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Complete Coverage

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I talked to a dev friend of mine recently and he presented me with a very common problem that he ran across at work.  With it being the holidays still, a lot of the members of his team are on vacation.  Well, a problem came up and he was stuck troubleshooting by himself because he couldn’t get anyone on the phone.  And to top it off it’s a very complicated system with no clear troubleshooting paths, so the SMEs are very important in this case.

This is a very common mistake that a lot of shops make.  You need to make sure you have full coverage even when everyone’s on vacation.  At my gig we’re all vacation this week, but we still have people taking turns being on-call in case something breaks.  So if you guys really want to avoid problems like these, take the easy road and make sure that someone is at least on-call during vacations.

It’s just that easy.

Watch my free SQL Server Tutorials at:
http://MidnightDBA.ITBookworm.com

Read my book reviews at:
www.ITBookworm.com

Blog Author of:
Database Underground – http://www.infoworld.com/blogs/sean-mccown

Follow my Twitter:

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The Best DR Plan in Existence

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Someone just wrote to tell me that they just had a major outage on their main DW server due to one of the teams upgrading a driver.  There was nothing wrong with what they did, so there’s no reason to believe it would have brought the entire system down.

All I can say is that they had the best DR plan in existence and I had to share it with you so you can mimic it in your own shops.  All you have to do is not take any system-level backups and don’t save any of your configs or any of your files, or document any of your processes.  Then you can just have everyone in the dept wish as hard as they can that nothing bad will ever happen.

It must be an excellent DR plan because it’s the same one that so many companies use.  And it costs next to nothing to implement, which is probably why it’s so popular.  And the real joy is that you can put it into practice almost as quickly as you can put it on paper.  It takes next to no approval from the brass either.

I really don’t see the big deal with DR though.  There’s so much time online and in magazines/books dedicated to this topic and I just don’t get it.  If so many companies already have this practically foolproof DR plan then what’s left to discuss?  I’ve been thinking about this for a while now and I can’t come up with a single situation where this wouldn’t apply. 

Watch my free SQL Server Tutorials at:
http://MidnightDBA.ITBookworm.com

Read my book reviews at:
www.ITBookworm.com

Blog Author of:
Database Underground – http://www.infoworld.com/blogs/sean-mccown

Follow my Twitter:

http://twitter.com/MidnightDBA

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Speaker Call

We’re holding our first SQL Saturday event in Dallas and I’m in charge of speakers.  So this is an official call for speakers.  If any of you speakers out there are going to be in Dallas (or would like to come) on May 22, then send me an abstract by Feb 15 and we’ll get you going.

Send the abstracts directly to me at KO@KenpoSecrets.com

OK, that’s all I’ve got for now.

Watch my free SQL Server Tutorials at:
http://MidnightDBA.ITBookworm.com

Read my book reviews at:
www.ITBookworm.com

Blog Author of:
Database Underground – http://www.infoworld.com/blogs/sean-mccown

Follow my Twitter:

http://twitter.com/MidnightDBA

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New webcast

Hey guys… this is my first real video blog… let me know if you hate it too much.

http://www.blogger.com/img/videoplayer.swf?videoUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fv9.nonxt7.googlevideo.com%2Fvideoplayback%3Fid%3D75fc8de0774a7a55%26itag%3D5%26begin%3D0%26len%3D86400000%26app%3Dblogger%26et%3Dplay%26el%3DEMBEDDED%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1275256806%26sparams%3Did%252Citag%252Cip%252Cipbits%252Cexpire%26signature%3D12A34A7DDF87187870CA702D1924A08982E57233.78DD3B16355D5D4FA0AFCEE750AEE049697F365E%26key%3Dck1&thumbnailUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.google.com%2FThumbnailServer2%3Fapp%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D75fc8de0774a7a55%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw320%26sigh%3D5IQu1lEMwHvW91aq1HSC-gO-fYY&messagesUrl=video.google.com%2FFlashUiStrings.xlb%3Fframe%3Dflashstrings%26hl%3Den&nogvlm=1

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New BI Site

I recently had a conversation with Brian Knight and he told me about his new site.  Actually, I was supposed to have posted this mon, but I’m only now getting around to it. 

