 |
Blog
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Blog |
 |
| -->
 |
Archive for the ‘Administration’ Category
Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011
EPIC FAIL! This was supposed to go out last week. But I didn’t schedule it properly, so I’d just like to point out that there are lots of other great webcasts to watch at the Pragmatic Works webcast URL below. Plus, my session will be available via streaming by the end of the week. And thanks the the 1600 folks who registered!
-=-=-=-
Come join me on Tuesday, August 2, 2011 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EDT for a free webcast covering the internals and architecture of Microsoft SQL Server. It’s not everyday that a dry topic like this is presented in a fun and easy to understand format, so get in while the gettin’ is good. :^)
Registration is free, thanks to the fine folks at Pragmatic Works.
REGISTER HERE
And don’t forget to check out all of Pragmatic Works’ other free webcasts. It’s great stuff and it’s FREE!
Enjoy,
-Kev
Follow me on Twitter
Tags: Best Practices, DBA, Developer, Internals, Monitoring, Performance, SQL Server 2008 R2
Posted in Administration, Databases, Presentations, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication | No Comments »
Thursday, July 21st, 2011
I read too much, and that, my friends, is an entirely separate topic for a blog post. But I thought I’d share with you a little more about what I’m reading because sometimes, if I’m lucky, it might be something you’d enjoy too.
So I’m going to start sharing what I’m reading at least once per week, partly so that I don’t firehose too many reading links directly into your brain (where I to do it say once per month) and partly to solidify in my own mind the information that I’m reviewing. So here are a few good links for the seven days leading up to July 22, 2001:
- Microsoft and Whitehouse partnership on BigData: BigData isn’t a particularly new concept. But I was intrigued to learn that the National Science Foundation, Microsoft, and 13 other teams were partnering on developing better BigData analytics for lots of government data from activities such as healthcare, economic development, education, transportation, and the power grid. Cools stuff! Plus, Microsoft has developed a new tool called Project Daytona to better harness the power of the cloud, in general, and Windows Azure, specifically.
- While we’re on the topic of Federal IT in the Cloud be sure to read this linked article from ComputerWorld. Say what you will about our government, but putting government IT in the cloud and increasing both its transparency and availability will make a huge difference in how the Federal government will be able to service the public. We’re talking as big a difference as corporations experienced between the “catalog on the web” experience of the 1990′s to the Web2.0 experience of today.
- If you’re the social media type, give this article a read discussing the Power of Hashtags in Social Media.
- The Register, of the UK, whose tagline is “Biting the hand that feeds IT” has a great article on a spat over database technologies between the IT sage Michael Stonebreaker and Google. It’s a great read if for no other reason than to prove that databases are worth fighting over.
- And if you think Microsoft is still towing the relational database barge without thinking about other technologies, you need to read up on Projects Dryad and Daytona.
- Finally, I’m still getting lots of questions about when and where to limit SQL Server’s Max Degrees of Parallelism. Be sure to read Microsoft’s Recommendations and Guidelines for ‘max degree of parallelism’ configuration option here.
And just because so many of us in IT are closet or former musicians, there’s Live Guitar Lessons with Steven Krenz, sponsored by my hometown boyz at Gibson Guitar.
Got a favorite article or tool tip? Let me know! Enjoy,
-Kev
Follow me on Twitter.
Posted in Administration, BigData, Challenges, Cloud, Cool Technologies, Databases, Gov2.0, IO, NoSQL, On-Line Resources, Performance, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication, TCD blog post, Tips & Tricks, Tool Time, Trends, Virtualization, Web2.0 | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 20th, 2011
Remote Desktop Services Component Architecture Poster
Grab your own poster! A visual guide to key Remote Desktop Services technologies in Windows Server 2008R2
Virtually Free
Get the latest update rollup package for the Hyper-V role in Windows Server 2008 R2 and be sure to bookmark the Windows Virtualization Team Blog. Be sure to check out blog World Simplified is a Virtual World. And doncha evah neglect application virtualization, such as the goodness at the App-V Product Team Blog.
Let’s Optimize Some Desktops (Assuming You Have Gone Full Cloud Yet)
Check out The Official Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) Blog where you can get cool tools like the Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset (DART), currently in its v7 beta release.
