Building Applications That A DBA Will Love
April 12, 2011, 12 PM Eastern
Presenter: Andy Warren
Attendee URL: LiveMeeting

It’s natural for the focus to be on the end user when we build applications, but it’s important and worthwhile to build into our design some things that make it easier for the DBA to provision, tune, and support the product we deliver. So what does a DBA care about? Performance of course, but also security, scalability, space usage, and yes, even documentation. This presentation will cover tips in a number of areas that address the concerns of the DBA, and we’ll talk about why you should care about making the DBA happy too!

Andy Warren

Andy Warren is a SQL Server consultant and trainer who occasionally writes some code too. He’s on the PASS Board of Directors, was a founding partner in SQLServerCentral.com, started the SQLSaturday event format, and is currently a SQL Server MVP. Andy blogs at www.sqlandy.com, and can be reached via Twitter as @sqlandy and on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/sqlandy.

How do I attend?
Attendee URL: LiveMeeting
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Efficient and effective processing of OLAP CUBES with AMO and XMLA
Fri April 15th 12PM EST (US)
Speaker: Steve Simon

Topic Description:

Within the financial industry, rapid and effective decision making is critical to our client relationships. Analytical tools such as OLAP cubes help make this a reality. In many 24 X 7 enterprises, data capture and cube updates occur on an ongoing basis throughout the business day. We are able to achieve this through the innovative utilization of SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS). This intermediate level hands-on presentation will show the attendee how we have utilized Analysis Management Objects (AMO) commands and SSIS to ‘fire’ our OLAP CUBE updating processes. The presentation will discuss the high level concepts behind Analysis Management Objects (and the XMLA that is generated from the commands) and the scenarios under which we can benefit from their usage. Topics covered will be the updating of dimensions, measures, partitions, the cube and more.

Bio:

Steve Simon is an Assistant Vice President with State Street Corporation in Boston. He has been involved with database design and analysis for over 26 years. Steve has presented papers at eight North American PASS Summits (in Orlando, Seattle WA (4), Denver CO (2) and San Francisco CA), two at PASS Europe 2009 and one at PASS Europe 2010. He has just recently presented his PASS 2008 Summit presentation in Johannesburg South Africa. Steve is actively involved with the SQL Server community within the Boston area and is a regular presenter at the New England Code Camps and SQL Saturday events and participates actively on many of the Microsoft User Forums. He is also the Virtual Chapter leader of the Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS) Oracle – SQL Server Virtual Chapter and is a PASS regional mentor. He will also be presenting a data mining paper at SQL Teach in Montreal between May 31^st , 2011 and June 3^rd 2011.

URL: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/usergroups/join?id=RPN4J9&role=attend&pw=J%25%7E*7r%229d

Learn some of the quirks and capabilities of SSIS. Learn about the pitfall of “parallel path choicing”. Use the Script Component as a data source (to solve complex sourcing issues) and as a data destination (to get around the identity column conundrum). See how to use Script Tasks to build directory scanners for efficient file import techniques. We’ll also go over some the tunable properties of the Data Flow object.

Josef Richberg
Josef is a DBA for HarperCollins Publishers working with SQL Server and SSIS.  He has over 17 years’ experience designing, building, and tuning SQL Server.  Josef was the recipient of the ’2009 Exceptional DBA’ award and actively blogs at http://josef-richberg.squarespace.com.

How do I view the presentation?
Attendee URL:  Live Meeting link

Applied MDX
Refactoring SQL Applications
Implementing SQL Server in a utility model
WIT Monthly Conference-Call
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Applied MDX
Monday October 25th 12 pm EDT (GMT-4)
Kevin Geoff

Learning the basics of MDX is one thing – learning how to incorporate MDX into custom OLAP applications is another.  In this presentation, I’ll show several examples of MDX inside SSRS reports, PerformancePoint Services dashboards, and even inside of Excel.   We’ll also look at using MDX inside of OLAP calculated members and data-driven KPIs.  The attendee will come away with different perspectives on how MDX is necessary to create flexible OLAP reporting.

Kevin Geoff
Kevin is a 2010 SQL Server MVP ,2005-2008 .NET/C# MVP ,SQL Server/Business Intelligence senior instructor and courseware author – SetFocus, LLC ,Columnist for CoDe Magazine (Baker’s Dozen Productivity Series), and a Developer/consultant in the industry since 1987

How do I attend? Live Meeting link

_____________________________________________________________Refactoring Refactoring SQL Applications
Tuesday October 26th 12 pm EDT (GMT-4)
Jeremiah Peschka

Refactoring SQL is not like refactoring application code. This talk will demonstrate proven SQL refactoring techniques that will help you identify where performance gains can be made, apply quick fixes, improve readability, and help you quickly locate places to make sweeping performance improvements. Jeremiah Peschka has years of hands on experience tuning SQL applications for performance, throughput, and concurrency.

Jeremiah is involved in the Professional Association for SQL Server. When he is not volunteering with the development community, Jeremiah can be found blogging about data storage, relational databases, and software development at http://facility9.com. He can also be found on Twitter as @peschkaj.

How do I attend? Live Meeting link

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Implementing SQL Server in a utility model
Wednesday October 27th 12 pm EDT (GMT-4)
Jason Massie

A SQL Server as a Service(SQLaaS) in a utility computing model can be a robust platform providing self service provisioning, better utilization of hardware and power, lower administrative overhead and chargeback capabilities. It can allow your internal and external customers to forget about the database and focus on developing and deploying apps that add value to your core business. In this session, we will cover key benefits of offering the DB in a utility computing model which could be part of your larger SOA strategy. Next, we will look at some key considerations from the DBA and IT decision maker’s perspective that will drive the infrastructure design. Several different architectures will be discussed along with their business driven considerations. We will look at SQL Server 2008 r2 features that are well suited for a utility model as well as SQL Server vNext and 3rd party tools. Lastly, we will look at areas that may require custom development to meet your specific needs.

