SQLSaturday #107 - Houston 2012
Event Date: 04/21/2012 00:00:00
Event Location:
- YES Prep Public Schools - North Central Campus
- 13703 Aldine-Westfield
- Houston, Texas
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Sessions
This is a list of sessions from the event, based on the schedule in the XML files.
Title: SQL Server Internals: It’s What’s for Dinner!
Abstract: Ever wondered what happens under the hood when you query your SQL Server database? Well, it’s somewhat like asking for a special meal for dinner. During this session, I will use a cooking analogy to describe the life cycle of a query and the journey it takes through SQL Server’s working parts. By comparing the concepts of SQL Internals to a familiar idea, you will have a clear understanding of the underlying processes involved in returning data from a SELECT query. Once we’ve established a frame of reference for a simple read operation, we’ll look at an UPDATE statement and consider the additional factors associated with a write operation. By session’s end you should have a clear overview of what happens when a query hits your server.
Speaker(s):
- Christina Leo
Track and Room: DBA Track - N/A
Title: T-SQL Brush-up:The Best Things You Forgot You Knew
Abstract: You’re a good SQL professional – you attend conferences and webinars, you read articles and books, and you know your way around SQL Server. But sometimes – just SOMEtimes – some piece of T-SQL slips by you unnoticed, or falls out of memory. Most of us are working with at least two or three out of the last five versions of SQL Server, so who can blame us for missing a feature or two? Come and revisit old favorites, and brush up on new T-SQL features and enhancements. In this session you will see SELECT turned inside-out. You’ll get really, really excited about OVER and PARTITION BY. You’ll learn that Common Table Expressions are, in fact, very cool. This session is chock full of code examples, including before-and-after demos and how-tos.
Speaker(s):
- Jennifer McCown
Track and Room: Multi Track - N/A
Title: Unraveling Tangled Code – A Spellbinding Tale
Abstract: Once upon a time, you inherited an application or a database that was filled with chaos and inconsistencies. The T-SQL code is overly complex and impossible to ken. The architecture is painful to behold, and grueling to code for. One might optimistically say that query performance is “spectacularly mediocre”. If you’re without good documentation or system architects to guide you, how do you break the curse of confusion? In this session you’ll learn several methods for conquering chaotic code, and how to seek and destroy some of the nastier coding mistakes and inefficiencies. We will break complicated queries into key pieces, turn them upside-down, and reform them into something sensible. We will emerge victorious!
Speaker(s):
- Jennifer McCown
Track and Room: AD Track - N/A
Title: EXCEL @ SQL Reporting
Abstract: This presentation will provide an overview of using Excel as a frontend for reporting with SQL Server and SQL Server Analysis Services. Topics covered will include best practices for using VBA to execute queries using ADO and ADOMD and a short discussion of queries that facilitate creating dashboards: CASE, PIVOT, and COALESCE. Other topics include, SQL.REQUEST, generating PivotTables and DataTables, OLAP PivotTable Extensions, MS Query, and using VBA to segregate data in the recordset generated using SQL. And last but not least all DBA’s favorite SQL, dynamic SQL…..passing variables from Excel to generate user defined data. Also covered will be some Excel tricks for overcoming error messages sometimes created by bad SQL, no data return
Speaker(s):
- Michael D. Newby
Track and Room: BI Track - N/A
Title: Parent/Child Structures in SSIS
Abstract: SQL Server Integration Services provides the ability to nest packages within one another in a parent/child structure. By creating a multilayer package infrastructure using native elements of SSIS, you can easily encapsulate reusable components of your ETL layer, simplify logging, and make the development process more efficient.
In this session, we’ll take a tour through the parent/child facilities within SSIS, including the following:
– Benefits of using parent/child structures – Sharing values between parent and child packages – Parent/child logging – Dynamic child packages – Changes in the Execute Package Task from SQL 2008 to SQL 2012
We’ll also walk through some practical examples of parent/child package implementatio
Speaker(s):
- Tim Mitchell
Track and Room: BI Track - N/A
Title: A consolidation architecture to host 1000s of DBs
Abstract: In this session we’ll explore and examine a proven architecture designed for consolidating SQL Server workloads using Hyper-V. This architecture saves you time by simplifying deployment of a virtualization platform for running databases in a “n-tier” datacenter or a cloud environment. Perhaps you are interested in building your own, this session will help you understand exactly what’s required to design a complete high-end mission-critical architecture built on Hyper-V. Additionally, I’ll outline field proven database migration and consolidation methods and strategies. Finally, we’ll review the design’s HA and scalability options and capabilities.
Speaker(s):
- Mike Saleme
Track and Room: DBA Track - N/A
Title: Benchmarking, Baselines and Monitoring Storage
Abstract: Benchmarking, Baselines and Monitoring Storage There are several steps in the life cycle of your storage systems. We have several tools to help us understand our storage systems from initial deployment through its useful life. We will cover: SQLIO, a specific SQL Server benchmarking tool. Iometer, a general IO benchmarking tool and simulator. SQLIOSim a specific SQL Server base lining tool and simulator. TPC style testing focused on TPC-C, TPC-E and TPC-H. Monitoring your system using WMI and virtual file stats. Finally, what it all really means, how to read these results and compare them with each other. With these tools you can plan, deploy and manage your storage for years to come!
Speaker(s):
- Wesley Brown
Track and Room: DBA Track - N/A
Title: Knowledge from Data–FileTable and Semantic Search
Abstract: If you thought the data in your database was growing fast, just try to figure out your unstructured data. More and more knowledge is being generated in blog posts, tweets, web pages, and various other documents inside and outside of your organization. Gathering all of this data into a usable repository is a difficult task to start with; making sense of all of the information and being able to find what you are looking for are in a whole other league. Two new features in SQL Server 2012 make this daunting task more manageable. We’ll cover how to leverage the FileTable feature to manage the storage of your unstructured data and then how to apply Full-Text Indexing with the new semantic search capabilities to find what you are looking for.
