Canada’s Changing Technology Landscape

 Technology is changing quickly in Canada and becoming a bigger part of our everyday lives.

AI, cloud technology, automation and cybersecurity are helping businesses work smarter, faster and more securely.

AI, in particular, is changing how people work, solve problems and make decisions.

Canada is also putting greater focus on responsible AI, quantum technology and digital innovation, with these areas highlighted as key priorities at the 2026 G7 Digital Ministers’ Meeting. Canada advances priorities on artificial intelligence, quantum technologies and digital innovation at the 2026 G7 Digital Ministers’ Meeting.

This growing focus could create new opportunities in healthcare, energy, security and many other industries. As technology continues to evolve, people and organizations will need to keep learning, adapting and developing new skills. Technology is not only changing the tools we use, but also how we work, learn and prepare ourselves for the future.

Title Changed -- reflects my journey

 

The title "Evolving Architect: Combining Data, Design, and Project Management" captures my journey as I grow from data-centric expertise to a broader role that encompasses infrastructure design and project management. It reflects a dynamic progression and emphasizes a well-rounded skill set, likely resonating with all of you readers interested in comprehensive IT and infrastructure insights. This title is concise yet reflective of my expanded focus across multiple facets of IT architecture.

My Technologies Journey

 It’s fascinating how my passion for databases has shaped my journey. From the early days of exploring data structures to understanding complex database systems, my love for this field has only deepened. I continue to marvel at the rapid technological advances not only in databases but across various domains. Each innovation inspires me, pushing me to stay curious and engaged with emerging trends that can transform the way we manage and utilize data.

As I reflect on my personal and professional growth, I realize that my skills have significantly expanded. I’ve transitioned from focusing solely on databases to embracing broader concepts like infrastructure architecture and design. This evolution has opened up new horizons, allowing me to approach challenges with a more holistic mindset. I’m excited to dive deeper into these areas, exploring how they intersect with my foundational knowledge of databases.

With this expanded skill set in mind, I believe it’s time to update my blog’s heading to better reflect my current interests and expertise. As I tackle infrastructure architecting and project management, I want my content to resonate with those who share a similar passion for technology and innovation. While I’m considering various headings, I’m open to suggestions and would love to hear any ideas that could help capture this exciting new chapter of my journey.

Briefly: ZPTR

 Zero Trust Packet Routing is an advanced cybersecurity concept that applies the Zero Trust framework to network traffic. Unlike traditional models that rely on perimeter defenses, Zero Trust assumes that no traffic, internal or external, is inherently trusted. It verifies every packet at each stage to ensure authenticity, integrity, and compliance with security policies.

Central to this approach is the principle of least-privilege access and rigorous identity verification. Every packet, even from authenticated users, undergoes inspections based on user identity, device posture, and contextual factors like location and time. This continuous verification employs mechanisms such as segmentation and context-based routing decisions.

Key Components of Zero Trust Packet Routing:

Microsegmentation

Context-Aware Routing

Identity and Access Management (IAM)

Advanced Packet Filtering

Encryption and Data Integrity

SQL Server on AWS

  SQL Server on AWS

Good Option available to install  MS SQL server binaries on EC2.

Advantages:

Full Control: You can launch an EC2 instance and install SQL Server manually. This gives you more control over configurations.

Customization: Choose your operating system and SQL Server version.

Licensing: You can either bring your own license (BYOL) or use AWS's license-included options.

Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Tools

Data Loss Prevention (DLP) tools are crucial for protecting sensitive information/ data from unauthorized access, misuse, or loss. Compliance with Industry Standard security requirements  are met with these tools. They monitor and control data movement across various systems.

Some prominent DLP tools:

Symantec Data Loss Prevention (DLP): Offers comprehensive data protection across endpoints, networks, and storage. It includes advanced content inspection and contextual analysis to safeguard sensitive data.

McAfee Total Protection for Data Loss Prevention: Provides robust protection for sensitive data with policy enforcement across endpoints, networks, and cloud environments. It integrates well with McAfee’s broader security solutions.

Forcepoint Data Loss Prevention: Utilizes behavioral analytics to detect and prevent data breaches. It focuses on user activity and data usage patterns to enforce security policies.

Microsoft 365 Data Loss Prevention: Integrated into Microsoft 365, it offers protection for data within Office apps, email, and OneDrive. It provides policy templates and real-time monitoring capabilities.

Digital Guardian Data Loss Prevention: Specializes in protecting intellectual property and sensitive data across endpoints, networks, and cloud environments with flexible policy management.

Trend Micro Data Loss Prevention: Provides endpoint and network DLP solutions with advanced threat intelligence and integration with Trend Micro’s broader security suite.

IBM Security Guardium: Focuses on database activity monitoring and data protection, offering robust analytics and real-time alerts to safeguard sensitive data.

Varonis Data Security Platform: Monitors data access and usage across file systems and email systems, providing insights into potential risks and ensuring compliance with data protection regulations.

Proofpoint Enterprise DLP: Delivers content inspection and monitoring to protect data across email, cloud, and endpoints, with a focus on preventing data breaches and compliance violations.

Check Point Data Loss Prevention: Integrates with Check Point’s security infrastructure to provide policy enforcement and data protection across various platforms and applications.

These few listed tools are versatile to ensure that sensitive information or as we say data remains protected and complaint with Industry regulations.

Sharing a script that logs all long running queries, kills them :) and sends out an email alert to my inbox. I generally modify it according to the production requirement. In my environment there are a couple of production servers where I would setup this script to only alert and Not kill any query.

Please double test before implementing in realtime production environment.Follow the general thumb rule to implement all changes/scripts from lower to higher env. :) this script comes with disclaimer that person using has complete ownership for it’s results.

Ensure postfix installed and configured for emails to work. The script works for postgre user since postgre has privs over all databases in the server

############################

if [ `whoami` != "postgres" ]; then

exit 0;

fi

# selecting non-idle queries which are running since at least 6 minutes.

psql -c "select pid, client_addr, query_start, current_query from pg_stat_activity

where current_query != '<IDLE>' and current_query != 'COPY' and current_query != 'VACUUM' and query_start + '6 min'::interval < now()

and substring(current_query, 1, 11) != 'autovacuum:'

order by query_start desc" > $LOGFILE

NUMBER_OF_STUCK_QUERIES=`cat $LOGFILE | grep "([0-9]* row[s]*)" | sed 's/(//' | awk '{ print $1}'`

if [ $NUMBER_OF_STUCK_QUERIES != 0 ]; then

# Getting the first column from the output discarding alphfanumeric values (table elements in psql's output).

STUCK_PIDS=`cat $LOGFILE | sed "s/([0-9]* row[s]*)//" | awk '{ print $1 }' | sed "s/[^0-9]//g"`

for PID in $STUCK_PIDS; do

echo -n "Cancelling PID $PID ... " >> $LOGFILE

# "t" means the query is successfully cancelled.

SUCCESS=`psql -c "SELECT pg_cancel_backend($PID);" | grep " t"`

if [ $SUCCESS ]; then

SUCCESS="OK.";

else

SUCCESS="Failed.";

fi

echo $SUCCESS >> $LOGFILE

done

cat $LOGFILE | mail -s "Stuck PLpgSQL processes detected and killed that were running over 6 minutes." youremail@whatever.com;

fi

rm $LOGFILE

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