Jason Massie
Jason has 10 years experience as a DBA and currently manages the Oracle and SQL Server DBA teams for Terremark. He is a SQL Server MVP. Jason has spoken at the Professional Association of SQL Server Conference, the North Texas SQL Server Users Group, SQL Connections and TechED. You can read more about him at http://jasonmassie.com and contact him at jmassie at terremark.com

How do I attend? Live Meeting link

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Women In Technology Conference Call
Wednesday October 27th 3pm CDT/1pm PDT (GMT-5/GMT-7)

Please email Wendy Pastrick ( email | twitter ) for dial in information

• This will be our final call before the PASS Summit.
• Final planning for our PASS presence: Welcome Reception,  WIT Luncheon, Chapter Lunch
• Discussion about roles in the chapter
• At the end of the meeting, we offer Open Mic time for people to share news or ask open ended questions

Ensure Business Continuity with SQL Server, Windows Server 2008 R2 and Hyper-V Live Migration
October 12th 12:00 PM EDT (GMT -4)
Presenter: Ross Mistry

See ways to reduce deployment time and adapt to changes in hardware utilization or capacity requirements quickly, with minimal downtime, using SQL Server and Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V Live Migration. The session will also focus on SQL Server Virtualization alternatives, high availability strategies within a virtualized environment and a real life demonstration of moving a SQL Server Virtual Machine from one physical host to another with Live Migration. Finally, the session will also include case studies based on designs at the Microsoft Technology Center.

Ross Mistry

Ross Mistry is an Enterprise Architect at Microsoft, bestselling author and a former SQL Server MVP. Ross focuses on designing and implementing SQL Server solutions for Microsoft’s largest customers at the Microsoft Technology Center in Silicon Valley. Ross is a frequent speaker at SQL Server community events such as SQL PASS, SQL Europe PASS, Connections and SQL Bits. His recent books include; Introducing SQL Server 2008 R2 (MSPress), Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed (SAMS) and SQL Server 2008 Management and Administration (SAMS). You can follow him on twitter @RossMistry.

How do I view the presentation?
Attendee URL:  Live Meeting link

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Maps Integration into Reporting Services
October 12th 12:00 PM EDT (GMT -4)
Presenter: Matt Smith

The purpose of this presentation is to display the functionality of Bing maps integration into SSRS on SQL 2008 R2. Topics include how to use geospatial data, create map layers, and drill through actions to enhance usability of reporting.

Matt Smith

A Technology professional with over 5 years experience in various areas of software from database development and architecture to application development . Primary focus is on Business Intelligence. Industries include automotive, finance, healthcare, hospitality, education and real estate.  Matt takes pride in thinking outside the box, building customer relationships, and his liaison abilities between the technical and business worlds. Personal interests include anything sports or outdoor related, photography, salt water aquariums, and family.

How do I view the presentation?
Attendee URL: Live Meeting Link
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Use PowerShell to Get the Most out of SQL Server
October 13th 12:00 PM MDT (GMT -6)
Presenter: Allen White

PowerShell is the new scripting environment from Microsoft for managing server environments.  Because PowerShell supports the .Net Framework, accessing SQL Server in a scripting environment is easier than ever before.  Whether you need to access data or manage SQL Server, PowerShell makes it possible.  This session will give an introduction to PowerShell, explain the basic ADO.Net objects required to connect with SQL Server, and demonstrate accessing SQL Server from PowerShell scripts, both from a data and a management perspective.

Allen White

Allen is a consultant and mentor for Upsearch Technology Services in Northeast Ohio. He’s spent over 35 years in IT and has been using SQL Server since 1992 and is certified MCITP in SQL Server and MCT.  Allen has been awarded Microsoft’s MVP Award for the last four years. He’s active in the Ohio North SQL Server User’s Group and contributes in the MSDN Forums, answering questions about SMO and PowerShell, and maintains a blog at sqlbolg.com

How do I view the presentation?
Attendee URL: Live Meeting Link
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Women in Technology discussion at SQL Saturday #49
October 16th 4:00 PM EDT (GMT -4)
Presenter: Kathi Kellenberger

This is a general round table discussion about women in technology. This presentation is open to men as well.

Kathi Kellenberger

Kathi, former SQL Server MVP, is a Data Technology Specialist with Microsoft in St. Louis. She is author of “Beginning T-SQL 2008″ (Apress) and co-author of “Professional SQL Server 2005 Integration Services” (Wrox) and “SQL Server MVP Deep Dives” (Manning) as well as over two dozen technical articles. Before joining Microsoft, Kathi was a DBA for Bryan Cave LLP, an international law firm. She has involved with the PASS community for several years, winning the PASSion award in 2008.

How do I view the presentation?
Sign up to attend SQL Saturday #49

Next-Level SQLCLR: Parallel Processing and Bulk Load
September 28nd 12:00 PM EDT (GMT -4)
Presenter: Adam Machanic

The power of SQLCLR as a performance tool has been well-documented at this point; certain queries, when re-written the right way using SQLCLR components, can run an order of magnitude more quickly. If you’re already using SQLCLR, or need that extra push, attend this session to discover how to take things one step further using advanced techniques and a custom SQLCLR component that will help you leverage the power of parallelism to burn through your rows more quickly than you ever thought possible. This session includes some of the material that will be covered in Adam Machanic’s full-day PASS Summit post-conference seminar, “A Day of Doing Many Things at Once: Multitasking, Parallelism, and Process Distribution.” More information on the seminar is available here: http://sqlpass.eventpoint.com/topic/details/AD311P

Adam Machanic

Adam is a Boston-based independent database consultant, writer, and speaker. He has been involved in dozens of SQL Server implementations for both high-availability OLTP and large-scale data warehouse applications, and has optimized data access layer performance for several data-intensive applications. Adam has written for numerous web sites and magazines, including SQLblog, Simple Talk, Search SQL Server, SQL Server Professional, CoDe, and VSJ. He has also contributed to several books on SQL Server, including “SQL Server 2008 Internals” (Microsoft Press, 2009) and “Expert SQL Server 2005 Development” (Apress, 2007). Adam regularly speaks at user groups, community events, and conferences on a variety of SQL Server and .NET-related topics. He is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for SQL Server, Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP), and a member of the INETA North American Speakers Bureau.