Speaker(s):
- Mike Hotek
Track and Room: DBA Track - N/A
Title: Inside the SQL Server Query Optimizer
Abstract: The SQL Server Query Optimizer is a cost-based optimizer: it analyzes a number of candidate execution plans for a given query, estimates the cost of each of these plans, and selects the plan with the lowest cost. In this session I will go into the internals of the Query Optimizer and will show you the steps that it performs in the background covering everything from the time a query is submitted to SQL Server until an execution plan is generated. Why query optimization is an inherently complex problem and why challenges in some of its most fundamental areas are still being addressed today will be covered as well.
Speaker(s):
- Benjamin Nevarez
Track and Room: Multi Track - N/A
Title: Execution Plan Basics - Beginners
Abstract: This will be a Beginners session highlighting the starting point for using the execution plans from SQL Server to assist in query tuning. Briefly, we will look at the history to get an idea of how Microsoft has improved the display through Graphical Plans and Missing Index suggestion. What is the difference between a Table and Clustered Index Scan? What is a Lookup? How do you improve performance of Lookups? What are the different types of Loops? How to get more information from the Plan with the properties window?
Speaker(s):
- Thomas LeBlanc
Track and Room: DBA Track - N/A
Title: Standardize Your Environment With Best Practices
Abstract: Are all your servers standardized across your environment? Do you manually click the next button when installing SQL Server? Do you manually create and configuring your routine maintenance? Are your SQL Agent Jobs owned by other DBAs in your group? Do you know when jobs fail? Or discover them accidentally? Do you have a standardized way to deploy updates?
We will discuss all these things and some others during this session and hopefully when we come out the other side some of this will make your life easier.
Speaker(s):
- AJ Mendo
Track and Room: DBA Track - N/A
Title: You Inherited a Database, Now What?
Abstract: You have recently inherited the support of a new or existing database, what are the things you should immediately check and start monitoring and what are the things that you should address over the next few weeks. When taking over support of a database or system, you cannot ASSUME anything. At the end of this session you will have a nice checklist of things you should check and be doing on ALL your databases not just the one you inherited. Whether you are a seasoned DBA or just starting out, this session should be informative and something you can relate to.
Speaker(s):
- Tim Radney
Track and Room: DBA Track - N/A
Title: SQL Server Security for Developers
Abstract: SQL Server has a robust and granular system for granting and denying access to users, but all too often we see applications running as DBO or even sysadmin. Why? Part of is that same granular system can be overwhelming and part is that many developers don’t see the point in applying such granular security. In this introductory level presentation we’ll start at the beginning with creating and managing logins, take a quick look at system roles, and then get into the nitty gritty of users and roles and permissions at the database level. Along the way we’ll talk about why its so important to set security at the database and not just rely on the application enforced security.
Speaker(s):
- Andy Warren
Track and Room: AD\DBA Track - N/A
Title: Edge Case Testing for the Database Professional
Abstract: Are you confident that your application performs as expected on Leap Day? Do you know how long it would take to run out of identity values in your major tables? Can you support case-sensitive collations and non-standard sort orders? If not, odds are good that you are not edge and corner testing your application. In this session, learn how to define the edges of your application and start to stretch those boundaries by setting up challenging test and development environments. For database administrators, learn what configurations in your environment may be a source of bugs in application code and what you can do about it. Learn about edge cases that you can start hardening your code against on Monday morning!
Speaker(s):
- Vicky Harp
Track and Room: AD Track - N/A
Title: Building Your Own SQL Server Virtual Playground
Abstract: As the number of SQL Server versions and features grow over time so does the the difficulty in maintaining a set of tools for working with all of them on your local machine. Add in that some features require multiple physical instances and suddenly a single installation isn’t enough. Need to quickly switch between versions and editions of SQL Server? Want to learn how to set up a cluster? Or maybe you want to try out the latest features in SQL 2012…virtualization offers a convenient way to do any or all of these. In this session we’ll show you how by covering the fundamentals of desktop virtualization and demonstrating how to set up a virtual playground on your own machine.
Speaker(s):
- Kendal Van Dyke
Track and Room: PD Track - N/A
Title: Many-to-Many: Multiple Calendars in a Single Cube
Abstract: Including the fiscal calendars of major customers within the date dimensions of their own cubes has great appeal to many organizations, including financial services firms and the like. After all, having customer calendars in their cubes’ date dimension means sales and marketing managers can analyze - and report upon - data according to the fiscal calendar of the customer, as well as within the context of their own. In this session, Microsoft BI Architect and SQL Server MVP Bill Pearson leads an examination into a way we can accomplish this by implementing a SQL Server Analysis Services “many-to-many” dimension scenario.
Speaker(s):
- William E Pearson III
Track and Room: BI Track - N/A
Title: Becoming DAX: An Introduction …
Abstract: The Data Analysis Expressions (DAX) language is a library of operators and constants that we can combine to craft formulas and expressions in PowerPivot Client. In this introductory session Microsoft BI Architect and SQL Server MVP Bill Pearson will concentrate upon crafting simple DAX expressions whose purposes, for the most part, are to return a set of data. He’ll overview a simple data source structure, outline the components of simple DAX syntax, and get you started understanding basic expressions.
Speaker(s):
- William E Pearson III
Track and Room: BI Track - N/A
Title: Troubleshooting SQL Server with SysInternals Tools
Abstract: In this demo-packed session we will explore the use of SysInternals tools like Process Monitor, Process Explorer, and many others to troubleshoot various problem scenarios with SQL Server. This session is not for the faint of heart and is tailored toward those adventurous DBAs who often like to step out of their comfort zone. A fair knowledge of Windows OS internals is recommended.
Speaker(s):
- Argenis Fernandez
Track and Room: AD\DBA Track - N/A
Title: WIT Discussion Panel
Abstract: Since 1985, the peak of female graduates in IT, there has been a steady decline in women participating in technology jobs. This session will be an open forum for discussion of the challenges which women face in the IT workplace and how we can encourage a new generation of women to enter this exciting field. Expected panel participants are Jen McCown, Wendy Pastrick, Christina Leo, Kalen Delaney, Janis Griffin, and Nancy Hidy Wilson.
