PASS Data Arch VC presents SQL Server MVP Grant Fritchey - How to Build a Database Deployment Pipeline

Please come join the Data Architecture VC this Wednesday to get info from MVP Grant about Database Deployment something all DBAs should be doing to work with developers.

Grant Fritchey – Microsoft MVP

July 23, 2014 Noon CST

How to Build a Database Deployment Pipeline.

The pace of business accelerates fairly continuously and application development moves right with it. But we’re still trying to deploy databases the same way we did 10 years ago. This session addresses the need for changes in organizational structure, process and technology necessary to arrive at a nimble, fast, automatable and continuous database deployment process. We’ll use actual customer case studies to illustrate both the common methods and the unique context that led to a continuous delivery process that is best described as a pipeline. You will learn how to customize common practices and tool sets to build a database deployment pipeline unique to your environment in order to speed your own database delivery while still protecting your organization’s most valuable asset, its data.

Speaker Bio:

Grant Fritchey, SQL Server MVP, works for Red Gate Software as Product Evangelist. In his time as a DBA and developer, he has worked at three failed dot–coms, a major consulting company, a global bank and an international insurance & engineering company. Grant volunteers for the Professional Association of SQL Server Users (PASS). He is the author of the books SQL Server Execution Plans (Simple-Talk

Webinar Link Click here   https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3676956357735772161

Upcoming Free PASS VC Webcasts

Here is a list of upcoming webcast presented by various PASS Virtual Chapters that are always free. Some are recorded to view later.

 

Database Administration VC

Date: July 9

Noon Mountain – http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=PASS+DBA+Virtual+Chapter&iso=20140709T12&p1=75

Topic: How to be a great DBA– sponsored by Dell Software

Registration: You must register if you want to attend. You can register at

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5111261580659448577

When you register, you will receive a link to the meeting. All registrants will be included in a drawing for a $50 Amazon gift card.

Presenter: Jeff Garbus

Abstract: This presentation describes the tasks a DBA needs to perform to do a great job. Formal training classes and certifications only take you so far; this session talks from experience about everything from preventive maintenance to planning to scaling to communication. Great for beginner to intermediate DBAs, as well as Developers who think this is a direction in which they might want to move.

Bio: Jeff Garbus is a well-known author, lecturer and consultant with more than 20 years of expertise in architecture, tuning and the administration of Microsoft SQL Server, Sybase ASE, Oracle, and other databases. Jeff has assisted clients of all sizes, from .com startups to the most demanding F100 clients. His specialty has always been maximizing database performance for his clients. Jeff has recently released his 16th book: Microsoft Transact SQL – The Definitive Guide. Jeff is also the founder and CEO of Soaring Eagle Consulting, a consulting and management consulting firm specializing in all aspects of database and information management. http://mssqlperformance.blogspot.com/

 

DBA Fundamental VC

 

WHAT       Rolling Upgrades, The Easy Way!

WHEN:      Tuesday, August 5,   11:00 AM – 12:00 PM CDT

WHO:        Argenis Fernandez

WHERE:   https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/998862692698291202

In this session we will discuss how to perform upgrades while maintaining high availability of your SQL server infrastructure by leveraging rolling upgrades. We will review how to use database mirroring or AlwaysOn Availability Groups for this, along with a simpler version using Log Shipping. This is a demo-intensive session that you won't want to miss. 

There will be a drawing for a $25  Amazon gift card at the end of the meeting.  A winner will be randomly chosen from all those in attendance for the whole webcast who provide their email address.

 

Data Architecture VC

 

Grant Fritchey – Microsoft MVP

July 23, 2014 Noon CST

How to Build a Database Deployment Pipeline.

The pace of business accelerates fairly continuously and application development moves right with it. But we’re still trying to deploy databases the same way we did 10 years ago. This session addresses the need for changes in organizational structure, process and technology necessary to arrive at a nimble, fast, automatable and continuous database deployment process. We’ll use actual customer case studies to illustrate both the common methods and the unique context that led to a continuous delivery process that is best described as a pipeline. You will learn how to customize common practices and tool sets to build a database deployment pipeline unique to your environment in order to speed your own database delivery while still protecting your organization’s most valuable asset, its data.

Speaker Bio:

Grant Fritchey, SQL Server MVP, works for Red Gate Software as Product Evangelist. In his time as a DBA and developer, he has worked at three failed dot–coms, a major consulting company, a global bank and an international insurance & engineering company. Grant volunteers for the Professional Association of SQL Server Users (PASS). He is the author of the books SQL Server Execution Plans (Simple-Talk

Webinar https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3676956357735772161

 

Virtualization VC

 

Wed, Jul 09 2014 10:00 Mountain Daylight Time

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SQL Server Virtualization 301

RSVP: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6360531090119570945

SQL SERVER VIRTUALIZATION 301

Can you objectively demonstrate that your SQL Servers are running the same or better after they were virtualized than when they were physical servers? Do you have your key system monitoring in place so you know your steady-state system performance metrics? What is your methodology and key items for benchmarking and baselines, and what are your long-term projections for when you will need more infrastructure capacity? Performance and capacity management topics are discussed in this interactive session, and key tips and tricks will be presented to help you squeeze the most performance from your virtualized SQL Servers.

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David Klee, VMware vExpert, is a SQL Server performance and virtualization expert. With over seventeen years of IT experience, David spends his days handling performance and HA/DR architecture of physical and virtualized critical SQL Servers as the Founder of Heraflux Technologies. His areas of expertise are virtualization and performance, datacenter architecture, and risk mitigation through high availability and disaster recovery. When he is not geeking out on database and infrastructure techno.

