Questioning is the art of learning. Learning to ask important questions is the best evidence of understanding there is, far surpassing the temporary endorphins of a correct “answer.”

Questions Lead to Answers

As SQL Server consultants, our success is highly dependent on asking the right questions. Naturally, our clients give us important details about their database needs and the issues they are facing. That’s a good start, but it’s usually not enough.

To resolve problems, we ask more questions — helping us get past symptoms, suspicions, and perceptions to really discover the core issue. With our Health Check service we can even, in a way, interrogate systems to uncover more answers and further pinpoint problems. Guess you could say we’re like database detectives.

In the absence of questions, and attendant answers, we have to work off assumptions, and that’s a bad way to run a business. Consider these philosophical gems:

“The right question is already half the solution to a problem.” — Carl Jung

“If you do not know how to ask the right question, you discover nothing.” — W. Edwards Deming

“The ability to ask the right question is more than half the battle of finding the (right) answer.” — Thomas J. Watson

“If I had an hour to solve a problem…I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper questions to ask, for once I know the proper question, I can solve the problem in less than five minutes.” — Albert Einstein

Quite often, we don’t ask questions, or enough questions, because our pride gets in the way. We don’t want to appear foolish or less expert than our peers, so we hold our peace and remain in our ignorance. Chances are, though, if you — with your training and experience and knowledge — are questioning something, your peers likely are too. All our lives we’ve been taught there is no such thing as a dumb question. Sometimes we even soften any perception of a question by saying, “Here’s a dumb question for you….” If that’s what it takes for you to ask a question, then do it!

The Stupidest Person in the Room

If everyone assumes A, B, and C have been explored, and D, E, and F have been ruled out, but in reality everyone spent so much time on A-E and forgot about F, not asking about F is doing yourself and others a disservice. It’s good to have someone around who always asks the obvious questions, because sometimes they’re so obvious they don’t get asked, and the obvious answers aren’t found. In this brief video, Simon Sinek — who isn’t stupid by any stretch — talks about aiming to be the stupidest person in the room and asking questions until he understands. After watching, you’ll probably feel more comfortable asking more questions too.

Everyone works better with more information, and as SQL Server consultants we’re proud to be part of an industry that generously shares knowledge. Just ask. That ideal helped inspire the focus of our unique July webinar, which combines a SQL Server Q&A session with a legit backyard BBQ involving smoked meats. Whatever your pressing database or meat smoking question, we’re ready to answer.

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Lessons from Comic Books

In my youth, I was a fairly invested collector of comic books. Even now, there are still three or four printer paper boxes somewhere with around 500 comics (I’ve long since sold the valuable ones). I got most everything involving Batman, and it’s easy to see the influence of some of the earliest of my comics on Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins. (For the record, this is primarily Frank Miller’s Year One storyline in Batman 404-407.) I recently rewatched that film and texted a comic book-collecting friend about it.

We swapped a few more texts about the strengths and weaknesses of Nolan’s two other Batman films. While 2008’s The Dark Knight was a massive success, I still have concerns, summarized as “too much going on.” You could say I was disappointed. On the other hand, I thought The Dark Knight Rises in 2012 was a wonderful conclusion to the story arc and tend to prefer it to The Dark Knight.

While my friend has similar concerns regarding that movie, he thinks Rises is worse because of the way the villain Bane is portrayed. In other words, the comic book Bane doesn’t come across in the film, so for him the movie is flawed from the get-go.

Applying the Lesson

But (and here’s my point): My “comic book days” ended before Bane’s comic book introduction (1993). With no prior knowledge of the character, the movie didn’t have to match my perception. I didn’t have any reservations about the character.

In a similar vein, I’ve never read the Harry Potter books. I find the movies, after the first two*, to be great fun. I’m guessing some rabid fans of the books are likely not happy about any number of things in the movies. Their knowledge gets in the way of their enjoyment. I frequently reread The Lord of the Rings and wish Peter Jackson had done some things differently in his films because I know the story inside and out.