Speaker(s):
- Nancy Hidy Wilson
Track and Room: PD Track - N/A
Title: Rolling Upgrades Leveraging Database Mirroring
Abstract: In this session we will discuss how to perform upgrades while maintaining high availability of your SQL server infrastructure by leveraging the rolling upgrade feature of Database Mirroring. We will pair Mirroring with Log Shipping for a resilient rollback strategy.
This is a demo-intensive session that you won’t want to miss.
Speaker(s):
- Argenis Fernandez
Track and Room: DBA Track - N/A
Title: Read Dirty to Me - Isolation Levels/User Impact
Abstract: Issue a “SELECT {data} FROM {myTable}” statement and users need to trust the data returned is accurate. What happens when multiple processes access the same data? What happens further if one of those process is an UPDATE or even a DELETE statement? How about if both processes will be updating that data? Understanding Isolation in SQL Server is paramount in ensuring data integrity in your system. We will cover the different levels of isolation and how they impact what a user views when accessing the data at a given point-in-time.
Speaker(s):
- Wendy Pastrick
Track and Room: AD Track - N/A
Title: Strategies for Working with VLDBs
Abstract: Very large databases (VLDBs) are just like regular databases, right? There’s just more of them to love.
Working with very large databases can be difficult and tricky at times. Everything takes longer and minor issues become major very quickly.
In this session you will learn some strategies for working with VLDBs such as how to speed up backups and restores, how to minimize your maintenance window requirements, and how to efficiently and quickly set up failover partners and replicas.
Demos will include how I set up a log shipping secondary and a replica of a 2 TB database in less than half an hour.
Speaker(s):
- Robert Davis
Track and Room: DBA Track - N/A
Title: Costs of Concurrency
Abstract: SQL Server offers two methods for an application to provide data consistency: Pessimistic and Optimistic Concurrency Control. In this session we’ll discuss the tradeoffs between consistency and concurrency, and what consistency might mean to your applications,. We’ll look at the costs and trade-offs between the two Concurrency Models that SQL Server supports through different transaction isolation levels.
Speaker(s):
- Kalen Delaney
Track and Room: DBA Track - N/A
Title: .NET Powers Activate! Form of PowerShell!
Abstract: PowerShell’s cmdlets can be pretty powerful on their own, but that’s only part of the power of PowerShell. The .NET Framework is the basis of the PowerShell environment. As such, you have a vast library of operations at your disposal. Learn to use its abilities and save the day without needing a monkey with a bucket.
Speaker(s):
- Eric Humphrey
Track and Room: AD\DBA Track - N/A
Title: SQL Admin Best Practices with DMV’s
Abstract: In this practical and script-focused session, we’ll discuss many best practices regarding SQL Server administration, maintenance, optimizations and monitoring using Dynamic Management Views. DMV’s are essential tools for the SQL administrator, but have a wide range of applications by developers, network engineers and DBAs. We will delve into best practices for server maintenance, index fragmentation, XEvents, wait type analysis and future features. This session will be informative and eye-opening to anyone from a junior DBA on up.
Speaker(s):
- William Assaf
Track and Room: DBA Track - N/A
Title: AlwaysOn - Finally, A usable ‘mirror’!
Abstract: In the past, High Availability and Disaster Recovery (HADR) had many limitations. Clustering and Mirroring are great, but the mirror/secondary database is not very usable since it is not online. Finally, AlwaysOn solves this limitation by merging both multi-node Clustering and mirroring. Denali AlwaysOn also allows the secondary database to remain ONLINE, so we can use it for reporting purposes without resorting to a Snapshot! Come see this lively session with extensive demos of setting up, configuring and testing AlwaysOn. We’ll also test automatic ConnectionString fail-over using a real web app to see how well that feature works.
Speaker(s):
- Jim Murphy
Track and Room: DBA Track - N/A
Title: Beginning Powershell for DBAs 1.0
Abstract: The time has come where DBAs can no longer afford to ignore powershell. Not only has it become an integral part of SQL Server, but we’re being asked to do things on a much grander scale than ever before; things that can only be done with powershell. This session will take you from nothing and explain what powershell is all about. I’m going to show you how the more things change the more they stay the same and if you master the basics of powershell in this session, you’ll be able to work with powershell not only in SQL Server, but also at the file system level, in Exchange, IIS, Windows, and anything else. So in this session I’m going to show you the basics you need to get your powershell career started.
Speaker(s):
- Sean McCown
Track and Room: AD\DBA Track - N/A
Title: SQL Server Tips and Tricks
Abstract: Learn tips and tricks to make more effective use of SSMS. Use portable applications to get your work done without installing applications on a server. Use free tools to simplify your life.John Cook Learn tips and tricks to make more effective use of SSMS. Use portable applications to get your work done without installing applications on a server. Use free tools to simplify your life.
Speaker(s):
- John Cook
Track and Room: AD\DBA Track - N/A
Title: Avoid Errors on Errors
Abstract: Did you know that BEGIN TRAN…COMMIT TRAN is not enough to make everything work together? People are often shocked when they see the demo where there are errors in a transaction and it still commits. When SQL encounters an error of Severity 11 (or higher), there a 4 different ways it can react? Learn how to predict the Error Action or control it. This is possible with or without structured error handling. See both ways to control the outcome to the way you want it. This is a very common workplace faux pas and a Microsoft Certification topic for Dev and Admins. We will use lessons from SQL Programming Joes 2 Pros Vol4.
Speaker(s):
- Rick Morelan
Track and Room: AD Track - N/A
Title: Don’t Panic, DBAs! Databases on VMware made easy.
Abstract: More and more companies are virtualizing with VMWare, and databases are the next logical step. This presentation will explore the fundamentals of monitoring databases running in a VMWare environment because it can be much different than when running on a physical machine. You will learn business and technical benefits of virtualization, master new terms and concepts, pick up useful planning tips and tricks, and cover best practices for maintaining optimum performance in a VMWare environment.