I could sit here and tell you about Brian’s new site, but it may be best to hear it directly from Brian himself:

The site is focused only on BI for Microsoft developers. We’re launching with more than 150 blog posts day 1 and 30 articles and are going to have an article a day (Monday -Thursday) for 2009 and 2010.  It’s pretty much a classic community but has a lot of social networking built into it like adding others as friends, walls, etc.

Now, I’ve already been a couple times and there really is a lot of content there.  So go check it out and maybe if we’re all lucky, Brian will let me do a couple articles for him.

Let’s all go check it out: http://www.BIDN.com

 

Watch my free SQL Server Tutorials at:
http://MidnightDBA.ITBookworm.com

Read my book reviews at:
www.ITBookworm.com

Blog Author of:
Database Underground – http://www.infoworld.com/blogs/sean-mccown

Follow my Twitter:

http://twitter.com/MidnightDBA

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The Juice Box

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I had a very typical conversation with my 2yr old yesterday.  It went something like this…

The Juice Box

Benji:  More juice daddy.

me:  Ok, go throw the box away and bring me another one.

so he goes and throws it away then looks at me.

me:  Ok baby, now bring me another box.

about a minute later he shows up with a brown box that some books came in.

me:  No baby, bring me a juice box.  The small one.

so then he shows up with a smaller shipping box.

me:  No baby, a juice box.  Bring me a juice box. A juice box.

(Benji looking around all over)

me:  it’s in the cabinet right there honey.

(keeps looking around)

me:  open the cabinet door and take out a juice box.

(looks at the fridge door.)

me:  No baby, the cabinet door.  Right there by the broom.

(goes to the other side of the fridge and looks at the wrong broom instead of the one right in front of him)

me:  no sweetie, the other broom.  Open the door by the other broom.

(opens the fridge door)

me:  no sugar, the cabinet door.  close the fridge.

(looks all around)

me:  the green door right in front of you. 

(Looks at fridge again)

me:  no no, the green door by the broom.

(goes to the other side of the fridge again and looks at the wrong broom)

me:  honey, bring me a juice box.

(looks at ceiling, floor, dog food, etc.  everything but the door right in front of him)

me:  sweetie, bring me some juice and I’ll open it for you.

(opens right door and brings the juice box.)

Now I ask you, how many of us have had conversations very similar to that with our end users or even our devs?  I know some of the devs I’ve worked with have been exactly like that.

So it really got me thinking about the skills a good DBA needs.  So as it turns out if you’re looking to make a switch to being a DBA, here’s what you should do. If you really wanna be successful as a DBA, then while you’re studying SQL and learning your job, open up a daycare and run it for about 5yrs.  Don’t only open it and run it, but actually get in there and work with the kids.  I’d say a good mix of 2 and 4yr olds should do it.  I’ve got 3 kids myself and I did it in reverse.  I became a DBA first and then had my kids, but I’m convinced that having kids has made me a better DBA because I honestly do have a lot of very similar conversations with my kids and my devs.

And this may piss of some devs, but any DBA out there who’s had to deal with a group of devs who thinks they know what they’re doing when you’re trying to show them how to do something, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

Watch my free SQL Server Tutorials at:
http://MidnightDBA.ITBookworm.com

Read my book reviews at:
www.ITBookworm.com

Blog Author of:
Database Underground – http://www.infoworld.com/blogs/sean-mccown

Follow my Twitter:

http://twitter.com/MidnightDBA

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Job Security

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Job security is a really big concern for most DBAs because we tend to automate ourselves out of a job.  It doesn’t have to be though.

First I’d like to talk about the worst way possible to ensure you keep your job.  I’m talking about those guys who write impossible processes that nobody else can support.  They think that if they’re the only ones who can support it then the company will keep them around.  And unfortunately that’s not the case.  A company is gonna do what they’re gonna do no matter how much you hold their processes hostage.

Then there are the guys who do something similar.  They just refuse to document anything and they hold all of the tribal knowledge and keep it to themselves.  This isn’t exactly the same as the guy above because this guy could just have info that nobody else does and refuses to show anyone.  And again, while it seems like holding information hostage in exchange for your job would be effective, it’s not.  Companies are gonna do what they’re gonna do no matter what you do to prevent it.  So if they’re looking to get rid of someone, you may be safe for a while, but not for long.  Your boss may recognize that you’re the keeper of the processes, but if they get rid of him then the next guy in charge of you may not see your brilliance. 

