Database Data Modeling: Can You Afford Pre-built Data Models?

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I just read a blog post about “Data Models: Build or Buy”, by Jason Haley …

He has some interesting points.  If I could recap for brevity and clarity …

  • Good data models that accurately reflect business requirements are critical to the success of a database project, whether transactional or data warehouse, web-based retail or BI;
  • Pre-built data models are available, often from software vendors;
  • Pre-built data models are like off-the-rack suits; they may not fit very well, and will need some alterations to better fit the buyer;
  • Altering a pre-built data model is the realm of a small group of highly talented and (usually) expensive people called (surprise!) data modelers and data integrators;
  • Since budgets are tight, it’s hard to justify hiring one of these highly skilled professionals as a full-time employee, and once the project is complete, what do you do with this skill set? And the person?
  • The risks associated with poorly-modeled databases and bad integration are substantial, and include but are not limited to incorrect information and difficulty of use;

He is absolutely right on all counts.  If you’re getting started on a project and you think you’ll need modifications to an existing database or even an entirely new database, and you don’t want to deal with the problems inherent in an “off-the-rack” pre-built model, investigate adding a database data modeling consultant to your team.  These people are usually happy to work on contract for a set period of time, so when the project is over you don’t have the excess headcount.  But you will have had the benefit of this person’s skill set.  It’s a win-win for everyone.

Come talk to us … the Folks at Mount Vernon Data Systems, where we do it all … database design, support & protection … at www.MountVernonDataSystems.com. We’re affordable, and we’re good.

 

SQL Backups, Use the Maintenance Wizard or No?

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Yesterday I was reading an entry in one of the LinkIn forums that I belong to. It went something like this:

“In a simple scheduled backup maintenance plan the Server runs the job but doesn’t create a backup? what could be the reason? In the history of the backup it shows the job ran successfully?”

Obviously, this person had created the SQL Server backup plan using the SQL Maintenance Wizard, which, if you’ve never used it before, walks you through a plethora of maintenance options that you can select from, and then generates an SSIS-like visual plan.  You then schedule the plan to run whenever needed.

The subsequent forum conversation ran the gamut from how to troubleshoot a SQL Maintenance Plan (there really isn’t any good way, without a LOT of additional work, creating error-checking routines in the plan itself), to my philosophy, which was an echo of several individuals who posted before me:

“Take direct control; script out the backups and run them as SQL Agent scheduled jobs. This way, if they fail, you have a record of what happened and why.”

I’ve heard from overworked DBAs that they use the SQL Maintenance Plans because they don’t have the time to write out the code and schedule the jobs to run under the SQL Agent’s control. My experience is that 1) the Maintenance Wizard gives the user too much temptation in selecting options (do you really need to reorganize all the indexes in the database before backing up?), and 2) you don’t have control over what happens and why. With no good troubleshooting tools, when something goes wrong, the time the DBA will spend trying to figure out root cause and fixing it more than compensates for any time saved by using the Maintenance Wizard.

 

Ten Best Cities for Finding a Tech Job

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Baseline Magazine, in their Briefing newsletter, has listed out ten best cities in the US for finding a tech job. If you’re looking for a a new challenge in your professional life, it might be worth-while to begin tracking the area lists and newspapers that coincide with the industry type you’re most interested in.

The cities, in order from east to west across the country, with major industry verticals listed:

  • Boston, MA:  finance, insurance, pharmaceutical & biotech; startup capability in conjunction with the MIT-Harvard research environment.
  • New York, NY:  “Silicon Alley”, thanks to Mayor Bloomberg’s recent investment of $9.2 billion; financial services, insurance and media.
  • Washington, D.C.:  government/military/homeland security in both the public sector and the IT contractor community; research universities, think tanks, PACs and nonprofits.
  • Raleigh, NC:  Research Triangle Park – biotech, pharmaceutical, medical devices, and the software to power them all.
  • Charlotte, NC:  health care, energy; project managers, business analysts, developers attuned to these industries.
  • St. Louis, MO:  “Wall Street of the Midwest”; financial developers, project managers and .NET/Java developers.
  • Minneapolis, MN:  a cold-weather tech hub for help-desk staff, project managers and developers, in the finance, health care and manufacturing sectors.
  • Denver, CO:  a startup-friendly destination for a plethora of industry verticals.
  • Los Angeles, CA:  Media, entertainment, banking, aerospace and health care.
  • San Francisco, CA:  cloud-focused jobs – consumer apps, analysts and database, .NET and Java developers.

For the full story, go to http://tinyurl.com/afctspk