Are the posted questions getting worse?

  • BWFC - Wednesday, January 25, 2017 1:32 AM

    I'm going to be a DBA.  

    After a lengthy period of a declining volume of BI work (because politics)  and an increasing volume of DBA work (because old infrastructure), the boss of bosses has put to me and my boss that he'd like us to take on the DBA work.  We're both off on courses next month and there's, hopefully, a contract DBA coming in for a while but it means a big change in role and responsibility.  I'm both nervous and excited about this.  Stuff of which I previously had only a passing knowledge will have to be learned in much greater depth and there's things I don't even know I don't know.  We're not being thrown in at the deep end at least.  We already work with the ops guys when database problems do arise so there'll be a handover period with them and if the contract bod ever does get employed we'll be shadowing them pretty closely.  We've also got a dev\sandbox server we can use for practising.

    I can't wait.

    Congratulations!

  • BWFC - Wednesday, January 25, 2017 1:32 AM

    I'm going to be a DBA.  

    After a lengthy period of a declining volume of BI work (because politics)  and an increasing volume of DBA work (because old infrastructure), the boss of bosses has put to me and my boss that he'd like us to take on the DBA work.  We're both off on courses next month and there's, hopefully, a contract DBA coming in for a while but it means a big change in role and responsibility.  I'm both nervous and excited about this.  Stuff of which I previously had only a passing knowledge will have to be learned in much greater depth and there's things I don't even know I don't know.  We're not being thrown in at the deep end at least.  We already work with the ops guys when database problems do arise so there'll be a handover period with them and if the contract bod ever does get employed we'll be shadowing them pretty closely.  We've also got a dev\sandbox server we can use for practising.

    I can't wait.

    Keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times.

    "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

  • BWFC - Wednesday, January 25, 2017 1:32 AM

    I'm going to be a DBA.  

    After a lengthy period of a declining volume of BI work (because politics)  and an increasing volume of DBA work (because old infrastructure), the boss of bosses has put to me and my boss that he'd like us to take on the DBA work.  We're both off on courses next month and there's, hopefully, a contract DBA coming in for a while but it means a big change in role and responsibility.  I'm both nervous and excited about this.  Stuff of which I previously had only a passing knowledge will have to be learned in much greater depth and there's things I don't even know I don't know.  We're not being thrown in at the deep end at least.  We already work with the ops guys when database problems do arise so there'll be a handover period with them and if the contract bod ever does get employed we'll be shadowing them pretty closely.  We've also got a dev\sandbox server we can use for practising.

    I can't wait.

    Enjoy. Should be a fun ride.

  • Steve Jones - SSC Editor - Wednesday, January 25, 2017 7:51 AM

    BWFC - Wednesday, January 25, 2017 1:32 AM

    I'm going to be a DBA.  

    After a lengthy period of a declining volume of BI work (because politics)  and an increasing volume of DBA work (because old infrastructure), the boss of bosses has put to me and my boss that he'd like us to take on the DBA work.  We're both off on courses next month and there's, hopefully, a contract DBA coming in for a while but it means a big change in role and responsibility.  I'm both nervous and excited about this.  Stuff of which I previously had only a passing knowledge will have to be learned in much greater depth and there's things I don't even know I don't know.  We're not being thrown in at the deep end at least.  We already work with the ops guys when database problems do arise so there'll be a handover period with them and if the contract bod ever does get employed we'll be shadowing them pretty closely.  We've also got a dev\sandbox server we can use for practising.

    I can't wait.

    Enjoy. Should be a fun ride.

    I did both DBA and BI for a number of years.
    Found it a good mix. Knowing the DB structure and how it's usually used and viewed makes it easier to architect solutions.
    If you aren't learning, your career is not moving forward.

    Going in knowing you have a passing knowledge of things is much better than thinking you know enough already is good.
    You'll ask questions when you need to understand something better.

    Best wishes - be more excited than nervous..

  • Greg Edwards-268690 - Wednesday, January 25, 2017 8:08 AM

    Steve Jones - SSC Editor - Wednesday, January 25, 2017 7:51 AM

    BWFC - Wednesday, January 25, 2017 1:32 AM

    I'm going to be a DBA.  

