October 2020 – Curious..about data

This month’s TSQL2sday is hosted by one of my favorite presenters, Rob Volk. His challenge for us is to use analogies and explain a database concept like you would to a five year old. I love this idea..because so many of us techies have challenges with getting down-to-earth and simple when it comes to explaining things. We often assume other people are at the same level as we are.
I have many examples but the first one that came to mind to me, was a question my Dad asked me many years ago. He was sitting next to me while I was at work, and saw me get to my work using multiple passwords – first, unlocking the laptop. Then logging in to work on vpn. Then, logging in to the sql server I had to be on. His question was – why do you need so many, isn’t one enough?
I had to explain this using the example of security he had at home, where he lived. His bedroom has a lock.It is to ensure his privacy, and he keeps documents and various things there that he does not want everyone in the house to have access to. The house has a lock…for obvious reasons, of course. We don’t want any burglary or any strangers entering it easily. The community he lives in is a gated community, with a security guard at the gate. Only residents or their authorized guests can enter. Again, for obvious reasons..they don’t want strangers or loiterers in there. Why are so many layers necessary?
Each layer has its own vulnerabilites. There are people within the community who may be security risks. I can have things on my laptop that are personal and I don’t want to get in to work directly without an additional layer that protects the work environment from any accidental breaches I may have. There are people in house who may be guests or other friends and he may not want them to look at all the stuff in his room. I certainly don’t want everyone at work to have access to what I have, as a DBA, that can cause considerable damage. The individual strengths of each layer also cover any gaps that other defenses may have. The fewer the number of people who have access the more secure whatever it is you are securing may be.

Thank you Rob, for hosting.

There is no doubt that this is a time when we all have to be extra aware and work towards keeping our skills aligned with market needs. During this time of great crisis, the last thing we want is to lose our jobs or not have the skills necessary to land a new one. Multiple articles and research studies have been done on growing demand for cloud computing skills. Azure is undoubtedly among the fastest growing platforms for cloud – as this article from Dice.com says having Azure skills increases your potential to be marketable significantly.
Learning can be drudgery, it can also be fun. One of the fun ways to learn Azure is to take part in Azure SQL Championship – a joint attempt by Microsoft and PASS to promote Azure learning. From October 12-30, there will be daily quizzes/simple challenges to solve. If you do it right you have a chance to win some fabulous prizes as below:

GRAND PRIZE

Admission to PASS Summit Conference 2020.
Admission to PASS Summit Conference 2021 (3 days). Plus up to $3k for travel, accommodation + expenses.

SECOND PRIZE

PASS Summit 2021 Speaking Session.

THIRD PRIZE

A Raspberry Pi Kit, Azure SQL Revealed e-book, Azure branded items.

This is a great opportunity to get some skills in and also participate in a community event. Please consider doing it!! Will be blogging/share more in the days to come. Thanks for reading.