My life for the last 2 years has been a constant battle of putting out fires with system performance; finally user complaints have moved getting this resolved as my top priority. Let’s see how I tackled the problem… Symptoms: Very High Disk Latency as high as 300,000 milliseconds (ms) is not unusual Average: 900 – 15,000ms Memory Pressure Slow User Experience Problem: Bad hardware Over-provisioned VM Hosts (what happens on one VM effects the other) Old NetApp SAN No infrastructure budget for new hardware Challenge: Make the system viable with no hardware changes or tweaks Step 1: Brain Storming (in no particular order) Reduce I/O I can probably tune a ton…
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I’m It Survival Tips for the Lone DBA – Level 100 (Not Accepted: Higher rated session selected) Track: Professional Development As others have done I also will share my feedback from my submission to speak at PASS Summit in hopes it will lend some more insight into the process. Abstract: Are you the only database person at your company? Are you both the DBA and the Developer? Being the only data professional in an environment can seem overwhelming, daunting, and darn near impossible sometimes. However, it can also be extremely rewarding and empowering. This session will cover how you can keep your sanity, get stuff done, and still love your job. We’ll…
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I love getting get a laptop, but getting all the software reinstalled and making sure everything works can be trying. Last week, I was lucky enough to get a new one and spent two days getting it setup just right. At least so I thought…. once I started working on it of course, BAM I hit my first road block. Visual Studio using SQL Server Data Tool will not render any reports in the Preview tab. Let the trouble shooting commence! Error Message? No help… gives me nothing useful Can I deploy report to SharePoint and View? (We use SSRS Integrated Mode)- Success!! This leads me to believe the issue probably lies…
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My second time speaking at a SQL Saturday is upon us. This weekend I will be giving my Survival Techniques for a Lone DBA session at SQLSat470 Washington, DC. Living in Virginia, I am surprised that I’m a first timer to this event. I live only 3 hours away but December is usually crazy with my daughter’s dance schedules and I haven’t been able to attend until now. My session is bright and early as the first session at 8:20 am and going up against some other great sessions. Thankfully they will have an actual barista on hand to make me a much needed espresso. So, if you see me a little…
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I am thrilled to announce that I have been chosen as one of the 2016 Idera ACE’s. It is truly an honor to be part of this great program and give back to the SQL community. What is an Idera ACE? According to Idera. “ACEs (Advisors & Community Educators) are active community members who have shown a passion for helping the community and sharing their knowledge. We help the ACEs pursue that passion by sponsoring travel to select events and offering guidance for soft skill training. Requirements to become an Idera ACE: Enthusiastic members & leaders of the SQL community Accomplished contributors to the SQL community Good speaker, writer and presenter…
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Wonder if I Do Things Differently? I am always wondering what other DBA’s do and if I am doing things differently. One such thing is my initial server setups, basically, what I configure for each of my new servers. So, why not blog about it and see what others chime in with after they read this. Keeping in mind that everyone has different requirements and different ways that they like to do the actual configurations. For now, I am not going to go into what each one of these configurations do and why I choose the value I do. That’s for another time. If you want that information you can…
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Being a Lone DBA gives you so much exposure to so many facets of SQL Server. Since I am just one I get to work on Replication, Administration, Security, Business Intelligence, Disaster Recovery, Reporting Services, Integration Services, Analysis Services, Database design, Development, Performance… you name it I get to dabble in it. However, being able to work on every facet also means I will never be a Master at any of it and that’s okay by me. For a Type A personality, like me, this is a hard thing to come to terms with. I‘ve learned with time to be fine with not knowing everything. I relish in the fact that…
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My first time speaking at a SQL Saturday is now behind me. I cannot wait to do it again. The support from the SQL Family leading up to and after the event was nothing I expected, it was beyond AMAZING. From high fives in the halls to virtual hugs. I had my own cheering section. I was a little nervous and talked probably too fast at times, I am sure, but I hear everyone does on their first time out, right? (Evidently, I say that a lot) The good part was that the audience looked to be truly engaged and listening to what I had to say. I even had…
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As most of you know, I have been a Lone DBA for 15+ years and during that time I have learned a thing or two about how to survive on my own in relatively large environments. One of those things is knowing when to admit you cannot do it all. Working alone on 56 servers you can imagine how the workload can seem insurmountable. There are times when in one week I will do 70+ tasks, not including project work and daily monitoring. To manage and get this type of workload accomplish you have to learn to work smarter not harder. That’s when you have to enlist help and hire…
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I will be speaking at my first SQL Saturday on September 26th in Spartanburg SC. I am so excited to have been selected to give my session on Survival Techniques for the Lone DBA. After a year of, not so subtle hints from the SQL Family (John Morehouse (b|t), Rie Irish (t), Melody Zacharias (b|t), Mike Fal (b|t), Argenis Fernandez (b|t) , Kirsten Benzel (b|t), Andy Yun (b|t), Lindsay Clark (t)), I submitted my first session and got selected. I will be finally standing up before a room of colleagues and talking about my experience as a lone DBA for the last 15+ years. What did I just do? Unless…
