This Saturday, May 6: #SQLSaturday #SQLSatNYC #SQLFamily

This coming Saturday, I will be speaking at SQL Saturday NYC! Of all the SQL Saturdays, I have attended the NYC event the most, and this is one of my favorite events! It is a great opportunity for networking and to learn about a variety of data topics and professional development! The event will be …

Upcoming speaking engagements (as of 3/28/2023) #SQLSaturday #STCSummit

It seems like it's been a while since I posted one of these speaking engagement updates, but as the calendar turns to April, more opportunities come up. As of this update, I have two confirmed speaking engagements and two more where I've applied. I think more of these will come up as the year goes …

I’m speaking at NYC #SQLSaturday #SQLSatNYC

I found out over the weekend that I've been selected to speak at SQL Saturday NYC on May 6! This is one of my favorite events, and I try to attend every year. To the best of my memory, I've only missed one SQL Saturday, as either a speaker or an attendee, in NYC since …

Help for Tonga

I don't usually use my 'blog to ask for money, but today, I'm making a rare exception. You might have heard about the devastating volcanic eruption near Tonga, which has essentially cut the island nation off from the rest of the world. I have a personal connection to this natural disaster. My wife has a …

#SQL101: Raising awareness of SQL injection

(Image credit: XKCD.com) I don't think there's an experienced web developer or DBA who isn't familiar with the classic "Bobby Tables" XKCD cartoon above. Just about any time you mention "Bobby Tables" to most experienced IT people, (s)he will immediately know to whom you are referring. Most experienced web developers and DBAs are aware of …

Communication lessons from air disasters

I've always had a morbid fascination for air disasters.  (Don't ask me why; I have no idea.)  I'm fascinated by shows such as Air Disasters, Why Planes Crash,  and Mayday: Air Disasters.  Whenever I hear about a plane going down, I'll start thinking about what happened, clues, what might have caused it, and so on.  …

Expect the Unexpected with DiRT

Steve‘s article reminded me about the first time I gave my Disaster Documents presentation at a SQL Saturday.

At the end of my presentation, one attendee started an argument with me. He kept saying that paper was dead, everything was online, and there was no reason to keep hardcopy documents. I argued, what if you can’t get to your online documentation?

Not surprisingly, he gave me a poor evaluation.

The bottom line is this: even documentation needs a backup. Other than, say, getting lost in a fire, paper documents can’t break. At a minimum, have hardcopy documents that instruct how to get minimal services back up and running, and back up other recovery documentation so you can recover it later.

Voice of the DBA

Disaster recovery is one of the core tasks that many DBAs think about on a regular basis. Ensuring that we can get our data back online, available, accessible, and intact is important. More than a few DBAs that haven’t been able to recover systems, find themselves seeking new employment.

That’s not to say that most DBAs perform perfectly under pressure. Plenty make mistakes, and there may be times when they can’t recover all data. There does seem to be a correlation between how often DBAs practice recovery skills and how well they perform in an actual emergency. I know that at a few companies, we scheduled regular disaster tests, though often with simulated recovery of a systems that didn’t expect to actually take over a workload. Arguably not a good test, but better than nothing.

Google takes things a step further. They have annual, company wide, multi-day DiRT (Disaster Recovery…

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On this day in 2001

Do you remember where you were eighteen years ago today? I sure do.

Ransomware and DevOps

Another post by Steve Jones that I think is really important…

Voice of the DBA

Ransomware.

A scary topic and one attack that is apparently more common than I suspected. Before you go further, if you haven’t restored a database backup in the last month, stop and go verify your DR plan works. That’s one of the overconfident issues facing lots of government and businesses. While this might not help your entire organization, at least you’ll have some confidence in your process and that you can recover a database.

This is a great article from Ars Technica and worth reading: A take of two cities: Why ransomware will just get worse. I’d recommend you read it and think about a few things. First, do you have insurance because things (or substitute your own word here) happen? Second, have you really tested a DR plan for some sort of software issue like this? You might think about a way to restore systems in an air-gapped…

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July 20 — SQL Saturday, Albany, NY

On Saturday, July 20 (one week from tomorrow), the Capital Area SQL Server User Group (CASSUG) will host SQL Saturday for the sixth time in Albany, NY! For those of you who are not regular readers of my 'blog, SQL Saturday is a daylong conference centered mostly (but not entirely) around data topics related to …