5 Things to Know About Indexes for SQL Server

One of the first questions I got while interviewing for a potential position as a DBA was “If there is performance problem, where is the first place you would look?”

Now at this time, I was trying to move from Software Developer to DBA, and I answered that I would look at IO, Network and errors in code. The interviewer said, “Indexes.” I always assumed that all database designers knew you needed good indexes. This changed my thinking about what I was learning to start reading more about being a DBA. SQLServerCentral.Com became my friend and I started reading one article a day and answering the Question of the Day every morning when I got to work.

1. Clustered Index

What is a clustered index? Or better yet, what do I need to know about a clustered index? The first thing to know is that you can have only one. The logical structure of the table becomes the order of the column(s) you use in a clustered index. You might hear someone say that the primary key is always the clustered index. This is not true. Any index can be the clustered index. By default, the primary key becomes the clustered index unless you change this in a script or the User Interface creating/modifying a table.

ALTER TABLE [Person].[Address]
    ADD  CONSTRAINT [PK_Address_AddressID]
    PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED
  ( [AddressID] ASC )
  ON [PRIMARY]
GO

 

2. Non-Clustered Index

You can have more than one non-clustered index. I would suggest creating a clustered index before creating any non-clustered indexes. The clustered index column(s) become part of the non-clustered index. A query plan might need to go to the clustered index to retrieve more columns not available in the non-clustered index after a scan or search of non-clustered index. The non-clustered index can be one or more columns, and the order is important. You want the most specific column (as far as values go) as the first column. It also important to have the first column(s) to be used in the join or where clause that you are trying to be used for a query.

CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX
      [idxAddress_AddressLine12CistyStateZip]
    ON [Person].[Address]
( [AddressLine1] ASC, [AddressLine2] ASC, [City] ASC,
     [StateProvinceID] ASC, [PostalCode] ASC)
ON [PRIMARY]

 

3. Include Columns (i.e. Covering Index)

This is where Microsoft started shining in my opinion. The include columns in a non-clustered index can be these columns that your query is trying to retrieve from the clustered index mentioned above. Instead of retrieving more columns from the clustered index, the include columns are the ones the query needs. The are stored in the Data Page of the non-clustered index and not in the index tree.  Be careful not to go overboard with include columns, because you can eventually create a whole new table (even though it is an index) by including all the columns not specified in the index itself. I have also seen a form of Deadlock with Include Column indexes.

CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX
      [idxAddress_State_IncludeColumns]
    ON [Person].[Address]
( [StateProvinceID] ASC)
INCLUDE ([AddressLine1], [AddressLine2], [City], [PostalCode])
ON [PRIMARY]

 

4. Filtered Indexes

Filtered Indexes should be used carefully because they could become more of a performance problem with Insert/Update/Delete statements. They are really nice for large data warehouses where some tables are not structure. Also, I have seen them used for a column that has one value other than a empty value. Filtered indexes are new to SQL Server, so you should see performance improvements in future versions.

CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX
      [idxAddress_State_Filtered]
    ON [Person].[Address]
    (AddressLine1, [AddressLine2], [City], [PostalCode])
  WHERE [StateCode] = 'LA'
ON [PRIMARY]

 

5. Missing Index Feature

Now, this is really cool. With SQL Server 2008, the Query Plan now includes a Missing Index feature which basically gives you a hint on what index might be beneficial. Again, you should be cautious when it suggests include columns that look like all the columns in the table. See number 3 above.

In conclusion, indexes are a great help with query performance. There are some basics shown above to get you started with understanding indexes. Do not close your mind to more information about indexes after you start to understand what was mentioned in this article. I know today after doing DBA work for over 10 years, there is always more to learn.

Jan PASS Data Architecture VC presents Ike Ellis on Tips & Tricks

Please join the PASS Data Architecture virtual chapter on Thursday Jan 30th at noon central for SQL Server Tips and Tricks presented in 5 minute lectures.

DataArch.SQLPass.org

Next Meeting

Thu, Jan 30 2014 12:00 (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada)

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RSVP: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2529334496189827586

This is a SQL presentation for the YouTube generation.  Perfect for half-attentively listening in on your lunch break.  It's really twenty separate five minute lectures.  We'll cover tips and tricks on a range of topics, including data visualization, performance, architecture, and ETL processes.

About Ike Ellis:
Ike Ellis is a 17-year veteran with SQL Server.  He's written millions of lines of code, designed many databases, and troubleshot hundreds of performance problems (some of which he wasn't even the cause of.)  He's a SQL Server MVP, TechEd speaker, RedGate speaker, user group chairperson, and makes a mean guacamole.  Right now, he's neck-deep in several business intelligence projects.  He's designed dashboards, written ETL frameworks, created reports, and all that goes with it.  He doesn't know everything, but he loves to share and teach the things he does know.   Come join him at the SQL Pass Book Readers Virtual Chapter

PASS BI/DW Virtual Chapter–Analysis Services Attributes and Hierarchies

Please join the PASS BI/DW VC today January 15th at 7PM Central for a presentation on Attributes and Hierarchies in Analysis Services 2012. This is a presentation I have shown at 2 SQLSaturdays and the Baton Rouge SQL Server User Group as well as 24 Hours of PASS.

http://bi.sqlpass.org/

Next Meeting

Wed, Jan 15 2014 7PM Central

Thu, Jan 16 2014 12:00 (GMT+10:00) Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney

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Attributes & Hierarchies in Analysis Services 2012

RSVP: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3419604662485554177

ATTRIBUTES & HIERARCHIES IN ANALYSIS SERVICES 2012

The session explains Attributes and Hierarchies in Analysis Services 2012 Semantic Model. They are used to slice (filter) and dice (group) measures and dimensions used to view analytical data. The slicing and dicing of data involves fields, columns, or whatever you want to labeled them. But, in SQL Server Semantic model these are called Attributes and Hierarchies. The configuration of these slicers and dicers are important in SQL Server Analysis Services. This session will demonstrate the difference between an attribute and columns in a hierarchy in the dimension as well as the configuration of these for best performance and viewing.

