Are the posted questions getting worse?

  • Ed Wagner (11/14/2016)


    Eirikur Eiriksson (11/14/2016)


    Brandie Tarvin (11/14/2016)


    AGGGGGHHHHHH!

    I don't know if I'm having a language barrier issue with this vendor rep or if this person is truly this clueless.

    VendorRep: Make sure to restore this copy of this database before we start the release tonight.

    Me: Can we do it during the day or do we have to wait until right before our release starts.

    VendorRep: Restore it before the release tonight.

    Me: Let me be clearer. Is the database currently used for day-to-day operations? Will restoring it during the day disrupt any users?

    VendorRep: It's currently used as read only. It won't be used until after the release so restore it any time.

    Me: Um, it's either used or not used. Read only counts as used. Will we be causing any disruption for the users if we restore it?

    VendorRep: The database doesn't currently exist in Production...

    I can't even parse the rest of that email because I'm freaking out that this person doesn't know the state of our environment well enough to understand that YES, this database DOES exist in production. The version of the DB we're supposed to restore is a newer, shinier version than what we currently have, but the database itself does indeed already exist.

    So now I'm having to call this reps coworkers and leave messages asking them to step into the email chain and help me make sense of what this particular rep (who is a developer) is saying. And this is not the first time this rep has completely misunderstood or ignored what we are saying...

    I foresee a really long day ahead of me.

    This is exactly what Mondays are for.

    😎

    Whatever you do, I'd take a copy only backup of your production database and put it somewhere safe. While you're at it, take a copy only backup of every other database the release touched. I'd also have the applications backed up as well. If it were me, I'd want the ability to restore the environment to exactly what it is now before they have the chance to render it non-operational.

    We have backups out the yin-yang for these databases, which get regularly restored down to non-prod environments. Also, backups are part of our regular pre-release items.

    Brandie Tarvin, MCITP Database AdministratorLiveJournal Blog: http://brandietarvin.livejournal.com/[/url]On LinkedIn!, Google+, and Twitter.Freelance Writer: ShadowrunLatchkeys: Nevermore, Latchkeys: The Bootleg War, and Latchkeys: Roscoes in the Night are now available on Nook and Kindle.

  • Steve Jones - SSC Editor (11/14/2016)


    I would be happy to make you a moderator, but it consumes lots of bandwidth. The #$%#$@# way the forums are setup is you'll get hundreds more, maybe low thousands, of kb for every thread. That was an issue last time we debated this.

    I'm getting fibre installed Thursday or Friday, 20Mbit up and down, uncapped.

    Main concern is that work won't like the additional bandwidth as we're often maxed out on our internet line.

    Can I (or you) set up a separate user with mod permissions, I can use it to clean up in the mornings and on weekends (via Firefox's private browsing) and not annoy people at work?

    Gail Shaw
    Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
    SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability

    We walk in the dark places no others will enter
    We stand on the bridge and no one may pass
  • Brandie Tarvin (11/14/2016)


    Ed Wagner (11/14/2016)


    Eirikur Eiriksson (11/14/2016)


    Brandie Tarvin (11/14/2016)


    AGGGGGHHHHHH!

    I don't know if I'm having a language barrier issue with this vendor rep or if this person is truly this clueless.

    VendorRep: Make sure to restore this copy of this database before we start the release tonight.

    Me: Can we do it during the day or do we have to wait until right before our release starts.

    VendorRep: Restore it before the release tonight.

    Me: Let me be clearer. Is the database currently used for day-to-day operations? Will restoring it during the day disrupt any users?

    VendorRep: It's currently used as read only. It won't be used until after the release so restore it any time.

    Me: Um, it's either used or not used. Read only counts as used. Will we be causing any disruption for the users if we restore it?

    VendorRep: The database doesn't currently exist in Production...

    I can't even parse the rest of that email because I'm freaking out that this person doesn't know the state of our environment well enough to understand that YES, this database DOES exist in production. The version of the DB we're supposed to restore is a newer, shinier version than what we currently have, but the database itself does indeed already exist.

    So now I'm having to call this reps coworkers and leave messages asking them to step into the email chain and help me make sense of what this particular rep (who is a developer) is saying. And this is not the first time this rep has completely misunderstood or ignored what we are saying...

    I foresee a really long day ahead of me.

    This is exactly what Mondays are for.

    😎

    Whatever you do, I'd take a copy only backup of your production database and put it somewhere safe. While you're at it, take a copy only backup of every other database the release touched. I'd also have the applications backed up as well. If it were me, I'd want the ability to restore the environment to exactly what it is now before they have the chance to render it non-operational.

    We have backups out the yin-yang for these databases, which get regularly restored down to non-prod environments. Also, backups are part of our regular pre-release items.

