Voice of the DBA

By Steve Jones

What's Voice of the DBA about?

A series of episodes that look at databases and the world from a data professional's viewpoint. Written and recorded by Steve Jones, editor of SQLServerCentral and The Voice of the DBA.

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Voice of the DBA episodes:

04.21.2024
Seagull Management
Last year, I read Surrender, a book by U2 lead singer, Bono. Bill Gates listed this as one of the top books to read at one point, so I picked it up and dove in. I have enjoyed U2s music...
04.16.2024
Missing the Office
Recently I traveled to visit a customer who has an in-the-office culture. They have multiple large buildings outside a major US city and almost all their employees (7000+) live nearby and are expected to be in the office the whole...
04.11.2024
When Are Your Breaks?
As I work through 2024, I found myself doing a little more vacation planning this year than in previous ones. In 2022 I traveled quite a bit, but my wife went with me often. We went to Europe 5 times...
04.09.2024
The Code Freeze
One of the ideas behind DevOps is that we minimize the time between code commit and deployment to production. We want to avoid work-in-progress and bottlenecks to getting our software into the hands of customers. This has led a lot...
04.04.2024
When is it time for a new job?
I subscribe to quite a few newsletters, and one of them is for job hunters. I have a great job, maybe the best job for me, but I like to keep in touch with what's going on because I, well,...
04.02.2024
Under the Bus
I've had a good career in database work. I've had success, and I've had some failures, fortunately the former far outpacing the latter. In my career across many companies, the code I've written has tended to work well, or at...
04.01.2024
CosmosDB APIs Inside SQL Server 2024
CosmosDB has been a great data platform in the Azure cloud that helps companies deal with disparate types of data. The CosmosDB APIs include those for MongoDB, PostgreSQL, Cassandra, and Gremlin. These wire-level protocols let you work in a way...
03.28.2024
The Journey to Change
I assume most of you reading this work with SQL Server, at least for some of your workday. I know there are plenty of you who also support Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL, or some other database platform. The results in our...
03.26.2024
The Cloud Database Cost Analysis
There is a skill that I think DBAs and sysadmins will need to develop: cloud cost analysis. I've thought this was important for quite a few years, and I've been (unsuccessfully) lobbying for cost information to be gathered and analyzed...
03.24.2024
Another View of DevOps
Chocolatey Solutions Engineer Stephen Valdinger said, "DevOps isn’t something you do, but rather, it’s a way of doing things. What works for us here, may not work for you there, so you adjust." He then went on to say that...
03.21.2024
An Experimental Mindset
I wrote a post about Git recently since I've found far too many people who didn't know Git well (or at all) and they seemed hesitant to experiment and learn. Is this because of being too busy? Do we...
03.19.2024
Re-platforming
Re-platforming is the process of moving a system to a new platform. Imagine taking an ASP.NET/SQL Server website and moving to Azure Functions on Azure SQL Database. Or maybe taking a Java client/server app with Oracle and moving it to...
03.17.2024
Protecting Off Hours
Legislation was introduced in Australia to allow employees to protect themselves from unreasonable calls and emails from work during off-hours. You can read more about it, but a bill was passed to allow employees to ignore calls and messages without...
03.14.2024
Growing Skills at Work
Redgate released the results of their State of Database Landscape recently, and I was part of a webinar where Beca Parker, Ryan Booz, and I discussed the results. As we were talking, one of the things that struck me was...
03.12.2024
Navigating the Database Landscape
The title of our keynote session at the Redgate Summit in Atlanta is Navigating the Database Landscape, and I'll be delivering part of the talk, along with Grant Fritchey and Kathi Kellenberger today, Mar 13. This is based on the...
03.08.2024
Is This a Good DBA Job Description?
I saw this on one of the syndicated SQL Server Central blogs: Job Description of a DBA. This is mostly a list of things, but it covers a lot of the general types of things that many of us expect...
03.06.2024
Assistants in the Age of AI
When I started working for a living, there were secretaries in many organizations. These were people who actually did a lot of correspondence (written or verbal) and busy work for managers or executives. Over time, as email and computers became...
03.04.2024
Creating Candidate Interest
It can be hard to find candidates for positions these days. I know there are a lot of people looking for jobs, but are they the ones you want? Are they a good fit for your team? Those are hard...
03.01.2024
Using AI for Security
AI (Artificial Intelligence) systems and technology has been all over our industry for the past year or so, ever since ChatGPT released the initial public version in late 2022. It seems that there is a lot of hype around the...
02.28.2024
The Art of the Code Review
The inspiration for this was a piece about the art of the good code review. Throughout my career, I've seen code reviews grow and change. From formal meetings to automated notifications and asynchronous discussions to complete lip service to the...
02.26.2024
The Dangers of Not Upgrading
About ten years ago my sister-in-law broke the screen on her mobile phone. She'd had an older iPhone and when she went to upgrade, none of the upgrade processes worked because her OS was so far behind that they couldn't...
02.23.2024
Free SQL Server
No, I don't have a way to license a SQL Server instance for your application for free. Microsoft still charges for production workloads. However, there are several ways that you can do development or testing for free, or at a...
02.21.2024
Visual Design for Safety
I drive a Tesla Model Y and love it. They're not for everyone and not for every situation, but I think it's the best car I've owned. My wife feels the same way, and if we had a need for...
02.16.2024
Am I Good At My Job?
I was talking with a friend recently about some of their co-workers. In this case, they were complaining that another person couldn't do some tasks that my friend considered relatively easy things. Deal with an unusual restore situation, write some...
02.14.2024