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Thomas LeBlanc (MCSA BI 2008, MCITP 2005/2008 DBA & MCDBA 2000) is a Data Warehouse Architect in Baton Rouge, LA. He has been in the IT field since 1989 starting as a COBOL programmer, graduating to dBase, FoxPro, Visual FoxPro, upgrading to Visual Basic versions 3-6 and even some .Net(C#). Designing and developing normalized database has become his passion. Dimensional Modeling is now his future. Full-time DBA work started in 2001 for Thomas while working at a Paper Mill. DBA related work involved supporting 600+ GB databases with replication to a Data Warehouse and DB Mirroring to a disaster recovery site. Performance tuning and reviewing database design and code are an everyday occurrence. Using the Microsoft BI stack for analytical reporting has sharpened his skills with SSIS, SSAS, SSRS and PerformancePoint.

Jan 8th – Baton Rouge SQL Server User Group - Azure

Please join us tonight, Wednesday Jan 8th starting at 5:45PM with networking and food. The information below is from the BRSSUG Website: http://www.brssug.org/

January '14 Baton Rouge User Groups Meeting - Azure!

Topic: Microsoft Azure!

This is an all user groups on deck meeting! SQL, .net, SharePoint, IT Pro, La-WIT are all invited!

Date: Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Location: The Louisiana Technology Park - http://www.brssug.org/where

Sponsored By: Microsoft 

Agenda:

5:45 - 6:15 pm: Networking and Refreshments

6:15 - 6:30 pm: Announcements

6:30 - 8:00 pm: Microsoft!

Main Topic: Microsoft Azure Info for ALL User Groups

Main Topic Speakers: Ryan Roussel, Microsoft and Bobby Lee, Microsoft

Main Topic Summary:

Azure is an exciting platform and between IAAS, PAAS, big data, storage, media, mobile services, etc. the possibilities in Azure truly seem limitless.  This user group session will focus on an introduction to Azure with a focus on the agenda topics below.  The session will include lots of live Azure demonstrations and answering questions from the group.  

Every person in attendance will have free access to Azure so they can do everything demoed at the user group meeting on their own after the session!

Agenda:
· Review Azure IAAS (Infrastructure As A Service) – Windows and Linux
    o http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/solutions/infrastructure/
· Review Azure PAAS (Platform As A Service) and Azure for the web 

    o http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/solutions/web/
    o How do developers leverage Azure for .Net, JAVA, Node.js, PHP, Python, Ruby, etc.
· Review Azure Mobile Services – Azure development for mobile apps on iOS, Android, Windows Phone
    o http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/develop/mobile/
· Azure storage options review Azure storage (tables, blob, queue)
    o http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/services/storage/
    o Developer perspective, when to look at Azure Storage, IAAS database (SQL or Oracle) for SQL Database (Azure PAAS database)
· Free Azure access, review options:
    o MSDN users have free Azure access of $150-$200 free Azure capacity per month. Activate today no credit card needed: http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/pricing/member-offers/msdn-benefits/

    o Free Azure access for Non-MSDN users, NO credit card needed: http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/pricing/free-trial/

Data Architecture VC hosts Nigel Sammy: TSQL Tips and Tricks

Please join the Data Architecture Virtual Chapter as they host SQL Server MVP Nigel Sammy his take for T-SQL Tips and Tricks for developers and DBAs.

Thu, Dec 19 2013 12:00 (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada)

Nigel Sammy - T-SQL: Tips and Tricks

RSVP: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5187602867480253442

Queries are running longer than expected? Your database server isn't performing as well as it should? There are many reason that this could be happening and one of them is the T-SQL being executed on the system. T-SQL offers various ways to get the information that you need but sometimes the option you choose might return the data that you want but may not be the best query structure or logic to use.
This session will share insight on how basic query structure and logic works so you can avoid wasting too much time on trial and error when writing queries. It will also show you some tips and tricks to avoid some bad T-SQL coding habits and help you write better queries. This session is for Developers and Database Administrators.

Presenter Bio:
Nigel is a Microsoft SQL Server MVP with over a decade of technical experience and over eight years database and SQL Server experience. He's progressed through several roles in his career including Lecturer, Developer, Analyst, Database Administrator/Developer, Project Manager, Architect, Team Lead and Manager. He's the founder and current chapter leader of the Trinidad and Tobago SQL Server User Group (TTSSUG) and is also the chapter leader of the PASS Azure Virtual Chapter.

PASS Data Architecture VC presents Steve Simon–Challenges to Designing Financial Warehouses

Please join the Data Arch VC with Steve Simon this Thursday Nov 14th at noon central for a great look at Steve’s experience while implementing a financial data warehouse.