How do I attend?
Attendee URL: LiveMeeting Link
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SSRS R2: The New Stuff
September 29th 12:00 PM EDT (GMT -4)
Presenter: Mike Davis

In this session Mike shows you the new features in Reporting Services 2008 R2. You will learn how to use the Map control, Sparkline, Indicator, and Data Bars. See the new report builder 3.0. Learn about shared Data sets and report parts. Learn how to drill down from the US level to the state level using the map controls.

Mike Davis

Mike is a MCTS, MCITP, Senior BI consultant, and Trainer at Pragmatic Works.  He is an author of two Business intelligence books.  Mike is an experienced speaker and has presented at many events such as several SQL Server User Groups, Code Camps, SQL Server Launches, and SQL Saturday events. Mike is an active member at his local user group (JSSUG) in Jacksonville, FL.

URL: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/usergroups/join?id=H2JWQQ&role=attend&pw=tS3%24Gtj%60z

Indexes and Other Free Performance Boosts
September 14th 12:00 PM EDT (GMT -4)
Presenter: Jeremiah Peschka

The database is often viewed as a major performance bottleneck. There are a number of quick, easy, painless techniques that can increase the performance of an application not just by a small amount, but by orders of magnitude. These techniques include simple indexing techniques, T-SQL techniques, and general database application design patterns that give great gains in performance. In this session, you will learn how to look at a database to identify these problem areas and how to resolve common issues that you will encounter.

Jeremiah Peschka

Jeremiah (blog|twitter) is a Database Expert with Quest Software. He is a SQL Server MVP, user group leader, and PASS Director at Large. Jeremiah has a passion for spreading knowledge and writing about himself in the third person. When not using a computer, Jeremiah can be found playing guitar, reading, writing, wandering around central Ohio, or speaking at various SQL Server events.

Live Meeting Link: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/usergroups/join?id=DJ8WK2&role=attend
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Building your 1st Performance Point Dashboard in SharePoint 2010
September 14th 12:00 PM EDT (GMT -4)
Presenter: Adam Jorgensen

Many of you have seen the coolness that is PerformancePoint in SharePoint 2010. Come get hands on with Adam as we go through the ins and outs of creating your first dashboard.  See some of the cool visualizations you can use and how they work together to create a cool user experience.

Adam Jorgensen

Adam, MBA, MCDBA, MCITP: BI has over a decade of experience leading organizations around the world in developing and implementing enterprise solutions. His passion is finding new and innovative avenues for clients and the community to embrace business intelligence and lower barriers to implementation. Adam is also very involved in the community as a featured author on SQLServerCentral, SQLShare, as well as a regular contributor to the SQLPASS Virtual User Groups for Business Intelligence and other organizations. He regularly speaks at industry group events, major conferences, Code Camps, and SQLSaturday events on strategic and technical topics.

Live Meeting Link: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/usergroups/join?id=K5S9BK&role=attend&pw=B%3B4%2F%7D38%3Br
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One more quick note.  There’s this little online event going on the following day called the 24 Hours of PASS and this time it’s been rearranged to be timed better for the massive amount of Data Professionals in the Eastern half of the US [and Canada, Puerto Rico, The Bahamas, Bermuda, Virgin Islands, Netherland Antilles, & Brazil, etc… yeah them places too]

24 Hours of PASS: Summit Preview

Join an exceptional lineup of SQL Server and BI experts from around the world as they present a sneak peek of PASS Summit 2010 in 24 free live webcasts September 15-16.

This installment of 24 Hours of PASS delivers the hottest SQL Server and BI content directly to your computer – with a twist. Instead of running continuously for 24 hours, the September event divides the webcasts across 2 days, with each day beginning at 12:00 GMT (UTC). Check out what time it starts in your neck of the woods.

Dig into data warehousing, MDX, KPIs, and DTS-to-SSIS migration. Learn best practices for sizing database hardware and performance tuning. Get an in-depth look at PowerShell, storage for the DBA, and the latest T-SQL enhancements. And see how to manage teams, make your presentations rock, prepare for your next job, and more.

Tune in to hear your favorite MVPs and PASS Summit speakers, including Kalen Delaney, Andy Leonard, Kevin Kline, Brad McGehee, Allen White, and many more.

Register today for your top picks – or plan to attend them all!

Writing a better Where Clause
August 24th 8:00 AM EDT (GMT -4)
Presenter: Scott Gleason

This session will cover the basics of writing optimized query’s with focus on the ‘where clause’ and ‘having clause’ of a select statement. If you have never attended a query performance session before, you’ll learn a lot!

Scott Gleason
Scott has worked in Jacksonville Florida exclusively as DBA for over nine years. He is currently the Vice President of the Jacksonville SQL Server Users Group (JSSUG) and actively speaks about SQL at SQL Saturdays and Code Camps.

How do I view the presentation?
Attendee URL:  Live Meeting Link
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SQL Storage for Performance: Best Practices
August 25th 12:00 AM EDT (GMT -4)
Presenter: Amy Styers

SQL Storage Planning for Best Performance What are the different storage optimizations available for SQL server? What are some techniques that can be used to determine performance bottlenecks? Amy will discuss tips and tricks from the field on how to answer these questions for planning and designing your SQL infrastructure from disk up!

Amy Styers
Amy is a Microsoft Infrastructure Architect in the EMC Commercial Solutions Advisory Group where she has been engaged for the last three years discussing with customers their options for highly available, highly scalable, high performing Microsoft applications. She regularly addresses customers with regards to their virtualization initiatives and helps customers make decisions regarding architecting their Microsoft infrastructures both in physical and virtual environments.

Meeting Link: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/8000181573/join?id=S2G482&role=attend

Loops, Lookups and Splits: SSIS Beyond the Basics
Managing Teams
Why Should I use Stored Procedures?
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Loops, Lookups and Splits: SSIS Beyond the Basics
July 13th 9:00 PM EDT (GMT -4)
Presenter: Tim Mitchell

In this session, we’ll explore some of the useful tasks and data flow components of SSIS. Join in as we review the File System Task and the SSIS looping containers, as well as data flow components including the Lookup Transformation, the Conditional Split, and the Derived Column. This session will include various demonstrations using SSIS 2008.