This is Why You Use Git for Scripts
Git has become a fantastic tool for me, and many other technologists, over the last ten years. It's almost ubiquitous in most of my clients, and so many people are comfortable with it. Many others aren't, which is why I...
02.12.2024
Un-Stable Teams
I've always valued having a team of people I know and can work with. While I haven't had a lot of long-term jobs before Redgate, I have had a few positions that lasted more than a year and appreciated working...
02.09.2024
Do You Have a Jeff?
In the Phoenix Project (worth a read), there is a character called Brent, who is to go-to person for everything in IT. I don't know if this character was modeled after Brent Ozar, but I always picture him when I...
02.07.2024
Ranomware vs. AI
Ransomware has been a growing and shrinking problem in the modern world. Every time I think that some new defenses and protections are preventing ransomware from being a problem, I see another issue. Recently, I saw Subway got hit with...
02.05.2024
Serious Software Glitches
Recently Robert Sterbal pointed out a podcast to me. This link is for Apple Podcasts, but it's for the Journal, which is on other platforms (I listened on Spotify). It's the story of a computer glitch in UK post...
02.02.2024
How Often Do You Update SSMS?
I got a message recently that SSM S19.3 is out. I am wary of major versions, especially with a few add-in tools, but I have tended to try and update SSMS regularly when it patches, which is about once a...
01.31.2024
Mind Over Milkshake (Thoughts Matter)
Last year I went to THAT Conference in Wisconsin. It was a fun event, very community and family-friendly, and I enjoyed it. So much so that I recently went back to the Texas event in January. It's more developer-focused, but...
01.26.2024
A Great Place to Work
I have had quite a few employers in my career. Of the ones that paid me for computer work, I'll say that there were 3 great ones (1 I owned), 2 average ones, and 3 poor ones. I've had a...
01.24.2024
Take A Vote and Accept Your Loss
I feel differently today than in the past about many of the things I've seen technical people argue about. I've written about Tabs vs. Spaces and Singular vs. Plural, and others have debated commas before or after among other topics....
01.22.2024
Hire Well
In the last few years, I've noticed that the quality of technical workers can vary quite a bit in many organizations. I think most people get things done, but often not at a high-quality level. It's one reason that I...
01.17.2024
Learning NoSQL
It's a good idea to learn more about different technologies. I've been amazed throughout my career, and even now as someone working for a software vendor, how many different technologies I run into. I'm also amazed at how little bits...
01.15.2024
Portable Data Storage
I saw a review on a rugged SSD, and it got me thinking about local storage. Over the holidays I needed to scan something from a device at the ranch, but to get the image to my computer, I needed...
01.12.2024
Continuity Across Restarts
There are a lot of database platforms, and each tries to convince you theirs is better. As Brent points out in that link, sometimes they just skip comparing themselves to other platforms because it makes them look better. They only...
01.10.2024
Re-evaluating the Cloud
Last year 37 Signals (makers of Basecamp and Hey) announced they were leaving the cloud. I wrote about the decision, and wondered if they'd look back at this as a great decision or one they'd regret and backtrack to the...
01.08.2024
Advice for Business
During the last few months, I've seen a few different advice posts that caught me eye. One was Kevin Kelley's blog (and his book) on life advice that I previously wrote about, I look at the book once...
01.05.2024
Projects To Showcase Your Skills
It seems I've heard from a lot of people looking for jobs lately. I had a friend reach out and when I posted a note on LinkedIn I had someone looking for a job, I heard from a few dozen...
01.03.2024
Fixing Poor Programming Practices
I see a lot of poor programming practices in real-world code. I'm sure I've written a few myself. I'm also sure that many of you see the same thing and sometimes wonder how that code got deployed. One of the...
12.29.2023
The 2024 Plan
Today is the last working day of 2023. Next week we start with the New Year's holiday on Monday and then many of us go back to work, starting a new year. This is the time of year where many...
12.27.2023
Some Relief But Still Some Concern
Years ago Andy Warren and I were talking about the Database Weekly newsletter and what we wanted to include in each edition. We knew there wasn't enough news on a weekly basis, so we decided that we'd add blogs from...
12.22.2023
Building CyberSecurity Skills with an Advent Challenge
I've been working on the Advent of Cyber challenge this December. It's more of a walkthrough of some puzzles than it is solving them yourself, but it has given me a brush up on some skills and helped me learn...
12.20.2023
AI In the Nov 2023 Enterprise
AI is everywhere. I can't seem to get away from stories on the technology in 2023, and while I don't know that I've found it that helpful, I keep looking at it because it's becoming a pervasive technology that most...
12.18.2023
Migrations are Worth the Effort
I work with a lot of customers that are trying to find better ways to build and deploy database code. Some of them use a state or model method with SQL Compare or another Redgate product, and some want to...
12.15.2023
Try, Try Again, Until It's Right
One of the challenges with making changes in a database environment is that undoing those changes can be hard. What's often preferred is rolling forward with a new change to correct the issue, but that's often done with limited analysis...
12.13.2023
Who Still Uses SP_ for Naming?
An interesting post recently from Chad Callihan on the reasons why someone shouldn't use sp_ to prefix their stored procedures. This is advice that I've seen for years, but I haven't run into this lately with many customers. It seems...
12.11.2023
Breaking Biometrics
In the movies, when someone needs to bypass some sort of fingerprint biometric system, they use tape to lift a fingerprint, or in the more gory films, cut off a body part. In any case, there have been a lot...
12.08.2023
Focus on Growth in Your Career
I find there to be a lot of value in actively managing your career. This is part of a series of editorials based on advice I've read from Raylene Yung (Facebook and Stripe) on your engineering career. I write a...