 We Can Always Perform a Little Better
Have you checked out the Ask the Performance Team blog yet. You should! Then there’s the Microsoft Enterprise Networking Team blog. And if you’re looking for help with the Windows Server Core, be sure to check out the Ask the Core Team blog. Excellent stuff!
As the Tool Time columnist at SQL Server Magazine, I’m always on the lookout for great free tools that get on-going support from their creators. One common experience is finding a nice debugging tool, only to discover that there’s no information on how to interpret the debugger result sets! (SQLIOSim anyone?) That’s why I love the Microsoft Advanced Windows Debugging and Troubleshooting blog. Another must-have on your Favorites list.
Enjoy!
-Kev
Follow me on Twitter
Tags: Best Practices, cloud computing, DBA, Debugging, Developer, Performance, SQL Server 2008 R2, Tools, Troubleshooting, Virtualization, Windows
Posted in Administration, Cloud, Cool Technologies, Databases, On-Line Resources, Performance, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication, TCD blog post, Tips & Tricks, Tool Time | No Comments »
Friday, July 8th, 2011
I have to confess that I’m incredibly excited about BigData. I haven’t been this excited about new innovations in IT since relational databases first appeared on the scene early in my career. But what is BigData?
Back in those days, I can still feel the echos of adrenaline when I was hired to work on a NASA project that would involve over 100Mb of data. ONE HUNDRED MEGABYTES! Good grief, that was fantastically huge to us on the team. (That database was over 130Mb when I finally moved on to another project). And remember – PC software was installed using 640Kb floppy disks at the time. In fact, my Oracle v5 instance required shuffling through about a dozen floppy disks to get the thing installed on a 286 IBM PC.
BigData today takes on an entirely meaning as database sizes scale into the petabytes. But the emphasis is still the same today as it was back in the 1980′s – turning data into actionable information. However, with BigData, we can achieve amazing new insight from this data and mine for tidbits that would never have seen the light of day with smaller data sets.
The two major themes to remember about big data are 1) the more data you have on a given domain, the more power you have, 2) the better the analysis you can perform on the data, the more power you have. In fact, theme 2 might be the most important thing to consider because lots of data is meaningless unless you can extract knowledge from it. And that’s where better analytical techniques come into play.
Here are some articles about Big Data that you might enjoy:
Let me know what you think. Best regards,
-Kev
Tags: Best Practices, Big Data, Career, cloud computing, DBA, FutureWatch, SQL Server 2008 R2
Posted in Administration, BigData, Challenges, Databases, NoSQL, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication, TCD blog post | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 29th, 2011
Spotlight on SQL Server
That’s right! An all new version 8.0 of Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise is now GA and updated trials are live on the website. Some cool stuff therein:
• Support for SQL Server 2011 (Denali) – Spotlight can now be used to monitor SQL Server 2011 databases (Denali CTP1 and CTP2 releases).
• Project Lucy integration – Use Project Lucy to analyze the performance of your database and compare your experience with everyone else who uses the service.
• VMware memory diagnostics – Analyze virtual memory using charts similar to that used to analyze virtual CPU.
We also put out a press release at TechEd in May announcing Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise 8.0 – you can check that out in the Newsroom on Quest.com: Quest Software Adds Collective Intelligence-Based Analysis to Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise.
LiteSpeed for SQL Server
Version 6.5 is hot off the presses HERE. Some very cool new features include:
- Adaptive Compression to continually optimize backup compression for best performance
- Backup Templates to easily manage and deploy backup jobs to multiple instances
- More powerful remote deployment facility to simplify server deployment and configuration
- Fast Compression to deduplicate data at the server and further reduce backup times and data volume
LiteSpeed keeps getting faster and faster!
Toad for SQL Server
Version 5.5 is GA with lots of new features and benefits include:
- Greater consistency with Toad for Oracle
- New session browser
- Added filtering to schema compare and synch
- Same installer as Toad for Oracle
- Bundle installers
- Enterprise option in the license key to display “unlimited” seats
- Database Administration Enhancements
- Index defragmentation
- Manage database storage
- Discover SQL Server Instances
- Virtual Indexes for User Defined Alternatives (SQL Optimizer)
- Database Development Enhancements
- Improved critical Code Completion functionality and overall performance
New bundle executables are now available for download:
And as I’ve offered in the past, let me know if you want the KEK hookup for a long-term license of Toad for SQL Server. [wink wink nudge nudge]
Storage Maximizer for SharePoint
Check out this cool tool which greatly enhances your storage options when using Microsoft SharePoint: http://communities.quest.com/community/sharepointforall/management/storage_maximizer_for_sharepoint. Some details:
- Supports EBS – Storage Maximizer works with SharePoint External BLOB Storage (EBS) to leave a GUID behind in the content database that references the location of the external content. The end users will see the same link and can still open the item as if it were stored in the SQL content database. Support for RBS will follow 3 months after the 1.0 release.
