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Easy SQL Server Database Monitoring for the Oracle (and SQL Server) DBA – Part 2
This article is the second in this series. It describes how to develop your own SQL Server polling and monitoring system. This article presents the repository ERD and the polling mechanism allowing you to easily retrieve instance, database, and failed jobs into the repository.
Save Time and Aggravation Building Reports
If you’re like me, building reports and completing "just one more change" is enough to make me scream at times. If this is you – you have to admit, it’d be really excellent if you could build the reports with great information and presentation, then turn your users loose on it, letting them make changes, dig into the information presented, etc. Well, it’s very possible – in fact, just check out Crystal Reports 2008. You’ll quickly see the leverage and information your reports can present.
I Admit It, I’m a Bit Torn…
(Day 3 at SQL Connections/DevConnections)
I had a great conversation with Microsoft’s Matt Nunn here at the show (Visual Studio Team System), and I just can’t seem to get my head all the way into one specific thing we talked about. It’s not that I necessarily disagree, it’s just that I think it goes so counter to what I’ve heard people asking for, complaining about and what we’ve been working toward for a bit of time.
The specific item I’m talking about is the toolset that is evolving for working with databases. Specifically, the explicit shift to split database-oriented tools into developer and admin tools. I know for quite some time we’ve been looking for more, more, more in Enterprise Manager and now Management Studio. More tools, more functionality. In fact, at the keynote, one of the things that resulted in spontaneous applause was Intellisense coming to Management Studio in SQL Server 2008.
But, with Visual Studio 2008 and the database tools that work within it, the direction is clear, and Matt confirmed this when we were talking (we’ll have the interview posted in our videos as soon as possible and I’ll let you know when it goes live). The direction is one of splitting the tools along discipline lines. This means true DBA-type tools – administrative stuff – will live in MS, but then anything developer-oriented will be out in VS. I suppose this makes sense if you’re not a mixed role kind of person, but we all know that reality is more likely that so very many of us are indeed mixed role.
It’s not that you won’t have tools available to you, it’s just that they won’t be in one place. Matt explained this as providing the functionality along the role divisions so that the right tools and technologies would be available without having "bloat" (my term, not his) in, for example, MS. Yeah, OK. I get that. But, I have to say that I keep coming back to the fact that I’d really rather, as a mixed-role DBA, have tools available in one place. I hope that, as VS and the associated tools, evolves, that the plug-in type environment might support some of these tools moving to the MS environment. I’d LOVE to see the database tools from Visual Studio also available in Management Studio. I just really think this would offer the best of both worlds.
Of course, I’m NOT the one coding or creating this. I’m just your friendly "eh, I’m not so sure on this one" SSWUG editor. 🙂
I could still be sold on this, we’ll have to see as we get more into the tools and understanding the divisions of labor, but this just keeps rearing its head in my mind and kind of saying "Really?? Are you sure??" I’m not yet.
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