    After a lengthy period of a declining volume of BI work (because politics)  and an increasing volume of DBA work (because old infrastructure), the boss of bosses has put to me and my boss that he'd like us to take on the DBA work.  We're both off on courses next month and there's, hopefully, a contract DBA coming in for a while but it means a big change in role and responsibility.  I'm both nervous and excited about this.  Stuff of which I previously had only a passing knowledge will have to be learned in much greater depth and there's things I don't even know I don't know.  We're not being thrown in at the deep end at least.  We already work with the ops guys when database problems do arise so there'll be a handover period with them and if the contract bod ever does get employed we'll be shadowing them pretty closely.  We've also got a dev\sandbox server we can use for practising.

    I can't wait.

    Enjoy. Should be a fun ride.

    I did both DBA and BI for a number of years.
    Found it a good mix. Knowing the DB structure and how it's usually used and viewed makes it easier to architect solutions.
    If you aren't learning, your career is not moving forward.

    Going in knowing you have a passing knowledge of things is much better than thinking you know enough already is good.
    You'll ask questions when you need to understand something better.

    Best wishes - be more excited than nervous..

    Same here, went from report writing to DBA. Background in report writing gave me a real insight into table design, indexing, and query tuning which has served me very well as a DBA.
    Congrats mate, hopefully you'll really enjoy it!

  • Thoughts, advice

  • BWFC - Wednesday, January 25, 2017 1:32 AM

    I'm going to be a DBA.  

    After a lengthy period of a declining volume of BI work (because politics)  and an increasing volume of DBA work (because old infrastructure), the boss of bosses has put to me and my boss that he'd like us to take on the DBA work.  We're both off on courses next month and there's, hopefully, a contract DBA coming in for a while but it means a big change in role and responsibility.  I'm both nervous and excited about this.  Stuff of which I previously had only a passing knowledge will have to be learned in much greater depth and there's things I don't even know I don't know.  We're not being thrown in at the deep end at least.  We already work with the ops guys when database problems do arise so there'll be a handover period with them and if the contract bod ever does get employed we'll be shadowing them pretty closely.  We've also got a dev\sandbox server we can use for practising.

    I can't wait.

    Congrats. Of course, you should know where to go if you have questions...

    Wayne
    Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server 2008
    Author - SQL Server T-SQL Recipes


    If you can't explain to another person how the code that you're copying from the internet works, then DON'T USE IT on a production system! After all, you will be the one supporting it!
    Links:
    For better assistance in answering your questions
    Performance Problems
    Common date/time routines
    Understanding and Using APPLY Part 1 & Part 2

  • Thanks everybody.  

    I'm really looking forward to this.  It'll be an opportunity to not just learn but use new skills.  In the past I've been on BI courses and done plenty of self-study but because of the previously mentioned politics, I've not been able to put things in to place.  With the DBA responsibility, I'll have more chance to actually implement and utilise what I've learned; with the appropriate safeguards and caveats of course.  I'm sure there'll be plenty of questions posted here.

    That said, after the spectacular failure of a flagship release yesterday I'm not sure I want to come out from behind my wall of monitors at the back of the office.  The BI team are the only two people in here without egg on their faces :Whistling:


    On two occasions I have been asked, "Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?" ... I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question.
    —Charles Babbage, Passages from the Life of a Philosopher

    How to post a question to get the most help http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Best+Practices/61537

  • BWFC - Thursday, January 26, 2017 1:38 AM

    Thanks everybody.  

    I'm really looking forward to this.  It'll be an opportunity to not just learn but use new skills.  In the past I've been on BI courses and done plenty of self-study but because of the previously mentioned politics, I've not been able to put things in to place.  With the DBA responsibility, I'll have more chance to actually implement and utilise what I've learned; with the appropriate safeguards and caveats of course.  I'm sure there'll be plenty of questions posted here.

    That said, after the spectacular failure of a flagship release yesterday I'm not sure I want to come out from behind my wall of monitors at the back of the office.  The BI team are the only two people in here without egg on their faces :Whistling:

    Sometimes it is really good not to be noticed.....
    Better for all to figure out what went wrong than point fingers of blame. Someday you may be the one with the egg.