    Excellent - very glad to hear it. After all, they aren't the ones who are going to have their butts in the sling if things go awry. It's going to be up to you to get the environment operational. They'll have SLAs, contracts, stipulations, fine print and everything else under the sun. You'll have a conversation with your boss.

    Best of luck on this.

  • GilaMonster (11/14/2016)


    Steve Jones - SSC Editor (11/14/2016)


    I would be happy to make you a moderator, but it consumes lots of bandwidth. The #$%#$@# way the forums are setup is you'll get hundreds more, maybe low thousands, of kb for every thread. That was an issue last time we debated this.

    I'm getting fibre installed Thursday or Friday, 20Mbit up and down, uncapped.

    Main concern is that work won't like the additional bandwidth as we're often maxed out on our internet line.

    Can I (or you) set up a separate user with mod permissions, I can use it to clean up in the mornings and on weekends (via Firefox's private browsing) and not annoy people at work?

    hmmm, 20Mbit up and down is a pretty narrow pipe for a fiber

    😎

  • GilaMonster (11/14/2016)


    Steve Jones - SSC Editor (11/14/2016)


    I would be happy to make you a moderator, but it consumes lots of bandwidth. The #$%#$@# way the forums are setup is you'll get hundreds more, maybe low thousands, of kb for every thread. That was an issue last time we debated this.

    I'm getting fibre installed Thursday or Friday, 20Mbit up and down, uncapped.

    Main concern is that work won't like the additional bandwidth as we're often maxed out on our internet line.

    Can I (or you) set up a separate user with mod permissions, I can use it to clean up in the mornings and on weekends (via Firefox's private browsing) and not annoy people at work?

    Sure, set up a user and send me the name.

  • Eirikur Eiriksson (11/14/2016)


    GilaMonster (11/14/2016)


    Steve Jones - SSC Editor (11/14/2016)


    I would be happy to make you a moderator, but it consumes lots of bandwidth. The #$%#$@# way the forums are setup is you'll get hundreds more, maybe low thousands, of kb for every thread. That was an issue last time we debated this.

    I'm getting fibre installed Thursday or Friday, 20Mbit up and down, uncapped.

    Main concern is that work won't like the additional bandwidth as we're often maxed out on our internet line.

    Can I (or you) set up a separate user with mod permissions, I can use it to clean up in the mornings and on weekends (via Firefox's private browsing) and not annoy people at work?

    hmmm, 20Mbit up and down is a pretty narrow pipe for a fiber

    I could get up to 1Gbit, if I could afford it.

    I'm not going to even get 20Mbit unless browsing local sites, so why spend the extra then the upstream networks, including undersea cables, are going to be the bottleneck.

    Gail Shaw
    Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
    SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability

    We walk in the dark places no others will enter
    We stand on the bridge and no one may pass
  • GilaMonster (11/14/2016)


    Eirikur Eiriksson (11/14/2016)


    GilaMonster (11/14/2016)


    Steve Jones - SSC Editor (11/14/2016)


    I would be happy to make you a moderator, but it consumes lots of bandwidth. The #$%#$@# way the forums are setup is you'll get hundreds more, maybe low thousands, of kb for every thread. That was an issue last time we debated this.

    I'm getting fibre installed Thursday or Friday, 20Mbit up and down, uncapped.

    Main concern is that work won't like the additional bandwidth as we're often maxed out on our internet line.

    Can I (or you) set up a separate user with mod permissions, I can use it to clean up in the mornings and on weekends (via Firefox's private browsing) and not annoy people at work?

    hmmm, 20Mbit up and down is a pretty narrow pipe for a fiber

    I could get up to 1Gbit, if I could afford it.

    I'm not going to even get 20Mbit unless browsing local sites, so why spend the extra then the upstream networks, including undersea cables, are going to be the bottleneck.

    I used to have the same problem in Iceland, blazing fast local but anything else would be crawling, here in London I'm getting around 985Mbs on the download and roughly 700Mbs on the up stream, not too bad.

    😎

  • Eirikur Eiriksson (11/14/2016)


    I used to have the same problem in Iceland, blazing fast local but anything else would be crawling, here in London I'm getting around 985Mbs on the download and roughly 700Mbs on the up stream, not too bad.

    😎

    *sigh*

    1Gbit down, 100Mbit up, R10 000/month.

    Gail Shaw
    Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
    SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability

    We walk in the dark places no others will enter
    We stand on the bridge and no one may pass
  • GilaMonster (11/15/2016)


    Eirikur Eiriksson (11/14/2016)


    I used to have the same problem in Iceland, blazing fast local but anything else would be crawling, here in London I'm getting around 985Mbs on the download and roughly 700Mbs on the up stream, not too bad.

