- SQL Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 – A Love Story
-
Some things just
really work well together. Peanut butter and chocolate. Abbot and Costello.
Coffee and...well...anything. You get the idea. But there are some real advantages
in using SQL Server 2008 (and of course the upcoming SQL Server 2008 R2
release) with Windows Server 2008 and higher. It's not just that they are both
better than their predecessors, SQL Server actually takes advantage of the
improvements in Windows Server 2008.
One practical
example is in how Windows Server 2008 handles the infamous "drive offset". This
is a small block size movement from the first part of the hard drive sectors -
it's an internal thing - but it causes real issues with software that exercises
the I/O subsystem, and makes its own calls there. Like SQL Server. In the past,
the data professional had to follow a process called "Partition Alignment", and
this had to be done when the system was set up. That's all now a thing of the
past - with SQL Server 2008 and Windows 2008 Server, this just happens.
Another example is
in how Windows 2008 Server deals with the "sliding TCP/IP window". This
enhancement directly affects how fast SQL Server can send large frames of data
- especially with Replication and large binary objects. At Microsoft we noticed
tremendous speed gains just by moving to Windows 2008 Server.
There are lots of
other examples - from new virtualization and consolidation changes in both
products to clustering enhancements, and now in SQL Server 2008 R2 the ability
to run the "sysprep" utility after SQL Server has been
installed.
You can read more about this "pairing effect" in this White
Paper.
And be sure to check out John
Kelbley's Post on the Windows Server blog where he also talks about ways
that SQL Server and Windows Server work "Better Together".
- Planned versus Unplanned Work
-
Most data
professionals are familiar with the term "planned downtime" and
"unplanned downtime". The first is painful to ask for, and the second
is painful to explain. We strive not to have either. SQL Server 2008 and SQL
Server 2008 R2 have introduced features, such as better recovery from corrupt
pages in a Database Mirroring and so forth that attempt to keep the problems
down. But "planned" and "unplanned" can also be used to
describe our daily work - and we don't have a choice most of the time for how
we deal with either kind.
Planned work is the
task we do because it has a schedule, or at least *could* be scheduled.
Backups, building a server, applying a service pack, reviewing the logs - all
of these could be things that we can schedule. Looking at my "Tasks"
in Microsoft Outlook, I have a lot of things that I have scheduled for today,
this week, and this month. I never really close or complete some of them, I
just change the due date to the next period of time when I need to deal with
that task again.
Other work is very
"unplanned". This kind of work can come from anywhere - from a
co-worker who needs help, a manager with an emergency request, and most of the
time from a server that has a problem, with anything from issues with
Replication to a failed backup.
It's kind of
difficult to meld these two together. When you're in the middle of building a
server, it's hard to leave the server room, run downstairs to talk with an
irate manager and then fix the issue with the system's database so that her
application can still run. Even worse, for data professional it's often a case
of having to prove it *isn't* the database that is causing the performance
problem - but that's another post.
There are, however,
tools and processes that can help you deal with both planned and unplanned
work. As I mentioned, I use Outlook for just about everything, since I can
access it from many locations (even my Windows Mobile phone) and it
combines my calendar, tasks, contacts and of course e-mail in one place.
Another tool I've
come to rely on is OneNote. Of course you can just use notepad or a
Word-processor to take notes, but OneNote is integrated with Outlook (and just
about every other Microsoft program), it can "share" notebooks
between teams and has a rich set of tags to help qualify what I need to know
visually and quickly.
But tools aren't
the whole story. First, I try to keep a level head during the interruptions.
I've been a data professional for a really long time, so I've gotten over the
panic stage. It also helped that at one point in my career I volunteered as an
Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) on an ambulance, which of course *really*
puts you in life and death situations. After that, a server crash isn't cause
for complete panic.
I have developed a
process to deal with both of these kinds of work. I plan what I can - trying to
look out as far as possible, creating checklists, and coordinating with the
rest of my team and my organization. I try to get the most important planned
work done as soon as possible - first thing in the week, first thing in the
morning. That way, if I get an unplanned event, as much as possible of the
planned work is complete. In a way, I'm planning for unplanned work!
For the truly
unplanned work, such as an emergency, I keep a OneNote page nearby with links
that are categorized by the type of issues I think I might face. I document
each step I follow to correct the issue, even if I have to wait until later. I
try and keep the energy from all of the emotions low, and work on the problem
as systematically as it will allow. Above all, I communicate constantly,
letting the right people know what has happened, what is happening now,
and what I'm doing about it. That OneNote document comes in really handy
here.
So how are you
doing it? How do you handle the work that comes at you from all sides?