So ok, taking hostages isn’t the way to go, so what is?  That’s not a really easy question to answer because the specifics change from company to company.  However, the overall method goes something like this.  Be a knowledge expert.  Don’t just be a DBA.  DBAs can be automated.  What you have to do is be more than that.  Be a data expert.  Be a process expert.  Be a troubleshooting expert.  You have to actually prove to everyone that you’re the one who’s solving problems, or preventing them.  It’s not enough to just be a DBA anymore.  Buck Woody is fond of telling people to not be DBAs.  He wants them to be DB professionals.  And while he’s right to a degree, he’s splitting hairs.  Instead of changing the name of the position, we should work on changing the meaning of the position.  Show the world what DBA really means.

And it’s not just about being an expert.  It’s about solving problems that nobody even knows are problems.Talk to users and find out what they do every day, or every month.  Find out what their pain points are.  Not only that, but also look at existing processes and try to find out where you can improve things. And by improve, I mean greatly improve.  Don’t just take a single SSIS package and improve its performance by a few mins.  What you need to do is something major.  Really increase the performance or the reliability of something.  Make something easier for your group like building a management portal.  Put your mind to it and be useful.  But don’t just manage backups and automated processes.

Unfortunately, all this is just fodder.  Again, companies are gonna do what they’re gonna do.  So there’s really no way to save your job if it’s really in peril.  Layoffs are unfortunately a part of being in the workforce.  And it always seems that no matter what you do or how good you are, or how useful and incredible you are, the lazy, stupid guy in your group is the one your company keeps instead of you.  That’s another fact of being in the workforce.  Companies have no concept of who their best people are.  I could almost guarantee you that if you poled 50 companies who their best people were, and then had the ability to magically look into the workings themselves and see who’s actually making things happen, the two lists would be completely different.  Or better yet, ask the big bosses at any company who their best people are and then ask the employees themselves.  Again, the lists will be different.  All of this is just a windy way of saying that companies have no idea who their key people are and sometimes no matter what you do you can’t secure your position.  Sometimes companies just insist on being blind and there’s nothing you can do about it.

But if you’re going to have any chance at all, then follow my (and Buck’s) advice.

Watch my free SQL Server Tutorials at:
http://MidnightDBA.ITBookworm.com

Read my book reviews at:
www.ITBookworm.com

Blog Author of:
Database Underground – http://www.infoworld.com/blogs/sean-mccown

Follow my Twitter:

http://twitter.com/MidnightDBA

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Flatliners

Have you ever heard something so stupid or been asked such a stupid question that it actually made your brain flatline?  And I mean truly flatline in the way that you actually can’t form a complete thought well enough to respond.  I suppose to a large degree you have to decide whether they’re being serious or not. 

One of the things I used to get flatlined on all the time was baselines.  In a gig I had a few years ago I was constantly being asked why the CPU was so high on the server, or why there were so many active connections in the DB.  Here’s how the scenario typically went… I would get a call from someone saying that the CPU was at 87% and why is it so high.  I would then ask what it normally is and to that they would reply, I don’t know.  That’s when my brain would just flatline.  I couldn’t think of anything to say.

Another one that used to kill me is when someone would call me very concerned because they were in perfmon and noticed that the disk queue was 15%.  I literally went blank and couldn’t think of any way to respond.  For those of you who aren’t up on perfmon, disk queues aren’t measured in %. 

Of course I’ve been flatlined enough over the years that I’m better equipped to handle the extreme stupidity that falls on DBAs sometimes… or so I thought.

It was actually earlier this year when one of my devs came up to me and said that he had a problem with one of his SQL boxes.  He then handed me a stack of papers like an inch thick.  This is the problem he says.  What he had given me was a bunch of printouts he’d taken from various websites that came up in his google search.  Now, these weren’t really a fix for a single issue.  No no… what these were, were a bunch of different possible issues to the problem he was seeing.  So he had gone into google and typed something like “SQL Server running slow”, and then printed out the top 50 results or so.  He didn’t read any of them;  he just handed them to me as a collective solution to his specific problem. 

And I, the experienced DBA and MVP… flatlined.

Watch my free SQL Server Tutorials at:
http://MidnightDBA.ITBookworm.com

Read my book reviews at:
www.ITBookworm.com

Blog Author of:
Database Underground – http://www.infoworld.com/blogs/sean-mccown

Follow my Twitter:

http://twitter.com/MidnightDBA

Instead of working, I blog.