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3299406050712061698

Next Meeting

Thu, Nov 14 2013 12:00 (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada)

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Challenges to designing financial warehouses

Summary:

In today’s rapidly changing financial world, designing robust and durable data warehouses can be a challenge that does not always stand the test of time. In this presentation, we shall look at some of the challenges and design issues that were encountered whilst designing two custom warehouses and the steps that were required to cope with ongoing requirement changes, indecision from management, and shrinking budgets; all of which affected the progress of moving these projects from the design board to a profitable production stage.

About Steve:

Steve Simon is a SQL Server MVP and a senior BI Development Engineer with Atrion Networking. He has been involved with database design and analysis for over 25 years. Steve has presented papers at eight PASS Summits and one at PASS Europe 2009 and 2010. He has just recently presented a Master Data Services presentation at the PASS Amsterdam Rally.  Steve has also presented 5 papers at the Information Builders' (IBI) International Summits. He is a PASS regional mentor & chair of the Oracle/SQL Server VC.

PASS Data Arch VC presents Louis Davidson Relational Database “Good Enough”

Please join us Thursday Sept 12th at noon Central for the monthly Data Architecture Virtual Chapter presentation. We will have SQL Server MVP talking about relational databases. Please don’t miss this session which is a preview to the Pre-Conference session Louis will be doing at the PASS Summit 2013 in Charlotte, NC Oct 14-19.

Next Meeting: Thu, Sep 12 2013

How Recognize Relational Database is "Good Enough"

Online Meeting URL: http://dataarch.sqlpass.org
Webcast:  https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/495593124197097216

iCal
UTC : Thu, Sep 12 2013 17:00 - 18:00
Event Time : Thu, Sep 12 2013 12:00 - 13:00 (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada)

Characteristics of a great Relational Database

Speaker: Louis Davidson, Data Architect drsql.org

Summary: Characteristics of a great Relational Database

About Louis: Louis Davidson has worked in the IT industry for over 15 years as a corporate database developer and architect. He has been a Microsoft SQL Server MVP for 8 years and has written five books on database design. Louis is currently the data architect for the Christian Broadcasting Network, supporting offices in Virginia Beach, VA, and Nashville, TN. He has a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. You can read more about Louis at http://drsql.org.

24 Hours of PASS: Preview to Slicing and Dicing Summit Session and more…

For 24 Hours of PASS 2013 Summit preview (#24HOP – twitter hash tag), I was asked to give a preview of the 1/2 day session on Slicing and Dicing in Analysis Serves 2012 for the upcoming PASS Summit 2013. My response: No Problem.

In Denver, it was the year 2007 when I attended the first Summit. I had never been to a SQL Server conference before and just happened to read about it on SQLServerCentral.com. My boss thought it was a good idea for both of us to attend, Wow, what an experience that the first year! I sat through session after session of presentations on SQL Server stuff I had never known before. We used the SSC code to get a discount and a visit to the Casino Night put on by Steve Jones and gang.

Now, the tables have turned, and I have to present while expecting the attendees to learn the same as I had learned in 2007. By the third Summit in 2009, I was thinking: Hey, I can do that.

Analysis Services caught my attention because of the degree I received at LSU – Quantitative Business Analysis. I was amazed at what OLAP could do with data. This lead to reading Kimball books and a lot of trial and error. The meat of everything seemed the entry into a dimensional model, and this was through Attributes and Hierarchies.

This preview is about the defaults in Analysis Services Multidimensional Cubes and what needs to be changed or configured before using Attributes and Hierarchies.

Please come online with us on July 31st thru August 1st and get a taste of what you can expect from the Summit in Charlotte, NC Oct 14-18, 2013. You can pick one and more sessions to learn more about SQL Server.

• Application & Database Development
• BI Information Delivery
• BI Platform Architecture, Development & Administration
• Cloud Application Development & Deployment
• Enterprise Database Administration & Deployment

• Practical Performance Troubleshooting
• From Reporting Services Rookie to Rockstar
• Big Data Visualization for Business Intelligence Professionals
• Into the Blue: Extending AlwaysOn Availability Groups
• Be a Successful DBA in the World of Cloud and On-Premise Data

• 24 jam-packed hours of SQL Server and BI training
• Sneak peek of PASS Summit 2013 content
• Content delivered from across the globe
• Free access to the best in technical education

PASS Data Architecture VC presents Steve Simon–Challenges Designing Finance Data Warehouse

Steve Simon will join us on Thursday June 20th at noon central to help us understand some challenges with designing a financial data warehouse in the real world. Come chat with a SQL Server MCP and seasoned data warehouse architect to reflect on his many years experience in this industry.

There will be a $50 amazon gift card given away during the session.

Online Meeting URL: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/659855837
DataArch.SQLPass.org

When iCal
Event Time : Thu, Jun 20 2013 12:00 - 13:00 (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada)
Challenges to designing financial warehouses, lessons learnt

Speaker: Steve Simon, Senior Business Intelligence Development Engineer Atrion Networking Corporation

Summary: In today’s rapidly changing financial world, designing robust and durable data warehouses can be a challenge that does not always stand the test of time. In this presentation, we shall look at some of the challenges and design issues that were encountered whilst designing two custom warehouses and the steps that were required to cope with ongoing requirement changes, indecision from management, and shrinking budgets; all of which affected the progress of moving these projects from the design board to a profitable production stage.

About Steve: Steve Simon is a SQL Server MVP and a senior BI Development Engineer with Atrion Networking. He has been involved with database design and analysis for over 25 years. Steve has presented papers at eight PASS Summits and one at PASS Europe 2009 and 2010. He has just recently presented a Data Quality Services presentation at the PASS Nordic Rally in Copenhagen. Steve has also presented 5 papers at the Information Builders' (IBI) International Summits. He is a PASS regional mentor & chair of the Oracle/SQL Server VC.