Tim Mitchell

Tim Mitchell is a Microsoft SQL Server consultant, developer, and speaker. He has been working with SQL Server for over 7 years, working primarily in business intelligence, ETL/SSIS, and reporting. He has earned numerous certifications and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from Texas A&M at Commerce, and is a Microsoft SQL Server MVP. Tim is a business intelligence consultant for Artis Consulting in the Dallas, Texas area. See his full profile and blog at www.timmitchell.net.

How do I view the presentation?
Attendee URL:  Live Meeting link

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Managing Teams
July 13th 1:00 PM EDT (GMT -4) / 10:00 AM PDT (GMT -7)
Presenter: Andy Leonard

Are you a member of a team of database professionals? Are you part of a developer team? Do you manage or lead a team? This presentation is for you. Andy Leonard shares experiences, war stories, and lessons learned from years of managing and leading teams.

Andy Leonard
Andy is an Architect with Molina Medicaid Solutions, SQL Server database and Integration Services developer, SQL Server MVP, PASS Regional Mentor, and engineer. He is a co-author of Professional SQL Server 2005 Integration Services and SQL Server MVP Deep Dives. Andy blogs for SQLBlog.com. His background includes web application architecture and development, VB, and ASP; SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS); data warehouse development using SQL Server 2000, 2005 and 2008.

Click here to join the Live Meeting.

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Why Should I use Stored Procedures?
July 14th 12:00 PM MDT (GMT -6)
Presenter: Jack Corbett

With the proliferation of ORM Tools like Linq To SQL, NHibernate, there has been a move to no longer use stored procedures for Data Access, I personally disagree. This will be a professional and polite open discussion starting with why I believe stored procedures are the best way to access data in SQL Server. Alternate view points welcome.

Jack Corbett
Professional who has worked with SQL Server for 10 yrs (6.5-2008) and experience in .NET development as well. Author of several articles for SQLServerCentral and video author for SQLShare.com. Speaker at several SQLSaturday’s and Florida User Groups. Co-President of OPASS. Lover of all things SQL except Analysis Services and MDX.

Live Meeting Link: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/8000181573/join?id=7FKD56&role=attend

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ETL with PowerShell
June 22nd 9:00 PM EDT (GMT -4)
Presenter: Chad Miller

In this session we will look at performing common data loading tasks with PowerShell. A basic understanding of PowerShell is helpful, but not necessary. Specific topics covered include importing structured files, XML, WMI objects and ADO.NET data sources.

Chad Miller
Chad Miller is a Senior Manager of Database Administration at Raymond James Financial. Chad has worked with Microsoft SQL Server since 1999 and has been automating administration tasks using Windows PowerShell since 2007. In his spare time he is the Project Coordinator/Developer of PowerShell-based Codeplex project SQL Server PowerShell Extensions (SQLPSX). Chad leads the Tampa PowerShell User Group and is also a frequent speaker at SQL Server users groups, SQL Saturdays and Code Camps.

How do I view the presentation?
Attendee URL:  Live Meeting link
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How SQL Server Indexes Work
June 23rd 12:00 PM EDT (GMT -4)
Presenter: Sharon F. Dooley

There are many useful presentations about indexes. Most of these concentrate on tricks and techniques. This presentation will provide the background knowledge of index architectures so that you can understand why techniques work and select the appropriate indexing strategies for your databases. Topics covered include page splits/fragmentation, disk accesses required for different index types, covering indexes and optimization.

Speaker Bio:

Sharon Dooley (MCP, former SQL Server MVP) has worked with SQL Server since its first release. Her major areas of specialization are database design and performance tuning, though she also does a lot of administration. She has a consulting practice and teaches and writes courses for Learning Tree International, where she is SQL Server Curriculum Manager. Ms. Dooley is the author of SQL Server 7.0 Essential Reference (New Riders), the lead author of Professional SQL Server 6.5 Administration (Wrox). Sharon is an active member of PASS (The Professional Organization for SQL Server) and has presented at numerous conferences. She was named a Microsoft MVP in 2001 and was an MVP for SQL Server until 2004. In her spare time, she enjoys being bossed around by her cats.

Attendee URL: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/8000181573/join?id=7DJZ27&role=attend

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Reporting Services for the DBA
June 23rd 12:00 PM CDT (GMT -5)
Presenter: Ef Romero

Reporting Services for the DBA: Using Reporting Services to monitor and affect changes to SQL Server.

Ef Romero:
Ef Romero is a Senior Consultant at Hitachi Consulting where he specializes in business intelligence development with SQL Server. His work with SQL Server is concentrated in ETL, data warehouse development, database optimization, and reporting. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, both in pure mathematics, from UTEP and has worked as a mathematician and BI developer for the past four years. He is a collaborator on the recently published book SQL Server Reporting Services Recipes: for Designing Expert Reports.

Attendee URL: Join the meeting

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“You Got XML In My Database? What’s Up With That?”
May 11th 12:00 PM EDT (GMT -4)
Add to Calendar
Presenter: Stuart Ainsworth

A brief presentation exploring the marriage of XML and relational databases, including when it works and when it doesn’t. Coverage will include various use case scenarios, and some tips on how to improve performance using design techniques.

Stuart Ainsworth:

Stuart I Ainsworth, MA, Med is a Database Architect working in the realm of Financial Information Security; over the last 15 years, he’s worked as a Research Analyst, a report writer, a DBA, a programmer, and a public speaking professor. He’s one of the chapter leaders for AtlantaMDF, the Atlanta chapter of PASS. A master of air guitar, he has yet to understand the point of Rock Band (“You push buttons? What’s that all about?”).

How do I view the presentation?
Attendee URL:  Live Meeting link
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Indexing Guidelines
May 12, 2010 Noon Mountain Time (-6 GMT)
Presenter: Greg Larsen

This session will discuss indexing guidelines. During this discussion there will be information about how developers and DBA’s should approach the indexing development lifecycle. This lifecycle will help attendees understand that you shouldn’t just develop some indexes while you are developing your applications and then forget about them. In addition some indexing guidelines will be discussed. These guidelines will help you make better choices on which columns to select for your indexes and how those columns should be ordered in multi-column indexes. There will be number of demonstrations to support this discussion. Lastly an indexing toolkit (a set of scripts) that you can use to help manage your indexes will be provided.

