How Much CPU Is Enough?

With the idea that we will be consolidating our servers, squeezing them together in an effort to make more efficient use of resources, it suddenly dawned on me: How much?
Do we want our CPU, for example, at 100% all the time? Logically it would make sense that you would use every last resource in some [...]

User Resynch

Quick question for everyone this week: how do you resynch your users after a database restore?
For same server restores you do not have this issue, but when restoring from prod to test, for example, you will find that the sid’s do not match and thus you either need to resynch the users or to drop/add.
Our [...]

The Story Before the Story

Hollywood has fallen in love with movie prequels. The first one I really remember would have been The Godfather II, which was an amazing film to follow on the heels of the original. And while not quite a prequel, I think it helped to foster the idea that movie stories can move backward in time [...]

Careful What You Go Looking for

…you just may find it.

The Check Is In The Mail

I saw this and I just knew I needed to share it with others. My first thought was that The Bloggess must have had a birthday. My second thought was “crap, i forgot to send her a card”. Then I remembered that Jenny never gave me her address so I have no idea how to [...]

Statistics Versus Common Sense

The question I pose to you this week is quite simple: who do you trust the most when you are given statistics to back up an argument?
Consider the fine example to the left. While technically true, it really is useless, right? You have no other information or details to review. You are simply told that [...]

Really? Because I looked outside my window and don’t see anything yet.

I got this email yesterday and I have to give this spammer credit, they really did make me take notice.

 
 
 
So I looked out the window and did not see anything and then I started to think that maybe if someone did start Armageddon they probably would not bother to send out an email press release. [...]

Why Correct Data Entry Is Important

The question this week has to do with your data entry validation. For most ETL processes there is a lot of effort put into scrubbing of data for various reasons and benefits. So, how and what do you use to scrub your data?
And what about the data that, while technically “fits” into a particular field, [...]

Microsoft Error Messages

This week I am looking for some examples of error messages that you have seen from Microsoft products. SQL error messages would be good, but I am not being picky. The idea is for me to see if I can perform different types of root cause analysis on the error messages so I will also [...]

This Is Not a Joke

No sir, this is serious. But if I may be so bold, could I ask just a handful of questions before I step back in time with you? Thanks.
First, why must I supply my own weapons?
Second, how far back are we going? Because that would be useful to know before picking out what weapons I [...]