I'm Back

There is a reason why DBAs pull in the big bucks.

My experience to date is that writing the database connection string is the single most difficult job in programming. I've spent more hours agonizing over the simple task of connecting to the database than any other issue.

Anyway, I got back from my Southern Utah trip to find that my web sites were all hosed after the web host moved the servers ...thus changing the database connection string. The process of moving servers meant that some stuff was written to one database, and other stuff written to another.

If you are running a web site, you need to pay your DBA $120k a year to keep the connection string from changing. You can then hire programmers for $50k a year. If you want to save money, you can outsource the programmers. Regardless, you want to keep that DBA good and happy so that your backs ups stay retrievable and your database connection string does not start changing on you willy nilly.

When I get super rich, I will have my own servers. If I was really really super rich, I would hire a DBA; so that I could feel confident that the database connection string wouldn't change without my knowledge.