PASS Business Analytics VC presents Mark Tabladillo – Framework for Data Mining

Please join the Business Analytics Virtual Chapter as Mark Tabladillo talks about Best Practices for building a Framework for Data Mining. The GoToMeeting link for Noon Atlantic on June 13th is https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7717448277059007488

More Information

June 13th BAVC Virtual Chapter Meeting

• Online @ http://BAVC.sqlpass.org (map)
• 12:00 - 13:00 (GMT-04:00) Atlantic Time (Canada)
• https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7717448277059007488
• Language: English

Virtual Meeting

Featured Presentation: A Best Practices Framework for Data Mining

Mark Tabladillo, Data Mining Architect MarkTab Consulting

Data mining increasingly fascinates business people and information technology professionals alike, with the promise of finding meaningful patterns, relationships, and opportunities in our continuously growing volumes of data. There are tried and tested best practices you can follow to begin and improve your data mining efforts.

About Mark:
Mark Tabladillo, a Microsoft MVP and SAS expert. He helps teams become more confident in making actionable business decisions with the use of data mining and analytics. Mark provides training and consulting for companies in United States and around the world. He also teaches part-time with the University of Phoenix. He tweets @marktabnet and blogs at http://marktab.net

PASS Data Arch VC presents Robert Davis–Case Study: Designing a Global Scale-Out Architecture

Thursday May 16th at noon central, we are going to be educated by MCM and past SQL Server MVP Robert Davis talking about “How to deliver a public-facing website on a global scale.” The online webcast is part of the monthly presentations by the PASS Data Architect Virtual Chapter which Robert help revitalize about 2-3 years ago. Please join us.

Online Meeting URL 

https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/usergroups/join?id=2PKSJC&role=attend&pw=fb%2CN%7C3-qZ

 

When iCal UTC : Thu, May 16 2013 17:00 - 18:00
Event Time : Thu, May 16 2013 12:00 - 13:00 (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada)

Case Study: Designing a Global Scaled-out Architecture

Speaker: Robert Davis, SQL Server Master SQL DBA Master

Summary: How do you deliver a public-facing website on a global scale? To be truly competitive in a global market, you need to deliver a high performing website no matter what part of the world the user is in. Scaling out websites to multiple locations is easy, but it doesn’t really provide the performance required if the website has to get data from halfway around the world. This session will look at the challenges to scaling out the entire application to meet global performance requirements and how we addressed these challenges for an existing web application.

About Robert: Robert is a SQL Server 2008 Certified Master and an experienced Database Administrator, SQL Server evangelist, speaker, writer, and trainer. He has worked with SQL Server for 13+ years, most recently as Chief SQL Server Evangelist for Idera Software. Previously he served as PM for the SQL Server Certified Master Program at Microsoft Learning, and as a production DBA at Microsoft. Robert helped found the PASS Data Architecture Virtual Chapter and was co-author of Pro SQL Server 2008 Mirroring

T-SQL Tuesday #41 – Presenting and Loving It

Some Tuesday mornings I have bacon with eggs and an English muffin. Not today though. I am blogging about Why I Love Presenting for T-SQL Tuesday #41 hosted by Bob Pusateri. I will attempt to answer all his questions.

What was the first time you gave a presentation in front of a group and really enjoyed it?

It was probably when I worked at IEM and became a Microsoft Certified Database Administrator (MCDBA) in SQL Server 2000. We (me) started to do Lunch & Learns at the office where everybody brought their lunch to a conference room and listened to a presentation. We were about to upgrade to SQL Server 2000 from 7.0 and I was asked to show the .Net developers (I was a developer back then slowly becoming the Accidental DBA) what was new in SQL Server 2000. There was so much to talk about, that it took about 2 months giving a Lunch & Learn every 2 weeks to cover everything significant to developers. One thing I learned by presenting was that SQL Server 2000 included Cascade Update and Delete in foreign key constraints. I had just finished a month project coding this in triggers for a 7.0 database with 100+ tables.

Was it something that was required of you in school?

Yes, presenting at a speech class at LSU was a requirement, but I did not take it as serious as I do today. It was just school, right?

Something you did in the workplace?

Yes, see answer to first question. I also continued Lunch and Learns when I started working for Amedisys following IEM. They actually provide the lunch for the group. We were upgrading to SQL Server 2005 at this time. This eventually led to presenting at the local Baton Rouge SQL Server User group started by Patrick LeBlanc about the Performance Dashboard.

Were you inspired by other SQL community members and thought “I think I can do that too”?

After attending the second PASS Summit, this is what I started saying to myself. I noticed that some presenters were really excited (Grant Fritchey and Paul Neilsen) about a topic and I thought I could do the same. It was not as easy as I fantasized, but it was worth the time and energy.

Whatever your story is, I’d love to hear it.

From there, I presented at the local user group and started submitting to the Summit. I was not accepted the first 2 or 3 years, but after presenting at about 5-6 SQLSaturday events, I was accepted by SQLRally in 2011, then the Summit in 2011 and 2012. The Virtual Chapters of PASS really help as well and I started to volunteer to help run a VC.

By far the greatest benefit realized from presenting is learning the technology. There is countless hours I sit and read and practice the material over and over. This repetitiveness ingrains the mind with the ideas and practices of the technology. It then carries over into the day-to-day motions of being a DBA. The companies I have worked for get an experience expert.