Greg Larsen:

Greg Larsen has been working with SQL Server since 1999. He has authored over 125 articles related to SQL Server. He holds a MCITP Database Administrator and Developer certification for SQL Server 2005 and is a SQL Server MVP. Greg also hosts the www.sqlserverexamples.com website which contains a number of T-SQL examples to help you manage your SQL Server environment and application T-SQL code. Greg has a full-time DBA gig, but also provides SQL Server consulting services in his spare time.

Door Prize: There will be a drawing for a $50.00 Amazon Gift Certificate
Registration: You can attend the meeting without registering but if you want to be entered in the drawing, you must register at https://www.livemeeting.com/lrs/8000181573/Registration.aspx?pageName=jhh2nc28185sd034 no later than 5:00 PM Eastern on May 11th.

Live Meeting Link: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/usergroups/join?id=CPN75W&role=attend

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12 Key Development Areas
May 13th 1:00 PM EDT (GMT -4)
Presenter: Andy Warren

A good professional development plan has to go far beyond ‘learning more technology’, it has to encompass the wide variety of skills you need to build the next step in your career, and it has to include a variety of learning methods. We’ll discuss how much time and money you should budget when building your plan, and how the distribution of time and money changes as your career evolves. We’ll look at the growth phases you’ll encounter, learning how you learn best, how to keep up with new technology without burning out, and even how things like blogging and Twitter can be an interesting part of your plan.

Andy Warren
Andy Warren (@SQLAndy) is a SQL trainer focusing on basic administration and performance tuning, he runs the free SQLShare.com training site, is currently a SQL Server MVP, blogs daily at SQLAndy.com, started the SQLSaturday franchise,  is co-President of the Orlando SQL Server Users Group, serves as a member of the Board of Directors of PASS, and was a founding partner in SQLServerCentral.com.  In his remaining free time he’s working on a book for first time managers and squeezes in some woodworking for relaxation.

Live Meeting Link: https://www323.livemeeting.com/cc/usergroups/join?id=5233Z9&role=attend

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Extract, Transform, and Load your Data Warehouse
May 14, 2010 12:00 PM EDT (GMT -4) Add to calendar
Presenter: Jessica M. Moss

One data warehouse buzzword that often gets used is “ETL”, also known as extract, transform, and load.  But what does this really mean from a data warehousing perspective and how do we use SQL Server Integration Services to perform these ETL functions?  This session will answer these questions and show solutions to common ETL problems.

Jessica M. Moss

Jessica M. Moss, an architect with Ironworks Consulting and a Microsoft SQL Server MVP, is a well-known practitioner, author, and speaker in Microsoft SQL Server business intelligence.  Jessica has created numerous data warehousing solutions for companies in the retail, internet, health services, finance, and energy industries and authored technical content for multiple magazines, websites, and the book “Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Integration Services Problem-Design-Solution”.  Jessica enjoys working with the central Virginia community and speaks regularly at user groups, code camps, and conferences.  You can read about her work on her blog, http://www.jessicammoss.com.

Live Meeting Link: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/usergroups/join?id=CPPC3S&role=attend

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Understanding SARGability (to make your queries run faster)
April 27th 12:30 PM Adelaide, AUS CST  (GMT +9:30) [April 26th at 8:00 PM PDT (GMT -7)]
Add to Calendar (AUS)
April 27th 8:00 AM EDT (GMT -4)
Add to Calendar
Presenter: Rob Farley

SARGable means Search ARGument able. It relates to the ability to search through an index for a value, but unfortunately, many database professionals don’t really understand it. This can lead to queries which miss out on the potential to run much quicker. This is a talk involving lots of demos, showing plenty of queries and execution plans. Any time I’m not typing on the screen, I’ll be waving my hands around to explain things, with apologies to those tuned in through Live Meeting.

Rob Farley:

Rob Farley runs LobsterPot Solutions, a consultancy based in Adelaide, Australia. He has been consulting in IT since completing a Computer Science degree with first class honours in 1997 and using SQL Server since 1998. He is a regular presenter at conferences such as TechEd Australia, heads up the Adelaide SQL Server User Group and holds many Microsoft certifications. He is a Microsoft Certified Trainer and is a recipient of the Microsoft MVP Award for SQL Server. Rob has also helped create several exams for Microsoft Learning, and has recently written two chapters for the book SQL Server MVP Deep Dives. Rob’s blog can be read at http://sqlblog.com/blogs/rob_farley/

How do I view the presentation?

Attendee URL (AUS):  Live Meeting link

Attendee URL: Live Meeting Link
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SQL Server 2008 Audit
April 28, Noon Eastern Time (GMT -4)
Presenter: Thomas LaRock

With SQL Server 2008 you now have the ability to set up auditing with SQL Server Audit. Attend this session for an overview of SQL Server Audit, learn how to initially configure an audit for your server or databases, and examine the audit logs to report on the information that is captured.

Thomas LaRock:

Thomas LaRock is a seasoned IT professional with over a decade of technical and management experience. Thomas is a member of Quest Software’s Association of SQL Server Experts, currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS), and is a SQL Server MVP. Thomas can also be found blogging at http://thomaslarock.com and is the author of DBA Survivor: Become a Rock Star DBA.

Door Prize: There will be a drawing for a $50.00 Amazon Gift Certificate
Registration: You can attend the meeting without registering but if you want to be entered in the drawing, you must register at https://www.livemeeting.com/lrs/8000181573/Registration.aspx?pageName=fmxpl8tdzwcrc6z0 no later than 5:00 PM Eastern on April 27th.

