August 26, 2009 at 2:32 pm
There are two of us running a group of large Sql Server 2005 servers. We've got multiterabytes and everything is running quite smoothly Unfortunately, it looks like management is going to go to Teradata! (Teradata offered them a screaming deal from what I've heard and there are other considerations that make it attractive to management.)
So how can I battle this guys? I can't imagine anyone preferring Teradata, but I've got a bad feeling about this. Is there anything that might convince them?
August 26, 2009 at 2:52 pm
I work in the Minneapolis market and Teredata talent is hard to come by and is very expensive when it can be found. Technology is only as good as the people you hire to run it. Management might want to consider that.
David
August 26, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Interesting comment. Do you think that they will even bother to try to train the two of us? In other words, is Teradata DBA work so different that usually mgt decides to start from scratch?
August 26, 2009 at 3:40 pm
David is correct. Good Teradata administrators are very hard to find. On top of that, you need to consider what kind of environment you want to create. The Teradata system, although it is known for fast querying, works off of query queues. Your query may run in a few seconds against millions of rows of data, but you may be sitting in queue for 20 minutes (or much longer depending on volumes) waiting for Teradata to decide to run your query.
I was recently hired to support an Analytics department by building out a SQL Server environment for them because the data anlaysts were spending too much time in Teradata gathering and waiting for data. I had to design a Teradata-to-SQL Server interface to pull data down and create Cubes and Reports for the Analysts to use.
August 26, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Thx for the comments! Believe me - I'll be working that into breakroom conversations.
Also, I read that you supposedly need less Teradata DBA's than other platforms. Anyone know if there's any truth to that? I'm trying to figure out if I'm doomed...
August 26, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Less DBA's for Teradata, that is a good punch line. Teredata is a complex environment and needs to be setup correctly. It sounds like your management is getting a sales pitch over a good lunch.
I'd suggest they ask the rep for a site visit to an existing customer and let you come along to talk tech. They are being told it is turnkey and that is a an over simplification.
David
August 26, 2009 at 4:13 pm
August 26, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Just two-bits, at a former employer we used SQL, Oracle, DB2 and Teradata.
The Teradata and Oracle teams were about twice the size of the SQL and DB2 teams. We had 10 times the sql servers as Oracle due to topology type. Our Oracle and Teradata teams were constantly hammered with query performance tickets in their queues. Teradata was due to the type of thing already discussed - queueing mechanism to run the query.
So, as others have said, I would certainly talk tech with the support staff and talk perception with the end-users.
I don't know how the cost could be justified to move from SQL to Teradata - it could only be an intangible cost / benefit analysis.
Jason...AKA CirqueDeSQLeil
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August 26, 2009 at 4:34 pm
Thx guys! Lots of good stuff there - if there's anything else, let me know.
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