- Of Virtualization, Videos and VPs
-
My
mentors at Microsoft have always told me, how important it is to get quality
1:1 time with senior figures in the company; the idea being to get good
insights to strategy and a better handle on the executives' various
personalities and strengths. I don't think my mentors had in mind that I should
do video interviews. However, my recent recording on Server Consolidation with
Ted Kummert, Senior Vice
President, Microsoft Business Platform Division, was not only fun, but insightful too. Ted
is clear that Microsoft virtualization is a compelling choice for Microsoft
server applications, especially Microsoft SQL Server, but as
you'll see this is no glossy sales pitch. Ted has a very natural style, that
underlines his commitment to the technology - he really is a WYSIWYG exec.
We
discussed consolidation and virtualization - one of the hottest topics
customers raise with us these days. CTOs are typically looking to control
costs, but cost savings are hardly automatic: you must choose the right
strategy. In some (notorious) cases, I have seen CPU utilization actually drop
on consolidated boxes; typically because the servers were IO-bound.
Given
these potential pitfalls, how are you to go about setting a strategy? A great
starting point is our server consolidation
guidance, including a flowchart to walk you through the right choices. For
example, for many folks considering virtualization, security is a real concern
- a flowchart helps you choose between virtualization, and instance or database
consolidation. Similarly, for high availability, manageability and other
potential concerns, we can walk you through the options.
Other
resources include our all-up Virtualization
Brief - at two pages it's certainly brief, but it will give you a
pretty good high-level overview of the options and benefits for SQL
Server, Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft Exchange.
We also have a rather good customer
case study with Avanade, where you can see how the right choices enabled
them to cut physical servers from 136 to 20, while increasing their database
performance by 50%. (I can tell you now, they were not IO bound!)
In
our video conversation, Ted also makes it clear that partners will be important
in guiding customers. Our generic guidance and tools are invaluable for
understanding our architectures and capabilities, but partners are especially
well placed to get into specifics, whether hardware or integrated systems.
This conversation about
virtualization and consolidation is one we often have directly with customers:
it was great to be able to have it with Ted before the cameras for a wider
audience.
- Where Do Your DBAs Spend Their Time?
-
In a recent episode of The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon was excited to spend the evening reinstalling the OS and apps on his laptop. My wife asked me if I would find that fun. I had to admit that it wouldn’t suck but there were a number of other things that I’d rather do. Last week I reviewed a soon to be published report on the cost of administering various database platforms, including SQL Server. While there is lots of interesting data in the report what I found most interesting was the breakdown of where DBAs spend their time. Since the report hasn’t been published I can’t give out any specific findings but I will share this: according to the report the activity DBAs spend most of their time on is deploying new database servers; accounting for about 40% of their time. I almost fell out of my chair when I read that statistic. Let me say that again: about 40% of a DBAs time is spent deploying new database servers. Really? See the end of this posting for the activities included in deployment.
It’s imperative that managers of DBAs perform a regular audit of where their team spends their time. Then use this data to drive decisions on where to standardized and/or automate tasks with the overarching goal of reducing the time spent on the particular task. In general DBAs make a good salary and the job requires a specialized skill set. Ensuring your DBAs are spending their time on the most important tasks is not only good for your business it’ll be good for the morale of your DBA team. In my experience DBAs don’t mind working hard, they just want to be working on important and interesting projects; I don’t know deploying database servers qualifies.
Activities included in deploying new database servers:
- Installation: initial installation of the DB software
- Configuration: creation of DB schema and DB instance settings
- Security: definition of security settings for the DB instance and access control
- Integration: integration of the DB instance with the infrastructure, including backup
* If you find that your team is spending significant time deploying database servers you should take a hard look at the sysprep feature new in SQL Server 2008 R2. It just might be the silver bullet you’re looking for.
- The Microsoft / HP Announcement - How does this affect the Data Professional?
-
I've been watching with interest the reactions to the new
Microsoft/HP alliance that was announced here this week. Being an old-timer
DBA, I rarely implement the latest technology, jump on the new bandwagon or
react to the latest news quickly. I try to think about what I'm hearing, digest
it a little, research what everyone else is saying and then evaluate whether it
is right for me. So with that in mind, I read all of the various reports from
Microsoft, HP, and then what others have been saying. I even read Donald Farmer's post!
I'll share my thoughts on how I believe this will impact the
"day to day DBA". If you manage or maintain a database system, this post is for
you.
