CIT499 Semester Project

Yahoo Pipes Mashup Dustin Walker

A mashup, by definition, is a web application  that combines data and or functionality from more than one source. Basically, a mashup consists of a central  repository where various RSS feeds or other information is aggregated into one rolling stream of data.

After testing several different mashup tools, I  decided to use the Yahoo Pipes tool as my “weapon of choice” for creating my mashup. Yahoo Pipes has been around longer than  most other tools and was therefore more stable and user friendly. Did research on a product by Intel called  mashmaker, however this tool left little to be desired. It was clunky and not very user friendly at all.

Decided to create a mashup tailored for my  profession as a SQL Server database administrator. Recognized how beneficial of a resource this  could be not only for me but also for my fellow colleagues at work or anyone in the field. This mashup could also teach the other SQL  DBA’s about Web 2.0 technologies that they may not have otherwise been aware of.

Now that my focus was narrowed I needed to  decide of even more specific data and feeds to add to the mashup http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.info?_id=  5LZ7UOL_3RGfY_NtdfQQIA Started by making a list of all of the different  resources that I use frequently at work in order to assist me as a SQL Server database administrator.

Error messages are very important to us as  DBA’s because they inform us when something is not right with the databases or servers. Wanted to figure out a way to incorporate SQL  Server error messages into my mashup. We currently receive emails with the error  alerts. Needed to figure out how to convert these to  feeds for my mashup.

After researching several different Web 2.0  mail tools I decided to use MailBucket. http://mailbucket.org/dumwalke.xml  Setup a personal mailbox using this service  and then capture the RSS feed of the mailbox. Incorporated the feed into my mashup. 

Wanted to incorporate a calendar into my  mashup that would display which DBA is on- call for the week. Discovered that I could use Google Calendar  to accomplish this task. Setup a “DBA On-Call Calendar” within Google  Calendar and populated it with the dates and the name of the DBA on-call. Was able to take the feed from the calendar  and fetch it into my mashup.

Wanted to create a means to communicate  among members of the SQL DBA team. Created a Twitter account called  “AdesaSQLDBAs”. Added this account to a group using Group  Tweet. Added the feed to the mashup. 

DBA’s use documentation for database  design, installation, disaster recovery and for particular tasks that are not done on a regular basis. Wanted to somehow incorporate  documentation into mashup. After researching several products I decided  to use ZoHo Writer which is a Web 2.0 online documentation tool. http://www.zoho.com/ 

Was able to take feed from ZoHo Writer and  incorporate it into my mashup. This ensures that any time a document is  uploaded or modified with ZoHo the feed for the document will be pushed to my mashup.

This is Yahoo’s version of the SQL language  which is very similar in nature. Allows you to filter a feed’s output using the  YQL language. Filtered feed from SQLTeam.com using YQL.  Filtered on string “2008” which will return  information related to SQL Server 2008 version. Filtered feed from SQLBlog.com on “SP1” for  Service Pack One information.

Added a coupled other useful feeds that we  often search for tips and information. MSSQLTIPS.com  MSDN 

Web 2.0 technologies helped me to  accomplish all of the tasks that I needed to create a useful mashup for SQL Server DBA’s. This mashup and presentation will also be  used to introduce SQL Server DBA’s or other IT professionals to several different new possibilities with Web 2.0.

CIT499 Semester Project

by dumwalke

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CIT499 Semester Project Presentation Transcript