So, what does this have to do with SQL Server…or anything useful? Sometimes our knowledge and experience can get in the way of approaching something with an open mind. Our knowledge and experiences create a bias, a predisposition. If you have to fix SQL problems you could get stuck if you rely only on past knowledge. For example, if we have encountered “Problem A” before, our natural response is to resolve it the same way. But what if this is actually “Problem K that resembles Problem A except….”?

Conclusions

At SSG, we frequently encounter this “bias” in our consulting. For example,  the infrastructure team instinctively throws more hardware at performance problems it finds. That may remedy some issues, but often it’s more effective to get under the SQL Server hood and see what’s up. Or, developers keep tweaking their code, not realizing the issue lies with the database. These responses happen most often (almost exclusively) when there isn’t a DBA on the team. In contrast, as database consultants, we don’t spin our wheels trying to diagnose something. We’re able to quickly zero in on the heart of the matter and get things fixed.

It’s wise to temper expectations when going to the movies. Likewise, we should withhold judgment when approaching a SQL problem, new or not so new.

* I have nothing against the first two movies. They are just more about setting the stage and are more “kiddie” than the following installments.

The post Fixing SQL Problems: Do you Know too Much? appeared first on SQL Solutions Group.

Randy Knight, Founder & Principal Consultant: 

This year was my  tenth PASS Summit, and as always it was a blast. For various reasons, such as client needs and speaking at other conferences, I have missed Summit in 2017 and 2018. So it was great to come “home” again. The SQL Server community truly is #sqlfamily and it was great to reconnect with many I hadn’t seen in quite some time.

One thing that was a new experience to me was being a local, having moved to the Seattle area just a few months prior to the conference. I chose to commute, which in hindsight was a mistake. It’s just not the same experience as staying local. I didn’t do as many after parties or dinners/outings with friends as I typically have. Next year we’re in Houston so I won’t have a choice, but when in Seattle in the future I think I will stay in the conference hotel. 

As always, the networking and re-connecting with old friends is much more important to me than the content, but that was great too.  SQL Server 2019 is a great product and I look forward to using some of the new features. 

See you all next year in Houston!

Steve Rezhener, Senior Consultant: 

My experience from 2019 PASS Summit is generally positive. First and foremost, this PASS Summit event allowed me to meet with my teammates, as we had Monday and Tuesday together before the event. From the event perspective, I was surprised to see so many sponsors, especially sponsors from outside of IT.

From the content perspective, I could finally see a Microsoft vision on SQL Server transitioning from a just database engine to a Data Platform in SQL Server 2019. I also liked the progress made in Azure SQL Managed Instance that looks now (after release 1.5+ years ago) like a much powerful contender for SQL Server workloads  to a competing AWS RDS platform.

I’m also thrilled to see new and upcoming rock star speakers such as Anna Hoffman (from Microsoft) that make Microsoft Data Platform presentations entertaining and exciting.

Jared Kirkpatrick, Consultant: 

My experience from PASS 2019 is just as amazing and inspiring as all my other visits to PASS. To be around all the top engineers and SQL developers gathered in one place always sets an inspirational tone and a blessing to the craft that actually pays me to solve problems or, in my case, puzzles.

The event did not have as many vendors or attendees as I have seen in the past, but in my opinion there were more first-timers at this event since my first PASS event in 1999 in San Francisco. I was also pleased to hear that next year PASS would be hosted in the great state of Texas, so I will be looking on getting registered for that early. 

I am happy about the new progress track that was made in regards to the increase in complexity for a certain topic through the week, but I was disappointed in seeing fewer SQL development sessions, as most were dedicated toward Azure. Another great thing about PASS is all the after parties and networking with vendors and the world’s best DBAs, all in one place for meet and greets usually hosted by the many great vendors that support PASS.

Of course the best thing about PASS is not the sessions, vendors, or even the after parties (which are all great reasons to come). No, the best part is seeing my good friends that I never get to see except once a year at a magical place reserved for such reunions, which makes PASS the best for keeping up with old friends like Andy Warren  whom I have not seen since moving from Florida, and Scott Klein whom I have not seen since he took a job back at Microsoft.