Speaker(s):
- Janis Griffin
Track and Room: DBA Track - N/A
Title: Building Your Professional Development Plan
Abstract: Plan the work and work the plan. Are you doing that when it comes to your professional development? Few of us have a formal approach to professional development and that usually means it gets pushed down the list as other things in life happen. This session is designed to get you thinking about all aspects of your career and from there moves into a discussion about time and money - how much of each are you willing to spend to get where you want to go? At the end of this presentation you’ll be ready for spend a couple quiet hours charting all the things you want to do, and then figuring out which ones you really want to do.
Speaker(s):
- Andy Warren
Track and Room: PD Track - N/A
Title: Solid State Storage Deep Dive
Abstract: If you have ever wanted to know how SSD’s and Flash memory works this talk is for you. We will cover the fundamentals of Flash in detail. I will also highlight some of the specific vendor implementations and what makes a particular SSD “enterprise ready” vs “Consumer grade”. We will also cover SQL Server usage patterns what is a good fit for SSD’s and when it may be better to go with hard disks. Solid State Storage isn’t a cure-all for every situtation, this presentation will give you the tools you need to make the right choice for your SQL Server environment.
Speaker(s):
- Wesley Brown
Track and Room: DBA Track - N/A
Title: A Comparison of SQL Server and Oracle
Abstract: Today, more often than not, an organization runs on both SQL Server and Oracle databases.
Both SQL Server and Oracle often implement comparible features, backup recovery, high availability, security etc. It makes sense for DBAs to be familiar with the best practice concepts, armed with knowledge of the both worlds.
In this session, I will present SQL Server and Oracle side-by-side for a comparison of similarity and differences on most popular and useful aspects.
It is assumed the audience already have some good SQL Server knowledge, but with little or none Oracle exposure.
Speaker(s):
- Jason Wong
Track and Room: PD Track - N/A
Title: Scaling SQL Server to HUNDREDS of Terabytes
Abstract: Learn how SQL Server 2008 can scale to HUNDREDS of terabytes for BI solutions. This session will focus on Fast Track Solutions and Appliances, Reference Architectures, and Parallel Data Warehousing (PDW). Included will be performance numbers and lessons learned on the very first PDW implementation in the world and how a successful BI solution was built on top of it using SSAS.
Speaker(s):
- James Serra
Track and Room: BI Track - N/A
Title: Eating the Elephant: SQL Server Table Partitioning
Abstract: Is your table fat? Do you need to manage a table that has billions of rows within it and are overwhelmed by index rebuilds that take more than 12 hours? SQL Server’s table partitioning gives the DBA the tools to manage this beast and support very large tables in a way where index management and data retrieval does not become unwieldy. This presentation will take you step by step through choosing an appropriate partitioning key, setting up the partitioning on the table, and finally maintaining the partitions.
Speaker(s):
- Michael Fal
Track and Room: DBA Track - N/A
Title: Working With XML In SQL Server
Abstract: XML is a technology that Developers and DBAs alike share a love-hate relationship with; it’s powerful and flexible yet it can be bloated and difficult to work with at the same time. Regardless, XML has found a home in many applications - including SQL Server (e.g. execution plans) - so it’s important to understand how to work with it in your databases. This session will show you how to use the XML data type, perform basic operations on XML data, and how to use FOR XML to create XML from relational data. This isn’t a session to convince you to use XML, but to show you what you can do with XML when you do need to use it!
Speaker(s):
- Kendal Van Dyke
Track and Room: AD Track - N/A
Title: Introduction to Triggers
Abstract: This session will give a brief overview of the different types of triggers available in SQL Server (DDL and DML) and then go into more detail on how and when to use DML triggers. This session will cover misconceptions about how triggers work, when triggers should and shouldn’t be used (we will discuss options), common mistakes, and how to fix the most common mistakes. After attending this session a person will: 1. Identify different types of triggers and when to use them. 2. Be able to identify when a trigger is the right solution 3. Be able to write triggers that perform well
Speaker(s):
- Jack Corbett
Track and Room: AD Track - N/A
Title: It is TEMPDB, Why Should You Care?
Abstract: TEMPDB is just for temporary data right? It is installed by default and gets recreated it time SQL is restarted so what does it matter right? WRONG. This session will give you great insight into what uses TEMPDB, why TEMPDB is important, what are some best practices for configuring TEMPDB, and how to determine if you have contention. If you have systems where TEMPDB hasn’t been touched since the install, you need to attend this session.
Speaker(s):
- Tim Radney
Track and Room: DBA Track - N/A
Title: Build a Data Warehouse in Less than 1 Hour
Abstract: You’ve heard that you need one of these things. You spend all of your time trying to figure out what all of these new-fangled terms mean and now you don’t have time to build one. In this session, we’ll clear away all of the clutter of the technobabble aka acronym soup aka latest and greatest techno-term to sell you stuff and get back to the basics of building something that you can use. You’ll learn why you should build a warehouse, what it does for you, and how you go about building one without needing a year, 40 people, and a 7 digit budget. We’ll go from transactional database to data warehouse that can be used in less than 1 hour.
Speaker(s):
- Mike Hotek
Track and Room: Multi Track - N/A
Title: Implementing Columnstore Indexes
Abstract: Introduced with SQL Server 2012, columnstore indexes allow users to query data warehouses with fast, consistent performance. In this session, you will learn when to use these indexes, how to effectively implement them, and how to work through their maintenance challenges.
Speaker(s):
- Bryan Smith
Track and Room: BI Track - N/A
Title: An Introduction to Big Data for BI
Abstract: A lot has been made of Microsoft’s announcement around support for Apache Hadoop but many in the Microsoft Business Intelligence community have been left scratching their head about what this exactly means. In this session, we will discuss Big Data concepts, pick apart Microsoft’s announcement, and explore what Big Data means for Business Intelligence programs traditionally focused on data warehousing.