PASS Data Arch VC presents Steve Hughes on Accounting for Windows Azure

I meet Steve this past November in Seattle at the PASS Summit. Reading his series on XMLA and Analysis Services help me understand more about SSAS. It was good to finally talk with this dude and get him to present to the Data Arch VC

His blog is Data on Wheels.

Please join us on March 21st at noon central to get some data architecture information for Windows Azure.

Steve Hughes Accounting for Windows Azure

Online Meeting URL: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/UserGroups/join?id=C2NPG7&role=attend&pw=x9%25%299%23Dr2

When iCal
UTC : Thu, Mar 21 2013 17:00 - 18:00
Event Time : Thu, Mar 21 2013 12:00 - 13:00 (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada)
Accounting for Windows Azure in Your Data Architecture

Speaker: Steve Hughes, Practice Lead - Data and Business Intelligence Magenic

Summary: As Windows Azure becomes a more significant part of the IT landscape, data architects need to understand the data technologies at their disposal. Not all data can nor should be stored in the relational database in Azure. The discussion will include the various storage types available for data in Azure and how they may fit into an architecture. Learn which data storage techniques may work best for your next project with Azure and some of the nuances of using each type within a project.

About Steve: Steve Hughes is a Practice Lead at Magenic, working with Microsoft’s SQL Server stack to deliver data and BI solutions. He has worked with technology for over 15 years and is passionate about helping customers understand that data is valuable and profitable. Over the past 6 years, he has delivered more than 30 presentations on SQL Server and data architecture. In 2010, he received Consultant of the Year honors at Magenic. Steve is also a PASS Regional Mentor for the Northeast.

PASS Data Arch VC presents: Neil Hambly’s Think You Have The Right Data-Type?

Please join this Thursday Feb 24th 2013 at noon central for Confio SQL Server expert Neil Hambly talking SQL Server Data-Types. This seemingly simply feature is the heart of tables and data in SQL Server, so you do not want to miss Neil sharing implications of not knowing the details to Data Types.

Online Meeting URL: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/UserGroups/join?id=7BTR84&role=attend&pw=s%26Q2H%2B%3A%263
RSVP URL: DataArch.SQLPass.org

This month Confio DBA Neil Hambly presents Think you have the right Data-Type? He will talk about selecting the right Data-Type (DT) for data is key to efficient data storage, retrieval and processing, with over 30 different DT to choose from this isn’t as straight forward as you might think. Join us Feb 28th 2013 at noon central for a talk about data type design and decisions.

When

iCal
UTC : Thu, Feb 28 2013 18:00 - 19:00
Event Time : Thu, Feb 28 2013 12:00 - 13:00 (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada)
Your Local Time: 2/28/2013 12:00 - 13:00

Think you have the right Data-Type?

Speaker: Neil Hambly, Database Administrator Confio Software

Summary: Selecting the right Data-Type (DT) for data is key to efficient data storage, retrieval and processing, with over 30 different DT to choose from this isn’t as straight forward as you might think, have your also considered the usage pattern of the data in addition to its storage requirements This session explores the various data-types now available, we look at conversion’s between different DT’s as well as index sizes & effectiveness, compression and other factors can that influence these decisions, we finish off by discussing different approaches on ‘migrating’ a DT to a different DT, throughout the session we consider any performance considerations, such as when implicit conversions occur and more

About Neil: Neil Hambly is a SQL Server veteran of more than 14 years, with expertise in SQL Server from Version 6.5 to the latest 2012 edition. He's held database roles at major organizations, including the BBC, ABN AMRO, and Accenture, as well as at a number of market-leading companies. Currently a Senior DBA at Confio Software, he’s held prior roles as a DBA, developer, and architect. Leader of the PASS London Chapter, Neil can frequently be found speaking at UK and international events.

PASS Data Arch VC presents: Intro to Master Data Services by James Serra

Please join this Thursday Dec 20th 2012 at noon central for Business Intelligence expert/consultant James Serra talking Master Data Services. This new feature of the Microsoft BI stack is sure to help elevate your skills with data in SQL Server 2012.

Introduction to Microsoft’s Master Data Services (MDS) by James Serra

Online Meeting URL: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/usergroups/join?id=4HQDRK&role=attend&pw=p%7E%29%7B%22X%2B4h
RSVPURL: http://dataarch.sqlpass.org/

 

When  iCal
UTC : Thu, Dec 20 2012 18:00 - 19:00
Event Time : Thu, Dec 20 2012 13:00 - 14:00 Eastern Standard Time
Your Local Time: Thursday, December 20, 2012 12:00 - 13:00

Where http://dataarch.sqlpass.org/

Featured Presentation

Introduction to Microsoft’s Master Data Services (MDS)

Speaker: James Serra, BI/Data Warehouse/MDM Architect and Developer Serra Consulting Services

Summary: Companies struggle with consolidating the same set of data from multiple systems to accurately report on critical business information. For example, having customer lists in multiple systems that often have the same customer in more than one list, sometimes with a different spelling. Master Data Services is bundled with SQL Server 2012 to help resolve many of the Master Data Management issues that companies are faced with when integrating data. In this session, James will show an overview of Master Data Services 2012, including the out of the box Web UI, the highly developed Excel Add-in, and how to get started with loading MDS with your data.

About James: James is currently a Data Warehouse/Business Intelligence/MDM architect and developer with over 25 years of IT experience. James started as a software developer, and then was a DBA for 12 years, and for the last six years he has been working extensively with Business Intelligence using the SQL Server BI stack (SSAS, SSRS, and SSIS). James has been at times a permanent employee, consultant and contractor. James is a noted speaker, blogger, and contributing editor for SQL Server Pro magazine.