Whatever moves you, there is plenty to see and do at PASS Summit, so thank you for the opportunity to be a part of PASS this year, SSG!

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You’re registered for the next SQL conference or event and are excited about expanding your SQL knowledge and skills and connecting with peers. But, even though attending is your idea (i.e., “the boss” isn’t making you go), you’re wondering how to get maximum benefit from attending—what sessions to hit, which to miss, who to network with, and how to deal with all the coffee.

We’ve got you covered with these four tips:

1. Set an overall meeting goal. If your focus for this SQL conference is on personal learning and knowledge, everything else takes a back seat. On the other hand, if your goal is to connect or reconnect with people, you can do that and not feel bad about skipping sessions. Your goal makes it easy to set priorities.
2. Network because you have something to offer, not because you want something. A 2015 Harvard Business School article reported on a study that found professional networking makes people feel dirty. If you’re not a fan of pressing the flesh, approach it differently. The author of the study says, “”If you focus on what you can offer to the relationship, it might be an important mindset to have, and remove some of those feelings of inauthenticity.” Think ahead and put yourself in a position of power because you have something to offer. And don’t forget to nurture connections you already have.
3. Be strategic with your time. Sometimes skipping a session is your best choice if it’s the only way to connect with someone at the event. When deciding on what sessions to attend, they should help further personal education or personal connections. In other words, you go for the content or you go to support or connect with the presenter, and choose them ahead of time.
4. Pace yourself. When your conference is over, you don’t want to get back to your regular work routine feeling like you need a vacation. A SQLSaturday event is a one-day affair (although most do have a pre-conference element), and attending one is not likely to burn you out. For lengthier events, make sure you get enough sleep. Use the hotel gym and get in some exercise. Dorie Clark, author of Stand Out Networking, advises skipping happy hour. After absorbing so much info, it’s important (proven science, even) to let your mind rest and process what it has learned.

There are numerous other ways to get the most out of your attendance at the next SQL conference, and these four tips are a great place to start. As for the coffee, there’s nothing wrong with a little decaf.

The post The best SQL conference of your life appeared first on SQL Solutions Group.

Orlando in April, and then you add SQL on top of that? What’s not to like?

I’m really excited to be part of the Spring SQLIntersection event, coming up April 18-21 at the Walt Disney World Swan. SSG was an exhibitor at the Spring 2015 event, and at the Vegas event last fall, I had the pleasure of speaking.

This event is really starting to get off the ground, and the speaker line-up is definitely impressive. All the speakers bring their A-games and attendees of all levels will learn from the best. See all the sessions and workshops at the event.

For this event, I have two 300-level sessions that I hope you can attend:

Locks, Blocks, and Deadlocks, Oh My!
Managing concurrency is one of the most challenging aspects of working with any enterprise DBMS. Too many issues that manifest as performance issues are in fact concurrency management issues. There is much confusion out there about locks, blocks, and deadlocks. In this demo heavy session, I will help clear up the confusion. 

Understanding Transaction Isolation Levels
SQL Server offers several isolation levels beyond the default “READ COMMITTED”. But understanding when to use each one can be daunting. Whether you are a developer who needs to understand how isolation works and why NOLOCK is not an appropriate directive in most cases, or a seasoned DBA who needs to understand the less commonly used isolation methods, this session is for you. We will look at each level, how it impacts the engine, and examines appropriate (and inappropriate) use cases for each. We’ll also take a brief look at the In-Memory OLTP feature introduced in SQL 2014 and greatly enhanced in 2016 and how that fits into the mix.

We have a lot of fun in my sessions and my listeners learn a lot too.

So come to Orlando. Bring the whole family and let them play with Mickey and Goofy while you imbibe mass quantities of SQL goodness. And, I’ll even save you $50 off your registration. Just use the promo code KNIGHT and you’ll see a reduction on your final cost. You’re welcome!

Register now!

The post SQLIntersection In Orlando–Why Wouldn’t You? appeared first on SQL Solutions Group.