- Rules Engine – Storage Maximizer allows a SharePoint administrator to set rules that automatically remove content to selected external repositories based on content criteria, including size, type, date and number of versions. Administrators can quickly deploy rules to reduce content database size without having to perform complicated rule calculations.
- Flexible Storage – Offload content to various content repositories within a single install. Utilize various levels of storage that range from direct attached storage, network storage to cloud-based storage. Storage Maximizer works with the following cloud storage providers, Amazon S3 and Microsoft Azure.
- Content Externalizing Scope – Set the scope for externalizing documents form a Site Collection to a document library.
- Reporting Dashboard – View the amount of externalized content in an easy to read graphical chart and view details of how much content is externalized to the various repositories, the status of those repositories and the events happening with content externalization.
- Integrated Management – Storage Maximizer integrates with Central Administration and looks indistinguishable from other SharePoint features. It installs no agents or services, but Storage Maximizer is a fully integrated solution that leverages existing APIs and Services.
- Encryption and Compression – Secure your external data with Storage Maximizer encryption and compression to ensure only those going through SharePoint with the proper access can view and change the data.
- Enabled Search – Storage Maximizer maintains SharePoint search capabilities to ensure you find the data you need.
- Document Re-entry – Bring your externalized content back into SharePoint easily with Storage Maximizer. Never lose your external content, when you disable the link between SharePoint and the external content, Storage Maximizer will bring that content back into the SharePoint content database.
Plenty of webinars too!
Tags: Backup & Recovery, Quest Software, SQL Server 2008 R2, Toad, Tools
Posted in Administration, Challenges, Databases, SQL Server | No Comments »
Monday, June 27th, 2011
First off – the Pain of the Week webcast series has been renamed. It’s now known as The Expert’s Perspective. Please join us for future webcasts and, if you’re interested in speaking, drop me a note to see if we can get you on the roster!
The bigger your databases get, the longer backups take. That doesn’t really seem like a huge problem — until disaster strikes and you need to restore your databases as fast as possible.
Join my buddy Brent Ozar (blog | twitter), a Microsoft Certified Master of SQL Server and good friend, as he reveals ways to make these critically important maintenance tasks run faster.
You’ll discover:
- Why Instant File Initialization is so important for restores
- How to use DMVs to check restore progress
- How to find the bottleneck while you’re backing up or restoring data
Watch the recorded presentation at http://www.quest.com/events/ListDetails.aspx?ContentID=13358!
Enjoy!
-Kev
Tags: Backup & Recovery, Best Practices, DBA, Performance, Video
Posted in Administration, Databases, Performance, SQL Server, SQLServerPedia Syndication, Tips & Tricks | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 8th, 2011
Toad Extension for Visual Studio 1.2 is now live. You can access it HERE.
Key new features in Toad Extension for Visual Studio v1.2:
- Deployment Scripts: the pre- and post-deployment scripts of TFS are now supported.
- XML Columns: supports tables with XML data type columns.
- Nested Tables: supports tables with up to two levels of nested table type columns.
- Synonyms: synonyms can now be imported into your DB project
- Source Navigation: You can now use F12 navigation to find the definition of items in the code editor.
- Stored Procedures: generate Oracle stored procedures that use insert, update, or delete statements.
Toad for Data Analysts 3.0 us now in free beta. You can access it HERE or at ToadWorld.com
Discover, query, and analyze data across any data source without being a SQL expert. Toad for Data Analysts (TDA) is a data discovery tool designed for data management professionals and analysts who need to access a wide variety of traditional, non-traditional, and emerging data sources to visually run queries, federate and analyze data, and create reports to support analytics and business intelligence. With Toad for Data Analysts 3.0, you can:
- Easily discover data across disparate data sources including leading RDBMS platforms, all ODBC enabled sources, and Netezza, Teradata, Excel, Hadoop and NoSQL
- Harness the power of SQL to visually create complex queries, visually analyze data, and create reports for self-service business intelligence and analytics without being a SQL expert
- Work offline or on-the-go with Toad’s embedded database where you can integrate and cleanse data right from your desktop
- Dramatically increase productivity by automating reporting and sharing of information and reports
It’s old news, but two other products in the Toad family have seen a recent refresh:
Benchmark Factory for Databases v6.5 You can access it HERE.
