SQL, Code, Coffee, Etc. - Data Musings by Marlon Ribunal

07/06/2026
by Marlon Ribunal
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Reflections on the Life of a DBA

Nota Bene: Not written by AI. I have written this from the heart…for those who are willing to listen. – Marlon

I was in Sequoia National Forest with my family over the holiday weekend (our Independence Day here in the US). Hiking in national forests within driving distance of home has been one of our ways of unplugging whenever we get a chance. I had some time to reflect on my career.

I saw how the forest adapts to changes. I saw small trees budding from seeds scattered all over the ground. These will soon become part of the whole forest ecosystem. But forest fire brings the painful changes.

Charred snags and charred tree wounds bear witness to the pain brought about by the blaze. What is most interesting to me is that no matter how many times the flame engulfs the forest , it always finds the reason to sprout a new life. There is this process called Phoenix Regeneration where the fallen or burned trees go through a transformation.

Sometimes you wonder how human life intertwines with nature. There is that life-death cycle…the comfort, the pain…they both are part of that cycle.

Like the forest, human is more than capable of surviving any bad events. That incredible resilience is part of our human nature. Just like the trees, it is within our nature to effect a Phoenix Regeneration (although that is metaphorical when it comes to us humans).

Same goes to our career. It goes through that similar cycle. The ups and downs. Jobs come and go. The pain and the comfort is part of that cycle.

And this is what brought me here to these reflections.

The DBA life is fraught with pain. Those battles that we endure are mostly invisible to many. Those countless sleepness nights are a testament to our dedication. Whether that is a server that went down because of a bad patch or a server that refused to get back online after a configuration change, we are always there to save the day (or night). And it doesn’t matter if we’re in the middle of a special celebration of a loved one, or a well-deserved rest day. We rise to the occassion.

And I couldn’t forget that cold January evening. I was at a black-tie party. My phone was exploding with Splunk On-Call alerts and Teams messages. An important SQL Server went down. I never leave the house without my work laptop. I can probably forget my wallet at home, but never my laptop.

Pulling my laptop onto the dining table would have been awkward or outright disrespectful at best. The only place for me then was that busy kitchen, teeming with relentless chaos. Imagine that guy in black suit with his laptop. I found a corner where I dealt with the issue with poise but with a sense of urgency. The mission was clear. I was to deliver without reservation or excuses.

The pain is part of it. The weekends. The holidays. Or, worse, the Birthdays. You sacrifice them all for the love of fixing things that are broken. And this was something I chose. Nothing was forced on me. I chose this not only as a job, but more so as a calling. No one forced me to be here. I fulfill this duty with the understanding that it is a noble mission.

The cycle of pain and comfort is deeply ingrained in the life of a DBA. You are called to it. You choose that life, and it chooses you. Comfort comes in the form of appreciation. A simple “Marlon, thanks. That helped.” goes a long way.

I find joy in helping people understand why things happen and how to address them, so the next time they can do it themselves. I am one who never gatekeeps what they know. I owe what I know to those whom I follow. I have no right to withhold or not share the knowledge that I have learned from other people. “Thank you, Marlon, for sharing that with me” is more important to me than “Thanks, Marlon, for fixing that for me“.

Blood. Sweat. And Tears. Not a complaint. Not an excuse. But an act of pure love. And I never regretted a single thing.

Would I do it again? I will do it again. And over again. And again. Yes, I will do it over and over again.

Here I am charred, wounded. But I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Over. Again. Despite the pain. Not a doubt.

It’s all worth it. And I find comfort in the fact that deep in my heart I know…

I GAVE IT MY ALL.

10/27/2025
by Marlon Ribunal
Comments Off on How to Set Up SQL Server 2025, Ollama and NGINX in Docker Without the Headaches

How to Set Up SQL Server 2025, Ollama and NGINX in Docker Without the Headaches

I like to subject myself to agony from time to time. So, I tried to build my SQL Server 2025 test environment in Docker from scratch. I thought I was getting behind with the good stuff about the native AI integration into the Microsoft database platform – vector search and the concept of embedding in particular. Spinning a SQL Server container in Docker is easy peasy.

But setting up SQL Server to connect to the Large Language Model over a Secure Proxy is not for the faint of heart. Just the angst of getting the spaces aligned in the YAML file can toss you into existential crisis. After almost a couple of hours of pulling my hair trying to fix one error after another, I gave up.

If you are like me who’s itching to try the SQL Server 2025 features and its promises of good fortune and brighter tomorrow, especially the vector search and embedding stuff, there’s a repo out there that you can clone to your personal laptop to easily and quickly set up SQL 2025, LLM (Ollama), and Secure Proxy (NGINX), which is required by SQL Server – all in one setup via Docker Compose. Well, needless to say, the only thing that you need is the Docker Desktop app installed in your personal laptop (and Git).

And aren’t we so lucky to have the people who dedicate their precious time to making our life easier?

Enter Ollama SQL FastStart.