Speaker(s):
- Bryan Smith
Track and Room: BI Track - N/A
Title: SQL Server 2012 TSQL Enhancements and Additions
Abstract: The breadth and depth of improvements in TSQL coming out with SQL Server 2012 represent the most significant changes in, well, probably ever! This fast and furious overview will touch on a large range of these goodies, with plenty of sample code for you to take home and review at your leisure!
Speaker(s):
- Kevin Boles
Track and Room: Multi Track - N/A
Title: Data Warehousing - How to Convince “The Bobs”
Abstract: Building your first Data Warehouse is a long, and often difficult process. How can you get your boss to approve a Data Warehouse project? What’s the best way to explain dimensional modeling and the benefits of a Data Warehouse to a business person? What are the best/most cost effective ways of learning it? What kind of materials, hardware, software, etc do you need? What’s the best way to build a proof of concept that will impress your boss, as rapidly as possible?
Come to this presentation, and I’ll answer all of these questions plus the most important question of all.
“Is this good for the company?” Absolutely.
Speaker(s):
- David Stein
Track and Room: BI Track - N/A
Title: Evaluate your daily Checklist with PBM and CMS
Abstract: This talk will give you an introduction into monitoring SQL Server using Policy Based Management and Central Management System which is provided out of the box with SQL Server 2008. I will then show you how you can combine these features with the Enterprise Policy Management Framework on codeplex to provide monitoring for your whole SQL Server farm. This topic assumes you know nothing about PBM and CMS and will include lots of examples with only a few PowerPoint slides.
Speaker(s):
- John Sterrett
Track and Room: DBA Track - N/A
Title: Top 10 New Features of SSIS in 2012
Abstract: The release of SQL Server 2012 will bring a number of new and exciting changes to SQL Server Integration Services, making it the most significant release of SSIS since that product replaced DTS in 2005. In this session, we’ll explore the top 10(ish) new features of SSIS in SQL Server 2012, including: – The new project deployment model – Scripting enhancements – Logging … among others. We’ll also walk through demonstrations of each of these new behaviors.
Speaker(s):
- Tim Mitchell
Track and Room: BI Track - N/A
Title: The {Microsoft} Cloud and I
Abstract: This session is for anyone who is interested in the Cloud specifically Microsofts offerings with a highlight on SQL Azure … and can expect to leave the session with answers to: 1. What is the Cloud and what are my options in the Cloud – from prominent Cloud Providers? 3. How can the Cloud help me – focus on Microsoft’s Cloud Offerings {Azure, Office 365, Office Live, etc.} 4. Focus on Microsoft SQL Azure (with demos) 5. How do I get started in the Cloud – with bare minimums – today? 5. Most importantly – where to go “AFTER” today – to get answers to Cloud and other technologies!
Speaker(s):
- Anthony {Tex} Moreign
Track and Room: PD Track - N/A
Title: Optimizing Stored Procedures
Abstract: In this talk 4 time MVP Mark Rosenberg will talk about SQL Server stored procedures and techniques you can use to optimize them. He will cover stored procedures from a developer’s point of view including table variables, common table expressions and temporary tables. Which do you use and when do you use it. There will also be a number of quick tips that anyone can use to improve query performance when they walk out of the session
Speaker(s):
- Mark Rosenberg
Track and Room: Multi Track - N/A
Title: Understanding Backups
Abstract: One of the most important functions a DBA can perform is the backup. And far too many DBAs rely on the wizard to perform this task. Here I’ll take you through everything you need to know about understanding command line backups, writing backup routines, and making the right decisions on how to do what kind of restore and when. I will take you through basic backup syntax and fully explain how things work the way they do and why. If you ever wanted to understand the ins and outs of SQL Server backups then this session will give you what you’re after.
Speaker(s):
- Sean McCown
Track and Room: AD\DBA Track - N/A
Title: Mouth Wide Shut: Coherent Interviewing
Abstract: The MidnightDBAs will guide you through the most important part of the interview: the tech screening. We’ve both interviewed so many DBAs who fail to meet even the lowest expectations during this portion of the interview. You’ll learn how to answer both tech questions and HR questions in a way that’ll actually get you hired. We’ll also teach you how to avoid common traps that mean certain death. This will be a very fun and interactive session and you’ll wish you’d been doing these things all along. Come to this session.
Speaker(s):
- Sean McCown
Track and Room: PD Track - N/A
Title: Introduction to the XML source
Abstract: XML is all over the place. But how do you get that data into SQL Server? SSIS provides an XML Source, but it is not easy to use. In this session we will handle increasingly complex XML documents. After an introduction to using the XML Source with a single set of elements, we will look at how to work with multiple element sets. This includes hierarchically structured XML documents.
Attendees will be able to import simple XML using SSIS. They will be able to create import routines that pull data from different elements of more complex XML. They will understand the role the XML Schema plays in defining the XML data they import.
Speaker(s):
- Russel Loski
Track and Room: AD Track - N/A
Title: SQL Server Amnesia
Abstract: Losing your memory is never fun. Well, I can’t help you with that, but I can help show you how SQL Server is using its memory and some things to look for with regards to performance problems.
When I started as a DBA I didn’t know much about SQL Server internals. I inherited quite a few servers and they were experiencing performance problems. Over time I learned more about the internals and how to troubleshoot systems. I’ll share some stories with you and talk about some of the methods I use to look at how SQL Server is using its memory. Then we’ll look at some examples and demo code.
Speaker(s):
- Steven Ormrod
Track and Room: DBA Track - N/A
Title: Beyond the Where: Full Text Search tips and tricks
Abstract: Lots of people know that Full Text Search is a powerful tool for searching unstructured data but did you know that you can utilize its power for structured data as well? Functions like FREETEXTTABLE and CONTAINSTABLE open up some pretty groovy doors in terms of usability. We’ll discuss ways to give your users that search engine like interface that everyone has grown accustomed to without sacrificing query performance. We’ll also hit on creating synonyms to give your users results even when they aren’t quite sure what to search for. It’s an entirely different type of search altogether.