First, the facts: Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard announced a three-year "technology
integration" marketing agreement, involving hardware and certain application
software, one of which is SQL Server. From the marketing teams to the engineers
and partners, the Microsoft/HP agreement puts the two companies in-sync with
delivering a solution (which can be a
very marketing, overused term I'll admit), rather than making the hardware and
software and consulting decisions separately.
What that means for the
Data Professional: From hardware to software,
Microsoft and HP will work together to give you a system that is already built
and optimized for the workload. You can think of it as a "Database Appliance"
or a "turn-key" type of purchase. Sure, there's more to it than that, but this
is the one nugget I gleaned from my research that would make my work easier.
My reaction: This is a tall order, because the immediate pushback I'm
thinking is "shops are so different -
will this really fly?" But I think back to several shops I've worked at,
and I've heard multiple times "I wish
there was just one order I could put in and have this database server put to
bed. I'm tired of wading through the which-memory-works-best-with-which-Edition-of-SQL
Server questions!" Interestingly, these aren't just in the small shops I've
worked at. Some mid-level and even large shops have even less time to think
about implementing a new system, so this would be even more useful for them.
Being able to order a single box and have it optimized for SQL Server is very
compelling for me.
So I have high hopes for this partnership. I think it's been
a gap in the SQL Server offering for quite some time - other platforms have had
this, and it's done quite well for them.
Your takeaway: Research the links below and form your own opinion. There's
more than just the "database appliance" idea here, and it affects more than
just SQL Server. You may find that there's something for you.
The main announcement (with video)
The combination Microsoft/HP page
More from Microsoft
Donald Farmer's take
Small and Medium Business impact
- Bored by the HP / MSFT announcement? You Need to get out More
-
I'm in Tucson today, and you know what? The weather is warm and dry. Are you surprised? I guess not - what else would you expect? Yet every time I come here from Seattle (and man, Seattle was dark and wet and cold when I left this time) I find the simple intensity of the Arizona weather catches me anew.
I think that for some, yesterday's announcement from HP and Microsoft - a $250 million investment in integrated application stacks - was more of the same. We have a 25 year partnership, after all, and collaboration may be taken for granted.
Well, just look again. $250 million is a helluva partnership investment, even for giants in the industry. It's always the case that press releases tend to be somewhat "glossy" - frankly, they all sound the same to me - so again, it's easy to overlook the details. Better than the press release, look here, to some of the applications that are already available, some of the case studies that already prove the value of the collaboration, and some of the details of hardware, software and services that are being integrated: http://bit.ly/5VTD4k
From a purely personal viewpoint, I have to say that the people I work with in Microsoft and HP are genuinely excited about the extended partnership. My friend at HP, John Santaferraro has been tweeting like crazy! For us it's not just marketing, and that's particularly true in the database and business intelligence fields. SQL Server is the most rapidly growing database platform, our BI is making strides in the market, and our partners in HP have also made some very compelling business intelligence investments.
So what is it, that we are offering?
For one thing, pre-configured, packaged solutions for OLTP, BI and DW workloads for different sizes of business. For SQL Server, this is great. Today, our customers see the cost-effectiveness, ease-of-use and power of the SQL Server and Microsoft BI platforms, but they often see only that. We are after all a platform company (having, I suspect, more platforms than the Jackson Five.) The new solutions build on the platform with HPs services and hardware experience which are, of course, first class. If this was a just a case of packaging up a services, software and hardware offering to make it easy to market, I think I would be unimpressed myself, but there is more to it. We are developing tools and services specifically for these offerings - from Microsoft, tools to make virtualization easier; from HP, customized BI professional services in information governance, master data management and so on. These professional services from HP are critical - they have over 11,000 certified Microsoft Professionals, so building out a portfolio of service offerings specifically for them, greatly increases our clout.
For the mid-market, I can see some of our other partners being concerned at first reading of the announcement. However, I see good news for them, too. Naturally, the noise has been about the big things HP and Microsoft can do together, even if somewhat exclusively, but the channel remains very important to us. ("Super-important" as Microsoft execs are wont to say.) After all, we have 32000 HP and Microsoft channel partners.
They will see much larger investment in our marketing programs - something like ten times the current spend, I believe. The investment will go into bundled software and hardware packages that should reduce sales cycles, new financing options to make integrated solutions easier to acquire, and - hugely important and hopefully worthy of a cheer - integrated support from dedicated field engineers.
I hope this gives some impression of why we are excited by the announcement. Of course, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating, and we'll be watching over the next year and more for the restaurant reviews of this particular dessert to come rolling in. I'm looking forward to them.
Meanwhile, it's time for me to get out of my hotel room, away from this laptop, and out into the Arizona sun. Even after so many visits, I'm not going to take it for granted. Look at the HP / MSFT announcement in that light.
