Tools and Processes for “Fitting it all in”

BuckWoody — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 14:42:05 GMT

Most data professionals I’ve met work in two modes: we plan for our day, and we react to the situations around us. I’m staring at my list of things that I need to do today right now, which is my planned work. Of course, I have no idea how much of that will really get done – it’s optimistic to be sure. On the other hand I have several systems I manage, and at any moment one of them or the people that interface with them may “change state” such that I need to give them some attention.

So how do I meld the two? Sometimes it can be quite difficult. I’m constantly working through my list in my mind, re-arranging what I’m focusing on based on what I perceive as the highest need. There are, however, some tools that I use each day to help me manage the workflow.

I use Outlook for tracking everything, since it has a task list (my primary tracking), a calendar, mail and so on. Also I can share the information, it’s on-line so I can see it anywhere, and I can even take it offline onto the plane this week when I fly out of town.

For the “ad-hoc” work, I rely on a script library, which I keep as SQL Server Management Studio projects. I keep those scripts and projects backed using Microsoft Live Mesh, which synchronizes those files (along with a few other critical files and my IE Favorites) across not only my laptop and primary systems, but even with my Virtual Machines.

Also for my SQL Server systems I use the Standard Reports I’ve blogged about here. I also use Greg Larsen’s Database Dashboard, and a series of PowerShell scripts that work across my systems, alerting me to any problems. Of course I’m using SQL Server Agent Jobs quite a bit, and I also use Alerts and some Perfmon automation for my monthly baselining.

So – is this your experience as well? Do you get driven by both planned and unplanned work? What tools and processes do you use to keep it all straight with your SQL Server Instances?

Wizards are evil – wait, no they aren’t!

BuckWoody — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:55:00 GMT

SQL Server contains many “Wizards. Wizards are simply programs that collect information based on user choices. The Wizard’s screens explain each step and the choices on that screen. Based on those answers collected from the user, the Wizard performs some task. What could possibly be wrong with helping a user this way? Well, plenty.

Wizards hide complexity from the user, which can prevent them from learning the process behind the Wizard. Wizards can also enable the user to choose the wrong options too easily – especially if the user doesn’t read the screens.

For instance – in the example that’s always mentioned, the Maintenance Wizard, the screens present not only “Shrink Database” (which you should never do) but it presents both REBUILD and REORGANIZE options for the Indexes. Of course, Microsoft isn’t sure which you need to do, but some users select both – which isn’t necessary.

And then from time to time there’s a bug in the code and the Maintenance Wizard doesn’t work properly. For this reason, some experts have recommended that we remove all of the Wizards.

But I don’t agree. I think Wizards have their place – given two conditions. Number one, they always need to work. And number two, the users need to read the options carefully so that they make the right choices. The Wizards do a good job of making sure the process can be scripted, and many of them drop you off (like the Maintenance Wizard) with a package that can be changed later. So don’t give up on the Wizards. Let’s fix them. In fact, tomorrow I’ll talk about an idea brewing in my head, and it involves actually increases the number of Wizards!

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Tools and Processes for “Fitting it all in”

Wizards are evil – wait, no they aren’t!