Author Archive
Server Builds
I’m building a new server. Actually, I’m building two. We just bought a new pair of SANS (one production, one DR) and are doing a consolidation project with our databases.
Each DB server will live on its own VMWare host. We’re virtualizing so that we can utilize VMWare’s clustering. It also gives us the flexibility to [...]
Why Database Names Matter
There is a reason users shouldn’t be allowed to name their own databases. Actually, there are probably several thousand reasons. I have a new one for you–It makes my life more difficult.
Lets say you work for a company called Acme. And lets say your manufacturing people created an in-house Microsoft Access application with a SQL [...]
Rookie Mistakes: Named Instance
I hate rookie mistakes. I hate them even more when I’m the one making them.
My coworker was installing Microsoft OCS Server, and he said that he needed a SQL instance, and he told me what the instance needed to be named. Since we already had a SQL server dedicated to this project, I created a [...]
Rookie Mistakes: Installing Everything
Prior to my coming to my current company, somebody had a great love of installing all SQL services on every server where SQL was installed.
This is such a pet peeve of mine, and frankly, it’s a rookie mistake. In my environment, almost all of our applications are off-the-shelf apps with minimal customization. Today I was [...]
Congrats to the Winner
As Brent Ozar mentioned in his blog post, the winner of the all-expense paid trip to PASS is Jen McCown, aka @MidnightDBA. I’m really happy for her. Don’t get me wrong, I’m jealous as hell. Jen wanted this as much as I did, perhaps more. She produced a ton of amazing content, and the community is better [...]
Mike’s Rule: Know Thy Data
At my former employer, I was hired to do database application support. I spent my first two weeks working with Debbie, our trainer and business analyst. I learned all about our project management system and met the key players. In retrospect, that was one one of the best things I’ve done in my career. It [...]
The Where’s Waldo of Red Flags
Not that I’m actively looking for a new job, but I like to look at my options once in a while.
I came across this posting on Craig’s List, and it’s looks incredibly fishy.
As a DBA, we’re part of a team. I just can’t imagine a DBA/sysadmin being remote 100% of the time. Even if the [...]
Non-DBA skills for DBAs
I’ve read a lot of good blog posts about things people look for in a DBA. A lot of those are skill-related. I think a monkey could do my job if properly trained. Here are a few non-skill related items I’d be looking for if I were hiring a DBA.
analytical skills
attention to detail
aptitude for mathematics
ability [...]
A Deep Breath
I started writing The Cranky DBA for a lot of reasons. One of them was to boost my professional exposure. One never knows when one will be looking for a new job.
In addition, I’d like to win the all-expense paid trip to PASS this year. The contest closes today. I’m not syndicating this post, so [...]
Update on Combine
I mentioned change management in a past post. I’ve also mentioned SQL Farms Combine as a tool we used at a previous company for change management. It allowed us to grab code from source control and deploy it to multiple servers. The features made it a pretty useful tool for us.
I asked one of my [...]