July 6, 2009 at 11:12 am
I saw no way to comment on the story itself since the SQLServerCentral.com page redirects to the site where the article is and because I see now Forum for SQL Server or RDMS in General I'm picking this forum since its in the first section of Forums. Please let me know if there is a more appropriate forum on this site for something like this.
So what do you folks think about the Anti-database movement and it's take on data storage? After reading the referenced article (the most recent DB Weekly newsletter) I was surprised by how valid some of their points were. I'm just curious as to what others think about this, what the Pros and COns are about a non relational data storage.
Kindest Regards,
Just say No to Facebook!July 8, 2009 at 3:45 pm
I'll have to go back through my e-mails to find the link to that story, but in my 30 years of IT experience, I've heard a number of anti-database arguments, and the bulk of them boiled down to situations where something that didn't need much automation, got way too much from some seriously excited (and possibly bored) IT person or persons, and the net result of the project was that due to the over automation, people didn't have the kind of control over the process they were used to having. In some cases, the automation was approrpriate, and the people complaining were just the whiny type, but far more often, it was a matter of the process became almost impossible for people to deal with, and was ultimately, a very bad idea. Worse yet, these systems are often blessed by senior management who can ill afford the political losses associated with declaring anything they're responsible for, a failure, and thus, the new system sticks around and people are labelled as trouble causers if they dare to make the point that the emperor has no clothes.
Unfortunately, it's an easy trap to fall into. It can often happen when users are the ONLY source of input, and they're hourly workers with no idea what's really needed. The developer then creates exactly what the user wants, not bothering to prorperly vet the concept through management, and that's how it starts. Next thing you know, one user has created a nightmare and doesn't even realize what went wrong.
Most of the folks I've run into with anti DB attitudes have seen one too many of these kinds of failures, and their perspectives and points certainly are valid, as far as they go. As long as you don't just decide that all databases are bad because of it, you're probably ok. The big deal is knowing when to automate, as well as when NOT to, with the latter perhaps being the most important.
Steve
(aka smunson)
:-):-):-)
Steve (aka sgmunson) 🙂 🙂 🙂
Rent Servers for Income (picks and shovels strategy)
July 8, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Oops! Triple post...
Steve (aka sgmunson) 🙂 🙂 🙂
Rent Servers for Income (picks and shovels strategy)
July 8, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Ooops! triple post...
Steve (aka sgmunson) 🙂 🙂 🙂
Rent Servers for Income (picks and shovels strategy)
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