With the release of SQL Sentry 2023.3, I look back at the past 18 years I have worked with the product to admire where it is today versus then. It’s been an incredible experience with a lot of moving parts, but no matter what market forces or acquisitions happen along the way, the core intention of “Improving the lives of Microsoft DBAs everywhere” has stayed the same. This is a two-part blog post: below, I’ll talk about our history and where we’ve come from.

This month, I celebrate 11 years of working on SQL Sentry. I started as employee number 15 at SentryOne and then moved through various roles in support, customer success, and professional services to my current role as product manager. In an industry where innovation and adaptation are key, the journey of SQL Sentry and its team has been remarkable. SQL Sentry has come a long way since its early days.

In Python development, logging is not only good practice; it is vital. Logging is critical for understanding the execution flow of an application and helps in debugging potential issues. The importance of logging for developing reliable and maintainable Python applications cannot be overstated. Python provides capabilities for running concurrent operations—either in a threaded (single process) or multiple process environment. But what implications do these different approaches have on logging?

Docker’s power and versatility have cemented its place in developers’ and administrators’ toolkits. Along with this widespread adoption comes the critical need for effective logging in Docker containers. However, once you scale beyond a single container on a single machine, effectively capturing and working with logs from Docker presents a challenge. The native docker logs command quickly becomes inadequate, and you’ll need a more scalable solution.

Whether you work in banking, education, or run a small business, your network’s security is essential. After all, an insecure network can result in data breaches, theft, unauthorized access, poor network performance, a tarnished reputation, and more. To better understand the state of your network and bolster your network’s defense against current and potential threats, consider using network vulnerability scanners or detection tools to quickly detect existing loopholes.

Many modern software applications are built with a microservices architecture, and Node.js has become the runtime environment of choice for many developers building microservices. However, working with logs in microservices—especially as complex applications comprise dozens (or more) microservices—is a challenging and cumbersome endeavor. Logging is a crucial part of building and maintaining an application.

After the craziness of the last few years, it is understandable that IT, DevOps, and operations teams want more stability in their personal lives and professional roles. However, there appears to be a disconnect between their desire for stability and the vision from the top.