Turns out one of the changes makes PowerShell rather important: Windows Server 2016 Nano Server won’t support video connections or have a GUI. In the words of Don Jones, Pluralsight Curriculum Director, “It’s PowerShell or bust. How many of you have administrators [and] server admins who are not comfortable with PowerShell? That’s a limiting career decision. You’re still going to have GUIs. Even Nano has a GUI. Nano is actually going to offer a Web-based GUI, potentially even in the cloud, that connects to the actual Nano server via PowerShell remoting. They are not going to run on the server.”

That’s a decent argument for learning PowerShell, but Jones goes even further: “If you’re not doing anything with PowerShell already…you’ve kind of missed the boat. PS has gone from a curve to a giant block, and it’s a lot to learn, if you can devote enough time you can still learn this tech. But, my god, don’t wait any longer.”

Jones also spoke up for Desired State Configuration, calling it “the most important management service that Microsoft has ever created.”

Regardless of how you feel about PowerShell and DSC, here is yet another impassioned plea for us in the IT world to stay current and not get complacent in learning new stuff.

Randy Knight recently blogged about the idea of just showing up—how the workplace is about making a contribution and refining your skills—and not long ago I blogged about taking advantage of training events.

So, with Mr. Jones’ call to arms ringing in our ears, we encourage you to take advantage of the opportunities to learn PowerShell.

The post PowerShell: Another Reason to Continually Grow Your Skills? appeared first on SQL Solutions Group.

This SSG “FreeCon” is scheduled to coincide with the 2015 PASS Summit, and will feature four 90-minute training sessions from SSG’s Microsoft Certified Masters—Randy Knight, Jason Brimhall, Wayne Sheffield, and Ben Miller.

“All of us love sharing our knowledge and helping others learn more about SQL Server,” said Knight, founder of SQL Solutions Group. “I started this company five years ago, and hosting an all-day ‘freecon’ seemed like a great way for us to give something back to the SQL community. We’re proud to host this event in connection with PASS Summit.”

The FreeCon sessions are:

• “Code Smells for the Consultant”
• “A Masters Passport to Extended Events”
• “Practical Powershell for the DBA”
• “Transaction Isolation Levels, Locking and Deadlocking”

The FreeCon starts at 9 a.m. Oct 27th at the Hyatt Place Seattle Downtown, 110 6th Avenue N. Registration is online at https://bit.ly/SSGSummit15. There are two registration options: including lunch, for a nominal fee, or those needing schedule flexibility can enter the promotion code “nolunch” for a completely free option.

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About SQL Solutions Group
SQL Solutions Group is a Microsoft-certified, full-service SQL Server consultancy with four Microsoft Certified Masters on staff. SSG helps firms better manage their information, specializing in system analysis, architecture, performance tuning, and integration, working on-site or remotely, full-time or as-needed. SSG is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The post SQL Solutions Group Marks 5th Anniversary with SQL FreeCon appeared first on SQL Solutions Group.

Seattle is the place for PASS Summit 2015 and that is where our FreeCon will be. Registration is here. More information is here. This training is not an official part of the Summit, but the training will be officially good. Below is a little detail of what I will be speaking on.

Practical PowerShell for the DBA
Think of all the tools you use in managing your SQL Servers. All those SQL Servers being managed by tools and man that is a lot of clicks. We will show practical scripts and techniques to help you get a handle on all those clicks. Whether you are gathering data or statistics from your SQL Servers or deploying an object to all of them. Configuration items are not excluded from the need for good tools. PowerShell is that tool that will let you get away from all those clicks. Reusable scripts that let you manage all those instances with ease. This session will give you a great start on how to think about admin tasks using PowerShell scripts or modules. Many items are already out there to help you and we will take a good look.

I hope you will join us for a great FreeCon before the Summit starts.

Happy PowerShelling!

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The idea of awarding every child, regardless of talent or contribution, a trophy or medal for merely “being there” is a fairly recent one. In general terms, those opposed to the idea believe that as the sport is about winning the game, winners get the trophies. Some also feel the mentality of “everyone gets something” is warping the expectations of children, giving them the idea that they can have something just for showing up.

