Default location for SQL Backups

In an earlier post, I showed how to change the "model" database to have new databases created in the correct location. In tandem with that, I've found out how to change the default backup location. This one is a little easier:

• The setting is contained in the registry on a per-instance basis. First, find the MSSQL.[Number] directory for the instance you are working with. 95% of the time, it will be MSSQL.1
• Open REGEDIT and find the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQLServer
• Change the DefaultBackupLocation key to whatever path you would prefer.

This change effects the wizards related to the maintenance plans and the one-off special backups.

Removing Groove Indentities from a workstation

I've been learning a lot about the Groove software over the last couple of weeks and one of things I've learned is that Microsoft's documentation is HORRIBLE.

I know, that's not very surprising but this has been worse that usual. Even the client-side help documentation is bad and Microsoft does a better job than most at client-facing documenation. From an end-user prespective there is acouple of important items to note

Groove Identities

Groove ties very hard to be network OS neutral so it uses special terminology for itself. Instead of a Groove user account, the logon process is through a Groove identity. These identities are very tightly bound to the management server and have a fairly paranoid built-in security system. Each identity is tightly bound to a workstation and you allow or deny privledges based on that identity. The logon process is sepereate from any other logon process and the username and password are unique.

Because of this tight binding, you have to remove the identity from the local workstation. You have to options:

If I can still login to this identity:

• Logon to the Groove client software.
• From the toolbar, select Tool >> Preferences
• Select the Identity tab
• Select Delete

There will be a couple of prompts to warn you that you can't undo this action and that all data will be deleted.

If you can no longer logon to an identity

If you can't logon to this identity, you will get annoying pop ups about how it can't logon and will will always see the user name in the list. There is no real way to delete the identity from inside the Groove software. The only way to do it is to purge all the identities from your computer.

• Backup, archive, or export any existing workspaces that you want to keep. Remember, this process will delete all Groove data from the local workstation so you have to backup anything you want to keep.
• Close out of all Groove software (including the system tray icon)
• Run the following command: %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office\Office12\GrooveClean.exe -all. This will delete all of the cached data.
• Go to the current user's profile at %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Office\Groove\User and delete all files and all sub-folders
• Restart Groove. You should be presented with the first time user wizard.
• Configure the user account and import the workspaces that you archived.

Major Japanese Holiday

Over the next two weeks, there are four national holidays in a tight grouping, normally referred to as Golden Week. The vast majority of offices are closed during this week and most Japanese take a major vacation. This year, several of the days occur over the weekend so it kind of warps the traditional tight cluster of days. It looks like about half of my office took this week off and half will take next week off. I'm actually going to come in for a couple of these holidays so that I can take comp-time for whenever our household goods arrive from the states.

Speaking of that, the moving company seemed to get us on a pretty fast boat. The truck was packed on April 18th (in about 4" of snow, too) and it looks like the container ship is expected to dock on May 1st (as scheduled). We don't know how long the customs process will take and the Golden Week holiday will probably slow it down a bit. I'm guessing that the move-in date will be the week of May 12th. We'll see...

Fully packed out of Seattle

Chiho wrapped up the house move, the moving company stopped by last week, and Chiho arrived in Tokyo yesterday. That wraps up the first half of the home move... well, except for all the stuff my mom and dad are taking care of for us this weekend.

The flight over for Chiho was pretty uneventful. The plane was almost completely empty which seemed pretty surprising. We've flown at this time of year before and it was normally pretty full. However, we normally flew on Thursday or Friday so maybe it's the day of the week. So if you have to fly to Japan, try to do it on Wednesday.

Mimi (our lop-eared rabbit) seemed to survive the flight without too much trouble. He seemed to be in a very grumpy mood when Chiho dropped him off at the airport quarantine. We'll be picking him up on Saturday from the airport.

Hardcore flashback time

I saw an advertisement on the train today that really, really, shocked me. It was for a live concert from these guys. What the heck are these guys doing staging a global reunion tour - they weren't that good in the '80s...

