Re: asm on san

From: joel garry <joel-garry_at_home.com>
Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2008 17:36:14 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <41f1e393-1295-4caf-bffd-ef2e42e0223d@r10g2000prf.googlegroups.com>


On Dec 15, 12:46 pm, DA Morgan <damor..._at_psoug.org> wrote:
> Palooka wrote:
> > joel garry wrote:
> >> I'm under the impression spindles=performance.
>
> > I think Michael Austin is right. We are just consumers of the SAN
> > service. These days, we can no longer think in terms of spindles - too
> > much is abstracted and virtualised.
>
> > Just my 2c.
>
> > Palooka
>
> To consider yourselves consumers of the SAN service is the same as
> considering yourself a consumer of the network service or the
> electricity service. As the customer you have both the right and
> the responsibility to write an SLA with those that provide it.

Say what? The provider of my electricity service (at home) tried to specifically state they don't have to provide service - it's actually quite a controversy just now, water service (including for firefighting) and medical users sued ( http://ww.uniontrib.com/uniontrib/20081003/news_1n3sdge.html http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20081029/news_1n29power.html ). Right on my electric bill it says I'm in special place with regards to service cuts (because there used to be an old people's home next door), that may change without notice. As the customer we have little right but to complain to the PUC and sue.

Don't get me started on what I've seen from every ISP going back to dedicated phone lines in the early '80's.

The government agencies I've worked for have had agreements to be low man on the totem pole for power service, providing their own power if there is a shortage. Some of the worst screwups I've seen anywhere have come from that. Including one _very_ loud explosion.

>
> If your idea of an SLA is to laydown in the middle of the street
> and be run over that's what you get. I think you will find that
> the customers of your company's ERP system has taken a very
> different approach to the issue and so should all DBAs.

The customers of my companies ERP system wouldn't know a RAID-5 from an ICE raid. (just went through a painful inventory count of a newly aquired subsidiary where people had really strange ideas - I would be wearing the tragedy mask if I didn't wear the comedy mask). Management are no wussies here, but the reality is it is an assymetrical war between consumers and service providers. Not entirely sure what you are saying a DBA should do. I'm glad performance problems are rare. I certainly haven't seen overpayment for anything besides Oracle licensing, the percentage of revenue outlay for technology here is less than half of most similar places (partly because so many similar places declare systems stable then overpay for new, as opposed to smoothly evolving). Even if I don't agree on specifics, I have to admire that, and that they will at least listen before rejecting my advice, and that for RAID-5, at least, they were right and you and baarf and I were wrong.

I've been in large and small places. There are significant differences in how you run the technology for startups, $5M, $50M, $500M, $5B and gummint size companies.

jg

--
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Received on Mon Dec 15 2008 - 19:36:14 CST

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