Copyright © 2007 Quest Software

The Changing Role of SQL Server DBA’s

Bryan Oliver

SQL Server Domain Expert

Quest Software

The Changing Role of SQL Server DBA’s

• Our Role in Perspective

• How we see us1. Installing SQL Server2. Administering SQL Server3. Backup and Restores4. Making sure SQL Jobs succeed5. Security6. Resolving Issues as the Occur

The Changing Role of SQL Server DBA’s

• How we are seen1. A Cost associated with Maintaining Databases2. The Person to Blame for Slow Performance3. The Person asking for New Hardware4. The Person an Auditor can’t Trust5. The Person who controls the Data

How Software is Changing our Role

• SQL Server Management Studio1. DMV’s in 2005 and 20082. SQL Server 2005 Reports3. Database Engine Tuning Advisor4. SQL Profiler5. Performance Monitor

Third Party Software

• Performance Management• Backup and Recovery• SQL Server Monitoring• Change Management• T-SQL Editors• SQL Tuning• Capacity Management

Operational vs Application DBA’s

• Operational1. SQL Server is Online2. SQL Server is Responisive3. SQL Jobs are Completing4. Disaster Recovery Planning5. Capacity Planning

• Application1. Analyzing Performance issues at Server Level2. Analyzing Performance issues at Database Level3. Analyzing Performance issues at T-SQL Level4. Consolidation of Servers5. Virtualization of Servers

The New View from Management

• DBA’s are needed to make sure servers and databases are running at optimum

• They save the company money by finding the real issue behind performance issues.

• They have critical databases restored in a timely manner meaning less disruption to services

• The are responding and fixing issues before we are even aware of them

• They have improved there reporting a 1000% making it easier for me to justify them

• Manage by policies• Monitor with insight• Manage across the

enterprise

ConfigureConfigure

ScaleScale

MonitorMonitor

ReportReport

TroubleshootTroubleshoot

TuneTune

AuditAudit

• Performance data collection– OS perf indicators– Performance data– Extensible collection

• Central repository– Consolidate information– Open interface

• Management reports– Canned reports– Extensible

Management Management Data Data

WarehouseWarehouse

Management StudioManagement StudioData CollectionData Collection

TargetTargetDataData

CollectorCollector CollectionCollectionSetsSets

CollectionCollectionSetsSets

Data CollectionData CollectionConfigurationConfiguration

Collection Set Collection Set ReportsReports

• Use standard reports– For user databases– For data collector

• Disk usage• Query statistics• Server activity

• Build custom reports

• Performance Reports

• Database Engine Tuning Advisor

• SQL Server Profiler

• Best Practices Policies

• Best Practices Analyzer

Our Oracle Counterparts

• Why are they paid more ?• What do they do differently ?• How are they perceived by management ?• Do they have more respect than us ?• What software do they use ?• Why are they seen as more productive ?

Where to from Here

• Look at what others have done• Attend webcast regularly• Visit SQL Community web sites• Develop a plan of action to upgrade you skill sets• Provide reports to management

How does Quest Help the DBA

• Our Products• Our Experts• Our Community Involvement

Foglight Database Cartridge for SQL Server

24 x 7 Database Monitoring

Customizable rules, alerts, and actions

Real-time views

Correlate database, application and OS metrics

Web-based operational interface

Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise

Real time performance diagnostics

Topological view of SQL Server environment

Intuitive UI

Point and click resolutions

OS and Database drilldowns

Performance Analysis for SQL Server

Historical Performance Analysis and Trending

Dimensional Analysis

Integrated Reporting

Lightweight Stealth Collect Agent

Capacity Manager for SQL Server

Collects performance and fragmentation metrics

Forecasts all metrics for improved capacity planning

Storage analysis and trending at the group,

instance, database, and object level

SQL Optimizer for SQL Server

Industry leading tuning algorithms provide improved

query performance

Programmatically create and test alternative SQL

statements

LiteSpeed for SQL Server

Industry standard backup and recovery tool

90% compressed backup files and 70% faster backup

and restore operations

Object Level Recovery

Integrated Reporting

Toad for SQL Server

Leading application for database

administration and development

Integrated query tuning

Database modeling and reporting

Version control integration and project

management

Benchmark Factory for Databases

Database load testing tool

Simulates real workload or industry

standard benchmarks

Goal tests to find “breaking point”

Integrated reporting

Change Director for SQL Server

Framework for managing chages to a SQL Server

environment

Provides real-time and scheduled alerting of changes

Central repository for managing database schema’s and change

projects

Integrated impact analysis

Resources

• Check out these top sitesquest-sql-server.inside.quest.comwww.sqlserverpedia.comwww.SQL-Server-Performance.com

• Microsoft Information on SQL 2008 http://blogs.technet.com/trm/archive/2008/03/02/march-2008-technical-rollup-mail-sql.aspxhttp://blogs.technet.com/dataplatforminsider/archive/2008/01/25/microsoft-sql-server-2008-roadmap-clarification.aspxhttp://blogs.technet.com/andrew/archive/2008/02/20/sql-server-2008-ctp6-now-available.aspx

Call to Action – Next Steps

• Benchmark the performance of your SQL Servers• Investigate the standard tools available in 2005• Take a test drive of 2008 so you know what is coming• Document what you do at your company• Investigate third party tools• Be PRO-ACTIVE now is the time• Collect Data so that you can be knowledgeable about

the servers you look after

Q & A

• Send questions to me at: bryan.oliver@quest.com • Send broader technical questions to: info@quest.com• Send sales questions to : sales@quest.com

THANK YOU!