Found a new domain-naming wrinkle

Several of my clients in the past had not followed Microsoft's domain naming recommendations and made thier internal domain name match thier external domain name. This always caused problems connecting from the outside, screwing up routing, and other irritations but I've actually found something that is worse - incredibly worse, actually - the Single Label Domain (SLD)

In a single label domain, instead of domain.local or something.domain.com, you actually make your domain without a dot-anything like INT or LOCAL. This makes your internal domain names kind of simple, server.int, web.int, or whatever but you be amazed as to how much breaks when you do you this:

• Live Communicator breaks


• Kerberos authentication between Active Directory and any other kerberos based service brakes


• Windows authentication to an SQL server breaks


• Domain trust become extremely difficult


• Groove Server Active Directory Integration breaks

Trust me on this one, you never want to do a single label domain. And, guess what we have at my new company....

Address in Japan

We've picked our preferred place and have it pretty much locked in. The new address will be:

Beach Terrace #111
3-1-1 Mihama-ku Utase
Chiba-shi 261-0013
Japan

〒261-0013
千葉市美浜区打瀬３－１－１　
幕張ビーチテラス１１１号
JAPAN

We will get keys on the 26th or 27th of April. I got a chance to look at it last weekend and here are some pictures:

• From the front entry way
• The big windows out the back yard area (note how tall the windows are - we had no idea the condo had such high ceilings)
• The back patio and fence
• Kitchen (with dishwasher, very important)
• Looking from the main living area towards the kitchen

It's hard to take good interior shots so I don't have much. Hopefully, I can get some more in a couple of weeks.

Configuring SQL 2005 so new database put files on different drives

Microsoft's SQL 2005 best practice recommendations include splitting binary, database files, and transaction logs onto different drives. When you install SQL 2005, you can used the advanced options to change the default data directory but this will put the MDF and LDF files in on the same drive. This really doesn't matter for the system databases but you don't want that to be true for all database that get created later. You actually need to do two different processes to ensure that new databases get configured correctly:

Change the defaults for manually created databases

1. Use SQL Management Studio and connect to the database
2. Right click the server name at the top of the hierarchy and select options
3. Go to Database Settings
4. Change the Default Database location

Change the model database

Databases that are created by scripts or software installers do not grab the settings we just changed. They copy the settings from the model database. Since the model database defaults to putting the MDF and LDF files in the same folder you need to modify it. This gets a little tricky, though:

1. Open SQL Configuration Manager
2. Find the service that defines you database, right click it, and select properties
3. Go to Advanced and find the start up parameters section
4. Enter ;-c;-T 3608 at the end of the current string. As a side note, the Microsoft documentation for this does not mention the semi-colons
5. Restart the SQL service. The parameters that we put in will let you modify the temp database. Without those tags, the database is "locked".
6. Use SQL Management Studio to connect to the database
7. Open a new query and make sure the current database is set to master
8. Run the following query: sp_detach_db 'model'
9. Move the modellog.ldf file to the path you want logs to be
10. Run the following query:sp_attach_db 'model','[Path to Data Files]\model.mdf','[Path to log files]\modellog.ldf'
11. Use SQL Configuration Manager to remove the parameters we added.
12. Restart the SQL service

That should make your SQL server create new databases the way you want them to.

Groove Server 2007

I've been placed in charge of world wide roll out of the Groove Server 2007 infrastructure. I've played with the software and a couple of Seattle clients had asked me to look into it so I'm kind of familiar with the concept. Now that I've had a chance to really dig into it, the system is kind of fascinating.

The main core of the software is amazingly simple - (1) create a way for end-users to setup their own shared storage systems, (2) copy the files to whoever is working on it, and (3) keep the various copies up to date wherever someone happens to be working. Simple in concept but tricky to actually pull off. SharePoint's web-accessible document front end can make the files easy to share and ensure that people have access to the latest version but it only works while you're connected to the Internet.

