Database technology and server architecture have come a very long way in a short time, and its growth and evolution show no signs of slowing. As the number of database instances operated by practically every business continues to expand at unprecedented rates, more and more organisations are looking to scalability to help their systems to adapt and expand in line with database growth.
But, whether you yourself are new to the idea of database and server scalability or you’re facing opposition trying to convince others that your business’s systems need investment, there can be some myths and hurdles standing between you and true scalability.
Here, we’ll explore and debunk some of the biggest myths in scalability:
More Instances Means Spiralling Costs
Not true.
In fact, by making use of specifically designed tools you’ll likely be able to keep an even closer eye on your software licensing and keep other costs down too.
Particularly when it comes to working with Oracle, many DBAs are often caught out by licensing rules and inadvertent costs. This problem arises because Oracle provides its full suite of services to all of its customers regardless of their licence type and then charges extra fees if a business makes use of a service that it hasn’t been licensed for. Some database tools, such as those from dbWatch can help to solve this problem by providing full reports about which Oracle services you are using at any given time.
You can read more about how dbWatch can help you to keep on top of Oracle licence costs specifically here - optimising Oracle and SQL server license cost with dbWatch
Tools can also be used to actively monitor your database servers, showing you when idle systems can be taken offline to save money or giving you an accurate idea of the virtualised or cloud resources that you really need.
Tools Capable Of Managing Large Server Clusters Are Hard To Use
Many DBAs are unduly worried about an expanding scalable server farm, fearing that the suite of new tools that they’ll need to learn will be slow, poorly designed, and could struggle to keep up.
In fact, many of the tools made available for managing large scalable systems have been designed with ease of use and speed in mind. Because IT teams working in large businesses often need quick and reliable access to their systems, tools have been made to be as practical and all-encompassing as possible. Many of the tools on offer are capable of managing every one of a business’s server instances within just one tool, further streamlining the process.
Regardless of the size or setup of database server systems, modern database tools like dbWatch’s can cope. Our solution, in particular, can handle thousands of instances at once and work with multiple platforms and versions too, cutting out the need for DBAs to adopt multiple tools or put up with a slow and complicated workflow.
More Servers Means More Manual Work
Not necessarily.
It’s easy to see why increasing the number of servers and instances could lead to more work for DBAs, but this isn’t always the case.
With the help of database monitoring tools specifically designed to work with scalable systems, much of the day-to-day manual work can be automated. From report production to server health checks and maintenance, a lot of work can be automated by the right tools.
Even better, by using one tool that works with all of your servers and instances, you can cut down on the time spent simply clicking through tools and getting systems in place - further speeding up a DBAs workflow.
