ME Trial 13 – Last one!! Work like a DBA.

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A quick glance behind, and ahead

It’s the final email of yourMinion Enterprise trial information series!

So last time, we introduced the AD Group Members module, and the Login Access Method Audit utility.

This time we’re actually not going to look at a specific module. Today, we’re just going to talk a bit.

“Work like a DBA”

We’ve chosen “Work like a DBA” as the main slogan for Minion Enterprise…though believe me, we still come up with new slogans on a regular basis, from the sublime to the ridiculous. So why “Work like a DBA”?

First: code. Database administrators, by and large, work in code – not in a GUI. We know that code is something you can save, test, streamline, automate, repeat. You can show the boss the code you ran, thus proving it wasn’t you who dropped that table, whereas Pat over there can’t prove the same, because Pat uses the GUI. Even more, the GUI is slow. (“Click, click, click, click, click, click, click…sigh…click, click, click…”) It’s non-saveable. It’s non-testable, non-streamlineable…you get the idea. So to work like a DBA, we think, is to work in the code.

Second: SBAS. DBAs also understand the idea of RBAR: Row By Agonizing Row. Here at MinionWare, we’ve expanded that idea to SBAS: Server By Agonizing Server. Sure, Microsoft has attempted to ease the headache of managing servers one-by-one-by-one, but they haven’t done a really comprehensive job. With ME, you can standardize backups and maintenance from a central location (using Minion Backup and Minion Reindex – and soon, Minion CheckDB). You can standardize sp_configure settings. You can audit and clone logins. And, so much more.  MinionWare has created the set-based enterprise, because being a DBA should not mean “hours and hours of busy work, server by agonizing server”.

Third: Know thy system. Minion Enterprise collects data using SQL Server jobs. It runs SQL stored procedures to accomplish most tasks. It provides SQL Server Reporting Services reports. Data is stored in tables, not flat files. We have the unique opportunity to provide a force multiplier to technologists, using the exact technology that they already work with. Mange SQL with SQL. Why not?

That last point means that all the mechanisms that the system uses are already familiar to you. It means that the data you need isn’t hidden behind some .NET front end; it’s all there, waiting for you to query it any which way you want. Need an alert based on log file sizes? Go for it. Want to search all your error logs for a particular trace flag? Sure. Almost anything you can think of, you can do, because the data is there.

So, go wild. Minion Enterprise makes your enterprise into your enterprise, whether you have 2 instances or 20,000. And if you run into a snag, seriously: write us. We simply love hearing about how people are using the product, what else you want in it, what wild edge cases you run into.

And, you know. Work like a DBA.

Write to us at MinionWareSales@MidnightDBA.com for a demo and a quote. Write to us at https://minionware.desk.com/ for help and suggestions. Write to us wherever you can find us!