“How can you expect to fix the engine if you don’t even know how it works?” – my friendly neighborhood car mechanic. My 20-year old Nissan X-Trail has been misbehaving recently. I can understand that, given how old it is, it has served it’s purpose. But, no. It still drives great and […]
I’ve always wanted to become a pilot ever since I was a kid. It’s one of the reasons I love traveling. I finally decided to pursue my childhood dream and scheduled an introductory flight. And it was a blast. There were preliminary lessons before we got on the plane. Not a full […]
Ever wonder what goes on under-the-hood when you deploy a SQL Server Always On Availability Groups (AGs) for high availability? I’ve been writing about AGs since it was introduced in 2012. Back when there wasn’t a lot of documentation available about the feature, we relied on direct interaction with the product team and conversations […]
I’m NOT a gamer. Nor have I played computer games as a technology professional. OK, maybe Solitaire and Minesweeper on Windows ’95. But I had the amazing opportunity to be a part of Grand Theft Auto V release back in 2013. And the not-as-popular game L.A. Noire in 2011. My colleague and […]
I was looking at my phone, waiting for my Amazon order to arrive. I heard a notification confirming that my delivery had arrive. The photo-on-delivery feature is a great way to confirm that the package was indeed delivered and in the right address. To my surprise, I see an unfamiliar porch in the […]
I recently got back from a wilderness camping trip in upstate New York. It’s an opportunity for me to disconnect and enjoy the opportunity to be alone in nature. Wilderness camping means you will be off the grid for a few days. This means no phone signals, no public restrooms, no grocery stores, nothing. […]
Deploying SQL Server Always On Availability Group solutions is not an easy task. There are a lot of moving parts outside of SQL Server that Always On Availability Groups depend on. There’s the network, Active Directory, DNS, Windows Server Failover Cluster, etc. And even when Microsoft provided a wizard that guides you through the […]
When something “just works”, we tend to have the attitude of “set it and forget it”. This is especially true when everything is smooth sailing with the day-to-day operations. But when a major disaster happens – a natural calamity, a hardware failure, an end-user mistake, etc. – stress levels are thru the roof. We […]
A big concern for most DBAs and sysadmins supporting SQL Server Always On Availability Groups is that they’re stuck doing operational support. And they have never had the opportunity to design a solution from the ground up. Most of the time, someone will design and implement the solution while they end up supporting it […]
Your effectiveness and success on the job depend so much on your ability to solve problems. In fact, you get paid to solve technical problems every day. Effective problem solving is a very important skill as a SQL Server DBA and IT professional, isn’t it? But . . . How many times have […]
