. One of the articles that grabbed my attention was on patch management. This article was particularly relevant with the recent changes in the policy for SQL Server functionality. The article described how many large organizations are starting to de-centralize patch management from being a function of the IT department to a responsibility of the individual end user. Two of the reasons cited for this change is that many end users are not in the office frequently enough for the corporate patch policy to be applied and it is an opportunity for IT departments to outsource a mundane function.

Now I agree that patch management is not the most glamorous function of IT departments but then again neither is building new servers. However, I can't see server builds being outsourced to end users. I think that end users are more and more tech savvy and many are used to managing their computers at home by running windows updates when prompted and maybe even checking occasionally that their antivirus is up-to-date. I think that letting end users patch their own machines could work but not without the layered protection of the corporate infrastructure. In other words, if the machine does not meet a minimum patch standard it can be used but it is not allowed on the corporate network. What are your thoughts on end users patching their own computers?

- Peter Ward

Service Pack 3 Released (Finally)

2008-12-16T22:07:00Z

For a long time SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 3 was scheduled for release in the final quarter of 2008, well it has made the promised release window by the slimmest of margins. With only two weeks left in the year, SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 3 was publically released today. The Service Pack can be downloaded from here and the complete list of bugs addressed by the release can be found here. It is great to see that common sense finally prevailed and that Microsoft listened to the overwhelming number of requests to release another Service Pack for SQL Server 2005. So will this be the last Service Pack for SQL Server 2005? Considering the latest Service Pack for SQL Server 2000 was released in June 2005, which was well before SQL Server 2005 was released, I think it highly unlikely that we will see another Service Pack for SQL Server 2005, no matter how vocal the community is.

- Peter Ward

Sets Aren't Always the Answer

2008-12-15T17:45:00Z

I was reading the blog post 'There is a limit to set based solutions' today and it got me thinking about some of the patterns and practices that we follow. The problem with any set of rules is that the rules do not always fit every possible scenario and are just a general guide. The issue with following rules is that many people blindly follow the advice of others without understanding why. I am sure that most people reading this are aware that in many scenarios a set based solution will achieve better performance than a procedural based solution. However, often we follow this advice without considering that there are exceptions to the rule or possibly other alternatives. When was the last time you tested a set based solution against a procedural solution to see if the procedural solution was really slower?

- Peter Ward

SQL Server 2008 Adoption

2008-12-12T17:25:00Z

From my experience of the marketplace I would suggest that approximately 30-40% of all SQL Server instances I encounter are still on SQL Server 2000. Over the last 12 months there has been an increase in the number of organisations that are upgrading SQL Server. There are various reasons that companies decide that there is a key business or technical driver to upgrade; however, one of the main reasons is that mainstream support for SQL Server 2000 is no longer available.

What I am seeing is that although SQL Server 2008 was released in August this year, a large number of upgrades are being made to SQL Server 2005 rather than 2008. I think that the choice of SQL Server 2005 over 2008 is largely related to the availability of Service Packs. Many people still have the attitude that they will not install a product until the first service pack has been released. Is the availability of a Service Pack stopping you from adopting SQL Server 2008, or are there other reasons?

- Peter Ward

Successful Backups

2008-12-11T17:54:00Z

A lot of people define a successful backup as the Maintenance Plan task completing without any errors. However, a backup is only completed and considered to be successful when you have been able to perform a restore from the backup. There is no point taking a backup if you are not going to verify the integrity of the backup. I remember reading a story about a company that was diligently taking a full database backup direct to tape every night and sending the tapes offsite. The only problem was that the backup job was being reported as successful but the tape drive was faulty and was not writing to the tape. So, when there was a need to perform a restore, the tapes contained no data. When was the last time you checked to make sure that you could restore from your database backup?

- Peter Ward