Groove is kind of confusing because there is a client software and server software and you don't always need the server versions. The software needs access to a management server but your company doesn't need to have one of its own. For small offices, Microsoft has a free, public support infrastructure that you can register your client software with. You can be set up and running within a minute or two of starting the software. The Groove Server infrastructure is really only needed if you want more control. In Microsoft's documentation, offices with fewer than 100 users shouldn't even bother setting up an Groove Server installation at all.

From all of my reading and research, it looks like it should be an easy setup. I'm going to be creating a test network over the next couple of weeks and I'll try to write about what I find out. Well, I have a budget of only 40,000 euros to pull this off so I guess I'll just have to make do... :-)

...Did I mention that I'm still having difficulty with the scale of my new company? 40,000 euros is over $60,000 US and that was one of the smallest budget items on the list this year...

Gold’s Gym Makuhari幕張

When Chiho was back in Japan last time, we signed up for the local Gold’s Gym in Makuhari. There are actually two gyms across the street from each other that are the “main gym” and “annex”. Gyms are kind of expensive in Japan, we found, probably because the cost of keeping employees in Japan is kind of expensive. I rented a locker at the annex gym so I can leave my shoes and a change of clothes there. It should really help for trying to go to the gym after work. Chiho joined the gym, too, so we got a family discount but it still ended up at about $100 per month, about three times the cost of Gold’s in Mukilteo.

Rented out the Mukilteo house

We decided to take our house off of the market and rent it out. As it turns out, one of Chiho’s ex-coworkers was looking for a new rental so we rented it to them for a year. We’ll test the waters for a sale next year. Of course, since the dollar took its big plunge against the yen, maybe waiting is a good idea.

Furniture for sale (3)

One more time, here's another list of what we have for sale:

• Glass angel table - $125
• Vanity table with mirror - $150 SOLD
  
• White bench with storage - $135
• Blue china hutch or curio cabinet - $135
• Off-white end table/cabinet - $50
• 48" round center post table - $500
• Magnavox 27" TV - $25
• Black oval free-standing mirror - $40

Our spot in Japan

We’re 99% sure that we’re going to take the rental condo that is the same building as Chiho’s parents. It’s a different floor plan than theirs and is slightly bigger. The apartment will be 100 square meters (or about 1,000 sq. ft.). That’s less than half the size of the Mukilteo house which is why we’re trying to sell so much of it. Here's the floor plan:

Standalone image: http://www.sbworks.com/images/apartment.jpg. I color coded and labeled the floor plan if you follow the link. The rooms that are "missing" doors actually have sliding doors.

It’s on the first floor of a fairly tall (14 story) building. It faces the ocean side of the complex but that’s not as good as it might sound. There’s a busy road right in front of the condo there. On the dining room & living room side of the house, there is a small yard, probably 30’ x 20’ that is fenced. Then there is a small berm with landscaping on it between our little yard and the street. The noise will probably be quite noticeable when the windows are open but we talked to the current renters and they say that the rooms are very quiet with the windows shut. Since the apartment has air conditioning, that will probably be workable. For the size of the apartment, there is a fair amount of storage. The kitchen is a little small (quite small in comparison to American kitchens) and that will take some real effort to get used to.

Right now, the company that owns and rents the condo is in the middle of refurbishing it after the previous renters moved out. I should be able to see the inside of it in a week or two and I’ll make sure to post pictures.

One month in...

I’ve now been living in Japan for one month and I’m still enjoying myself. Where we’re going to live, Makuhari (幕張), does feel like it’s a long way from downtown but I think I can handle that. The commute, if I really hurry and hit the trains perfectly, is 75 minutes (one hour and fifteen minutes) and that’s quite a bit longer than my old trip to downtown. However, I do break up the morning commute with a stop for coffee and Japanese practice.