Or, as Harrison put it on Instagram, “I’m sorry I’m not sorry for believing that everything in life should be earned and I’m not about to raise two boys to be men by making them believe that they are entitled to something just because they tried their best.”

Pair Harrison’s perspective with the recent bombshell article from the New York Times that claimed Amazon is a terrible place to work. The article paints a very unflattering portrait of the on-line giant—75-hour weeks, people crying on the job, employee-paid travel expenses, warehouse workers slaving away in temperatures beyond 100, and an adversarial environment where the “Anytime Feedback Tool” gives co-workers a chance to bury each other.

And then there’s the annual review process:

Each year, the internal competition culminates at an extended semi-open tournament called an Organization Level Review, where managers debate subordinates’ rankings, assigning and reassigning names to boxes in a matrix projected on the wall. In recent years, other large companies, including Microsoft, General Electric and Accenture Consulting, have dropped the practice — often called stack ranking, or “rank and yank” — in part because it can force managers to get rid of valuable talent just to meet quotas.

The review meeting starts with a discussion of the lower-level employees, whose performance is debated in front of higher-level managers. As the hours pass, successive rounds of managers leave the room, knowing that those who remain will determine their fates.

It’s probably wise to read the article with at least some degree of skepticism. A lot of people hate their jobs and it’s not hard to look at an organization from the outside and decry what appear to be obvious flaws. That the Times can barely conceal its condescension for Amazon’s efforts to deliver even the most frivolous products as fast as possible probably says a lot about their intent with this article.

Still, even with a grain or two of salt, Amazon does not sound like a good environment for anyone used to receiving participation trophies.

But then, few workplaces would be. Jobs are frequently challenging. They tax our skills, training and talents. They require us to put aside our personal interests for (at least) 40 hours a week and contribute to the company’s goals.

In other words, businesses aren’t in the habit of retaining employees who don’t deliver and don’t justify their salary. In the IT industry, we have seen how the “just show up” mentality breeds DBAs who don’t care to learn and who barely keep the lights on. “Entitled” employees don’t put in the effort to improve their skills and make more significant contributions to their organization. Instead, they grumble about the J-O-B, and tend to drive the expectations lower and lower. “Bob doesn’t do much, but at least he’s here every day.”

We frequently have to fix the damage done by DBAs who think showing up is enough. In one case, multiple databases across multiple servers were corrupted when a new SAN was brought online without considering SQL Server database consistency. Or there’s the time a client experienced significant data loss because the DBA didn’t know how to properly do restores. Or…data corruption caused on multiple occasions caused by restoring VM snaps.

And this isn’t about dependability. A hammer is dependable, but someone has to swing it with skill.

The workplace is not a place to go for participation trophies. There’s a good chance James Harrison’s kids will be just fine once they reach the job market. They probably won’t be the “just show up” type.

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I take a certain amount of pride in having a great-looking lawn, and achieving that without using one of those lawn care companies. As I’ve given my attention to caring for my grass, one thing that has become quite obvious to me in recent years is that, to get weeds (mostly dandelions), you just have to do…nothing. While I have to work at having an attractive, groomed lawn, the weeds pop up all on their own. That means I need to be proactive and take steps to fight the weeds. Otherwise, they’ll take over.

What do weeds have to do with SQL Server?

One thing that has really impressed me about the SQL community is the regular schedule of SQLSaturday, user group, and other similar events all over the planet that give people the chance to further their SQL skills and knowledge. Events like these go a long way to preventing the mental weeds of ignorance, apathy, or complacency. Attending events and keeping up on your knowledge and technique is great not just for the here-and-now, but could also do wonders for your long-term career outlook.

So take my advice: don’t let the weeds win. Take advantage of these events. Many highly qualified and highly knowledgeable SQL experts are ready to help you. Be proactive, and get involved with SQL events. There is bound to be one happening near you soon. And there’s a good chance you’ll see us there too!

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