- T-SQL Words You Need to Stop Misspelling
-
For the
last few days my inbox, Twitter and Facebook feeds have been full of
advice about which words I should stop misspelling. To be fair, in
English, I have relatively little problem, and any misspellings I do make
may be sloppy, but rarely result in misunderstandings. On the other hand, there
are some T-SQL usages that really do cause problems, for myself and others ...
SELECT
This is perhaps the
first word we learn as T-SQL newbies, but there is still some
confusion. Some people spell this with a star on the end - this is easy
and natural, but it is often wrong and will only help you if you are either too
lazy to write out a list of columns, or too intellectually incurious to care
about performance.
AUTO_SHRINK
Actually, this is
not so much a misspelling as a weirdly archaic word that is simply not
acceptable in polite DBA society. Using it will fragment your indexes and your
chances of social and professional success with equally devastating effects.
IN
I know what you're
thinking. How could someone possibly misspell IN? However, as with English,
there are some weird and wonderful things about T-SQL. In some circumstances
you would be better to spell IN as EXISTS (especially when preceded by NOT.)
The problem is that IN and EXISTS handle NULL values differently.
Jens Suessmeyer fro
MS in Germany, came across the problem and gives a good example here: http://bit.ly/520pQM
Nor is this
peculiar to T-SQL: it's the same for those in Oracle-land too: http://bit.ly/6fMRP5
In practice, I
nearly always come across this problem when someone has changed a column to
allow NULLS - they can then discover to their consternation that queries which
"worked" previously now return no rows at all.
REPAIR_ALLOW_DATA_LOSS
You could be
forgiven for using this strange spelling, as the word has indeed found its way
into the language in this form. Although this spelling is correct, it is
pronounced REPAIR_ENSURE_DATA_LOSS
as you will indeed lose data if you use it. Please note, that using this word
in the same sentence as "msdb" is a desperate faux pas, resulting
only in pain and embarrassment.
And finally ...
I really could not
let this article pass without recording my favorite misspelling, even though it
has nothing to do with T-SQL. I once visited a financial services customer who
had, just that morning, discovered a small typo in code that was
re-implementing a legacy application. After a whiteboard session, where the
notes had been left scrawled in an awkward hand, a developer had boldly sallied
forth and coded up using RAND in place of ROUND. The result was a series of
credit forecasts using a random number with the customers' closing balances as
the seed, rather than using their rounded balance. Strange to say, nobody had
noticed for ... well, let's just say for long enough. Even stranger, when the
error was fixed, several of the financial wonks complained that the numbers
were no longer so useful!
- My Top Ten SQL Server Bloggers of 2009
-
I think I may have set myself an all-but-impossible task: to choose ten bloggers who write about SQL Server, and who have been outstanding in the last year. Nearly impossible, not because I can't find ten, but because there are so many more worthy of recognition. In addition, many of those I will not be including are friends and colleagues, so the task may be as thankless as it is difficult.
Nevertheless, having set myself the goal, I may as well get on with it. My method was simple enough. I started with those blogs I subscribe to, and, of those, found the ones I bookmark most often. These were neatly objective measures, but I was still left with about 20 blogs to consider. Then I had to find some more subjective criteria: are the blogs helpful, insightful, original, well written, newsworthy, and so on. I excluded official Microsoft blogs, focusing instead on the community blogs, so there is only one Microsoft team member on the list.
Here then are My Top 10 for this last year. To be fair to the others who so narrowly missed out, I'll publish a longer blogroll later of those who I consider to be essential reading. For now, let me know what you think of my top ten, in strictly alphabetical order.
Bob Beauchemin
http://www.sqlskills.com/BLOGS/BOBB/
Like most of the bloggers in this top ten, Bob is an active and excellent speaker and writer. Bob is notably excellent when writing about data access and programmability, areas which require both sound understanding of the database technology and the ability to work with, and explain, the latest programming models. If you're an application developer working with SQL Server, then Bob is essential reading ... and don't miss his conference sessions either!
Rob Collie
http://powerpivotpro.com/
Rob is the only Microsoft employee on My Top 10 list because his blog is really very independent and hosted with a quite separate presence and identity. Rob has set out to create a compelling blog for the new PowerPivot product and he does a great job synthesizing his years of experience in the Excel world with his detailed knowledge of the PowerPivot technology. Even better, Rob presents compelling, easy-to-understand scenarios with a great sense of humor. If you're interested in PowerPivot, you need to follow this blog.
