Tag Archives: DBA

3/12 – Webinar : Beginning Automation with Powershell

Anything I can do to reduce the time I have to spend dealing with otherwise time-sucking tasks gives me a happy. Currently, where I am, I have reduced our daily deployment process to a single Powershell cmdlet with a log file review. All the steps that normally went into each deployment (applying SQL scripts, data updates, updating the TFS task, sending an email that the deployment is done) are handled by Powershell, and the process accepts multiple deployments at the same time. As long as there are no errors in the log file for a deployment, there is nothing more to do. There’s an error? Run the same cmdlet with the rollback option.

I am still working on improving this process, from trying to get the error handling to work the way I want it to, to incorporating the automation of check-in to source control of the changes that were just applied. It is a work-in-progress that will continue to reduce the amount of time spent on what would otherwise be manual tasks.

This work led me to the idea for a session on Powershell and automation of processes. Join me and Pragmatic Works on Thursday, March 12th from the comfort of your own desk at 11am EST/10am CST for Beginning Automation with Powershell. This demo-heavy session will go over some different Powershell cmdlets and automation concepts that you can take and build upon in your own environment. Powershell is a tool that no DBA should work without. A development background is helpful but not necessary – what DBA would not want to spend a few hours writing code for a process that will save them from having to do a repetitive manual task over and over again? Automation frees up time for us to do other projects that we want to spend time on and grow our skill sets.

Have questions about this? Leave a comment below. See y’all there. 🙂

#SQLSatPhoenix This Weekend!

Both the SQLSat Austin and Albuquerque events were great – now on to Phoenix. I will be giving two sessions there – Deadlock, Block & Two Smoking Barrels: Breaking Down Blocking and Deadlocks and Making the Leap from Developer to DBA.

The first of the two is a new session for me. When it comes to blocking and deadlocks, I like to be able to identify the cause (and sometimes the culprit) and have the information needed to resolve the issue. Some methods are easier, while with others, you also have to think about the footprint of the troubleshooting itself.

With Making the Leap from Developer to DBA, this session has evolved with time and my own experiences. Anyone who is looking to transition to being a DBA full time should attend to get a real-life perspective on migrating into this role and some of the things you can look forward to.

On top of all this, I have also been invited to be part of the WIT Panel. Come join my self and some other amazing women during lunch as we share and discuss confidence and our experiences in IT.

I’m looking forward to another great SQL Saturday as well as meeting everyone in Phoenix. See y’all there! 🙂

Have you tried restarting your computer SQL Server?

Everyone at one point or another has had this experience – you have to call technical support for assistance with your operating system or an application and get posed with the question “Have you tried restarting your computer?”

“Ummm…yeah. I did that. I also power-cycled my modem, searched the internet, hacked the registry and walked counter clockwise around my chair three times. I just thought I would call you to chat.”

Anyways…

Occasionally, the same logic is what is needed to resolve issues with SQL Server – restarting the SQL Server service. While we want to think that being on a fairly up-to-date version of SQL Server means things like this don’t happen, this is still software written by humans and every possible situation cannot be accounted for in testing. Sometimes you might find documentation that this is needed. Other times, the solution to the issue you are trying to solve is not as clear.

A couple of examples of a documented situation would be when updates to the server require a reboot or when a known issue in SQL Server is able to be immediately resolved by a restart of the service. Undocumented situations that can arise from different situations can range from changes to server settings that are not taking effect to changes in database mail. I have seen both of these situations in the past year – a server setting change was affecting replication (resolved by a restart) and database mail changes not taking effect, causing mail not to be sent and the mail queue to become backed up (another lesson learned here – after the restart of the service all those messages in the queue will be sent; if you don’t want this to happen the queue needs to be cleared out prior to restart).

Unlike rebooting a computer, restarting this service (or the server itself) is typically something that is done only where the circumstances dictate that it is required. Outside of this, restarting SQL Server is typically done as a last resort and is the last thing that the DBA might think to do. Depending on the server and the processes that communicate with the SQL Server instance, the business other resources may need to be not only notified of the restart, but also why it is needed in the first place. This is made more difficult by the fact that it may be unclear whether or not the restart will solve the problem at hand.

While it might not be documented that certain changes may require a service restart, that doesn’t mean that they don’t, and those situations can be difficult to identify. In these cases, all reasonable measures had been taken without yielding the desired results. Both cases involved changes to a SQL Server instance. Making the decision to restart in cases like this is not something that should be done flippantly, but where do you draw the line at time and effort spent before pulling the trigger? My experience with these issues will dictate how I handle similar cases going forward, but as for resolving issues that I have not had experience in dealing with yet, there very well may be more painful times…followed by sound of my head hitting the desk over and over out of frustration that the solution was something so simple.

I’m Speaking – SQL Saturday #308

SQLSAT308_SPEAKING

This weekend will be my second time to speak at a SQL Saturday event, and the first time I will be doing it solo. Being a native Texan, I have to admit it is a little strange that I have never been to Houston before, but I cannot think of a more fitting reason to make the drive down there. There is also that whole Dallas vs. Houston thing….but that is an unrelated post that I think other sites have already covered ad nauseam.

My session this weekend will be on Making the Leap from Developer to DBA – a topic I am all too familiar with since I have lived it. Fulfillment of that desire to innovate and create things can be accomplished as a DBA, but that is only a small part of the role. The business depends on you to make sure data is accurate and available in a timely fashion. Developers depend on you for the same thing but also for things like deploying their code…and trying to prevent them from hanging themselves and you when you do it.

It is still not too late to sign up for the event. If you are in Texas or anywhere near Houston you should go…and come to my session. Hope to see you there. 🙂