What do you like best about databases?

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What do you like best about databases?

Robert W Marda

SSChampion

Points: 13413
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January 23, 2002 at 1:12 pm

#78506

I am wondering what part of working with databases everyone enjoys the most. For me, I must say I love creating, designing, and modifying DTS packages. I have seen some of the new things offered with SQL Server 2000 DTS and look forward to using it, but for now I must use SQL Server 7.0. I am trying to learn ActiveX so I can use it in DTS packages and recently put our first Active Script Task into one of our production DTS packages. The reason I want to use this is to take advantage of the global variables.
Robert Marda
Robert W. Marda
Billing and OSS Specialist - SQL Programmer
MCL Systems

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Steve Jones - SSC Editor SSC Guru Points: 736212 More actions · Answer 1

I'm a problem solver. I enjoy working with T-SQL and finding the solution to some query issue.

Building DTS packages is fun and I've been working with VB and Dmo a little, which has also been fun.

Steve Jones

steve@dkranch.net

K. Brian Kelley SSC Guru Points: 114642 More actions · Answer 2

I have a physics and mathematics background, so anything to do with sets and groups absolutely fascinates me. Relational databases are all about sets. So naturally I've gravitated to DBs and set-based operations through SQL as my primary love in IT.

K. Brian Kelley

bkelley@sqlservercentral.com

http://www.sqlservercentral.com/columnists/bkelley/

K. Brian Kelley
@kbriankelley

ckempste SSCoach Points: 17983 More actions · Answer 3

.Net excites me about IT and MS in general, especially where its going to take SQL Server. I enjoy playing around with rarely used features, namely clustering and replication. I have found very few clients that use these features let alone federated databases. I am keen to see improvements in share nothing clustering solutions. Anything performance orientated is also very interesting.

Cheers

Ck

Chris Kempster
www.chriskempster.com
Author of "SQL Server Backup, Recovery & Troubleshooting"
Author of "SQL Server 2k for the Oracle DBA"

pglover Right there with Babe Points: 791 More actions · Answer 4

I must admit that the part of my job as DBA I enjoy the most is the preparation, maintaining and testing of the Disaster Recovery procedures - I know I am strange

I just love trying to figure out new and obscure 'disasters' that could befall any/all of our systems (including Compaq Alphas) and trying to prove that the securities and procedures I have come up with can get us back to the state we are normally in! Maybe this just proves I'm paranoid, but with the pressure we are under for maximum uptime on all systems, I like to know that I can approach a 'disaster' in a calm, well practised manner so as to avoid making it even worse.

SQL Server certainly makes other aspects of the job simpler - for instance I have to individually re-size tables, with all users out of the system, on the Supra database and then recompile the database descriptor - a real pain in the bum! Not to mention having to do full unload/reloads in order to rebuild linkpaths between Primary and Related files.

Give me SQL Server any day!!!!

Edited by - pglover on 01/24/2002 08:17:19 AM

GRN Hall of Fame Points: 3260 More actions · Answer 5

Designing databases , writing procedures!!you have to love every aspect of it!!!

Robert W Marda SSChampion Points: 13413 More actions · Answer 6

I am in no way saying I dislike SQL Server. I enjoy most everything about SQL Server. I know part of the reason I enjoy DTS packages so much is that I get to click and drag opjects and connect them and then I get to develop SQL for the SQL tasks and so on.

Robert Marda

Robert W. Marda
Billing and OSS Specialist - SQL Programmer
MCL Systems

GRN Hall of Fame Points: 3260 More actions · Answer 7

sorry did'nt mean it that way, no offense meant we all love sql server , don't we

Robert W Marda SSChampion Points: 13413 More actions · Answer 8

no offense taken, I just wanted to clarify what I wrote to start this topic.

Robert Marda

Robert W. Marda
Billing and OSS Specialist - SQL Programmer
MCL Systems

christian ahlstrand SSC Veteran Points: 219 More actions · Answer 9

Best things:

1) Database design with datawarehousing properties. That´s more fun than pure relational style.

2) Designing multicolumn indexes and star-joins. Year and month -columns to every result tables and other methods to make more cardinality.

3) Client caches & -prefetches and derived tempdb-tables to "that report day" to RAM.

4) Inner join selects (nice to read print)

Antares686 SSC Guru Points: 125444 More actions · Answer 10

Personally I enjoy taking what I or others have done already and try to look at the sql code from various angles and try to revamp it until I can find no way to improve it. I have been known to play will queries that take hours to run and get them down to minutes (best ever a 5 hour query down to running in 1 min 12 sec). Also helps me to avoid the same mistakes down the road by understanding why something works a particular way.