Kasper de Jonge
http://business-intelligence.kdejonge.net/
This blog has been a revelation to me this year. Kasper works in the Netherlands and blogs on BI topics. One outstanding feature of his blog is his use of copious screenshots. Often, with a new product just out in public like PowerPivot or the new Report Builder, Kasper sedulously records his experience with setup and first impressions, all captured with useful screens and comments. Even I learn stuff about setting up our BI products here! It's not just about installation either: Kasper explores many new features with the same careful approach.
Andy Leonard
http://sqlblog.com/blogs/andy_leonard/default.aspx
I really enjoy Andy's blog, not just for the technical posts (especially about SSIS), but for the way he writes with a perceptiveness and passion about the community of SQL users. Andy persuades, cajoles and encourages SQL Server users to get out and be part of something bigger: whether blogging, or simply attending a conference or event. Even better, Andy is always very clear about how community support fits in to an often challenging and difficult career path.
Sean McCown
http://www.infoworld.com/blogs/sean-mccown
Now this is a kick-ass blog. In fact, often times you get the impression that Sean's key motivation in sitting down to blog for the day is just to kick some ass. But he chooses his victims well! Whether it is Microsoft's product teams, officious auditors, or even himself (for delivering a bad presentation), Sean is typically forthright and on target. Sean is also, like Andy Leonard, excellent at supporting DBAs in their career and personal development, with advice in the last year on technical skills, interview techniques and even office politics!
Adam Machanic
http://sqlblog.com/blogs/adam_machanic/default.aspx
The sheer breadth and depth of Adam's posts are testaments to his knowledge of SQL Server. I have only two things to say: read this blog, and try every code sample Adam posts. You'll be better for it.
Paul Randal
http://www.sqlskills.com/BLOGS/paul/
Paul is a former Microsoftie who often draws on his detailed understanding of the relational engine's internals to give unique insights on his blog. As an expert on DBCC, this blog is simply essential reading if you are interested in recovery or repair - it's title is, in fact,"In Recovery." Even better, if you want to avoid recovery and repair, you need to read this. Paul also writes very entertainingly, which really helps with the often deeply technical matter.
Jamie Thomson
http://sqlblog.com/blogs/jamie_thomson/
Jamie's previous blog used to be called "SSIS Junkie." I don't think he has quite kicked the habit, as his technical posts about SSIS are always excellent, but there is certainly a wider range of interests on display here from data warehousing to SQL Azure.
Kimberly Tripp
http://www.sqlskills.com/blogs/kimberly/
Kimberly is inimitable, both on stage and in her blog. I wouldn't know where to start recommending her work - and if I started I could hardly stop. Let me take one example. Want to know about indexing? Read this blog - for the examples, the technical detail, the good humour, and the sheer practicality of the advice. And that's only one topic. Read the blog, every post.
Chris Webb
http://cwebbbi.spaces.live.com/
Chris is an OLAP guy, and if you know OLAP (whether in the form of SQL Server Analysis Services or any other vendor) you really should subscribe to Chris's blog for its breadth. For those specifically in the SQL Server sphere, Chris's posts on the MDX query language, and more recently on the use of PowerPivot DAX, are not only practical and perceptive, but help to stretch your skills and cover challenging scenarios.
So that's the list. What do you think? Anyone I missed out that you feel really needs to be there? And if so, who would you remove? I'd be fascinated to hear from you.
- Three suggestions for SQL Server DBAs in 2010
-
One of these days I really should blog about "dumb questions I have been asked at customer briefings." There's a danger in that, of course: namely, that a customer could equitably blog about "dumb answers I received from Donald Farmer." Nevertheless, the other day, a CIO asked me an excellent question. "Aside from core skills, which we always invest in, if we had an hour or so a week for DBA training in new areas, what would you suggest?" Here's what I recommended to her in email, as we followed up.
In the coming year, you'll see a new release, SQL Server 2008 R2, which is, we hope, full of goodies for your DBAs. As ever, there will some features immediately relevant to your business, some that will enable you to do new things over time, and some that you may not plan to use, but which may yet be of interest. So, in general I recommend using that extra training time to do three things: extend your current skills; expand your range with new skills; and explore and incubate some experimental projects.
Extend your current skills
I have rarely met a DBA with time on their hands, and I know that in your business they now manage more physical servers than ever, and with virtualization and consolidation, more instances and more databases, with more data, than ever. So, if I may suggest one feature that you need to learn thoroughly in SQL Server 2008 R2 it is our multi-server and application management improvements. There is a great whitepaper here, from our team, on this topic: http://bit.ly/6yVmOL You'll find this really is an essential feature to save money and to manage a healthy environment in the coming years.