  • BWFC - Wednesday, January 25, 2017 1:32 AM

    I'm going to be a DBA.  

    After a lengthy period of a declining volume of BI work (because politics)  and an increasing volume of DBA work (because old infrastructure), the boss of bosses has put to me and my boss that he'd like us to take on the DBA work.  We're both off on courses next month and there's, hopefully, a contract DBA coming in for a while but it means a big change in role and responsibility.  I'm both nervous and excited about this.  Stuff of which I previously had only a passing knowledge will have to be learned in much greater depth and there's things I don't even know I don't know.  We're not being thrown in at the deep end at least.  We already work with the ops guys when database problems do arise so there'll be a handover period with them and if the contract bod ever does get employed we'll be shadowing them pretty closely.  We've also got a dev\sandbox server we can use for practising.

    I can't wait.

    Good luck.  You have a better start than I did.  I started as an Oracle Programmer and was hired to be an Oracle DBA (they didn't tell me that was the plan...they thought someone who was a programmer could do DBA work); and then they switched to SQL Server.  I became a SQL Server DBA by default (do it or find another job).  They didn't want to send me to training, SQL is SQL right?  Promised me a mentor....never happened.  I learned the hard way.  My advice to someone starting out and not having a mentor would be to figure out what you need to do and then go on this site and instead of asking "can you do this for me"; ask "how would you resolve this"?  Let people know you want guidance, not an answer....that's the best way to learn.  I wish I had known to do that in the beginning.  I didn't know what a stored procedure was or how to use them until I had been in the job for 2 years. I finally convinced the bosses to send me to school, but even that doesn't always help put things into practical use. For all the things I was able to do with my limited knowledge, I'm still kind of embarrassed with what basic stuff I didn't know or, more importantly, didn't know how to apply.

    -SQLBill

  • Is there a 'known issues' page somewhere regarding the new forum software? The Edit function doesn't work for me any more, I'm guessing I'm not alone?

    The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
    Martin Rees

    You can lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be lead.
    Stan Laurel

  • Phil Parkin - Thursday, January 26, 2017 12:16 PM

    Is there a 'known issues' page somewhere regarding the new forum software? The Edit function doesn't work for me any more, I'm guessing I'm not alone?

    I had a problem but it was me missing that I needed to click on the drop down after I clicked the pencil.

  • djj - Thursday, January 26, 2017 12:35 PM

    Phil Parkin - Thursday, January 26, 2017 12:16 PM

    Is there a 'known issues' page somewhere regarding the new forum software? The Edit function doesn't work for me any more, I'm guessing I'm not alone?

    I had a problem but it was me missing that I needed to click on the drop down after I clicked the pencil.

    Yep, that was it. Thank you. sir. What an excellent idea, throwing a one-element selection drop-down into the mix. Or perhaps there are plans for other options: Edit with Extreme Prejudice, Edit Like a Trooper etc.

    The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
    Martin Rees

    You can lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be lead.
    Stan Laurel

  • If you find issues, there is an upgrade thread, but I'd prefer you open new threads for issues now in the Website Issues forum. That way we don't have multiple discussions in the same thread.
    https://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/SQLServerCentralcom/SQLServerCentralcom-Website-Issues

  • Phil Parkin - Thursday, January 26, 2017 12:53 PM

    djj - Thursday, January 26, 2017 12:35 PM

    Phil Parkin - Thursday, January 26, 2017 12:16 PM

    Is there a 'known issues' page somewhere regarding the new forum software? The Edit function doesn't work for me any more, I'm guessing I'm not alone?

    I had a problem but it was me missing that I needed to click on the drop down after I clicked the pencil.

    Yep, that was it. Thank you. sir. What an excellent idea, throwing a one-element selection drop-down into the mix. Or perhaps there are plans for other options: Edit with Extreme Prejudice, Edit Like a Trooper etc.

    My compliments on the "Edit with Extreme Prejudice" idea, Phil.  I'm looking forward to that option. 😀

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