Data & Web
[Apologies to radiohead.com]
Posted in Personal Musings.
– December 7, 2009
Watched a presentation on what’s in it for the DBA (http://bit.ly/Xpmt5) in SQL Azure. The big take away for me is SQL Azure manages data file, and file group optimization under the covers. Whether it has to be this way because the nature of the service architecture, or because MS wants to in more control, I like the idea right now. I like not having to evaluate and optimize what object goes in what file group, or whether I need to add another data file or inflate existing ones.
Trying to fit together pieces like network architecture, legacy database design, and growth patterns into the right place can be pretty daunting. Doing it right and seeing the improved performance is satisfying. Not getting it right has a long tail.
Posted in Data Integration, SQL Azure, Service Oriented Architecture.
– September 7, 2009
Some of the newer data types introduced in SQL 2008 are not supported in the SQL Azure CTP (http://bit.ly/ti7mZ). More specifically hierarchyid and spacial data types.
For me that’s not a big deal because I have only tinkered with these data types, and am not working on any production applications that use them.
I understand adding support for spatial data types is on the way, but the SQL Azure team will prioritize this feature on the basis of demand.
Posted in Data Integration, SQL Azure, Service Oriented Architecture.
– September 6, 2009
Last night I got an email invitation to participate in the CTP release of SQL Azure. I have no idea how exclusive this is or is not, but it was nice just the same.
A short while ago I filled out a form requesting an invitation. At one point I had to gave a brief description as to why I should be included. I wrote a couple of sentences describing my intentions and submitted. The last night the invitation arrived.
I filled out some more information regarding my account and created my first database. It was a little quirky, but I did manage to make a connection to the Azure database from SSMS.
I have been neglecting this blog for a while, but I plan to post a little more frequently as I take a deeper dive into Azure.
Posted in Data Integration, SQL Azure, Service Oriented Architecture.
– September 4, 2009
I took a deeper dive down the social networking rabbit hole today. I established an account at LinkedInd.
I am sure this isn’t news to those who have been swimming in the web 2.0 end of the pool, but I am fascinated by how connected all the social networks have become. I update this blog and you can read the post on my LinkedIn profile. I send out a tweet and it’s fed to this blog, plus it’s integrated with my Facebook account.
Those hesitent to start a Facebook or Twitter account fear of too much time spent keeping all these social networks up to date. But as time goes by it appears to organically growing into one network.
We’re all jacked into the matix now.
Posted in Social Networking.
– April 18, 2009
I am finishing a project at work that represents an initial plunge into the cloud computing world. With all the buzzwords and bleeding edge characteristics, the actual implementation was really not that painful. Having written some pretty basic web services I know there has been large effort behind the services we are consuming.
And so my appreciation of service oriented architecture had grown beyond an intellectual curiosity. One can take advantage of existing functions and services, stitch them together with your own business logic, and build enterprise class applications with less effort, and lower infrastructure overhead.
A brave new world (well not all that new).
Posted in Business Intelligence, Data Integration, Service Oriented Architecture.
– April 18, 2009
This past weekend I started exploring Windows Workflow, Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) and Window Presentation Foundation (WPF). There’s a great deal to to soak in and it all sounds grand. I am buying into the whole concept of serivce oriented architecture, but it all seems a bit huge to grasp.
Taking advantage of all this new technology requires a significant shift not only in skills, but a way of thinking. If you’re not starting from scratch, or working in a shop with several developers, getting the collective buy in (i.e. drink the Kool Aid) appears to be a big effort. However, these frameworks show the promise of more tightly integrating business processes (and business analysts) and application development.
Posted in Window Communication Foundation, Workflow.
– February 17, 2009
I have been kicking the tires with Microsoft’s Live Mesh recently, and I am finding it pretty cool. As I do more work from home, or places for that matter, Mesh appears to be a good way to access documents from device to device.
One thing I hadn’t considered is a the social or community aspect. A blog post at SSIS Junkie announced a project using Live Mesh to manage a SQL code repository. I am just getting started with this, but so far it looks quite promising.
The collaboration angle is rather important to me as I work in Northern Michigan. There are plenty of DBAs in the area, but finding people with an interest and skill in things like SSIS and functional programming is not that easy. The nearest organized .Net or SQL Server user group is two hours away in Grand Rapids. So finding collaboration opportunities is a welcome thing.
Posted in Business Intelligence, SSIS.
– January 25, 2009
Time to hit the reset button. I started writing this blog and then activity fell off the table. I’ll blame it on the birth of my daughter.
In the meantime I’m catching up on the whole social media world. I now have a twitter acount and a Facebook account.
When not at work, changing diapers or makeing BBJ sandwiches, I am boning up on model driven software design and functional programming languages such as f# and Haskell.
Posted in Functional Programming, Personal Musings.
– December 23, 2008
The Profound
This week saw the arrival of a new member of our family. My wife and I are now the proud parents of a baby girl.
The Geek
A long time ago I was a hospital orderly at the old Traverse City Osteopathic Hospital, and the nurse midwife who delivered our baby was a nurse at the same hospital. During a calm moment after the delivery we started going to memory lane talking our late lamented “Osteo.” I started remembering how with some patients we documented I & O, or ins and outs. The “I” tracked food the patient ate. The “O” tracked, well, output (insert scatalogical joke here). This data was used by the nurses and physicians as a diagnostic metric for assessing the patient’s condition. Now more more than fifteen years later as a DBA, I document I/O, or Input and Output as a diagnostic metric for assessing the condition and performance of a SQL Server instance.
Posted in Personal Musings.
– September 16, 2008