Live Meeting Link: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/8000181573/join?id=6K8GPR&role=attend

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Intro to Speaking At PASS: Creating a Winning Abstract (If I Can Do It, Anyone Can!)
April 28, Noon Central Time (GMT -5)
Presenter: Chuck Heinzelman

Have you ever attended a conference (such as PASS) and thought to yourself, “Wow, I wish I could speak at something like this!” Speaking at a conference like PASS is not something reserved for the superstar speakers. Each year PASS actively calls out for presentation proposals from members of the SQL Server community. During this session we’ll talk about what goes into creating a submission for the call for speakers with the goal of reducing the fear and anxiety that can go along with the process.

Live Meeting Link: https://www.livemeeting.com/lrs/0000000379_116/Registration.aspx?pageName=nk4md836r0tzp94j

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Coming in May…

Stuart Ainsworth presents “You Got XML In My Database? What’s Up With That?”

and

Patrick LeBlanc presents “Introduction to SQL Server Profiler”

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Using Virtualization to Solve Common Dev/QA Environment Problems
April 7th Noon Eastern (GMT -4)
Presenters: Aaron Nelson & Dushyanth Nataraj

Isn’t two always better than one?  This month the Virtualization Virtual Chapter is going to run a unique double session with two separate presentations focused on solving common problems for Development and Quality Assurance environments using virtualization technology!

Our first session will focus on using Microsoft Hyper-V to solve problems DBA’s face when trying to QA a change before moving it to production.  Aaron will show you how Microsoft’s Hyper-V can streamline the process and ensure results from your QA testing that will be consistent in your production environment.

In our second session session Dushyanth Nataraj will give attendees an overview of VMware vCenter Lab Manager. You will learn how VMware vSphere and Lab Manager can help you build a internal cloud for dev/test. The session will conclude with a demo of Lab Manager running a SQL workload showcasing how you can use the product for test/dev.

About the speakers

• Aaron Nelson (@SQLvariant ) http://sqlvariant.com/wordpress/
  Aaron is a Senior SQL Server Architect with over 10 years experience in architecture, business intelligence, development, and performance tuning of SQL Server.  He has experience managing enterprise-wide data needs in both transactional and data warehouse environments.
• Dushyanth Nataraj
  Dushyanth is the Technical Marketing Manager for Lab Manager. He has been with VMware 5 years and has held roles in Engineering and Technical Marketing. He holds a MS in Computer Science from the University of Kansas.

This live one-hour webcast will happen on Wednesday, April 7th at 12:00 noon Eastern, 16:00 GMT.

How do I view the presentation?
Click here to join the webcast.

Want to speak at our next event?  We’re looking for database administrators who can talk about how virtualization has worked for them, what they’ve learned, and any tips they can pass on.  It can be as formal or informal as you like.  To volunteer, email Tim Edwards at tim_edwards@fsafood.com.
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PowerShell for Database Developers
April 13th at 12:00 PM Eastern (GMT -4)
Presenter: Peter Schott
Add to Calendar

PowerShell for Database Developers

Peter Schott is currently working as a Development DBA for Fellowship Technologies, using SQL Server, SSIS, and PowerShell (in his spare time). He has worked with SQL Server since 1996, designing databases, writing reports, scripting, performance tuning, and moving around lots of data. Peter blogs at Schott SQL. (And is open to better names for his blog.)

How do I view the presentation?
Attendee URL:  Live Meeting link
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Using SQL Server 2008 Database Mirroring to Become a Super Hero!
Date: April 14, Noon Mountain Time (GMT -6)
Presenter: Glenn Berry

Abstract:
Database mirroring is a valuable technology that can be used to minimize or avoid downtime due to hardware failures, with less complexity than fail-over clustering. It can also be used for other innovative uses, such as easily migrating from SQL Server 2005 to SQL Server 2008 with a sub-minute outage. Database mirroring can be used during normal scheduled maintenance for rolling updates to minimize downtime. Database mirroring works very well for migrating very large databases from one SAN to another with minimal downtime. This session will cover all of these scenarios, with practical techniques, scripts and tips to help you take advantage of database mirroring.

Speaker:
Glenn Berry works as a Database Architect at NewsGator Technologies in Denver, CO. He is a SQL Server MVP, and he has a whole collection of Microsoft certifications, including MCITP, MCDBA, MCSE, MCSD, MCAD, and MCTS, which proves that he likes to take tests. His expertise includes DMVs, high availability, full text search, and SQL Azure.

He is also an Adjunct Faculty member at University College – University of Denver, where has been teaching since 2000. He recently completed the Master Teacher Program at University College.

Door Prize: There will be a drawing for a $50.00 Amazon Gift Certificate
Registration: You can attend the meeting without registering but if you want to be entered in the drawing, you must register at https://www.livemeeting.com/lrs/8000181573/Registration.aspx?pageName=dt7v502vq7nrtbmj no later than 5:00 PM Eastern on April 13th.

How do I view the presentation?
Live Meeting Link: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/8000181573/join?id=Z92ZRJ&role=attend

The PASS AppDev and DBA Virtual Chapters have even more free training lined up for you:

Index Statistics
March 23rd at 12:00 PM Eastern (GMT -4)
Presenter: Josef Richberg
Add to Calendar

A semi-technical guide to understanding and using non-clustered  indexes in your databases. Learn the benefits of covered indexes and  their differences between SQL 2000 and SQL 2005+.

Josef Richberg

Josef Richberg is a DBA for HarperCollins Publishers working with SQL Server and SSIS. He has over 17 years experience designing, building, and tuning SQL Server. He is the recipient of the ’2009 Exceptional DBA’ award and actively blogs at http://josef-richberg.squarespace.com

How do I view the presentation?

Attendee URL:  Live Meeting link

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Topic:  SQL Server Internals and Architecture

Date: March 24, Noon EasternTime (GMT -4)

Abstract:

Let’s face it.  You can effectively do many IT jobs related to SQL Server without knowing the internals of how SQL Server works.  Many great developers, DBAs, and designers get their day-to-day work completed on time and with reasonable quality while never really knowing what’s happening behind the scenes.  But if you want to take your skills to the next level, it’s critical to know SQL Server’s internal processes and architecture.  This session will answer questions like:

- What’s different about 32- and 64-bit systems?

- What are the various areas of memory inside of SQL Server?

