Biographical Information
Craig S. Mullins
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Craig S. Mullins is president and principal consultant with Mullins Consulting, Inc. He has over two decades of experience in all facets of data management and database systems development. Mullins is the author of two books: DB2 Developer's Guide and Database Administration: The Complete Guide to Practices & Procedures. Mullins is also an IBM Data Champion and a member of the IDUG Volunteer Hall of Fame. You can reach him via his website at www.CraigSMullins.com.
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Articles By Craig S. Mullins
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The economy is a wreck and things will likely get worse before they improve. Unemployment is even worse; almost 600,000 jobs were lost in January 2009, sending the unemployment rate to 7.6%, the highest it has been in 16 years. So many data professionals are out there looking for their next challenge … and more probably will be job hunting before the year is out.
Although the most important aspect of DBA tool selection is functionality and the way it satisfies your needs, the stability of the vendor that provides the product is also important
Have you noticed that dynamic SQL is more popular today than ever before? There are a number of factors contributing to the success of dynamic SQL. Commercial off-the-shelf applications, such as SAP, Siebel, and PeopleSoft, utilize dynamic SQL exclusively. In many cases, too, dynamic SQL is the default choice for in-house application development.
As the U.S. markets strive for a recovery in 2009, many IT managers are cringing at the thought of managing their data through what may be a record year of mergers and acquisitions. Managing an ever-increasing mountain of data is not a simple task in the best of times, but doing so while combining formerly separate entities during an economic slowdown can be a monumental challenge.
Protecting the data in our enterprise databases is extremely important. But what exactly does that mean? Oh, at one level we have the database authorization and roles built directly into the DBMS products. You know what I'm talking about: GRANT and REVOKE statements that can be used to authorize access to database objects, resources and statements. Many organizations have adopted policies and products to migrate this type of security out of the DBMS and into their operating system security software.
Before we even begin this month's column I had better define what I mean by a "black box." Simply put, a black box is a database access program that sits in-between your application programs and the DBMS. It is designed so that all application programs call the black box for data instead of writing SQL statements that are embedded into a program. The general idea behind such a contraption is that it will simplify application development because programmers will not need to know how to write SQL. Instead, programmers call the black box to request data. SQL statements become calls-and every programmer knows how to code a call, right?
The optimizer is the heart and soul of a relational DBMS. It analyzes SQL statements and determines the most efficient access plan for satisfying each statement. The optimizer accomplishes this by parsing the SQL statement to determine which tables and columns must be accessed. It then queries system information and statistics stored in the system catalog and directory to determine the best method of accomplishing the tasks necessary to satisfy the request.
Staffing the DBA organization is not a simple matter. Several non trivial considerations must be addressed, including the size of the DBA staff and the reporting structure for the DBAs.
As per my regular custom, this final column of the year will take a look back at the most significant data and database-related events of the year.
As the U.S. markets strive for a recovery in 2009, many IT managers are cringing at the thought of managing their data through what may be a record year of mergers and acquisitions.
Have you heard about stream computing? Basically, it involves the ingestion of data - structured or unstructured - from arbitrary sources and the processing of it without necessarily persisting it. Any digitized data is fair game for stream computing. As the data streams it is analyzed and processed in a problem-specific manner. The "sweet spot" applications for stream computing are situations in which devices produce large amounts of instrumentation data on a regular basis. The data is difficult for humans to interpret easily and is likely to be too voluminous to be stored in a database somewhere. Examples of types of data that are well-suited for stream computing include healthcare, weather, telephony, stock trades, and so on.
As you work to protect your data in this day-and-age of data breaches and regulatory compliance, technology and software solutions to data and database security spring to the top of most people's minds. This is to be expected because, after all, most of our data is stored on computers so technology and software are required to protect the data from unauthorized access. This is a good thing: Technology is a crucial component of protecting your valuable business data. But it is not the only thing.
The continuing acceptance and growing usage of Linux as an enterprise computing platform has enlivened the open source community. The term "open source" refers to software that users are free to run, copy, distribute, study, change, and improve. Often "open source" gets misinterpreted to mean free software. This is understandable, but the open source concept of free is closer to liberty than it is to no charge.
What is the most difficult thing about acquiring enterprise software? If you are like most IT technicians, your first inclination was probably something related to cost justification. Let's face it, enterprise software typically is very expensive ... and eventually, something will need to bring costs more in line with value.
In this issue's column I'll be providing a fundamental introduction to database and database management concepts. Many of you may think that they understand the basic concepts and fundamentals of database technology. But quite a few of you likely do not, so please do not skip over this. First of all, what is a database? DB2 is not a database; neither are Informix, Oracle and SQL Server. Each of these is a DBMS, or Database Management System. You can use DB2 (or Informix or SQL Server) to create a database, but DB2, in and of itself, is not a database.
Before we go any further, let me briefly answer the question posed in this column's title: "No Way!" OK ... with that out of the way, let's discuss the issue ... Every so often, some industry pundit gets his opinions published by declaring that "Database administrators are obsolete" or that "we no longer need DBAs." Every time I hear this, it makes me shake my head sadly as I regard just how gullible IT publications can be.
How many times have you been surfing the web only to encounter a form that requests a slew of personal information before you can continue on? You know what I'm talking about. A company markets a white paper or poll results or something else that intrigues you, so you click on the link, and bang, there you are. You don't have the information you wanted yet, but if you just fill out this form then you'll be redirected to the information.
As my regular readers know, I am an avid reader, especially of technology books. And every now and then I review some of the more interesting database-related books in the DBA Corner column.
If you use an IBM z Series mainframe you've undoubtedly heard about zIIPs and zAAPs and other specialty processors. But maybe you haven't yet truly examined what they are, what they do, and why they exist. So, with that in mind, let's take a brief journey into the world of specialty processors.
Have you ever read those inserts that your bank, credit card providers, insurance company, mutual fund company, and others slip inside your statements and bills? We all get them. You know, those flimsy pieces of paper, printed in small type and written in convoluted English. I have started collecting them - sort of like baseball cards. But I doubt they'll ever be valuable. They are entertaining, though ... and disheartening.
My whole career has been based on managing data and producing information and, as such, I am intrigued with the issue of information overload - or the perception that there is too much information. A former boss called me an information bottom-feeder because I always seemed to have a nugget of information or two that applied to her projects and quests. You see, I'm of the opinion that you can never have enough information - at least regarding those things you care about.
As per my regular custom, this final DBA Corner column of the year is a review of the most significant data and database-related events of the year. Of course, to meet my deadlines, it is October 2009 as I write this, so please excuse any significant news that may have happened late in the year!