The sort buffer, which is controlled by the sort_buffer_size setting, is probably one of the most-discussed MySQL settings. Interestingly, in many cases it has a lot less potential to help…
Mastering the Sort Buffer and sort_buffer_size
Are You Getting Full Benefit of your IT Monitoring Tools?
I think we’ve all had that moment at 3:00 a.m. over the weekend when we wish our monitoring and management systems would just shut up. The UPS in rack 4’s battery life is at 40%, we GET it. But we’ve also had that moment when we tilt our head a bit looking at a monthly availability report with service gaps and can’t recall ever seeing a critical alert that telepresence went down on the executive wing.
Troubleshooting SQL Server, Part 1 : Do You Use These Shortcuts?
In the popular white paper entitled Troubleshooting SQL Server Wait Statistics, I take you through three scenarios in which a wait stats-only approach is insufficient or even harmful to detecting, diagnosing,…
Using VSAN to Maximize Database Performance
Earlier this year I had the opportunity to speak at VMWorld in San Francisco. The session title was “Using Virtual SAN to Maximize Database Performance”, and in that session I spent time focusing on performance as well as recovery. Why would recovery be a part of the talk? Because:
Selecting Queries for Optimization
Query optimization can feel like an overwhelming task. Where to start? In this blog post, we’ll discuss how to select which queries you really should optimize. This is a step…
Learning to Pivot
The role of information technology inside of corporations is not new; it has existed for decades. With each passing year we see acceleration in the speed and complexity of changes to our roles as IT professionals.
Brainiac Corner with Ryn Daniels
Ryn Daniels is an operations engineer at Etsy who got her start in programming with TI-80 calculators back when Geocities was still cool, and these days has opinions on things like…
Playing Operation with Systems
We live in a hectic world of day-to-day operations and aggressive business requirements that must be facilitated and made possible by IT — often in a vacuum. And we do…
Four Ways Your Network Could Change in Four Years
While network administrators are used to keeping the lights on, the time is approaching for a major change in the way networks look and run.
Why You Still Need Network Alerts
Retracing an intractable alert hairball today, I’m reminded of how critical, and often critically broken, alerting actually is in many environments. You can be a department of one with only…