- How are queries handled behind the scenes?

- What does SQL Server do with procedural code, like functions, procedures, and triggers?

- What happens during checkpoints?  Lazywrites?

- How are IOs handled with regards to transaction logs and database?

- What happens when transaction logs and databases grow or shrinks?

This fast paced session will take you through many aspects of the internal operations of SQL Server and, for those topics we don’t cover, will point you to resources where you can get more information.  So strap on your silly, as we cover all these topics and more at speed with tongue planted firmly in cheek!

Prerequisites: Basic understanding of SQL Server operations and activities – such as transactions, queries, and preventative maintenance tasks like backup and recovery.

Speaker: Kevin Kline is the Technical Strategy Manager for SQL Server Solutions at Quest Software. A Microsoft SQL Server MVP, Kevin is a founding board member of PASS and the author of popular IT books like “SQL in a Nutshell” (O’Reilly & Associates). Kevin is a top-rated speaker at industry trade shows and has been active in the IT industry for over 20 years.

Door Prize:
Kevin will have two copies of his “In a nutshell” book that will be raffled off to attendees. You must register no later than 5:00 PM Eastern on March 23rd to be included in the raffle.

Registration: You can attend the meeting without registering but if you want to be entered in the drawing, you must register at

https://www.livemeeting.com/lrs/8000181573/Registration.aspx?pageName=pzjr7664vdwssm3t

Live Meeting Link (just paste into your browser):
https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/8000181573/join?id=344ND5&role=attend

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Adding SSRS Report Bells and Whistles
March 9th at 12:00 PM Eastern (GMT -5)
Presenter: Jessica M. Moss
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Producing a good looking report will wow your business users even if your data isn’t all that impressive. If you’ve ever had trouble finding the best way to display that data or how to show trends appropriately, this is the session for you. We will review grouping logic, graphs, gauges, and more in Reporting Services 2008. With the knowledge in this session, you won’t ever need to show a plain, boring report again.

Jessica M. Moss

Jessica M. Moss, an architect with Ironworks Consulting and a Microsoft SQL Server MVP, is a well-known practitioner, author, and speaker in Microsoft SQL Server business intelligence. Jessica has created numerous data warehousing solutions for companies in the retail, internet, health services, finance, and energy industries and authored technical content for multiple magazines, websites, and the book “Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Integration Services Problem-Design-Solution. Jessica enjoys working with the central Virginia community and speaks regularly at user groups, code camps, and conferences. You can read about her work on her blog,http://www.jessicammoss.com.

How do I view the presentation?
Attendee URL:  Live Meeting link

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Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Application and Multi-Server Management
March 10, Noon Mountain Time (GMT-7)
Presenter: Clifford Dibble

Are you missing critical utilization insights into your growing database environment? Attend this session to learn how the application and multi-server management capabilities shipping with SQL Server 2008 R2 will expose resource utilization data and help streamline consolidation management. New extensions in SQL Server Management Studio allow DBAs to quickly create SQL Server control point and enroll instances them into multi-server management. Once enrolled, DBAs can define utilization policies across applications and Database Engine instances and view resource utilization to maximize investments. Meanwhile, the introduction of a single unit of deployment helps accelerate deployments, moves and upgrades associated with consolidation management.

Clifford Dibble:

Clifford Dibble has been a program manager in SQL Server since 2002.  Among other things, he was the active PM for “system views”, “DMVs”, “DDL triggers”, and “resource database” during the 9.0 release.   During the 10.0 release, Clifford was off working on an incubation project.  For the 10.5 and 11.0 releases, he is focused on multi-instance manageability and SQL management packs.

Live Meeting Link (just paste into your browser):
https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/usergroups/join?id=P7FJ9Z&role=attend

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Microsoft Hyper-V
March 16th at 12:00 PM Eastern (GMT -5)
Presenter: Sylvia Vargas

Overview of how Microsoft IT uses, configures, and manages their virtualization environment.  Learn how Microsoft leverages Virtualization for their SQL Server environments using System Center VMM.

Event Link:
https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/usergroups/join?id=QB6GSJ&role=attend&pw=Fz8b%7BT%27jN

After you download the files and RTFM you can then you can follow along on this next part.  Oh wait, first a little warning straight from Buck Woody:

Script Disclaimer, for people who need to be told this sort of thing:  

Never trust any script, including those that you find here, until you understand exactly what it does and how it will act on your systems. Always check the script on a test system or Virtual Machine, not a production system. All scripts on this site are performed by a professional stunt driver on a closed course. Your mileage may vary. Void where prohibited. Offer good for a limited time only. Keep out of reach of small children. Do not operate heavy machinery while using this script. If you experience blurry vision, indigestion or diarrhea during the operation of this script, see a physician immediately.

get-module -listAvailable

import-module SQLServer

Invoke-SqlBackup -sqlserver "WINX64ULT7\Kilimanjaro" -dbname "AdventureWorks" `

-filepath "C:\Temp\AdventureWorks_db_$(((Get-Date).ToString("yyyyMMddHHmm"))).bak"

foreach ($dbn in invoke-sqlcmd -query "SELECT name  FROM sys.databases WHERE owner_sid !=0x01" `

-database master -serverinstance WIN7\Kilimanjaro )

{

$k="C:\Temp\" + $($dbn.name) + "_db_$(((Get-Date).ToString("yyyyMMddHHmm"))).bak"WIN7\Kilimanjaro" -dbname $($dbn.name)  -filepath $k

$dbn; Invoke-SQLBackup -sqlserver "

}

For this session we have partnered with SQL User Groups on the other side of the planet to do multiple live sessions in time slots that are convenient for them.  If you would like your User Group to partner with us on a time slot for a future session please contact us here:  appdev_DL@sqlpass.org

Event Description:
In this session we will learn to perform several everyday data tasks including user database backups, scripting table objects and evaluating disk space usage with PowerShell. For each task we will explore the benefits of using PowerShell over the standard method. Only a basic understanding of PowerShell or DOS is needed. This session should serve as a good introduction to PowerShell for database users. The goal is to help everyone get their feet wet using PowerShell.