One thing that I am really enjoying is that there has been almost no weekend work and everyone in the office says that weekend work is extremely rare. At ISOutsource, evening and weekend work was billed at a higher rate and, since you got a percentage, it was pretty common to do it. I guess I never noticed how much energy that evening and weekend work took. My weekends in Japan end up as quite relaxing and recharging.

As another plus, the office is a business-casual office so I don’t have to wear a suit and tie. That was the one thing from my Seattle lifestyle that I figured I would have to give up. Since the Japanese summer can be pretty brutal, I’m glad that short sleeve shirts are okay and suit jackets can be left in the closet.

I guess I’m still in the early part of “cultural adjustment”, though. I’ll have to write again in a couple of months to be sure.

EMC SAN - Nice hardware but...

At the new office, we have several really big EMC fiber channel SANs. We have it configured in a fairly complicated, high-availability way. Each server has two HBA controller cards and each HBA is connected to redundant storage controllers over Cisco fiber channel switch. This installation is expensive but the performance is excellent. The hardware is top notch and it's automated failover features are really solid. The EMC hardware engineers seem to to have their head screwed on straight.

But... but... but... What moron wrote their software?

To run an EMC SAN, you need to configure settings on the storage controller, use a client side software to mount the volumes, and then manage the backups with another software suite. That doesn't sound to bad, right?

The storage manager software is a Java based website that using LDAP authentication (yea... you don't need another password). To use the SAN, you create RAID groups by selecting the disks that should be included, then you define LUNs inside the RAID group, then assign the RAID group to a storage group, and then assign the storage group to a client. Then you turn clockwise three times, throw salt over shoulder, and (if all goes well) the LUN is available to the client.

I've actually simplified the steps, believe it or not. At the end of this, you get a LUN that acts like a disk to the server side operating system. It has a really useful name like LUN138 but you can assign something more human readable like "ExchangeServer01-StorageGroup1" or whatever. That will make your SAN Management easier (you would assume).

Now, let's more the client side. On the HBA fiber card, there is a world wide name (similar to the MAC address) and there is a way to assign a human-readable name like ExhchangeServer01-HBA1 instead of long hexadecimal string (which should make things easier, you assume). Once you have everything set there you flip back the the SAN manager to register the HBA card. And, of course, you can't read the human-readable name. All you get is the world wide name and you have to flip back and forth to figure out which 20+ character hexadecimal number belongs to which card.

After you get registered on the SAN, you load software on the client to mount the volumes. This client side software does not use LDAP. Instead, it uses a locally controlled password. Once you find out the password and load the software, it scans the storage groups available to the client and displays the LUN "ExchangeServer01-StorageGroup1"...... Well, no - it displays this long 20+ character hexadecimal number that you've never seen before. If you're only mounting one ore two that's not a big deal, but if you are putting in five or six that can be kind of annoying. To make it worse, these LUNs show up in Computer Management as Disk1, Disk2, Disk3, etc. and there is no other useful information as to which disk is which LUN.

So here's a scenario: you create four LUNS for four Exchange storage groups on one Enterprise server and you would like to mount the LUNs in a particular pattern. To make the LUNs match a pattern, you will need to flip between three different windows comparing hexadecimal strings to decide which disk in the computer management window belongs to which LUN. Wouldn't it be nice if the EMC software could read the EMC created human readable tags in the EMC storage system?

We haven't even gotten to the backup system. If your are rolling out a couple of servers with 5 or 6 mounted LUNs per server, you head is already hurting so make sure you take a long break before starting the next step.

Coffee would probably be a good idea.

EMC Replication manager uses cluster-by-cluster snapshotting to create a backup very quickly. You can snapshot a dozen 200 gigabyte LUNs simultaneously and it will take about a hour / hour and a half. Pretty slick, I suppose but (again) the software experience leaves something to be desired.