Speaker(s):
- Kris Hokanson
Track and Room: AD Track - N/A
Title: Top Query Optimizer Topics for Better Performance
Abstract: This session, updated for SQL Server 2012, will show you how a better understanding of how the Query Optimizer works can help you to improve the performance of your queries. I will show you the top 10 Query Optimizer topics that can give you the most benefit by focusing both on concepts and practical solutions. Several areas of the query processor will be covered, everything from troubleshooting query performance problems and identifying what information the Query Optimizer needs to do a better job to the extreme cases where, because of the its limitations, the Query Optimizer may not give you a good plan and you may need to take a different approach.
Speaker(s):
- Benjamin Nevarez
Track and Room: DBA Track - N/A
Title: Transactional Replication 101
Abstract: Replication simplified! Learn the basic parts that make up replication, what tools are included to help you along plus a look into monitoring.
We will cover the players in the game: Pubishers, Subscribers and Distributors, then delve into the data delivery process with Publications, Subscriptions and Articles, finishing up with the Log Reader and how to make sure everything is working and running smoothly.
Speaker(s):
- Wendy Pastrick
Track and Room: DBA Track - N/A
Title: Replication Magic: Initializing From Backups
Abstract: If you work with very large databases (VLDBs) that must be replicated, you should be using initialization from backup. There are a some misconceptions the have caused DBAs to assume that they could not use initialization from backup. In this session I will explore those misconceptions and prove that they are incorrect.
Demos will include initializing a subscriber from a transaction log backup and performing a partial restore of a database and initializing the subscriber from the partial backup.
Speaker(s):
- Robert Davis
Track and Room: DBA Track - N/A
Title: The Fabulous Query Plan Primer
Abstract: Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, data professionals of ALL ages, we welcome you to learn the basics of query plans and their operators. This presentation will not only cure you of mental aches caused by the mysteries of estimated and actual row counts, but will also part the misty veil of physical join operators and aggregates. When you leave this room, you will have the fundamental understanding of the language of query plans so that you can begin the wondrous process of query tuning.
Speaker(s):
- Michael Fal
Track and Room: DBA Track - N/A
Title: Recover from a Disaster–What to do When All Fails
Abstract: Backups, check. Off-site storage, check. Ability to actually restore a database… Believe it or not, the vast majority of organizations still don’t have the ability to recover from a real disaster. Based on over 20 years of dealing with real disasters – natural and man-made, you’ll walk through how to deal with a variety of situations while ensuring you are covered. We’ll go from backups, through disaster evaluation, and end up with how to perform a last resort recovery; the kind required when your backups aren’t valid and your off-site storage was also compromised.
Speaker(s):
- Mike Hotek
Track and Room: DBA Track - N/A
Title: Data Visualization primer: What you need to know
Abstract: Anyone can make a bar chart. The tricky part is recognizing the right time to use a bar, line or shape in your viz. What makes a data visualization ‘work’ ? How do colors, size and proximity affect visual analysis? In this session we’ll break down the ‘need to know’ parts of data visualization and arm you with the know how to go out there and build stunning, interactive dashboards that tell the story of your data.
Speaker(s):
- Tim Costello
Track and Room: BI Track - N/A
Title: Windowing Functions: THE Reason to Upgrade to 2012
Abstract: For the first time since SQL 7 there is a compelling reason for EVERY SQL Server user to upgrade to the next version and this time around the reason is Windowing Functions. And these are NOT limited to Enterprise Edition, like so many other really useful and important features! The range of data processing needs that can be very efficiently and cleanly solved with these tools is stunning. In this demo-packed session we will cover as many features as we can pack into an hour’s time, and you can take the demo code back home with you to review at your leisure!
Speaker(s):
- Kevin Boles
Track and Room: Multi Track - N/A
Title: Dimensional Modeling 101
Abstract: This session is going to help create a dimensional Data Mart from the AdventureWorks database that includes dimension tables and 2 example fact tables. The Kimball spreadsheet for documenting a Data Mart will be used to reenforce the need for Requirements and Functional specifications. A brief review of ETL for Slowly Changing Dimension and population of the Fact will be deomstrated as well as a simple cube for reporting.
Speaker(s):
- Thomas LeBlanc
Track and Room: BI Track - N/A
Speakers
This is a list of speakers from the XML Guidebook records. The details and URLs were valid at the time of the event.
Steven Ormrod
Twitter: - @DBOrmrod
Contact: http://stevenormrod.com
Steven Ormrod is a Database Administrator. He focuses on high-availability and clustering, with a dash of performance tuning thrown in for fun. His environments consist of hundreds of servers spread across multiple countries. He is on the board of directors for the Austin, Texas PASS Chapter and speaks at user groups and SQLSaturdays. Steven holds a BS in Computer Science and a Masters of Education. He is a SQL Server MCM.
Christina Leo
Twitter: - christinaleo
Contact: http://christinaleo.net
Christina Leo is a Cloud Solution Architect at Microsoft specialising in the Data and AI Platform. Prior to joining Microsoft in 2016, she worked as an independent consultant focusing on T-SQL and BI development, as well as database performance tuning in the finance and investment banking sector. When she isn’t sharing her 18 years of technical experience with the data community, you can find her racing around the Solent on a 40’ sailboat or often in the Thames on a little Laser.
Kalen Delaney
Twitter: - sqlqueen
Kalen Delaney is a Data Platform MVP who has worked with SQL Server for more than 32 years. She has provided performance consulting services and taught advanced courses on SQL Server to thousands of people and organizations. In addition to her courseware development, Kalen has been writing about SQL Server for decades. She is the primary author of SQL Server Internals and the Inside SQL Server series. Kalen is also one of the primary editors for the Red Gate SQL Server Stairways tutorials.
Kendal Van Dyke
Twitter: - SQLDBA
LinkedIn: Kendal Van Dyke
Contact: http://www.kendalvandyke.com
Kendal is a database strategist, community advocate, public speaker, and blogger. A practiced IT professional with over 15 years of SQL Server experience, Kendal excels at disaster recovery, high availability planning/implementation, amp; debugging/troubleshooting mission critical SQL Server environments. Kendal is a Senior Consultant on the Microsoft Premier Developer Support team and President of MagicPASS (http://magicpass.sqlpass.org), the Orlando, FL based chapter of PASS. Before joining Microsoft, Kendal was a SQL Server/Data Platform MVP from 2011-2016.