Aaron Nelson:
 
Aaron is a Senior SQL Server Architect with over 10 years experience in architecture, business intelligence, development, and performance tuning of SQL Server.

He has experience managing enterprise-wide data needs in both transactional and data warehouse environments.  He also holds certifications for  MCITP: Business Intelligence Developer, Database Administrator, Database Developer; as well as MCTS: Windows Server Virtualization, Configuration (meaning Hyper-V). Aaron blogs at SQLvariations

How do I view the presentation?
Attendee URL:�
Live Meeting Link (Auckland, NZ)
Live Meeting link (Australia)
Live Meeting link (Eastern US Time Zone)

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PASS DBA VC Presents: SQL Server Locking & Blocking Made Simple

Event Description:
A good working knowledge of how SQL Server makes use of locking and transaction isolation levels can go a long way toward improving an application’s performance. In this session, we will explore SQL Server’s locking methodology and discover techniques for enhancing query response times.

Joe Webb:
 
Joe Webb, a Microsoft SQL Server MVP, serves as Chief Operating Manager for WebbTech Solutions, a Nashville-based consulting company. He has over 14 years of industry experience and has consulted extensively with companies in the areas of software development, database design, and technical training.

Live Meeting Information:
Attendee URL: Live Meeting Link

Event Description:
While indexing traditionally has been the concern of the DBA, it’s important for developers to understand both the usefulness and the impact of indexes in your relational database.  With the right indexes your application will perform like a Formula One racer, without them performance will better resemble a Model T.  This presentation will explain how indexes work, what options are available to you in SQL Server 2008, and how to tune your application and your database for the best performance. 

Allen White:

Allen is a consultant and mentor for Upsearch Technology Services in Northeast Ohio. He’s spent over 35 years in IT and has been using SQL Server since 1992 and is certified MCITP in SQL Server and MCT.  Allen has been awarded Microsoft’s MVP Award for the last three years. He’s active in the Ohio North SQL Server User’s Group and contributes in the MSDN Forums, answering questions about SMO and PowerShell, and maintains a blog at http://sqlblog.com/blogs/allen_white/default.aspx. 

How do I view the presentation?
Attendee URL:  Live Meeting link
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PASS Virtualization Presents: SQL Meets Virtual CPUs, Memory, and Storage

Event Description:
SQL Server can run great in virtual environments like Microsoft Hyper-V and VMware vSphere, but you can dramatically increase the odds of success if you know which knobs to tweak.  Just like SQL Server, virtualization software doesn’t always work best with the default settings, and knowing which settings change SQL Server performance is key.  In this session, Brent will explain: 

• Why virtual CPUs, memory, and storage are different
• Hidden gotchas that often cause virtual performance
• How to stress test your virtual server to find limits

Brent Ozar:

Brent Ozar is a SQL Server Expert for Quest Software, a systems management company.  Up until a year ago, Brent managed the VMware, storage area networks (SANs) and SQL Servers for a $7b company.  He’s used virtualization on the desktop and in the datacenter, and he can explain the options with real-world experience.  He coauthored the book Professional SQL Server 2008 Internals and Troubleshooting. 

The Where and When
To get the attendee links, go to Virtualization.SQLPass.org, and click on Register at the top right of the page to sign up.  We’ll email all members before the webcast. 

Even though this is a SQLPass.org web site, they don’t share the same username/passwords.  You’ll need to register again with a new login to attend the meeting.  Thanks for your understanding! 

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PASS DBA VC Presents: SQL Server Locking & Blocking Made Simple

Event Description:
A good working knowledge of how SQL Server makes use of locking and transaction isolation levels can go a long way toward improving an application’s performance. In this session, we will explore SQL Server’s locking methodology and discover techniques for enhancing query response times. 

Joe Webb:

Joe Webb, a Microsoft SQL Server MVP, serves as Chief Operating Manager for WebbTech Solutions, a Nashville-based consulting company. He has over 14 years of industry experience and has consulted extensively with companies in the areas of software development, database design, and technical training. 

Live Meeting Information:
Attendee URL: Live Meeting Link

PASS AppDev VC Presents: Best Practices for Exception Handling and Defensive Programming in Microsoft SQL Server

Event Description:
This is a deep dive developer session that explores error handling in SQL Server. The session focuses on core error handling areas such as understanding the anatomy of errors, detecting errors in TSQL and best practices for error handling and defensive programming in Microsoft SQL Server.

Jacob Sebastian is a SQL Server MVP and is working with SQL Server for over 11 years. He is a Moderator of MSDN / TechNet Forums, Regional Mentor for PASS Asia and a regular columnist at SQL Server Central. He is the president of Ahmedabad SQL Server User Group and a regular speaker in SQL Server events in India and USA. Jacob is the author of “The Art of XSD – SQL Server XML Schema Collections”, a contributing author in “SQL Server 2008 Bible” and is currently writing a book in FILESTREAM. He blogs at BeyondRelational [http://beyondrelational.com/blogs/jacob/]

How Do I View the Presentation?
Follow the link and join the LiveMeeting.
Audio: Audio will be provided via computer speakers.

PASS DBA VC Presents: SQL Server Consolidation : how to decide on the right approach (between DB, VMs, Instance)?

Event Description:
This session will focus on helping to choose between using a virtualization, instance, or database consolidation option. We will highlight a few of the key areas to consider as well as some of the important differentiators to keep in mind. We will provide a decision tree to help guide administrators through the process of selecting a consolidation option. Objectives: 1. Provide administrators with a decision tree for choosing a consolidation option 2. Highlight key decision criteria and differentiators 3. Discuss hardware considerations 4. Highlighting customer case studies and deployment scenarios

Sung Hsueh of Microsoft will be speaking about how to choose between using a virtualization, instance, or database consolidation option. We will highlight a few of the key areas to consider as well as some of the important differentiators to keep in mind. We will provide a decision tree to help guide administrators through the process of selecting a consolidation option.

Location: Online, via Live Meeting
[https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/usergroups/join?id=4HG9C2&role=attend]

And as always, please feel free to leave a comment here if you would like a topic presented or if you would like to do a presentation.