Archive for November, 2006

Friday, November 3rd, 2006

SRLNet Has Separation Issues

I recently wrote that I switched all my domains over from SRLNet to Dreamhost.com. I closed the account on 10/11 by jumping through all the hoops to file a ticket on their support system. When I received a bill 11/1, I replied to the automated email, and BANG! Instant response.
The reply was that dreamhost offers [...]

No Comments » - Posted in LAMP, Utilities by Shane

Thursday, November 2nd, 2006

Michael Ault on SQL Tuning

I didn’t get a chance to catch Michael Ault’s presentation at the recent TCOUG, but I heard it was a good talk. Thank you Michael for putting the slides online.

SQL Tuning 101
Development Techniques for Data Warehouses

No Comments » - Posted in Oracle by Shane

Thursday, November 2nd, 2006

Testing Framework for ETL

The holy grail of a former .NET web developer is how to combine the techniques of agile and test-driven development with ETL tools and data volumes. Mark Rittman shows that he is a brother-in-arms with my quest.

No Comments » - Posted in Informatica, Oracle, SQL Server by Shane

Thursday, November 2nd, 2006

Why Do We Use Informatica?

This excellent piece in DMReview deliberates on some criteria for selecting (or justifying) an ETL tool. We are struggling with this right now. Our shop uses a combination of Informatica and SQL Server DTS for our ETL jobs. With Oracle Warehouse Builder 10gR2 and SQL Server Integration Services both released as viable alternatives, we need [...]

1 Comment » - Posted in Informatica, Oracle, SQL Server by Shane

Thursday, November 2nd, 2006

Office Anthropology 101 by Alan Alda

Rule number two of blogging is to title your posts after search terms people might use on Google. I’m sure this title will get a lot of traffic. (Rule number one, by the way, is to write a lot.)
Anyway, Margy Ross and Ralph Kimball write an interesting article about interviewing customers during the analysis [...]

No Comments » - Posted in Uncategorized by Shane

Wednesday, November 1st, 2006

What to do when Excel guesses wrong

So I need to import data from Excel into SQL Server. I whip up a new table, knock out a quick package, run the package, and look at the data. Looks fine, okay. Email the customer so they can look at the table. Two days later I get the email from the customer saying, “How [...]

No Comments » - Posted in SQL Server, SQL Tricks by Shane