Mike Hotek
Contact: http://www.ChampionValleyPress.com
Michael is the Senior BI Architect at CBRE in Dallas, TX. He has been building SQL Server systems and database management best practices for over 20 years having worked with thousands of companies and on the largest, most complicated platforms in the world. Michael has delivered hundreds of sessions and training events around the world and has published numerous articles along with 9 books. He is currently working on a multi-book series on SQL Server 2012.
Wendy Pastrick
Twitter: - @wendy_dance
Contact: http://wendyverse.blogspot.com
Wendy Pastrick is from Chicago, IL, and for the past 15 years has served as a Database Administrator supporting both development and production environments. Her many years of involvement with PASS include WIT Virtual Chapter and the Chicago Suburban User Group, serving as Regional Mentor, and as a PASS Board member since 2013. Wendy has organized several highly successful SQLSaturday events in Chicago.
Thomas LeBlanc
Twitter: - TheSmilingDBA
LinkedIn: Thomas LeBlanc
Contact: http://Thomas-LeBlanc.com
Thomas LeBlanc (Microsoft Data Platform MVP) is a Data Warehouse Architect in Baton Rouge, and uses his 30+ years in IT to develop OLTP systems with normalized databases for high-performing T-SQL and dimensional data marts. Development is done in SSIS, SSAS, SSRS, Power BI, and Excel. As a PASS volunteer, he is past chair of Excel BI and Data Arch VCs and is active in the Baton Rouge Analytics and SQL Server User groups, as well as SQLSaturday in Baton Rouge. You can find his blog at TheSmilingDBA.BlogSpot.com and website at Thomas-LeBlanc.com
Wesley Brown
Twitter: - @sqlserverio
LinkedIn: Wesley Brown
Contact: http://www.sqlserverio.com
Wesley Brown is a former SQL Server MVP and PASS Chapter Leader who loves to teach others about SQL Server.He maintains his technical blog at http://www.sqlserverio.com. Wes specializes in high availability, disaster recovery, and large-scale database performance tuning.
Jennifer McCown
Twitter: - https://twitter.com/MidnightDBA
Contact: http://www.MidnightDBA.com/Jen
Jen McCown is CEO of MinionWare, LLC; a Microsoft Certified Master for SQL Server; and an independent consultant. She is Senior Editor at MidnightDBA.com, where she creates training videos, the DBAs at Midnight webshow, blogs, reviews, and podcasts. Jen is a member, volunteer, and speaker in PASS, and the PASS Women in Technology Virtual Group.
Kendal Van Dyke
Twitter: - SQLDBA
LinkedIn: Kendal Van Dyke
Contact: http://www.kendalvandyke.com
Kendal is a database strategist, community advocate, public speaker, and blogger. A practiced IT professional with over 15 years of SQL Server experience, Kendal excels at disaster recovery, high availability planning/implementation, amp; debugging/troubleshooting mission critical SQL Server environments. Kendal is a Senior Consultant on the Microsoft Premier Developer Support team and President of MagicPASS (http://magicpass.sqlpass.org), the Orlando, FL based chapter of PASS. Before joining Microsoft, Kendal was a SQL Server/Data Platform MVP from 2011-2016.
Robert Davis
Twitter: - @SQLSoldier
LinkedIn: Robert Davis
Contact: http://www.sqlsoldier.com
Robert is a SQL Server Certified Master, MVP, and has spent 17+ years honing his skills in security, performance tuning, SQL development, high availability, and disaster recovery. He served as PM for the SQL Server Certified Master Program at Microsoft Learning, and in various roles at Microsoft specializing in SQL Server administration, development, and architecture. He currently works as a Database Engineer at BlueMountain Capital Management where he spends a vast majority of his time tuning massively parallel queries. Robert feeds his passion for security by acting as co-leader of the PASS Security Virtual Chapter.
David Stein
Twitter: - @Made2Mentor
LinkedIn: David Stein
Contact: http://www.Made2Mentor.com
David Stein - Agile Data Warehouse Architect and Independent Consultant - has more than a decade of experience working in SQL Server Business Intelligence. He’s designed multi-terabyte, multi-tenant Data Warehouses from scratch as well as saved projects in serious jeopardy.
Mike Hotek
Contact: http://www.ChampionValleyPress.com
Michael is the Senior BI Architect at CBRE in Dallas, TX. He has been building SQL Server systems and database management best practices for over 20 years having worked with thousands of companies and on the largest, most complicated platforms in the world. Michael has delivered hundreds of sessions and training events around the world and has published numerous articles along with 9 books. He is currently working on a multi-book series on SQL Server 2012.
Jennifer McCown
Twitter: - https://twitter.com/MidnightDBA
Contact: http://www.MidnightDBA.com/Jen
Jen McCown is CEO of MinionWare, LLC; a Microsoft Certified Master for SQL Server; and an independent consultant. She is Senior Editor at MidnightDBA.com, where she creates training videos, the DBAs at Midnight webshow, blogs, reviews, and podcasts. Jen is a member, volunteer, and speaker in PASS, and the PASS Women in Technology Virtual Group.
Tim Costello
Twitter: - timcost
LinkedIn: Tim Costello
Contact: http://www.timcost.com
Tim Costello is an MCITP, MCTS specializing in etl and data analytics for Interworks Inc. Tim is an international speaker that is always looking for opportunities to share his passion for SQL Server, Tableau and data visualization. Tim is active in the SQL community and leads a data visualization focused user group in the Dallas area.
