Tag Archives: Form

How to handle a Database creation request

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If you are working as a DBA you may find that developers will ask you to create a database having given little thought to what the database will be used for or the impact the database could have to the resources or security of the hosting environment.

If you find yourself in that situation I would suggest you walk the requester through the questionnaire from the previous article “How to determine where a new database should be deployed“.

Once you have completed that process I would then suggest that an official request to deploy a new database be made using the DATABASE REQUEST FORM provided here link. If you have a change request process I would still suggest you use this form. Having a database specific request form covers more relevant and vital information.

This is a fairly high level request form with most of the technical details still to be defined by the DBA but it provides documentation of the request and states the requester’s initial expectations and requirements.

Following the database deployment if the actual footprint of the database does not match up with what was agreed the form will confirm if the requested resources were under specced or misleading.

The form is outlined as below.

DATABASE REQUEST FORM image

Some important points the form clarifies:

There’s a difference between requester and owner. If the database runs into any problems you don’t want to be contacting the temporary intern that requested it instead of say the department head.

The application the database supports. Most of the time the database name will have some tie-in to the application name but maybe it does not. For instance the database could be named something generic like Reporting which could be the back end for really anything.

The form asks the requester to prepare a profile for the database. I could have named this section “who is your daddy and what does he do?”. If the requester states they are looking for a OLAP reporting database but operationally it’s running as a OLTP transactional database, that could make a big difference in terms of the resources provided for the database and underlying hardware.

Possibly most importantly the form helps to establish the likely impact of the new database with the Resource Impact Estimation section. For example if a requester asks for 10 Gb of space and states they expect space usage to increase by 5 Gb a year but the disk has lost a terabyte in the first few months the form will clarify who got their numbers wrong.

The user and groups section will clarify who should have access to the database. Effectively everything related to data and data access should be okayed by a compliance officer to confirm everything is GDPR compliant. This form will assist the compliance officer in establishing that.

The Business continuity & Upkeep section is really the domain of the DBA but it helps to get requester input on these matters. For instance establishing maintenance windows.

If you have any additional questions you feel should be on the form please feel free to contact me and I’ll add them.

How to determine where a new database should be deployed

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Below I’ve listed 22 questions to consider when deciding where a new SQL Server database should be deployed given the four main options of:

  1. Add Database to existing Instance
  2. Create separate Instance for Database
  3. Create separate VM for Instance and Database
  4. New physical machine needed

There’s no hard and fast rule for determining where a database should go however there are often a lot of limitations dictating your choices. I’ve started the list with a big limitation, money.

If you want to use the list like a score card I’ve prepared one called “New Database Hosting Environment Assessment Form”, I know not the snappiest of titles.

New Database Hosting Environment Assessment Form

Use: I’d recommend stepping through the questions with the requester while gathering feedback. You can then fill in the option scoring with weighted figures or simply use the boxes to record notes. The main deliverable of the form is you will have some documentation that demonstrates the location for the database was assessed and the logic and reasoning for the location chosen has been recorded.

Of course consider adding additional questions relevant to your case to the form. If you think your additional questions would be relevant to everyone deploying a new database free to forward your questions on to me and I’ll include them in the form.

The form can be downloaded here link.

Question 1: Can the business afford a new physical machine?

Considerations: If the financial resources are not available option four
can be eliminated.

Question 2: Are there OS or SQL Server Licensing restrictions?

Considerations: If there are no restrictions to a new VM with it’s own instance this will likely offer the most scalable solution and produce the best performance. If restrictions exist options are limited to 1 & 2.

Question 3: Is the Database the back end for a stand-alone application?

Considerations: The back end for a stand-alone application should be isolated as much as possible from other impacting factors. The higher the number of the option chosen the better.

Question 4: What is the primary purpose of the Database?

Considerations: What is the business use\s and in what capacity will the database function i.e. Transactional Db, Reporting Db, Datastore?

Question 5: Do you want\need to be able to limit access to hardware resources?

Considerations: Access to resources, ram etc. can only be limited at an instance level. Option 1 cannot be used.

Question 6: Are there any SQL Server Service Pack dependencies?

Considerations: SQL Server can have different SPs on different instances but cannot have different SPs for different databases within an instance.

Question 7: What is the current excess capacity of the hardware?

Considerations: Can the Hardware handle the additional workload? If not either reduce resource consumption of resources on the hardware, add RAM and/or cores or choose option 4.

Question 8: Is there a VM capacity restraint on the hardware?

Considerations: Can the hardware actually host a new VM without a trade off in resources or a decrease in performance? If restrained option 3 cannot be used.

Question 9: What is the VM capacity?

Considerations: Is the OS already maxed out on resources? Can the VM handle the additional workload?

Question 10: Is there an expected increase in size and usage in the Database over time?

Considerations: If known and minimal option 1 can be used. If unknown or unlimited the higher the number of the option chosen the better.

Question 11: Is the resource usage of the new Database known?

Considerations: Benchmarking RAM, CPU and bandwidth usage should be carried out prior to installation.

Question 12: What are the disaster recovery requirements?

Considerations: Should the databases that share common dependencies be hosted on
the same server?

Question 13: What is the required operational up time? 24/7 etc.

Considerations: Does this operational run time tie in with the rest of the databases
on the instance, or the instances hosted on a VM or physical server?

Question 14: What are the Maintenance requirements?

Considerations: Will new index rebuilds etc. take a long time and effect the schedule of the instance overall?

Question 15: What are the Backup requirements?

Considerations: Will the backup schedule of the other databases be impacted
by the addition?

Question 16: Is the Database functionally similar or supporting databases currently on the instance?

Considerations: Does the new Database logically fit in with the database/s currently running on an instance?

Question 17: Have server security concerns been addressed?

Considerations: Will people with administrative access to the server have access to a Database and data they should not be able to see?

Question 18: Does hosting particular databases together compound the potential
damage If an unauthorised person was to gain access to the server?

Considerations: Will an unauthorised person have access to data that represents a major security breach if the data is combined from different databases?

Question 19: Does a vendor have control over the instance or server?

Considerations: Will putting a Database on a particular instance leave you at the mercy of a vendor?

Question 20: Will stacking instances make tracking down performance issues across
the VM difficult?

Considerations: Will this create a server level noisy neighbour problem?

Question 21: Will packing databases too densely make tracking down performance issues across the Instance difficult?

Considerations: Will this create an instance level noisy neighbour problem?

Question 22: Will moving the Database to be hosted somewhere else in the
future be possible?

Considerations: Does this decision need to be gotten right the first time?