But, before you frustrate yourself with Replication Manager, you have to dive back into the storage manager. To make a replica, you need a backup LUN that has an identical cluster count and cluster size. And, of course, there is no "Create new LUN with these settings" or "Make replication LUN" option so you have to do it manually. If you are one cluster off, the replication will fail so you better write and type carefully. Go ahead, make a human readable name for the LUN - it won't do any good but it will make you feel better.

After you put the LUN in the storage group assigned to the Replication manager, you can then move to the Replication Manager software. You'll need another password for this, too. Another local password, of course. Oh, and you might as well make a service account with domain administrator access now, you'll need it later. Also, don't ever (never, ever) change the password on that account.

So, you logon the Replication manager, add the new LUNs to a storage group (no, not the storage manager storage group, a replication storage group) , assign it at name (no, it won't pick up the other name you already gave it), create an application group that defines the source LUN and give it a name (no, of course it won't pick up the name you already gave it), and then create a job (and, yes, you need to give the job a name). After you jump through all these hoops, it will create a Windows Scheduled Task to run the replication job.

Yep, you read that right. This expensive, complicated, high end software uses the incredibly unreliable Windows task service.

Believe it or not, it gets worse. The replication service uses a high-numbered TCP port (up around 65000) to manage the service. Ports in that range are not reserved and get dynamically assigned by a variety of programs on temporary basis. Since these high numbered ports are a free-for-all, most programmers make allowances conflicts. You saw this coming, didn't you - EMC's programmers did not make allowances for conflict. For example, an MMC console open in one session of one server that gathers information from another server (Exchange System Manager, for example) and that MMC decided to use the EMC replication manager port. This will make the snapshot fail completely. To top it off, failed snapshots are not written over so if you have some sort of overwrite pattern going, that pattern will probably fail the next time it's run, too.

And, you'll love EMC's fix - make a registry edit on every single server that blocks other programs from using that port. They aren't even offering us a script to make the change.

Are all of the EMC programs written by their summer interns or something? It's amazingly bad. These guys need to read The Inmates are Running the Asylum or Joel on Software to learn how to program useful stuff....

Finally sold the PT Cruiser

My brother-in-law Clay managed to sell the PT Cruiser for me just yesterday and got a good price. That took way longer than I thought it would considering how popular PT Cruisers are in general. I figured that would only take a couple of weeks but it took almost two months to sell.

I hope it's easier to sell the Jetta...

Noise pollution in Tokyo

On thing I've noticed in the Tokyo area, there seems to be a LOT of unnecessary noise. There are pre-recorded warnings, beeping trucks, and even silly recorded bird song at rail stations. Every escalator has a "please watch your step" warning and many trucks have "Be careful, this truck is turning right(or left)" messages that play when they turn on their turn signal. I don't remember as much of it when I was in Japan in the '90s. It must have come later.

Furniture for sale (2)

We've reposted the items we didn't sell

• Daipason 6ft baby grand - $5900
  
• Angel Table - $135
• Vanity Table with Mirror - $150
• White wood bench with storage - $135
• Blue china hutch - $135
• Very large black mirror - $200
• Magnavox 27" TV - $40
• Antique-finished white cabinet - $60
• Aluminum outdoor furniture set (tables, four padded chairs, and umbrella) - $175
• 48" round, center-post table - $500

We have a bunch of other stuff, too...

Lost some weight

I managed to loose four kilos (nine pounds) since I arrived in Japan. It's kind of surprising since Chiho's parents seem intent on stuffing me full of food every day. I think it's all of the walking you just have to do in Tokyo.

... of course, I still need to loose another fifteen kilos or so to get even vaguely close to the weight I was when I got out of the Navy. Wish me luck...

Packout date: April 17th

We've picked the pack-out date for the move. The moving company will show up on April 17th to pack all of our stuff and then load it on to the containers on the 18th. Chiho will need some help the week before but probably more the weekend after. We'll have lots of things that we aren't bringing that will need to be organized and taken care of. Volunteers welcome...