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Category: Administration

Reviewing Oracle Database Service on Azure

Published 2022-07-25 by Kevin Feasel

Kellyn Pot’vin-Gorman has a tough talk:

If we were to ask any DBA to separate the database in one cloud and the application tier in another without the context of a marketing announcement, they would look at us like we’d grown a third head. I’m incredibly surprised that anyone even considers the OCI Interconnect for this use, let alone the 150 that are currently using it.  Oracle applications, like E-business Suite, Peoplesoft, JD Edwards and Hyperion are incredibly network latency sensitive and to recommend separating their tiers in two separate clouds just is alien to me.  When we deploy these in Azure, we place all tiers in a proximity placement group to let Azure know that they are connected and this ensures that when a resource comes online after changes are made, redeployments, etc. the resources stay close to each other.

Definitely worth a read.

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Against Next-Next-Next Installs

Published 2022-07-25 by Kevin Feasel

Lee Markup explains why you want to pay attention during SQL Server installations:

There’s one sure-fire way to set yourself and your applications up for failure when using SQL Server. I’ve seen all kinds of people do this.

It will cost you performance and create maintenance headaches down the road.

Let me explain what it is and why it causes trouble.

Click through for some of the specific problems you might run into.

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sp_PressureDetector Updates

Published 2022-07-25 by Kevin Feasel

Erik Darling continues to be busy:

I haven’t run into a bug with this thing in just about… Well, ever. This proc has been pretty solid.

As I use it though, especially in front of clients, I find myself wanting some additional data points all in one place. With this release, I’ve added a few small things.

Click through for the list of updates.

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Azure SQL Database and the Well-Architected Framework

Published 2022-07-21 by Kevin Feasel

Jason Bouska has a big announcement:

Microsoft Azure SQL Database is a fully managed cloud database (PaaS) that handles many database management tasks without user intervention. Tasks such as patching, upgrading, taking backups, and monitoring can be configured to the specific needs of the workload and are performed in the background. Azure SQL Database runs the latest stable version of SQL Server and patched OS with 99.99% availability. The intelligent automated functions built into the database free up the user to focus on other important tasks.

Today I am introducing the Azure Well-Architected Service Guide for Azure SQL Database. Like other service guides, this guide for Azure SQL Database contains design considerations, checklists, and detailed configuration recommendations that can assist cloud architects in deploying optimal Azure SQL workloads in line with the guiding tenets of the Well-Architected Framework: security, reliability, cost management, performance efficiency, and operational excellence.

I’ve found that the Well-Architected Framework (whose overloaded acronym is still annoying) works best once you’re far enough along that you have a good idea of workload characteristics, meaning it’s not for the pre-planning state. Also, a full review might take hours or days and require several people to complete, not just a DBA.

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Storing sp_BlitzIndex Details between Reboots

Published 2022-07-21 by Kevin Feasel

Tracy Boggiano continues a series on starting a new job as a DBA:

I mentioned in my New Database Job – The 90 Day Plan blog how I have a trick for storing index usage stats up until close to the next reboot of the SQL Server.  You really can do this for any DMV related query that you gets reset at the reboot of a SQL Server instance.  With this I am able to have data of the most the current index usage stats up to the midnight before a reboot of my SQL instances to analyze.

This is a good one to store, as is the output of sp_WhoIsActive.

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Verifying a Database Backup Has Occurred

Published 2022-07-21 by Kevin Feasel

Lee Markum reviews backup logs:

As data professionals responsible for SQL Server, it is drilled into our heads that we need to take backups. But, how do we know we actually have backups available to us when we need them? How can we verify that a backup has been taken? Some types of auditing that an employer has to undergo might require proof of backups. How will you provide it?

Read on for three options. Note that this post is about finding the existence of backups, not checking to see if the backups are any good.

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The Basics of Network Tracing

Published 2022-07-20 by Kevin Feasel

Will Aftring shows how to put together a network trace:

I know it can be tempting to spin up WireShark and jump right into looking at traces, but asking questions is just as important, if not more important than the traces themselves. 

I usually like to group these questions into two groups: technical and general. 

Note: I will be using the terms client and server to refer to the sender and receiver. The client is always the sender, the server is always the receiver. 

Read on to get an idea of why we might create a network trace, what we intend to learn from it, and then how to do it.

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SQL Server 2012 Migration Plan

Published 2022-07-18 by Kevin Feasel

Lee Markum says farewell to SQL Server 2012:

Today is end of support for SQL Server 2012. May it rest in peace.

Migrating a SQL Server can be a lot of work. There are so many things to think about. It’s a pain.

It is a pain but Lee does have a few tips on how to get started with a migration plan. And as you get closer to present-day SQL Server (remember: there were 4 versions of SQL Server released after 2012 and we’re getting another one this year), being able to set up distributed Availability Groups for version migration can make life a lot easier for you.

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