The highlight of this release is wizard-driven workload capture and replay for Oracle, enabling users to accurately anticipate and measure the performance impact of database changes such as patches and upgrades, OS migrations and more. Benchmark Factory is a very flexible, simple database scalability testing tool and, if you’re an Oracle user, also less expensive than Oracle Real Application Testing. If you’re like me and want shortcuts, watch THIS VIDEO to see what the tool can do without the need to download, install, and tinker with it.
Quest Code Tester for Oracle v2.0 available HERE. I wish we had this for the other database platforms!
The highlight of this release is the new Test Explorer console that replaces the Test Dashboard. The Test Explorer offers a simplified workflow and greater usability in creating and managing the entire code testing process.
Tags: DBA, Quest Software, Toad, Web Development
Posted in Administration, Cool Technologies, Databases, TCD blog post, Tips & Tricks, Video | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 1st, 2011
Did you know that Toad for SQL Server has some nice features for users of policy-based management (PBM)?
Importing Policies
For example, Toad can import policies into a PBM server, so that you don’t have to manually create them every time. You can import policies that you have exported from other servers, and you can also import the Microsoft Best Practice Policies. (Read about the concept HERE). The Microsoft policies are a great place to start learning what you can do with PBM, by simply importing them and inspecting their various configurations. They are installed by default and simply need to be imported from the following directory:
%installdir%\100\tools\policies\
Under the directory mentioned above there are several others broken out by technology like SSIS and SSAS. For the Microsoft Best Practice Policies, focus on the policies in the “%installdir%\100\tools\policies\Databaseengine\1033” folder.
As an example exercise, let’s import the Microsoft Best Practice Policy named “Database Auto Shrink”. Follow these steps:
- Right click on the policies folder and select import.
- In the Import dialog, click the ellipsis next to “File to Import” and navigate to the policies folder mentioned above.
- Select the “Database Auto Shrink.xml” file.
- Click OK
And you’re off!
For more support, check out the discussion forums on http://db-management.com.
Tags: DBA, Quest Software, Toad, Tools, Wednesday Quest
Posted in Administration, Databases, SQL Server, Tips & Tricks | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 31st, 2011
Interested in my various performance tuning and troubleshooting videos about SQL Server? These videos feature my good buddies (and uber-SQL Server experts) Brent Ozar (blog | twitter) and Buck Woody (blog | twitter). View these insight-packed training videos from our SQL Server training events originally presented on March 3 and July 21 of 2010:HERE.
You can watch the videos now at the URL above or order a DVD, shipped free of charge in the USA and Canada, HERE.
Enjoy!
-Kev
~~~
Twitter at kekline
More content on my Blog
Tags: Best Practices, DBA, DMV, Internals, Monitoring, Performance, Quest Software, SQL Server 2008 R2, Video
Posted in Administration, Challenges, Databases, IO, On-Line Resources, Performance, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011
On my recent trip to SQLBits with subsequent visits to Dublin, Cologne, and Malmo (southern Sweden), I enjoyed a chance to meet several SQL Server MVPs, including Peter Larsson and Thomas Ivarsson.
Among them, I enjoyed Johan Ahlen’s article on Pulling real-time data from Twitter using StreamInsight. You can Find Johan’s blog here. I also enjoyed several other conversations, such as the one I had with Feodor Georgiev (blog). I particularly enjoyed Feodor’s guest post on SQLAuthority.com about waits in the round-trip loop from client to server back to client available HERE.
There’s a rumor going around (wink, wink – nudge, nudge) that the Scandinavians will be holding a SQLRally in the fall. I look forward to get back soon, but I’m hoping against hope that it’s still warm in November.
~~~
Tags: DBA, Developer, MVP, StreamInsight
Posted in Administration, Challenges, Databases, Presentations | No Comments »
|
|
 |
|
|