Expand with new skills
When we first talked about SQL Server together, back in 2005, we remarked then on how the scope of the DBAs role was changing. Not only did they manage databases, but with SQL Server your DBAs were also managing reporting systems, OLAP servers, and the ETL process. I know that your DBAs thought this was, and is, a good thing. They not only "owned the data" but all the surrounding services that integrated, enhanced and gave meaning to the data. In SQL Server this was relatively easy, as the development and management environments for all these services are highly integrated. However, there is another area which I suggest your DBAs should delve into : SharePoint. That is a new administration experience, so there is more to learn. But it will be a worthwhile investment of time. Here's why ...
Not only is SharePoint our fastest growing server product, it is also the heart of our collaboration platform; and, as such, SharePoint is fast becoming critical to Business Intelligence. You know about PowerPivot, of course. (See www.powerpivot.com for more on that, especially you can try the hands-on lab.) I expect that in your organization, your adoption of PowerPivot will be departmental - I don't think you can hold the marketing guys back! In this case, I can see your DBAs getting very involved, not only provisioning data, but managing the infrastructure. There's are a couple of great blogs out there already exploring PowerPivot for SharePoint: www.powerpivotgeek.com and www.powerpivottwins.com - and if you want to give your DBAs a head-start on SharePoint there are excellent training links here on Arpan Shah's blog: http://bit.ly/5Ez7xT
Explore and incubate
Finally, I always think it is good to experiment. Even if you have no immediate plans to use a technology, learning more about it can often uncover useful cases, and prepares the team well for the day when the CEO, fresh from reading his latest business magazine asks "Shouldn't we be doing this?" This year, he'll be asking about the cloud. I can just about guarantee it. Fortunately, SQL Azure, the first significant relational database technology for the cloud, is easy to experiment with - in fact, the development and admin tools are basically the same as you are used to. See the team site for more information: http://bit.ly/7zdfAJ I'm not suggesting yet that you port any applications to the cloud - but we'll help all we can if you want to, just let me know. However, I am sure you and your team will find plenty of opportunities to host experimental applications and incubations. We'll be pleased to help with that too.
So, in short, those are my recommendations for those extra training hours in 2010. It is going to be a good year for SQL Server, and it's great to have you aboard.
- The SQL Server Year in Review
-
It's getting close
to that time of year when you're going to start seeing lots of "the year in
review" specials on television. I started in my new role working with our
customers last December, so it seems only fitting that I take a moment and go
over some of the highlights in the SQL Server community in the last year - what
I've seen, what I've learned, and what has hit the headlines. I have a
wonderful vantage point, working with our partners, our clients, and with the
SQL Server team here in Redmond. I've traveled to several states, participated
in lots of user groups, presentations and conferences, and I've learned a lot
about how people use SQL Server in their organizations and what we've done to
make that a better experience.
Most companies
started the year with a big emphasis on cost-saving and getting the most value out of SQL Server. I've helped lots of organizations
figure out how they can migrate applications to SQL Server, and how to consolidate those servers onto fewer
Instances - saving on
hardware and software costs. This is a two-edged sword - you have to carefully
plan these migrations and consolidations out, and understanding the right
process to use (database stacking, Instance stacking and Virtualization) is
vital to keeping the organization happy. Microsoft announced they would support using SQL Server in a Virtualized
environment, and also began work on SQL Server 2008 R2 - which has even more options for
consolidation.
And some
organizations wanted to have even more flexibility, so 2009 saw the release of SQL Server Azure, the "database in the cloud". Each month I've seen more and more
chatter on this offering, from small organizations that don't want to manage a
server all the way up to huge companies that want the flexibility to rapidly
create, deploy and manage their databases. Far from removing the need for a
DBA, the data professionals are finding that their role is to help with their
organization's data strategy, explaining how and when to use these kinds of
offerings to reach the business goal.
This year has also
been called "the year of the community", with the SQL
Saturday movement becoming
wildly popular, as well as an amazing turnout at the PASS
conference. Almost 40%
of the attendees to PASS this year were first-timers - and from the comments I
heard, it won't be their last time either. At PASS the
SQL Server Most Valuable Professionals (MVP's) wrote a book (which I'm still
reading) called "Deep Dives"
- with all of the proceeds donated to War Child, an international charity. They
literally took Bill Gates at his word when he said to "give back".
Amazing.
Along with
consolidation, many data professionals are focusing on performance tuning. They
need to get the most out of the systems they already have. I predict that the
consolidation efforts will continue, as well as the emphasis on perf tuning.
