By the way, if you happen to be in the Richmond area this weekend I’ll be speaking on Virtualization at SQL Saturday #30.

Dushyanth is presenting an overview of VMware vCenter Lab Manager demostrating how VMware vSphere and Lab Manager can help you build a internal cloud for dev/test. We finish up with a demo of Lab Manager running a SQL workload showcasing how you can use the product for test/dev.

Using Virtualization to Solve Common Dev/QA Environment Problems
April 7th Noon Eastern (GMT -4)
Presenters: Aaron Nelson & Dushyanth Nataraj
How do I view the presentation?
Click here to join the webcast.

This will be my first time trying to switching presenting between two different presenters with seperate demos, but we are pretty sure we can pull it off.  If we want to follow along note that everything I’m presenting is done in SCVMM and everything Dushyanth does is in VMware; hopefully that works out as well. A big hat-tip goes out to my awsome coworker, Adeel Abbas, for helping me get this presentation working quickly by setting up my Domain Controller for me.

By the way…did you see the Scripting Guys articles from last week?

Grab this badge here!

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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
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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

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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

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