Today I want to talk about some very specific philosophical questions when it comes to defining tables. The choices we make have implications in both the short and long term. Let me start with a simple premise. I have been taught that when you create a table, for each column in the table, it should be constrained to allow only […]

So many times as people look to move to new servers, new solutions, new platforms, they’re faced with some fundamental design points. These include: – Time allocated to make the change – Code review – Functionality review Taken together, these are big deal items. They take time, they take resources, but most importantly of all perhaps, they’re actually easy to […]

I was reading an editorial on LinkedIn on the topic of API documentation. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/api-documentation-iot-quantum-leap-usability-paradigm-ghersi.The primary position of the author is that as software becomes more segregated, and connected through APIs such as RESTful services, the need for documentation becomes more important than ever. Furthermore, the documentation needs to not only express the API implementation, but also provide the consumer with […]

We were working through some systems with a client and came across some interesting findings. We were specifically working through backup and recovery of their systems. They run a mix of servers, some on-premise, some in the cloud, and some systems that span both. Probably fairly typical of a number of shops out there. We also discovered that there were […]

I was reading an article on Forbes about the types of Big Data. I think the intent of the article was to introduce the various places “big data” on the whole is, or will be, coming from. I also think they do an interesting job of breaking it out into 5 different types of Big Data – and without regard […]

When it comes to a database engine and maintaining efficient performance you have four basic options. Don’t do anything and take what the engine does by default Host it with a provider that manages your installation Outsource a professional service to manage your database as an add on service Hire your own expertise A lot of people get reliable performance […]

Generally, I don’t like using SQL Server materialized views, sometimes called Indexed Views, because they are materialized by creating an index on the view definition. In order to create an index on the view you have to define it with phrase WITH SCHEMABINDING. What this does is map the view definition to the underlying tables in the query, even if […]

I was talking with someone about their installation of SQL Server and they were bragging about how they were using a cloud-based solution (really doesn’t matter even which one) where the systems were completely managed for them. From backups to performance to just about every aspect of their SQL Server installation, it was taken care of. It was saving big […]

What’s keeping us from embracing the cloud for our data storage? From my experience the primary hurdle has been cost. Because the cloud is so flexible on how you can store things, calculating that cost is different from one implementation to the next. One thing that seems to be pretty consistent, regardless of implementation, is the cost of bandwidth to […]

I’ve talked about, written about, implemented and presented about the fact that with so many platforms and options “out there” and so many implementations, it’s more complex now to select the platform for a given application. Sure, you can standardize, or you can pick generally the same platform and then allow for exceptions. But really, even within platforms, you have […]