Allen White

Computer Science 301

Last night I delivered my PASS presentation to an Advanced Database Management class at my local college. Before I started the presentation I explained some concepts that were important in the presentation but outside the scope of it. Things a SQL Server DBA should already know, but students wouldn't necessarily know.

The presentation took longer than it did at PASS, because a number of points needed explanation, again because of the lack of exposure to the product, but it was well received. It also gave the students a chance to see the kind of real activities they can expect to perform when they graduate.

The thing I found interesting were some of the questions. I was asked about setting up the Alerts, and could I do that in a Try-Catch block (for example). What struck me about this question was the fact that the question was based on a programming perspective on all things. As a Database Administrator, I spend most of my time working with tools like SQL Server Management Studio to set configuration parameters that SQL Server uses to perform effectively. These students are taught to program everything. (Well, not everything, but that's a major focus.) I'm not sure if that "problem" is inherent in an educational environment. The students are learning skills across the breadth of the IT spectrum, so they can find a job in an area that some company needs help. It's good that they get a broad perspective.

I just wonder if it'd be a good idea to have a class that focuses on general adminstrative topics. One 16 week class could cover 4 weeks each on the administration of SQL Server, Exchange, ADS, and Windows Server, for example. (I know - it's all Microsoft-centric, but the skills would be very marketable.) The important thing here is that there's no programming, other than some scripting.

Just a thought.

Allen

PASS Conference (Friday)

Friday started with the keynote where the new PASS Board Members and officers were announced, and congratulations and best of luck to them all. Over the 5 years I've attended the PASS conference I've gotten to know most of them, and I respect all of them for their dedication to a great organization. Wayne Snyder will make a great PASS president - you can't help but feel good about yourself and the organization when you're talking with Wayne.

I spent half the day in sessions with Microsoft and the MVP's discussing the direction of SQL Server - very exhausting but good sessions.

The afternoon was filled, with a session on Change Data Capture, which I'd seen as a chalk-talk at Tech Ed in June, then a great session by Raj Gill of Scalability Experts called 'Taking Control of your Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Workloads'. Raj is an engaging speaker, and you can tell he's passionate about the topic. He also showed that the techniques apply not only to SQL 2005, but to SQL 2000 as well. I'm looking forward to working on finding a way to implement his ideas in my shop.

The last session of the day was Michael Lato's sesson on Telecommuting. I've gotten to know Michael over the last couple of years at PASS and he's truly an entertaining guy, and his session was both entertaining and informative. He really covered the bases on how to get your company to buy into the idea of telecommuting.

On my final evening in Denver I joined a number of fellow MVP's for a great dinner at the Denver Chop House and Brewery. We had some great conversations about SQL Server and non-SQL Server topics. (Rick - the Data Fly idea has some possibilities!) I was amused at one point when someone asked a question about Database Mirroring and started a 20 minute discussion with Rick Heiges, Andy Kelly, Aaron Bertrand and me discussing the transactional details of Database Mirroring. Itzik's straw puzzle was really entertaining as well, especially watching Geoff Hiten try to figure it out. (Itzik had to show us the solution.)

Thanks to everyone at PASS and Microsoft for a great conference.

Allen

PASS Conference (Thursday)

Thursday started off with a session on integrating ERWin and Visual Studio Team System for Database Professionals. I've been looking forward to using these two tools together so I was glad to see a session like this. Unfortunately, the session was supposed to be a 300-level session, but was actually not quite a 200-level. The pace was painfully slow and the examples far too simple to get any meaningful value from the session. I found greater value going to the vendor's booth (which I did after I left the session) and talking with the folks there.

(Note to presenters - it's a really good idea to practice your full presentation with an audience so you can see where the problems will be.)

Most of the rest of the day was spent visiting vendor exhibits and spending time in the SQL Server Lounge. It gave me a chance to chat with a number of great people. That continued with the evening MVP get-together, where I had the opportunity to meet a number of product developers from Microsoft as well as many of my fellow MVP's. Thanks go to Steve Dybing for putting together a really great event.

Allen

PASS Conference (Wednesday)

The first day at PASS is always exciting. Starting with the keynote address by Ted Kummert and ending with the vendor exposition, it's great to see people again that you only get to see once or twice a year. Kummert's address mentioned the data explosion, and the focus of SQL Server 2008 on bringing all of your data into the database. There were some interesting demos and I look forward to actually getting my hands on the bits that do the amazing things they showed, like Intellisense in the query editor, the resource governor and managing servers through policies.

Instead of attending the morning session I worked on last minute preparation for my presentation. I added a section on Powershell to last year's presentation, and wanted to make sure I had the kinks worked out in the presentation, so it was time well spent. The presentation went well, it lasted exactly an hour, and I had time for some really good questions. What was really great was that the room was full - all the seats were taken and there were people standing in the back. I really appreciate people's interest in the topic.

I attended a session on Performance Monitoring in Management Studio in SQL Server 2008 at the end of the day, given by Bill Ramos, of Microsoft. It's still a work-in-progress, but I see some really good potential for companies who don't want to spend enterprise dollars for basic performance monitoring tools.

