Being an extremely productive DBA
In order to gain better support for learning and training opportunities, the DBA needs to prove a direct link to productivity and results, in words and numbers the CEO will understand.
2011-07-18
269 reads
Tony Davis
- Interests: football, modern literature, real ale
Cloud Barriers
I'd like to hear the thoughts of DBAs out there on Windows and SQL Azure, and the prospects of moving applications and databases into the clouds. How many DBAs work for companies that have done it or are seriously considering it? What are the deepest concerns?
2011-07-04
97 reads
DBAs on ACID
Any DBA who has been bitten by these subtle data integrity issues, or reports that erratically produce the wrong results, will know how much careful testing is involved in mitigating them.
2011-04-04
277 reads
Let the optimizer drive
For many, there is something disconcerting in the idea of the Query Optimizer; they crave control, but it really is best to take a back seat and let the Optimizer do its job.
2011-02-07
208 reads
Is hyper-threading still relevant for SQL Server?
There still seems to be a lot of fear, uncertainty and doubt, in the community, with regard to use of Hyper-threading (HT) with SQL Server workloads. So, how and when should it be used?
2011-01-24
824 reads
RAID 5 and SQL Server
Given that disk storage has come down substantially in price over recent years, will RAID 5 continue to be relevant as a storage configuration for databases?
2011-01-10
820 reads
How will SSDs change SQL Server storage arrays?
If SSDs are about to make obsolete one of the major driving forces behind the development of SANs (disk latency) then how is the storage array going to change in the near future?
2010-12-06
524 reads
Can I really drop that index?
You believe that an index is unused and so could be removed, and yet, your finger hovers nervously over the metaphorical "delete" button. You can't quite bring yourself to do it. Is it really safe to drop this index? Tony wonders if "invisible indexes" might solve this dilemma.
2010-11-01
396 reads
DMVs: are they worth the effort?
Many of the SQL Server DMVs still have a wild, unfinished feel but they are an incredibly useful tool for DBA, well-worth the sweat and toil required to learn and query them effectively.
2010-08-23
452 reads
Clustered Indexes? Sedimentary, my dear Watson
There is much sound advice suggesting that every table should have a clustered index, and that narrow, integer, ever-increasing columns, such as afforded by an IDENTITY column are the best choice. But is the sedimentary approach really the natural order of the day?
2010-05-24
470 reads
Blogs
AI Helps Me with My Sloppiness
By Steve Jones
I type fairly well. Well, I type fast, but I do wear out a...
Automatic Index Compaction
By ReviewMyDB
Index maintenance has always meant nightly jobs and a window you have to defend....
The Goldilocks problem – Materialized Views
I’m sure you’ve all heard the tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, but...
Forums
SQL Art, Part 4: Happy 4th of July — A British DBA's Guide to Celebrating a War We Don't Talk About
Comments posted to this topic are about the item SQL Art, Part 4: Happy...
How We Handled a Vendor Retry That Loaded Twice in Snowflake
Comments posted to this topic are about the item How We Handled a Vendor...
Cognitive Coverage
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Cognitive Coverage
Question of the Day
Getting the Average
I have this data in the dbo.Commission table in a SQL Server 2022 database.
salesperson commission Brian 12 Brian 16 Andy 7 Andy 14 Andy 21 Steve 20 Steve NULLAll the data is a varchar, and I decide to run this query to get the totals for each salesperson.
SELECT SalesPerson
, AVG(TRY_PARSE(Commission AS int)) AS TotalCommission
FROM commission
GROUP BY SalesPerson
GO
What average commission is calculated for Steve? See possible answers