I've taught several performance tuning seminars this year, and I've been
asked to do several more next year as well.
So where will 2010
take us? Well, a new release of SQL Server, Visual Studio, new modeling
languages, developer tools and administration needs. Look for a bigger emphasis
on PowerShell - it allows you to manage almost any
Microsoft product, and talks equally well to other platforms and database systems.
I also think that you'll see a pent-up demand for new projects as inventories
run low and companies ramp up to supply demand. So buckle in. It's going to be
a busy time.
- The Best Tool for the Job
-
One evening last week I was hanging out with a friend who is a professional photographer. As so often happens on such occasions, we whiled away some time comparing new toys, for we both had new cameras. Mine is small and perfectly formed (an Olympus, if you must know) and he had a high-end Nikon of such weight that I suspect it is mostly recommended by chiropractors looking for new work. However, my friend always carries a small point-and-shoot in his pocket, because, as he always reminds me: "The best camera is the one you have in your hand." It's no use having a great camera at home, if it's not with you when an opportunity arises; and, when the opportunity does arise, the camera to hand is indeed best.
Last week I also had six separate customer briefings in the Executive Briefing Center at Redmond. Now that the SQL Server and Office teams have just released their November CTPs, these were great opportunities to advise customers on what is coming in our next release and how to prepare for it. PowerPivot is by far and away the most popular feature, but I also had some surprising discussions around Master Data Services, our first foray into Master Data Management.
What surprised me, was that two of my customers, independently, said "We have needed Master Data for a while, but we could not find tools that we like. We'll certainly wait for Microsoft's solution."
Now, I'm flattered that they want to see Microsoft's offering, but really, if you have problems with master data you need to be looking at a solution, tools or no tools. (If you're new to the concept of Master Data Management or MDM, William McKnight has a couple of great articles, here and here.)
Fortunately, for these particular customers, even they can get started with MDM with the November CTP. For all SQL Server Enterprise Edition customers, Microsoft's MDS will be the tool to hand for Master Data, and therefore, as the photographers would say, the best tool for the job. Indeed, MDS is quite a comprehensive toolset, featuring: a master data hub based on the SQL Server relational engine; a thin-client stewardship portal for managing master data entities, and all their related hierarchies and versioning requirements; workflow integration and extensible extensible business rules; and role-based security.
During the briefings, we all agreed that we would start to review the tools technically, and to review the customers systems, and governance needs, as a matter of urgency.
To understand just how urgent the need is, I must return to my photographer friend. After comparing notes on cameras, our conversation turned to his finances. In particular, he was fuming about confused, duplicate and sometimes outdated information he was getting from a service provider following a merger: a classic master data problem. I am sure you have guessed already: he is an unhappy customer of one of my customers: and I know the advice he would give them. "The best tool for the job, is the tool you have. Just get on with it!"
- Active Thankfulness and SQL Server Professionals
-
A few countries
around the world have a day set aside for giving thanks - and some do it all
year long. We stop to give thanks to those who have made us what we are, and
those in the past and present who have given us the benefits that we enjoy.
From teachers to family, we owe them a lot.
I've noticed that
several technology specialists, especially those that work with SQL Server, go
even further. They practice "Active Thankfulness", where they donate their own
time, money and effort to give back to the community. The Professional
Association of SQL Server, or PASS, is staffed with volunteers, and at the
recent PASS conference you could see this spirit of giving all over the event.
People lent a helping hand to setting up, organizing and staffing many
different activities, including those to help folks with their SQL Server
questions. Microsoft donated the entire Customer Advisory Team (CAT) to the
event, answering questions and delving deep into technical issues for free.
Many of the SQL Server product team members came over to staff the "Ask the
Experts" area, and other database professionals gave of their time to handle
the "Birds of a Feather" tables - again, all free, all volunteer.
And then there were
the SQL Server "Most Valuable Professionals", or MVP's, that donated not only
their time but an amazing amount of effort to create a huge book called "Deep Dives", with
all of the chapters and even the production costs donated. The money raised by
this book go straight to "War Child International",
a charity that aids children whose lives have been devastated by war. In the
introduction, the MVP's explain that the impetus for this book was a response
to Bill Gate's challenge to "do philanthropy where you are." And that's good
advice - each of us has learned from someone, whether that's a college teacher
or from a data professional that took the time to show us the ropes. You might
not be able to find that person, but you can pay it forward by helping someone
else. It can be volunteering at a SQL Saturday event, helping out at your local
user group, or volunteering your time to help a charity with their technology
needs. When you practice this kind of active thankfulness, you'll find the
rewards far outweigh the level of work you put in.