Ollama SQL FastStart streamlines the deployment of SQL Server 2025 with integrated AI capabilities through a comprehensive Docker-based solution. This project delivers a production-ready environment combining SQL Server 2025, Ollama’s large language model services, and NGINX with full SSL support—all preconfigured to work together seamlessly

This is huge in my humble opinion! This is helping to bring the boon of the first AI-ready enterprise database platform to the hand of the masses. Microsoft you failed at this noble commission! To be fair, Microsoft has a getting-started blog on this subject here. But that’s the long way. Ollama SQL FastStart is the short cut.

Thanks Anthony Nocentino for this Getting Started with Vector Search in SQL Server 2025 Using Ollama kit. This will save the world a lot of headaches. And might just avert a worldwide catastrophe caused by existential crises.

Anthony’s Ollama SQL FastStart kit just works out of the box. It really makes it easy and quick to spin the whole environment not in minutes but seconds! I’m exaggerating there a bit of course, but a couple of Bash commands is all you need to set the whole thing up. You’ll be up and running those vector searches in no time!

Install Git & Clone the Repo

If you haven’t done so, download and install Git. And the Docker Desktop app if that’s not installed yet also.

I have a folder in my local called C:\Docker. This is where I usually save all my Docker related stuff. You may want to create a folder anywhere that is convenient for you. Open Git Bash in your folder.

Then clone the Ollama SQL FastStart project from GitHub.

git Clone https://github.com/nocentino/ollama-sql-faststart.git

Change dir to ollama-sql-faststart:

cd ollama-sql-faststart

Then build and start the services:

docker compose up --detach

Give it a couple of minutes to let it do its magic.

If you’ve setup your Docker correctly, you should now see the ollama-sql-faststart Docker compose stack, like so:

You may want to slide that Only show running containers option to have a cleaner look in the compose stack.

Install and Open SSMS 22

This is probably the best time to test SQL Server Management Studio v22 (Preview as of this writing) if you haven’t done so. Download it here.

Install SSMS v22 locally to your laptop.

Server Name: host.docker.internal,1433

The password detail is found in Anthony’s blog linked above. And of course, you may change this after you complete your setup.

Open the SQL script called configure_model.sql from C:\<your dir here>\ollama-sql-faststart\scripts\configure_model.sql. Then execute it

And everything else that you need to get started is in the configure_model.sql script found in C:\<your dir here>\ollama-sql-faststart\scripts\configure_model.sql.

And that’s it! It works like magic!

And of course, aside from the vector search, SQL Server 2025 has a lot to offer. Find them here.

09/04/2025
by Marlon Ribunal
Comments Off on How to Avoid Knowledge Stagnation

How to Avoid Knowledge Stagnation

You want the short answer? Well, the only antidote to knowledge stagnation is probably embracing the habit of lifelong learning. For the long-winded answer, read on.

Have you ever had an experience where a colleague approached you and asked about something technical and you do not know the answer? Or have you ever been in the middle of all-hands-on-deck, mission-critical situation and everyone is waiting for you to push the button, but you can’t figure out the right button to push? How about getting caught in a discovery meeting unprepared and you are expected to provide a solution to a baffling issue that everyone expected you to have an answer for?

You probably don’t want to find yourself in those situations. I have, and I lost count of the number of times those happened in the past. Embarrassing as it may, I just have to admit that. And if you are like me, you probably did too. The good thing is we acknowledge these shortcomings, and we are more than willing to fill the gaps. We make up by delivering more of the things that we know and going beyond the extra mile. Then we go back and pick up the things that we don’t know and learn them.

Technical people with years of experience in their field are expected to deliver answers where needed as needed. But we may find ourselves stuck not knowing what we’re supposed to know and even confused when caught off-guard. How do we minimize the occurrence of such lapses?

Identify the Gaps

List the things that you were asked but didn’t have the answer for. Identify all the related concepts and the scenarios those might be applicable to. Ask the experts in your field or consult other resources such as forums, books, podcasts, webcasts, paid training, and many others. ChatGPT will provide you the shortcuts but vet them thoroughly. Live events such as conferences are great venues to find knowledge gaps. Test the concepts and apply when you’re sure they work and that only after determining that they are the appropriate solutions.

Set System Instead of Goals

The biggest hurdle to sustaining any learning habits is consistency, or the lack thereof. It is harder to sustain progress when you are goal oriented. Focus on your processes and establish other habits that complement your learning habits. Cultivate a productive mindset. Create a personal learning system that is anchored on processes established on top of your learning priorities.

Establish a Schedule

Establish a schedule along with setting up your learning habits and systems. If you don’t prioritize it, it won’t happen. Of course, this is easier said than done. If you are like me, you also struggle to stay consistent. This is why it is important to set aside a time for this purpose. Life happens. The chance that things are going to get done is higher when they are scheduled than when they are not.

There are tons of ways to avoid knowledge stagnation. The key is to establish a robust learning system that you can sustain.