August 2019 Summaries

ESCAPE/19 is a conference designed to address the gap in discussions around multi-cloud and hybrid cloud deployments, which are often limited or censored at major cloud provider events like AWS re:Invent, Google Cloud Next, and Microsoft Ignite. The conference aims to provide an open forum for exploring the unique challenges and opportunities presented by multi-cloud architectures, such as pricing leverage, innovation, and flexibility, as well as technical and administrative issues like security, networking, storage, and data privacy. With contributions from technology and business leaders, ESCAPE/19 seeks to foster a comprehensive dialogue about these topics without the bias of any single cloud provider, encouraging participation from those interested in navigating the complexities of multi-cloud environments. The event is planned to be held on the East Coast, offering a platform for speakers and attendees to collaborate and share insights.

This blog post by Jay Lim details the development of SQL Prober, a black-box monitoring tool for Managed CockroachDB, created during an internship at Cockroach Labs. The need for this tool arose after an incident highlighted the limitations of existing white-box monitoring metrics, which rely on internal system data, in detecting and measuring the impact of system failures. SQL Prober aims to reduce Mean Time to Detect (MTTD) and accurately assess the uptime of customer clusters by emulating customer experiences and utilizing geo-partitioning to ensure comprehensive monitoring across nodes. The framework executes periodic probe tasks to verify node liveness and the ability to serve data, using replication zones to overcome challenges in ensuring coverage and data integrity without affecting customer data. The post also explores potential future enhancements, such as improved metric analysis and the inclusion of write operations in monitoring.

Alfonso Subiotto Marques, a member of the SQL Execution team at Cockroach Labs, shares his experience attending GopherCon 2019 through the "Learning is Good" program, which supports employee development by providing stipends for educational activities. At GopherCon, an annual conference centered around the Go programming language, Marques found certain talks particularly impactful, including ones on Go developer tools, x86 assembly generation with the avo tool, and various profiling techniques. These sessions offered insights into Go's maturity, valuable tools for improving performance, and a deeper understanding of the language's future, ultimately enhancing his skills as an engineer. Marques appreciates Cockroach Labs' commitment to professional growth and looks forward to future learning opportunities.

Cockroach Labs' Flex Friday policy offers employees like Amruta Ranade, a Senior Technical Writer, the opportunity to balance work and personal interests, allowing her to focus on creative projects such as making YouTube videos about tech writing and life in tech. These projects enable her to explore innovative ways of communicating complex technical information, with past video topics including database security concepts and building an app, which highlight both the challenges and joys of learning and sharing new tech skills. Her video endeavors, inspired by popular YouTubers, have not only become a creatively fulfilling hobby but also serve as a platform to engage and educate others in the tech community while helping her overcome challenges like imposter syndrome and maintain her enthusiasm for her work.

Cockroach Labs is experiencing significant growth, marked by the launch of CockroachDB 19.1, expansion to four global offices, and surpassing 100 employees, all while securing $55 million in Series C funding led by Altimeter Capital, Tiger Global, and GV. The company, which started in 2015 with a mission to simplify data management, plans to use the funding to enhance its product offerings, focusing on ease of deployment, performance, and resiliency. Upcoming initiatives include discussions on multi-cloud deployments at the ESCAPE/19 event, improvements to the Managed CockroachDB product, and expanding their team across the United States and Europe. Cockroach Labs invites interested parties to subscribe to their newsletter for updates on new products, news, and events.

The onboarding process at Cockroach Labs is designed as a collaborative effort, emphasizing a supportive and structured introduction for new employees. Known as "MOLTing," this process pairs new hires with a "Roachmate" or onboarding buddy who helps them acclimate to the company's culture and operations. This approach not only aids new employees in transitioning but also provides existing staff with opportunities to develop mentorship skills. The onboarding includes comprehensive sessions on company values, tools, and specific departmental functions, ensuring newcomers understand CockroachDB and its place in the industry. Feedback is consistently gathered to refine the onboarding experience, aligning with the company's commitment to fostering an impactful and seamless integration for all new employees.