What's Voice of the DBA about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Voice of the DBA episodes:

Seagull Management

Missing the Office

When Are Your Breaks?

The Code Freeze

When is it time for a new job?

Under the Bus

CosmosDB APIs Inside SQL Server 2024

The Journey to Change

The Cloud Database Cost Analysis

Another View of DevOps

An Experimental Mindset

Re-platforming

Protecting Off Hours

Growing Skills at Work

Navigating the Database Landscape

Is This a Good DBA Job Description?

Assistants in the Age of AI

Creating Candidate Interest

Using AI for Security

The Art of the Code Review

The Dangers of Not Upgrading

Free SQL Server

Visual Design for Safety

Am I Good At My Job?

This is Why You Use Git for Scripts

Un-Stable Teams

Do You Have a Jeff?

Ranomware vs. AI

Serious Software Glitches

How Often Do You Update SSMS?

Mind Over Milkshake (Thoughts Matter)

A Great Place to Work

Take A Vote and Accept Your Loss

Hire Well

Learning NoSQL

Portable Data Storage

Continuity Across Restarts

Re-evaluating the Cloud

Advice for Business

Projects To Showcase Your Skills

Fixing Poor Programming Practices

The 2024 Plan

Some Relief But Still Some Concern

Building CyberSecurity Skills with an Advent Challenge

AI In the Nov 2023 Enterprise

Migrations are Worth the Effort

Try, Try Again, Until It's Right

Who Still Uses SP_ for Naming?

Breaking Biometrics

Focus on Growth in Your Career