Why SQL Server DBAs need to be aware about Big Data

As the flow of information across the world increases

by leaps and bounds, the amount of data entering the repositories of enterprises is growing at an astronomical rates. The volume of data is reaching into terabytes and analyzing the data is the domain of big data analytics. Now if you happen to be a DBA, it is quite critical for you to know how Big Data is going to come into play. To start with, you can rest assured that Big Data systems are unlikely to replace your trusted RDBMS i.e. SQL Server, however you need to know how these systems can liaise in an effectual manner. 

Characteristics of Big Data

At the very outset you need to be aware of the key characteristics of Big Data. It is all about volumes and it can go to nearly any extent. When you are looking to analyze Big Data, you are looking at extremely large amount of data that also shows great speed. In many big data applications, the data received is time sensitive and needs to be accessed on fly. Besides volume and speed, Big Data is marked by its extensive variety. It can encompass tweets to user generated pictures and videos to machine based sensor information. 

SQL Server allows you to join up with non relational Big Data

In its latest iterations, 2012 and beyond, SQL Server allows you to link non relational data with the help of its Parallel Data Warehouse (PDW). This essentially allows you to negotiate non relational data in an effective manner and include the same in your data warehousing activities. The kind of data it can handle range from humungous amounts of real time social content to sensor information or ubiquitous web records(logs). It can even deal with exceptionally complex technologies like Hadoop and can lay the grounds of interface between the relational data and a typical Hadoop cluster. 

The SQL Server PDW advantage

With the SQL Server PDW solution you can look to achieve exceptional performance improvements, which can reach a factor of hundred when compared to legacy querying systems. Further you can find significant improvements in the data compression rates and experience superior data loading rates. Due to its optimal scalability and performance parameters, it can help you save on hardware costs and give you the option to expand, if needed, in a modular manner. Most importantly during the whole implementation process you can always receive consultation advice from the software behemoth Microsoft.

Avoid Data Loss with a Proficient sql recovery tool

If you are looking to ensure all your data repositories are properly factored in whenever you mine for insights, you need to put in place measures that avoid accidental data loss. SQL Server files have a tendency to get corrupted and thus a powerful recovery tool like DataNumen SQL Recovery should be kept handy. This intelligent application can help you extract your valued data from extremely large SQL files that may have got compromised, irrespective of their storage media.

Author Introduction:

Alan Chen is President & Chairman of DataNumen, Inc., which is the world leader in data recovery technologies, including access recovery and sql recovery software products. For more information visit http://www.datanumen.com/

Rolling Out a Disaster Recovery Plan – A Primer

The idea that a disaster may strike you is often

very distant in our minds. Typically we think of terrible incidents like earthquake, flood or fire when the word disaster comes into our mind; but when it comes to computer data, even a power outage can lead to a disaster scenario. Now if your company is running SQL Server database instances, then your disaster planning should cover the entire gamut of possibilities that may arise, from natural disasters to even computer viruses crashing your servers. The first step for rolling out a disaster recovery plan begins with estimating the various scenarios and creating a formidable failsafe plan to deal with the situations. Also you need to understand that in case of enterprises the disaster recovery plan for your SQL Server should sync with the overall disaster recovery plans of the organization. Let’s look at some of the key aspects you need to keep in mind while rolling out a recovery plan.        

Clearly Spell Out the Recovery Plan

At the very start you need to coordinate with all stakeholders and understand the availability requirements for your data and systems. Based on the information you need to clearly spell out the recovery plan, coordinate with different departments and allocate manpower. Moreover you need to plan out the hardware resources that would be needed to implement the disaster recovery plan along with the secondary procedures that are going to come in place.

Invest in systems and relevant hardware

For ensuring complete protection against the whole range of scenarios that can crop up, you need to invest in a plethora of systems. Ensure that you have RAID 10 or above standards implemented besides going in for an offsite cloud based backup facility. Consider creating a separate mirror data center at a different geographical location and invest in creating redundancy. Moreover test restore runs need to be made and thus a dedicated test server for mounting restored data should be in place.

Allocate roles and responsibilities

In a disaster scenario, you need to clearly formulate the roles and responsibilities. Further backup resources for each function needs to be in place. For example you can have a SQL developer trained in restoring a SQL database from tape drive under a contingency scenario. In case you are looking at a 24/7 availability scenarios, you need to ensure that operations shift to a hardened facility when a disaster strikes and data in that facility can be accessed through remote applications.

Consider SQL Data Corruption while planning for data recovery

In any scenario where you are looking at restoring a SQL database from a backup, the possibility of the backup files itself getting corrupted may still exist. In such a scenario the availability of a sql recovery tool like DataNumen SQL Recovery can work as a lifesaver. Irrespective of where you have kept your backup, in an optical drive or a flash media disk, this powerful tool will bring back your lost data in most scenarios.

Author Introduction:

Alan Chen is President & Chairman of DataNumen, Inc., which is the world leader in data recovery technologies, including access recovery and sql recovery software products. For more information visit http://www.datanumen.com/