RockSolid

Big Data, NoSQL, NewSQL & The Future of Data Management

For those who have requested the slides from last weeks webinar, we have published them on SlideShare:

 

 

Big Data, NoSQL, NewSQL & The Future of Data Management

View more presentations from Tony Bain

Webinar: NoSQL, NewSQL, Hadoop and the future of Big Data management

It is an exciting and interesting time to be involved in data. More change of influence has occurred in the database management in the last 18 months than has occurred in the last 18 years. New technologies such as NoSQL & Hadoop and radical redesigns of existing technologies, like NewSQL , will change dramatically how we manage data moving forward. 

These technologies bring with them possibilities both in terms of the scale of data retained but also in how this data can be utilized as an information asset. The ability to leverage Big Data to drive deep insights will become a key competitive advantage for many organisations in the future.

Join Tony Bain as he takes us through both the high level drivers for the changes in technology, how these are relevant to the enterprise and an overview of the possibilities a Big Data strategy can start to unlock.

https://redrockevents.webex.com/redrockevents/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=869100422

SQL Server to discontinue support for OLE-DB

ODBC was first created in 1992 as a generic set of standards for providing access to a wide range of data platforms using a standard interface.  ODBC used to be a common interface for accessing SQL Server data in earlier days.  However over the last 15 years ODBC has been second fiddle as a provider for SQL Server application developers who have usually favoured the platform specific OLE-DB provider and the interface built on top of it such as ADO. [read more]

SEV1 SLA response time improved to 30 minutes

Image via Wikipedia

Previously our SQL Server DBA Out-Task SLAs we have had a targeted SEV1 24x7 response time of 60 minutes.  If you have checked out our SLA Stats page recently you will notice that we are tracking much better than that.  Our average SEV1 response timeframe 24x7 is currently 5 minutes.

We have been noticing this too so we have decided to improve our official target timeframe from 60 minutes to 30 minutes.  This benefit will automatically apply to all customers using RockSolid DBA Out-Task support.  Of course we plan to continue to do much better than that, and this may officially improve again in the future.

Why we love the iPad

Image via CrunchBase

We have put out a press release announcing RockSolid support for the Apple iPad.  Recently we have added extensions to the RockSolid UI to be optimized for the iPad interface.  This turned out to be so significant we decided to make a bit of a fuss about it.

To be truthful we have been looking at mobile interfaces for database administration for a long time.  Since I got the first iPAQ in 2001 I have been thinking about how it could be used to improve DBA support.  To date none of the devices has really been suitable for DBA work.  Lack of mobile broadband (3G) and the small form factor have made all the devices we looked at over the last few years suitable for being notified of alerts, but not suitable for issue resolution or routine work.  This list also includes the Apple iPhone.

But why is mobile support so important for DBAs when compared to other areas of IT?  Well, by the very nature of the DBA role much of what we do happens when everyone else has gone home.  There are very few operational DBA tasks that can be carried out during peak production periods.  Of course good DBAs will try and avoid working 24x7 by scheduling jobs and using tools such as RockSolid to automate a lot of the after-hours administration functions.  However if something does go wrong, typically, an on call DBA is notified to respond and resolve the issue.

This is where the difference in device form factor comes into play.  With other mobile devices you may have been notified about the issue, and then you pulled out your laptop to log in and investigate the issue.  This is all well and good if you are at home, but if you are out and about – at a restaurant, at a park with your kids, walking the dog etc – this was much more troublesome.  Being “on call” as a DBA often meant you had many restrictions on how far you could roam from home.

The Apple iPad combined with RockSolid starts to change this.  The device is small, thin and light but has a large enough screen that the information displayed doesn’t have to be limited.  And it is fast.  Devices such as the early iPAQs used to drive me mad when you would try and access information and sit and wait for 30 seconds for the page to come up.  RockSolid on the Apple iPad is not all that different in performance to running it on your PC (of course this is related to the quality of your 3G provider when not on WiFi).  And you don’t have to wait for your PC to boot up, or wake up from sleep mode.  These might seem minor, but resolving an issue in 15-30 seconds as opposed to 5-10 minutes does make a big difference when you are eating dinner with your friend at a restaurant!

So while it sounds a bit “touchy feely” we actually see the Apple iPad as a liberating device for the DBA.  They can go out with a much smaller and much less fiddly device and be better connected.  And of course this translates into faster response times and much improved resolution times to boot.

What is new in SQL Server 2008 R2

Senior RockSolid SQL DBA Leigh Verhave provides a high level overview of the new features in SQL Server 2008 R2

What is new in SQL Server 2008 R2

View more presentations from RockSolid SQL.

RockSolid Webinar: Using RockSolid to diagnose and resolve SQL Server performance issues

RockSolid gathers much performance related data from SQL Server instances it monitors.  This data is extremely useful for resolving performance related issues.  In this session RockSolid and SQL Server expert Tony Bain will provide guidance on how you can use RockSolid to effectively identify and resolve performance related issues that occur within SQL Server.

To register visit: https://redrockevents.webex.com/

RockSolid Squareified Tree Map Display

RockSolid Cloud Services Edition

 

Today we have announced our Cloud Services Edition of RockSolid.  This edition is specifically targeted to organizations that provide SQL Server services in the cloud from in a hosting or managed service capacity. 

RockSolid Cloud Services Edition is designed to allow for the standardization of monitoring, automated management, automated performance optimization and automated issue resolution across diverse environments that may be made up of thousands of SQL Server instances and tens of thousands of SQL Server databases.

The focus of the product is to significantly reduce operational costs associated with managing very large numbers of instances and databases through the automation of all routine DBA management tasks including performance optimization.  The policy driven framework also allows for provision of very high service levels guarantees to made to end customers with little associated overhead on the service provider in doing so.

RockSolid Cloud Services Edition has a web portal interface which allows end user customers to log in and review the state of their SQL Server databases from a performance, reliability, recovery and maintenance perspective.  The same interface when logged in to by the service provider allows the management of their SQL Server environment as a whole in a consolidated view.

Tatts Group talk about RockSolid