April 2, 2009 at 12:02 am
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Troubleshooting
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Mike Walsh
SQL Server DBA
Blog - www.straightpathsql.com/blog |Twitter
April 2, 2009 at 2:52 am
Good one from a new author. Keep it up.
April 2, 2009 at 6:03 am
Nice job Mike. Sometimes we think we are doing things in order, but it really is a shotgun approach. This can help us have a plan.
Jack Corbett
Consultant - Straight Path Solutions
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April 2, 2009 at 6:09 am
Great article, this is perhaps the worst offense I see in day to day work, a missing or unclear plan that results in misguided or no actual progress.
Thanks!
Jon
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"stewsterl 80804 (10/16/2009)I guess when you stop and try to understand the solution provided you not only learn, but save yourself some headaches when you need to make any slight changes."
April 2, 2009 at 6:12 am
Nice approach list :w00t:
The "Remain Calm / Keep your head cool / Keep on breathing" should actually be put after every major point.
In case of urgency, that is vital !
Last point to add: Lose the stress / have a pint / enter the cool down area :hehe:
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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press F1 for solution, press shift+F1 for urgent solution 😀
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April 2, 2009 at 6:49 am
Great article, thanks very much!
April 2, 2009 at 7:15 am
Thanks for the comments thus far 🙂 I have to admit I got scared (but remained calm and handled it in an orderly fahsion 😉 ) when I saw all of the comment alerts pop up on the phone's mail client.
To the comments about the importance of remaining calm, a great piece of advice I received and neglected to put into the article fits here. It was a Paramedic class instructor and he said that paramedics need to be like ducks. If you ever watch the duck on the water, they are in control, just sitting there calmly and slowly moving where they need to. Look under the water and they are paddling feverishly. In other words, don't be slow but don't be hustled and rush either. Sometimes when we troubleshoot an issue we need to move quickly but quickly doesn't mean so fast that we lose all control and all appearance of control and start doing stupid things.
__________________________________________________
Mike Walsh
SQL Server DBA
Blog - www.straightpathsql.com/blog |Twitter
April 2, 2009 at 7:46 am
Fantastic article. All too often we find ourselves thrown into panic mode when a major event happens, especially when it's the busiest part of the day. This is usually exacerbated by the CIO spewing "We're losing 10,000 dollars a minute while this is down!" or something similar, trying to shock the DBA into fast action. I wish more tech managers/leaders understood the point Mike is making with this article.
One minor grammatical bug: "You arrive on seen" should read: "You arrive on scene".
April 2, 2009 at 7:48 am
Great Article, Since most DBA's responsiblity is supporting\troubleshooting such a complex product like SQL server you have highlighted a good methodology and approach to problem solving, Thanks ! 😉
April 2, 2009 at 7:51 am
Excellent article Mike!
I really like your writing style, and you have some cool things to say. Troubleshooting is about as scientific as our jobs get and I appreciate your application of the scientific method.
:{> Andy
Andy Leonard, Chief Data Engineer, Enterprise Data & Analytics
April 2, 2009 at 7:55 am
CoetzeeW (4/2/2009)
Great Article, Since most DBA's responsiblity is supporting\troubleshooting such a complex product like SQL server you have highlighted a good methodology and approach to problem solving, Thanks ! 😉
Excellent article Mike.
I like this part most though from above quote ..........supporting\troubleshooting such a complex product like SQL server.:laugh:
SQL DBA.
April 2, 2009 at 8:12 am
SanjayAttray (4/2/2009)
CoetzeeW (4/2/2009)
Great Article, Since most DBA's responsiblity is supporting\troubleshooting such a complex product like SQL server you have highlighted a good methodology and approach to problem solving, Thanks ! 😉Excellent article Mike.
I like this part most though from above quote ..........supporting\troubleshooting such a complex product like SQL server.:laugh:
😛 I am not sure if the sarcascm was frustration about troubleshooting SQL or the fact that SQL is less complex than other database management systems. SQL Server is less complex than some but shoddy troubleshooting happens all the time and often causes more problems than solutions (or accidental solutions that can't be recreated). In fact the simpler management interface and installation interface is what causes a lot of the woes with SQL Server.
A lot of companies have the theory that since you can just click next, next, next, finish and it's installed you don't need a DBA staff. You don't need to follow best practices and it can't be that complex to fix, you can just fix it with a quick web search. Watch the forums here or the msdn forums and you'll see the results repeat time and time again.
No it's not as complex as the human body either but the point is the same principles of problem solving and troubleshooting can be applied anywhere.
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Mike Walsh
SQL Server DBA
Blog - www.straightpathsql.com/blog |Twitter
April 2, 2009 at 8:12 am
Just about any working professional that's been able to survive any length of time in our profession does what this article says. Where I work now we perform it as a necessity. Not sure we've ever wrote it out and followed it. We do have a lot of written antedotes and not all apply. I think I've learned this process from making all the mistakes in the past. This would have been good advise then. Then again....
April 2, 2009 at 8:18 am
Wow! "SQL Server is less complex"?
What kind of production environment are you running. A lab?
April 2, 2009 at 8:23 am
Ken Shapley (4/2/2009)
Wow! "SQL Server is less complex"?What kind of production environment are you running. A lab?
Thanks 🙂 I was confused by that comment as well. My response to them about yeah maybe it's less complex than say an Oracle or DB2 was more about the installation and management options/methods. It is still a very complex DBMS with tons happening under the hood, lots of moving pieces and parts and if you treat it like it's just a simple thing then you end up seeing the kind of troubleshooting I concluded with.
Also to your point about everyone following this if they have survived awhile. I think you summed it up best when you said "Then again..." 😉 I work with a lot of folks at the same skillset or much higher who could stand to use a better troubleshooting method. They try the chicken with the head cut off approach far too often 🙂
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Mike Walsh
SQL Server DBA
Blog - www.straightpathsql.com/blog |Twitter
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