- Buck Woody - Microsoft's "Real World DBA"
-
Hello, I'm Buck Woody - Microsoft's "Real World DBA". I go by that title not because I'm a DBA here (we do have a lot of those, though) but because for over 25 years I've worked as a Data Professional. I've worked at organizations from NASA facilities to hospitals, and from legal offices to manufacturing firms and software development companies. I've been a DBA, a data developer, and a database consultant on everything from mainframes running COBOL flat-file databases to microcomputers running Oracle, DB/2, Sybase, SQL Server, Postgres and Ingres. I've written a few books on SQL Server, been a SQL Server Most Valuable Professional (MVP) and I've run several user groups over the years.
I joined Microsoft just a few years ago and since that time I've worked on the product team as a Program Manager working on the SQL Server 2008 product, and I now work as a Senior Technical Specialist on SQL Server, helping our clients figure out where the SQL Server product fits in their architecture. I also teach a database design course at the University of Washington, and I still volunteer as a DBA so that I keep my hands in the tools and the trade.
From time to time I'll post information here that is different from my daily blogs and weekly articles - but like those posts I'll always make sure that the information has "real world" value. Functions and features are great, but they have to *do something* meaningful before I get excited about them. When I do, you'll be the first to hear it!
- New Stuff
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I’ve always loved getting new things. And when it comes to software it’s no exception. I enjoy exploring a new release of my favorite app – see how things have changed and advanced and discovering new features. There are two new things that I want to call your attention to.
First, this week we released SQL Server 2008 R2 November CTP. This CTP is a huge milestone because it is our feature complete CTP. You’ll find some great stuff in there for the Control Point and the Data-tier Application.
You can download the SQL Server 2008 R2 English language versions using these links:
SQL Server 2008 R2 Eval (including Master Data Services and StreamInsight): http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=FE0C6A31-5AD6-4EEA-A865-73BBE2608BD1&displaylang=en
SQL Server 2008 R2 Express: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c772467d-e45b-43e1-9208-2c7b663d7ad1&displaylang=en
SQL Server 2008 R2 Feature Pack: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=020EE0D5-BCE4-4A45-9D64-B0C49C8831E5&displaylang=en
Don’t delay, pull these down, install them and put them through your own personal gauntlet. Send us your feedback using Microsoft Connect: http://connect.microsoft.com/sqlserver.
The second new thing is a new book: SQL Server MVP Deep Dives. There are two special things about this book: 1) it’s written by experts. The content is top notch and I think this is a must have book for every SQL Server DBA. Second, it was an all-volunteer book and all of the author proceeds are going to WarChild.org. You can find the book using the link above or also on Amazon. From the sidelines I watched the MVPs come together and get the book off the ground. It is a prime example of the strength and dedication of the SQL Server community.
- SQLPASS Summit Recap
-
Yesterday the was the final day of the SQLPASS Summit. Today we have our last Insiders’ Session. There are numerous conference statistics I could site but the one I think says it all is 2,200+. This is the number of attendees. That’s a lot of people gathered in a single place to talk about SQL Server. This number was down a little bit from last year but up from the year before. A real testament to the value of the summit.
As I walked around and talked with people I was amazed to see so many people so passionate about the product I work on. It’s a humbling experience. And this is only a fraction of the actual number of users world wide. I had a number of conversations and overheard others that were a mix between professional and personal. It was common to watch two people walk up to one another, shake hands, give a bro hug, and start talking about families and hobbies rather than technology. This was very cool as it demonstrates that SQL Server is a community not just a bunch of users. It was also cool to hear people debate best practices and tuning techniques.
Just about everyone I spoke with was upbeat on IT Spend. Either they’ve already seen budgets loosen a little or they believe it’s coming soon. Hence it was the perfect time for them to retool on the latest and greatest SQL Server has to offer.
We had a bunch of announcements during PASS: SQL Server 2008 R2 November CTP, new editions (Data Center and Parallel Data Warehouse), and a new partnership with IBM, to name a few.
The details for next year’s conference were announced. It’ll again be at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center in Seattle WA from November 8 - 11, 2010. That will make three years in a row in Seattle. This obviously stirs a little discussion. Is it fair to folks on the East Coast or coming from international locations, for example. The benefit is clear, holding it close to Microsoft means there’s an extremely large presence of people from the SQL Server product team; I heard there were upwards of 300 SQL Server people @ the conference, though I couldn’t get that number confirmed. Second, the way they book it they get a very good deal on the facility and that savings is passed on to you. If you’ve never been to SQLPASS I encourage you to consider it.