    😎

    *sigh*

    1Gbit down, 100Mbit up, R10 000/month.

    Ouch, that is a daylight robbery.

    😎

  • Ed Wagner (11/14/2016)


    Brandie Tarvin (11/14/2016)


    Ed Wagner (11/14/2016)


    Eirikur Eiriksson (11/14/2016)


    Brandie Tarvin (11/14/2016)


    AGGGGGHHHHHH!

    I don't know if I'm having a language barrier issue with this vendor rep or if this person is truly this clueless.

    VendorRep: Make sure to restore this copy of this database before we start the release tonight.

    Me: Can we do it during the day or do we have to wait until right before our release starts.

    VendorRep: Restore it before the release tonight.

    Me: Let me be clearer. Is the database currently used for day-to-day operations? Will restoring it during the day disrupt any users?

    VendorRep: It's currently used as read only. It won't be used until after the release so restore it any time.

    Me: Um, it's either used or not used. Read only counts as used. Will we be causing any disruption for the users if we restore it?

    VendorRep: The database doesn't currently exist in Production...

    I can't even parse the rest of that email because I'm freaking out that this person doesn't know the state of our environment well enough to understand that YES, this database DOES exist in production. The version of the DB we're supposed to restore is a newer, shinier version than what we currently have, but the database itself does indeed already exist.

    So now I'm having to call this reps coworkers and leave messages asking them to step into the email chain and help me make sense of what this particular rep (who is a developer) is saying. And this is not the first time this rep has completely misunderstood or ignored what we are saying...

    I foresee a really long day ahead of me.

    This is exactly what Mondays are for.

    😎

    Whatever you do, I'd take a copy only backup of your production database and put it somewhere safe. While you're at it, take a copy only backup of every other database the release touched. I'd also have the applications backed up as well. If it were me, I'd want the ability to restore the environment to exactly what it is now before they have the chance to render it non-operational.

    We have backups out the yin-yang for these databases, which get regularly restored down to non-prod environments. Also, backups are part of our regular pre-release items.

    Excellent - very glad to hear it. After all, they aren't the ones who are going to have their butts in the sling if things go awry. It's going to be up to you to get the environment operational. They'll have SLAs, contracts, stipulations, fine print and everything else under the sun. You'll have a conversation with your boss.

    Best of luck on this.

    We finally heard back from the vendor after telling them point blank the DB was in production. Apparently the DB is a logging DB. Once they realized that, we were given instructions not to restore until right before the release.

    My coworker did the release last night. Seems everything went fine. So we're good.

    Brandie Tarvin, MCITP Database AdministratorLiveJournal Blog: http://brandietarvin.livejournal.com/[/url]On LinkedIn!, Google+, and Twitter.Freelance Writer: ShadowrunLatchkeys: Nevermore, Latchkeys: The Bootleg War, and Latchkeys: Roscoes in the Night are now available on Nook and Kindle.

  • So I get asked about index maintenance and in looking at the table in question for the dev, I notice something...

    Something...

    Off...

    A bunch of columns defined as "VARCHAR(1), NULL"

    :rolleyes::ermm:

    It's not all that big of a database, and this table isn't even all that big, but I figured I'd toss in a comment about it...

    If he switches it to CHAR(1) cool, if not, well, they "pay" for the storage they use so...

  • VARCHAR(1) is my favorite data type of all time... Well, behind VARIANT, but hopefully that's going to be on the ash heap soon.

    "The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
    - Theodore Roosevelt

    Author of:
    SQL Server Execution Plans
    SQL Server Query Performance Tuning

  • Grant Fritchey (11/15/2016)


    VARCHAR(1) is my favorite data type of all time... Well, behind VARIANT, but hopefully that's going to be on the ash heap soon.

    Without using VARIANT (SQL_VARIANT_PROPERTY(@number, 'Precision')), how can you determine the precision of a number?

    The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence
    - Martin Rees
    The absence of consumable DDL, sample data and desired results is, however, evidence of the absence of my response
    - Phil Parkin

  • My wife and I decided to check out some Mayan ruins near one of our ports of call during our cruise. I wasn't sure what to expect other than rocks in the middle of nowhere. However, once you get there and monkeys are swinging from the trees and you come around the clearing...well you can't help but think "damn, this isn't something you see everyday!"

    I'd thought I'd share a few images. These pyramids/ruins are at Chacchoben which are a far cry from the likes of Giza or Chichen Itza (I can imagine). All the same It was pretty cool to see and experience. :w00t:

    Here is an areal shot from wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chacchoben#/media/File:Chacchoben.JPG


    SELECT quote FROM brain WHERE original = 1
    0 rows returned

  • Oh, wow!

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