At the vendor exhibition I mostly caught up with friends and met some of my fellow MVP's face to face. The MVP's are an amazing group of people and it's fun to sit around and share stories. I also got to meet András Belokosztolszki, from Red Gate Software. András wrote SQL Refactor, which I use almost every day, and when we were introduced he told me he was hoping to meet me! Wow.

Tony Davis, of the Simple Talk newsletter, and I share a passion for beer, so we capped the night with a visit to a tavern in the Brown Hotel where I had a draft of Denver Pale Ale (very hoppy, and quite nice), then over to the Wynkoop brewery where I had a couple pints of their Railroad Yard Ale (a bit sweet, kind of like an Oktoberfest with a slightly less nutty flavor). This was a great way to end the day, and I'm looking forward to some great sessions on Thursday.

Allen

PASS Pre Conference (Tuesday)

Tuesday's pre-conference session (for me) was Gert Drapers' Data Dude (Visual Studio Team System for Database Professionals). I've seen a number of Gert's presentations in one hour format, and this was a chance to see the product in depth. I wasn't disappointed (except that he ran out of time). Gert had created a two-day workshop on the product and tried to squeeze the material into a one day presentation. It was an admirable effort, and I really got a lot out of it, but would have liked to get more into the unit testing aspect, and he had to race through that because they were kicking us out of the room at the end of the day. I'm looking forward to reviewing the presentation materials and starting to work with the product when I get back.

The PASS Welcome Reception was a lot of fun. Louis Davidson did the SIG Quiz Bowl again, this year in the form of SQL Server Jeopardy. He asked for my help, so I served as sideline scorekeeper, but I coaxed my friend Johan Bijnens from Belgium to participate. After it was over, Johan took second place and won a Microsoft Zune, and a $50 gift card. Very nice.

After the Welcome Reception I attended the SQL Server Central party, and had a great time playing at the craps table. (I love that game!) At the end of the night I walked away with a Nintendo DS Lite game package - very nice.

Johan and I wanted to find some "real" beer after that, and went to the Rock Bottom Brewery, and hooked up with the Solid Quality Mentors party, which was still going on there. Thanks to Fernando Guerrero and Randy Dyess for their hospitality!

Allen

PASS Pre Conference (Monday)

On Monday I attended Itzik Ben-Gan's pre-conference session on Transact-SQL. I've attended a couple of his sessions in the past, and was looking forward to a full day session with him. I wasn't disappointed. His code to concatenate strings using FOR XML was an eye-opener, and using the log functions to create multiplicative aggregates was pure genius. Those were just two examples that jump out the morning after the session. I recommend checking out his books (www.insidetsql.com) and his blog (www.sqlmag.com).

The final article of my three-part series has also been published, and is up on the Simple Talk website. Here's the link: Automate your Database Integrity checks using SMO

Today I plan to attend Gert Drapers' pre-conference session on Data Dude (Visual Studio Team System for Database Professionals.) I've extracted database projects for documentation and played with the tool a bit, but am looking forward to the deep dive to see how to really use it.

Oh, and thanks to Lara Rubbelke and Cindy Gross for some great advice. The conversation was enjoyable and enlightening.

Allen

Using SMO to Manage SQL Server

One week from today I'll be delivering my presentation on SMO at the 2007 PASS Community Summit. Here's the abstract of my session:

Enterprise Database Administration often requires a DBA to perform the same task on multiple servers. SMO (Server Management Objects) allows the DBA to build solutions to automate cross server tasks, saving time and increasing productivity and efficiency. This session will introduce SMO and demonstrate how to create solutions to manage SQL Server at an enterprise level. Code samples will include both VB.Net and PowerShell examples.

I hope to see you at the Summit, and hopefully in my session.

Allen

Checklists

One of the first things a pilot is taught is to use checklists. Everything from preflight to tie down after your return is covered in aviation checklists. Did you check the thickness of the brake pads? Did you actually look in the fuel tanks to see how much fuel you have (because guages can malfunction, just like everything else)? When you're 3500 feet above the ground you can't just pull over and see what's wrong. (Once - on my second solo flight - had just taken off when there suddely was a loud flapping noise against the side of the plane. With a high level of anxiety I maneuvered through the pattern, got the plane back on the ground, and found I'd left the strap to my seat belt hanging out the door when I closed it, and it was hitting the side of the plane from the prop wash after I took off!)

As a DBA it's your responsibility to ensure that everything is running properly, especially in your production environments. When things are running smoothly and you have time to think things through it's easy to make changes without incident. Things aren't always running smoothly when changes have to made. Sometimes you're in the middle of a critical project and someone needs a major change. It's easy to forget little details - things you'd normally never forget - when these requests are made. It's moments like this when the checklist is really your friend.

We have an application that manages web sites for our trade shows, and it uses a master database for the application, and a database for each individual web site. Over the (almost) four years since we brought this application in house I've created hundreds of databases for the sites. Now, there are items on my checklist besides setting up the databases, because I handle those as well, but I don't know of a business environment where you can focus on "just" the database issues.

The checklist doesn't have to be complex (it can be if you're passing it on to a junior DBA, but it doesn't have to be.) It's usually enough that you have the major steps, and some of the minor ones if they get a bit detailed. The important thing is that you have a reference to make certain you don't miss anything when you need to get something done.

Allen