Great feedback on what is first as a DBA Had some great feedback on where to start when you come in to new systems, a new company, etc. Interestingly, none of the feedback agreed with the assertion that things may change if you’re working with cloud or mixed hosting solutions. Sylvia passed along an article they had penned that gives […]

What is first as a DBA? It seems like we return to this question frequently. I get pretty regular "where do I start" type questions – and of late, I’ve noticed they’re changing. Not just "where do I begin" as a new DBA or someone just handed the tasks of managing their servers, but things are changing. The change comes […]

Challenging Times with the Cloud These are great times for the cloud-based solution providers. There are some great examples of what works, what benefits there can be from a cloud-based hosting environment and we have started learning just how great it can be. All sunshine and lollipops! OK, so not so much. To me, it feels like a bit of […]

I goofed up the editorial yesterday – but wanted to get this out – sorry for any duplication for those that saw it on the site – SW. What Do We Call Ourselves These Days? I am in Las Vegas talking with some other IT pros and we got into a bit of a discussion today about what, exactly, we […]

What Do We Call Ourselves These Days? I am in Las Vegas talking with some other IT pros and we got into a bit of a discussion today about what, exactly, we call ourselves these days. I think "DBA" may be on the verge of being outdated, or at least too narrow. I also think the responsibilities of the positions […]

Questions for a Potential Cloud Provider Several have provided additional questions to pose when you’re looking at cloud providers. The questions seem to vary a bit if you’re making the first move, or if you’ve been there a bit and are assessing cloud options. This hints at a key point – do your due diligence folks. Many people I’ve talked […]

HBD BJW! Cloud Providers… and Choices that Count I’ve wondered why cloud services seem to be so "hands-off" when it comes to architectural support. It seems like you’re sort of given the tools, then left to fend for yourself, with the mantra that "it scales, here are tools, have fun! Oh, and if you set it up right, it works […]

Choosing a Cloud Provider When it comes to selecting who you’ll be working with as a cloud provider (assuming you will be), what are the different components you’ll be looking for, and how will you evaluate them? For those that have been following along, we moved quite a bit of the infrastructure for SSWUG to the cloud and learned some […]

Password Security Feedback It seems many agree on the increasing complexity needed when working with passwords, security questions and general access privileges. I’ve heard from many of you that you’re facing similar issues not only with database access of course, but also with application and network security in general. One thing that seems to be lagging in this regard is […]

What IS A *SSWUG.ORG* Virtual Conference?? We’ve just announced our virtual conference for the Fall and I have had a bunch of questions about what we’re doing, how it’s different from the other "virtual conferences" out there. First, we’re all about the content. Period. If you take a look, you’ll see that we’re totally focused on content that you can […]