February 13, 2008 at 8:53 am
There was discussions around this issue and our institution wanted a third party opinion
February 13, 2008 at 9:50 am
I've used both. In terms of messaging, there's no real difference between them. Blackberries are a bit more sophisticated in terms of actually chatting to other human beings, but when we're talking about servers sending out alerts, no difference. So far, the Smart Phone has been more sophisticated in terms of actually administering the system from remote locations. In fact, I still have not quite gotten the Blackberry to work.
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
- Theodore Roosevelt
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February 13, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Thanks. I was hoping for much more responses....but it's still early.
February 14, 2008 at 6:51 am
Yeah, 3 votes & one quasi-intelligent post aren't exactly encouraging. Still, you got a response. I posted on Services Center Operations Manager (SCOM) and got zip. Either no one is using it or no one wants to talk about it.
For what it's worth, both SmartPhones and BlackBerries are supported at my company. So you could just go with both. It's work, but the way phones are handed out by the phone companies, we end up getting either as part of various advertising & reward efforts. So we end up having to support them or throw them away.
"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
February 14, 2008 at 9:54 pm
I've gone from Blackberry to Smart Phone and back to Blackberry. Let's say that I was less than satisfied with my Windows Mobile experience. But then again, I wasn't trying to remote administer a system from the mobile device. We have issued laptops with VPN solutions for that (for which the BB can be used as a network connection).
K. Brian Kelley
@kbriankelley
February 15, 2008 at 12:17 am
I you honor your dba, give her/him a braek !
A cellphone and a decent laptop should do just fine.
Most companies would be better of by planning their IT actions,
this prevents hush hush actions and their consequences :w00t:
For now we get a cellphone and the bill is partially payed by the company (every month) and a high speed internet connection.
Keep in mind this is not for the dba's convenience !
Johan
Learn to play, play to learn !
Dont drive faster than your guardian angel can fly ...
but keeping both feet on the ground wont get you anywhere :w00t:
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February 15, 2008 at 1:57 am
Im a DB newbie to be honest, been in my job just over a month, but for what its worth, we use Smartphones here, gets the job done. Never had or used a blackberry before so cant really compare the two but ive had no problems with my smartphone.
February 15, 2008 at 2:13 am
Because my company sees the value in being able to contact me whenever I'm away from my desk, I'm supplied with a company mobile, and have a monthly budget of £25 for call charges. And if I go over that budget, that's still not a problem as long as the reasons for exceeding it are company-related. The mobile I have is perfectly capable of dealing with email, and that option is open to me as part of the package, but I've turned it down. My reason for this is that if you connect a mobile device to an email service, you end up with low-level work interruptions all through your day (and night, potentially). People and systems send me emails at all hours, but they'll only ring my mobile outside hours if it's a serious emergency.
So I believe that, despite affording greater connectivity, Blackberries and Smartphone devices end up reducing one's productivity through communication overload unless very strict controls are placed on how you use them.
Semper in excretia, suus solum profundum variat
February 15, 2008 at 5:17 pm
The Blackberry/Smartphone debate came up at the company I work for. It was decided to use Blackberry because it uses a push technology where a smartphone uses a pull technology. They didn't want to hear "I didn't get that alert email" from employees.
Personally, I would love to throw my wireless desk chain in the trash.
February 17, 2008 at 5:20 am
Living and working in Canada, an hour's drive from RIM headquarters, I am partial to the blackberry... 😉
I find it saves me time by helping me to clear out some of my email while being stuck in traffic to and from work each day (no worries, I'm not using while in transit... 🙂 ).
Once I get to the office, I'm ready to start the real work.
I would like to be able to use it to do other work besides email, but we don't have SQL mobile installed. I don't know, is it even possible to use SQL mobile on the blackberry?
I'm addicted to it, as it is, if I could do SQL on it as well, I would never sleep! :w00t:
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February 17, 2008 at 10:44 am
I don't know the differences between a Blackberry and a SmartPhone because I haven't had to carry either.
I with Johan, though... if you're gonna put a ball and chain on the DBA 24 hours a day, it should be with a good wireless laptop and a good cell phone that can receive text messages, or better yet, email. Only critical messages/email should be directed to the phone. Remember that the whole purpose of the ball and chain is instant help from the DBA in an after hours crisis... period. Other than that, it can wait until normal business hours.
I'll go so far as to say that the DBA should be the only one to program the automated crisis messages and only a very few very knowledgeable individuals should have the address to ask for immediate help. SysOps should never use the DBA as a crutch for not learning something.
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
February 18, 2008 at 6:41 am
I have a company issued Laptop with VPN, and a company issued Smartphone that acts as a cellular modem. As long as I have a cell phone signal, I can log in to my systems.
I have not looked into getting SQL Server Mobile on the Smartphone yet.
"Key"
MCITP: DBA, MCSE, MCTS: SQL 2005, OCP
February 18, 2008 at 9:31 am
If you have to support the servers, you need a laptop or remote desktop connection from home. Trying to get things done ad hoc from a smartphone won't work.
Laptops are for support, phones are communication. They might want you to have email and IM for support reasons, maybe to work with someone as remote hands, but that's what you do. SQL Server Mobile doesn't give you SSMS or any tools to hit your servers.
Blackberry - My wife loves hers, I didn't because of the predictative typing and I never got used to the wheel. Her new one has QWERTY and seems to be easier to use. Push technology is pretty cool, a bit more expensive.
Windows Mobile - I like it since it's familiar, but it doesn't multi-thread well, I pull email, and reboot it periodically. Browsing is up and down, depending on the site, for example, I can't post in these forums because of this Active X control. It doesn't work well with the mobile IE. However it works well and I like it. It's also cheaper for me than a Blackberry.
February 19, 2008 at 8:36 am
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina my organization issued Blackberries to all of the IT staff deemed critical. the specific features they wanted was QWERTY keyboard and push-to-talk. They wanted an alternate means of contact in case voice communications failed. Our cellphones were nearly useless after the storm except for texting. They also issued us laptops and we use VPN to remote in. We have broadband internet access cards cards for the laptop for use when we don't have high-speed internet access. They are considering upgrading the Blackberrys to a newer model that can act as a wireless modem for the laptop.
From my point of view the Blackberry is good for what it does. But it is a ball and chain. I was happy to go away for 4 days to a state park with bad wireless access and really leave work behind me!
Terri
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February 19, 2008 at 9:12 am
My agency provides a Blackberry. However, I gave it back because I bought a much newer model Blackberry for my personal use and I got tired of lugging around two, so I just use my own. The email features and the Remote Desktop Plus app are what are most useful to me as a SQL dba.
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