DBTA E-EDITION
October 2016
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Trends and Applications
Big Data Means Big Transformation
Almost all database workloads are now (or eventually will be) virtualized. High availability (HA) clusters using virtual servers provide the application protection needed to satisfy even the most demanding service-level agreements (SLAs). Configuring the shared storage needed for HA in VMware can present challenges to creating these clusters and therefore satisfying SLAs.
Internet of Things (IoT) devices are revolutionizing the way we share data and carry a huge charter to improve our banking, shopping, transportation, patient, and individual care and safety, to name a just a few. The mission is admirable, but with thousands of devices flooding the market, the lack of standards and multitude of security deficiencies are creating an on-ramp to corporate, government, and private networks that is wide open to cyberattacks.
There is a tug-of-war of sorts going on in organizations today. On one hand, there is pressure on IT staff to maintain systems' uptime and availability along with a growing focus on data security, while dealing with the multitude of maintenance-level tasks, such as applying upgrades, fixes, and patches. But on the other hand, there is a growing requirement for IT to support the business as it seeks to use data in new ways for strategic benefit.
Cyberattacks happen. How can you recover quickly? If you are in IT management, everywhere you turn, you see warnings of malicious forces working diligently with the one aim of compromising your security and eating your data for lunch. It's not a question of if anymore but rather of when. Many times, the cybersecurity tools will not prevent the break-in, but only alert you of the compromise.
Columns - Big Data Notes
For many years now, Cassandra has been renowned for its ability to handle massive scaling and global availability. Based on Amazon's Dynamo, Cassandra implements a masterless architecture which allows database transactions to continue even when the database is subjected to massive network or data center disruption. Even in the circumstance in which two geographically separate data centers are completely isolated through a network outage, a Cassandra database may continue to operate in both geographies, reconciling conflicting transactions—albeit possibly imperfectly—when the outage is resolved.
Columns - Database Elaborations
One symptom of an organization in the middle of a knowledge vacuum is evidenced by SQL that often includes what appears to be extravagant usage of the GROUP BY clause. Writing GROUP BYs here, there, and everywhere becomes a little SQL development dance step, a jitterbug to bypass the issue—moving but not really getting anywhere. Why do these kinds of circumstances exist? Well, maybe the only expert on the involved system has retired and no one else has picked up the torch, so no one is willing to touch the code.
Columns - DBA Corner
Typically, most applications consist of both batch and online workloads. This is true even today, when most of our attention has turned to online and web-based interaction. Sure, online activities are the most obvious, in-your-face component of countless applications, but batch processing still drives many actions behind the scenes. This can include applying updates, processing reports, integrating input from multiple sources and locations, data extraction, database utility processing, and more.
Columns - Quest IOUG Database & Technology Insights
From an operational standpoint, there is the never-ending push to ensure environments are upgraded to supported releases, and then patches must be applied on a regular basis. From a project perspective, expectations are that new technologies will solve problems in organizations that are rooted in poor processes. There comes a point when we can become change-fatigued.
Columns - SQL Server Drill Down
SQL Server Adds Even More New Features in Data Science
Columns - Next-Gen Data Management
As technology professionals, one of the most important aspects of our jobs is to advise our organizations on the use of new technologies. However, the challenge is identifying the right technologies. This revolves around three very specific risks.
MV Community
Entrinsik is gearing up for its annual ICON conference where hundreds of Informer users will gather together to learn more about the latest update to the Informer platform. ICON 2017 will take place in Raleigh, North Carolina from April 26 to 28, 2017, and will feature breakout sessions with members of the Informer product development team, panel discussions on best practices and methodologies, training sessions, round table discussions specific to different industries, Entrinsik Enrole sessions dedicated to Enrole training, and more.
The Furniture Retail Operations Group's KISS system is a fully integrated point-of-sale solution for Windows built by experts in furniture operations to make companies more efficient in how they operate. In order to get the most out of this system, fix problems, and create new solutions and projects, the company uses Revelation Software's OpenInsight solution.
After releasing Kourier Integrator 4.3, Kore has been gathering feedback from customers to prepare for future updates and gauge users' needs. "The rollout has been going great and customers are liking it," said Mark Dobransky, co-founder and managing partner.