PASS Summit 2012 - Done!!!

Thursday afternoon

Thursday afternoon concluded with How to run SSRS in Sharepoint integration mode, Enriching Tabular with DAX and Monitoring SSAS. The best was the last.  Tim Peterson (SolidQ) shared his 12+ years working with SSAS to give us 3 ways to monitor SSAS – SQL Profiler, PerfMon and a CodePlex module call ResMon. Most of the time was spent showing Profiler while running MDX after clearing the Cache, File Cache and Script Cache. These three demos paid for the whole conference. I love watching presentations from seasoned experts.

Below are pictures from Day One pre-conference session on the left – Rob Colledge, Day Two meeting with PASS Virtual Chapters leaders – Denise McInerney and Ryan Adams talking about promoting Virtual Chapters.

    

The DAX sessions was demoed in Excel 2013 and PowerPivot (which I am not using), so it was kind of disappointing and the SSRS integration was mostly in 2008 R2 (he did show 2012 at the end) and all on one machine. It would have been nice to show deployment on multi-server SharePoint farms because that is what most enterprises use. Even though I did not get what I wanted (gotta stop the selfishness), both were great sessions with experience presenters and 2-3 bits of information I had not known before.

One the left is Chuck Heinzelman and the right is Tim Mitchell preparing for his SSIS session.

    

Friday morning

The last morning started with conversations at breakfast with some Germany user group leaders where we talked a lot about last year’s summit and SQLSaturday. They are hosting I believe #170. The first session was Mike Davis(a consultant from the north) showing demos of starting and improving a SSAS Tabular Modular cube. Do you call it a cube or semantic model? His examples where great and very simple to understand. Maybe that has more to do with tabular than his demos.

The second part of the morning was Tim Mitchell showing SSIS and some patterns to use for handling errors and validation of data. I really like Tim’s presentation skills. You can tell he has been doing this for some time. I probably took 2 pages of notes to use back at work. He showed event handling and properties like propagate that I had never seen or use before.

Lunch was at the Birds of a Feather table on Database Development. The attendees were from South Africa, San Diego, Louisiana and others. We talked mostly about our backgrounds and some of the more comical situations at work where we learned some lessons. There was more laughter than seriousness, which helped with digesting the food (not that it was bad, the food is top notch). This is were I try to practice some listening and slow down on the talking. While most tables started to empty out, we were still going at it. That was a nice way to end the day.

Below is Peter Meyers and Matthew Roche, the middle is Carlos Bossy and the right is a view from the bloggers table during the WIT luncheon.

   

I am typing this at the airport with the sun in my eyes, but it does not bother me because of the great time I just had. You know, I never got out in the city at all and spent most of the time with SQL Server professionals. I do not even want to use the terms geeks or tweeps or SQLFamily, we are definitely a group of IT professionals that are employed to do a serious job of protecting, mining, speeding and handling data the runs business profitably and governments effectively yesterday, today and tomorrow. I love my job!!!

Mount Rainer from the plane.

     

It was also nice to have attendees come up to me later and say how much they enjoyed my session. I always reminded them to fill out the evaluations to help me(us) with future sessions.

God Bless!!!

Live Blog: PASS Summit–WIT Luncheon

WIT – Women In Technology 10 anniversary PASS Summit Luncheon

Please go to this link for more info on the speakers and content. I am blogging and tweeting from this luncheon to help with exposure of the message and to learn more myself.

Louisiana has a WIT community - http://www.la-wit.org/

11:55AM

Room is filling up, many conversations at tables. Bloggers table is full, actually overflowing and the session should start at 12noon pacific

12:05PM

PASS president Bill introduces Wendy as moderator. 10 years for WIT. Room for 700 people and Wendy reviews how they would recruiter people like the PASS Ambassadors of today. Wendy thanks SQLSentry and volunteers for support. Wendy also recognizes SQLSaturday organizers for running these events.

12:10PM

Stefanie is keynote speaker of WIT luncheon and says how overwhelmed with the attendance. Talks about have 60+ at the first luncheon and now 700+. Talks about her early years in technology and using COBOL.

12:15PM

Up next is Wendy, the VC leader on the WIT chapter. Talks about in 2002 search for a woman at PASS. But, now that has changed. A 24-HOP of women speakers have helped more women speaker at PASS, SQLSaturday and local user groups. Now, promotion of women in IT has grown. About 15% at PASS Summit are women in 2011 and 2012. Denise wants to she more woman create the technology not just support. she is concerned about the amount of women leaving tech jobs.

12:20PM

Kevin Kline is up next. Kevin has been involved with PASS since it started. Talks about the early days not having the money to help but we do have the attitude and heart to help the community. Leads the conversation of not being segregated and compares the different places that have welcome signs but a exclusive. PASS is goodness and we want to share with you

Mentions the need to have women in IT teams in order to bring the a different dimension to the task at hand. As a father of teenage girls, he is trying to find away to encourage them in IT. Always a Work In Progress.

12:30PM

Jen, the PASSion award winner up next. Very soft spoken woman, but experienced with the BI stack from Microsoft. Scottish accent is strong. Talks about the IT job helps her as a single mom to support her family. More diversity helps team dynamics. Mentions government studies in Scotland and US.

12:35PM

Kendra (MCM and MVP) talks about her search for the comfortable in the IT field and the different jobs she worked in. As she started speaking at SQLSaturday, She realized that when an attendee came up and asked more questions, being a consultant was a possibility. The encouragement she gives is start talking about what you know.

