While working with a customer recently, they mentioned that they have certain standards for their objects. They require a PK, and it's the name of the table with _PK added. They also have some standards, like CustomerName vs. CustomerNames for various data items. In fact, they have enough that they built a tool to scan their database code to ensure that changes to the QA and UAT environments adhere to these modeling standards.

I wonder how many organizations have formal standards. While I've often tried to set some naming guidelines, I often haven't seen anything (or created anything) formal enough to build a tool around. I would like to, and I think it's a good idea, but it's often something that isn't handled in advance.

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I love the Notorious B.I.G. His music isn't for everyone, but I enjoy it. This piece takes one of his songs (NSFW - Ten Crack Commandments) and applies the list to databases. Each item from the song is listed, along with the way it might be changed for database work. The list is from Ottertune, which is a service designed to help you optimize your use of AWS RDS and Aurora databases, with AI. If you believe their hype, their service will get better performance and lower costs for you.

In any case, with regard to databases, I suspect that the author is having some fun with the rules, and a few of them made me smile. They are cloud-related, but a few will apply to any environment.

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I've spent over 30 years working with SQL Server. I saw a post recently from Bob Ward who is celebrating 30 years at Microsoft, noting this is also the 30th anniversary of SQL Server on Windows. It's been an honor for me to get to know Bob, learn from him, and spend time socially at various events around the world. He's truly been a force in improving the SQL Server platform through the years.

While SQL Server has been on Windows for 30 years, I've got a bit more than 30 years working with the platform as I actually started managing a SQL Server instance on OS/2. With the addition of Linux, I've now run SQL Server on three different server OS hosts: OS/2, Windows, and Linux. That's somewhat amazing to me, especially as one of my April Fools jokes came true. This was one of the most-read articles on SQL Server Central for a long time, and perhaps it influenced enough people at Microsoft to build and release a Linux version.

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Many of the services that businesses use are taken for granted. In an office, management expects electricity, water, and heat just work. If they don't, then often a crisis is declared and funds are spent to rectify the situation. I've been in businesses where any of those systems fail and usually, it's very disruptive. I think these days a computer network is often seen as the same type of utility service where we take it for granted, but if it doesn't work, it's a crisis.

Is the database seen as a service or is it more important than that? I think many software applications are different, and often seen as critical to business success, but I sometimes see both developers and management treating the database as a utility service. They just expect it to work, view it as a filing cabinet, and want to ignore it whenever possible.

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I saw a comic from Kendra Little recently, which reminded me of my first SQL Server crisis. I got hired as a contractor to support a large Novell network. In my first chance to work with SQL Server, a new database server running SQL Server 4.2 on OS/2 1.2 was installed on our network to support a new data entry application. This was mandated by a government legal change on Jan 1.

As the junior person, I was supporting the installation by corporate developers on Dec 31 at 5 p.m. We finished getting things set up, ate dinner, and then I watched the developers do some smoke testing and prepping the application and database servers for go-live at midnight. It was exciting to me as a young professional to be part of this deployment.

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Software development can be a challenge for each of us with lots of demands and the need to ensure your code solves a problem correctly, efficiently, and completely. Juggling the workload by yourself is one thing, but add in a team of developers, and the complexity quickly grows.

The real world is chaotic and despite the best efforts of project managers and scrum masters, our software development life cycle doesn't always proceed smoothly. I wonder how many of you run into this situation and how you deal with it.

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I enjoyed my time in college, and I learned a great deal. While I do think that the time helped me grow, I also recognize that I was always a good student and the cost of my working through that degree was far below what today's degrees cost at many universities (even accounting for inflation). What's more, I worked most of the time I was at university to pay for my living expenses.

These days I am torn on the value of a degree, especially when the total cost can easily exceed USD$50,000. Even more concerning is the fact that many people have to drop out with substantial debt and no degree. That's the worst of both worlds. While it's easy to point the finger at people for not finishing or working harder, it ignores the challenges of the real world, which can throw curve balls at all of us.

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I find there to be a lot of value in actively managing your career. I've been a technical individual contributor, a manager, a business owner, and a cross-team supporter in my various positions. Each one has challenges, and in each case, I've found ways to build a better career position that not only suits me but makes my life more enjoyable. I hope to inspire others to do the same, and this is part of a series of editorials based on advice I've read from Raylene Yung (Facebook and Stripe) on your engineering career.

One of the first things I read was that engineers ought to aim to be valuable, but not critical. This is similar to the advice from others that good tech staff try to work themselves out of a job by documenting and sharing everything. Not everyone is a great, or even good, engineer, so I understand why it can be scary to share knowledge. However, many of us find ourselves doing something that few, or no one else, does anyway.

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I ran across a blog noting that Cisco has a vulnerability in a new product. The blog also lists two (one, two) articles showing that Cisco has had hard-coded credentials in the past. I understand that many times a known process is repeated, essentially copy-pasted between people, and we have similar issues as we have had in the past. However, in 2022 or 2023, it's unacceptable to hard-code credentials in digital systems that will be used in today's world.

What's worse than having this issue is stating that the fix is "an upgrade". Their verbiage for those without a service contract is: "Customers should have the product serial number available and be prepared to provide the URL of this advisory as evidence of entitlement to a free upgrade." Which, to me, is not only bad for the world, but it's equivalent to the stuff that bulls leave behind in the fields.

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This year has been a busy one for me. I had 30 trips on airplanes away from home and around 100 nights not in my own bed. It's been quite a year, and a little overloaded. There have been a few months were I traveled little, but more than a few where I was gone more than I was home. I spent 19 nights away from home in September.

A few weeks back, I realized that I had another long trip coming up in October (9 days) and the PASS Data Community Summit in November. My body is a little worn out, but my mind is also distracted and struggling to focus. I recognized the beginnings of burnout when I realized that I was slightly dreading the Summit trip. While I want to see friends and catch up, I wasn't looking for a long trip.

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