Rap Up

Question and answer period continues…

This luncheon was sponsored by

 

WIT Panelists
Stefanie Higgins
Stefanie Higgins has been a PASS member since 1999 and was very fortunate to have had the opportunity to serve as a PASS volunteer and eventually a PASS Board member from 2000 – 2005. She is one of the founders of the WIT luncheon event at PASS and as a mom of four she has a passion for encouraging working women especially in the area of work/life balance. Stefanie has worked as a Sr. DBA for IndyMac Bank, The Walt Disney Co. and as an IT Manager at DirecTV. She is an MCITP SQL Server 2008 R2, currently working as a Sr. DBA for Disney and enjoys telecommuting days from her home in beautiful San Diego CA.

Kevin Kline
Kevin Kline is a well-known database expert and software industry veteran. A long-time Microsoft SQL Server MVP and noted leader in the IT industry, he is a founder and former president of PASS and the author of popular IT books such as SQL in a Nutshell. Kevin is a top-rated speaker at industry conferences worldwide.

 

 

Kendra Little
Kendra Little is all about data, communication, and creativity. Kendra nerds out on SQL Server full time as a founder of Brent Ozar PLF, LLC, a boutique consulting company. She is a Microsoft Certified Master in SQL Server 2008 and a Microsoft MVP.

 

Denise McInerney

Denise McInerney began her career as a SQL Server DBA in 1998 and currently works as a Staff Technical Data Analyst at Intuit in Mountain View, CA. Denise, who serves as a Director-at-Large on the PASS Board of Directors, started volunteering for PASS in 2003. She founded the PASS Women in Technology Virtual Chapter (VC) and served as VC chairperson or co-chair for 5 years. Denise received the PASSion Award in 2007.

 

Jen Stirrup

Jen Stirrup is a SQL Server MVP, with a Bachelors degree in Psychology and two Masters in Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science. Jen holds a Europe-wide volunteer role in helping to co-ordinate 'Women in Technology' events as a SQLPass volunteer, which covers WIT events in disparate countries from Sweden to Poland. Jen is a veteran SQL Server Developer with 15 years SQL experience in delivering end-to-end Business Intelligence solutions. Jen blogs for SQLServerPedia as well as her own blog. She has presented in many SQL Server User Groups in the UK.

PASS Summit 2012–Thursday morning

Using SSIS 2012 for ETL in a Data Warehouse

Well, I feel great relief that my session has been completed, and completed successfully. The room was full with people on the floor and along the walls. That was great considering Peter Meyers and Devin Knight had done similar sessions 2 different times before mine. Visual Studio blew up once (at the beginning) and I made a mistake with one OLEDB connection, but was able to recover both times. I had 2 attendees keep track of all the new features of 2012 I demonstrated, and one said 22 and the other had 26. Not bad for 75 minutes. Doing live demos of SSIS 2012 is not the easiest task, but I think attendees rather see demos than slides.

Tuesday – community involvement

Tuesday morning began with with PASS Virtual Chapter leaders, then SQLSaturday leaders and volunteers. The amount of people in these meetings were more than double the amount last year. Folks, there is a lot going on with the PASS SQL Server community. Please get involved. The afternoon was with House of Bricks talking about the methodology, best practice and monitoring of SQL Server on VMWare. I was expecting more technical demos, but it was still worth my time.

After some exercise, I helped man the Virtual Chapter area of the Welcome Reception and signed up 10 or so new members. The time was also spent talking to many attendees I knew or just meet. Hearing other SQL Server professionals talk about their work is indeed interesting and great for knowledge sharing. The room was overflowing and time went by quickly. The evening concluded with the annual SQLServerCentral.com Casino night. Of course, I lost all my play money chips, but the conversations with DBAs was worth it.

Wednesday

This morning started in the PASS Community center at 7AM. Right next to the dining area help with grabbing a quick bite. As I finished at my table, Buck Woody walked up to continue the conversation with the First Timers. I spent some in the speaker room rehearsing my demos for a 3PM session. Carlos Bossy came in as well as Matt Mason. We talked SSIS and Data Modeling which was great. I missed the Keynote, but here is a good link to a BI perspective view – Marco Russo.

The first session was Peter Meyers and Matthew Roche presenting on 10 Extraordinary Things to Achieve in SSIS. The duo was a great combination with a good talker and a demo guru. Lunch was at the Baton Rouge SQL Server User Group table where I meet up with Patrick LeBlanc and Mark Verret. There was @SQLCajun and others from Mississippi at the table. Brian McDonald came by to talk with Patrick. Mark’s colleague was there from LSU and talked about us speaking about real world uses on Microsoft BI with their students.

The day concluded with SSAS Storage with Stacia Misner then my presentation at 3PM. The last session I attendee was SQL Server and SharePoint: Best Frienimies(sp?). A SQLCAT member did the presentation and she related it back to her DBA days. I am still not convinced about some of the Best Practices with maintenance but I understand more about why the want us to follow these suggestions 

Thursday

I am starting the morning in the PASS community lounge at 7AM helping new people get involved. Next is the massage chair in the Seattle Convention center. I am hoping to spend an hour there.

The first session is with Carlos Bossy who I meet last year with Steve Jones and he even came to Baton Rouge for our 3rd SQLSaturday. He is going to talk about planning and designing the underlying data base model that is needed for an effect Semantic Model. Next, I am live blogging and tweeting during the WIT Luncheon sponsored by SQLSentry. I rest of the day is up in the air, but the evening concludes with a Microsoft Appreciation event at Seattle’s Music Experience museum.