Robert Davis
Twitter: - @SQLSoldier
LinkedIn: Robert Davis
Contact: http://www.sqlsoldier.com
Robert is a SQL Server Certified Master, MVP, and has spent 17+ years honing his skills in security, performance tuning, SQL development, high availability, and disaster recovery. He served as PM for the SQL Server Certified Master Program at Microsoft Learning, and in various roles at Microsoft specializing in SQL Server administration, development, and architecture. He currently works as a Database Engineer at BlueMountain Capital Management where he spends a vast majority of his time tuning massively parallel queries. Robert feeds his passion for security by acting as co-leader of the PASS Security Virtual Chapter.
Jason Wong
Contact: http://dbace.us
Jason Wong has 25+ years experiences working as programmer, apps admin, IT Applications Manager, Sr. DBA in greater Houston area. He has been a SQL Server community speaker since 2008.
His career profile, education, publication, travel experiences, along with other interests can be found on his web site. (no commercials, no tracking)
http://dbace.us
Anthony {Tex} Moreign
Twitter: - https://twitter.com/AnthonyTexM
LinkedIn: Anthony {Tex} Moreign
Contact: http://www.hccug.org
{Technologist | Speaker | Writer | Founder} … 25 years counting … – Founder Chief Architect, Hybrid Decisions® Corp (www.HybridDecisions.com | 2005) – Founder President, Houston Cloud Computing User Group (www.HCCUG.org | 2008) – for more info see http://linkedin.com/in/AnthonyTexM «±»
Rick Morelan
Rick has worked more than 12 years at Microsoft and has attained over 30 Microsoft technical including certifications in applications, networking, databases and .NET development (MCDBA, MCTS, MCITP, MCAD, MOE, MCSE, MCSE+I). He has also provided training for NW University, Volt Technical Education, The DigiGirlz, and Microsoft. Rick is the Author of the 5 volume SQL Joes 2 Pros book series.
William Assaf
Twitter: - william_a_dba
LinkedIn: William Assaf
Contact: http://www.sqltact.com
William Assaf, Data Platform MVP, is a principal consultant in Baton Rouge, LA. Initially a .NET developer, and later into database administration and architecture, William currently works with clients on SQL Server and Azure SQL platform optimization, management, disaster recovery and high availability, and leads a crack multi-city team of consulting SQL DBA’s. William has written for Microsoft SQL certification exams since 2011 and was the lead author of the 2017 and 2019 editions of “SQL Server Administration Inside Out” by Microsoft Press. William is a member of the Baton Rouge User Groups board, a regional mentor for PASS, and past lead of the annual SQLSaturday Baton Rouge Planning Committee, having run one of the largest SQLSaturdays.
Thomas LeBlanc
Twitter: - TheSmilingDBA
LinkedIn: Thomas LeBlanc
Contact: http://Thomas-LeBlanc.com
Thomas LeBlanc (Microsoft Data Platform MVP) is a Data Warehouse Architect in Baton Rouge, and uses his 30+ years in IT to develop OLTP systems with normalized databases for high-performing T-SQL and dimensional data marts. Development is done in SSIS, SSAS, SSRS, Power BI, and Excel. As a PASS volunteer, he is past chair of Excel BI and Data Arch VCs and is active in the Baton Rouge Analytics and SQL Server User groups, as well as SQLSaturday in Baton Rouge. You can find his blog at TheSmilingDBA.BlogSpot.com and website at Thomas-LeBlanc.com
Wesley Brown
Twitter: - @sqlserverio
LinkedIn: Wesley Brown
Contact: http://www.sqlserverio.com
Wesley Brown is a former SQL Server MVP and PASS Chapter Leader who loves to teach others about SQL Server.He maintains his technical blog at http://www.sqlserverio.com. Wes specializes in high availability, disaster recovery, and large-scale database performance tuning.
Eric Humphrey
Twitter: - @lotsahelp
Contact: http://www.erichumphrey.com
Eric Humphrey is a DBA at GameStop in the Dallas area. He earned his B.S. in Computer Science from Louisiana State University – Shreveport in 2004. He has been working in the tech industry since 2003 with companies big and small. His focus is on database development with SQL Server. Eric has a passion for improving his craft while contributing to the development community.
Mike Hotek
Contact: http://www.ChampionValleyPress.com
Michael is the Senior BI Architect at CBRE in Dallas, TX. He has been building SQL Server systems and database management best practices for over 20 years having worked with thousands of companies and on the largest, most complicated platforms in the world. Michael has delivered hundreds of sessions and training events around the world and has published numerous articles along with 9 books. He is currently working on a multi-book series on SQL Server 2012.
Wendy Pastrick
Twitter: - @wendy_dance
Contact: http://wendyverse.blogspot.com
Wendy Pastrick is from Chicago, IL, and for the past 15 years has served as a Database Administrator supporting both development and production environments. Her many years of involvement with PASS include WIT Virtual Chapter and the Chicago Suburban User Group, serving as Regional Mentor, and as a PASS Board member since 2013. Wendy has organized several highly successful SQLSaturday events in Chicago.
Sean McCown
Twitter: - @KenpoDBA
Contact: http://www.midnightdba.com/dbarant
Sean McCown is a Certified Master with 23 years of experience in databases. He is also founder and co-owner of the MidnightDBA.com website, where he records free SQL Server training videos. He also writes the popular Minion Maintenance suite, the most configurable maintenance solution on the planet.
James Serra
Twitter: - www.twitter.com/JamesSerra
LinkedIn: James Serra
Contact: http://www.JamesSerra.com
James Serra is a big data and data warehousing solution architect at Microsoft. He is a thought leader in the use and application of Big Data and advanced analytics. Previously, James was an independent consultant working as a Data Warehouse/Business Intelligence architect and developer. He is a prior SQL Server MVP with over 35 years of IT experience. James is a popular blogger (JamesSerra.com) and speaker. He is the author of the book “Reporting with Microsoft SQL Server 2012”.
William E Pearson III
Twitter: - @Bill_Pearson
LinkedIn: William E Pearson III
Contact: https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile=02C5CD07-7511-4151-A678-3A4A3451F85E
Bill Pearson created Island Technologies Inc. in 1997, and has developed a large and diverse customer base since. Bill#39;s background as a CPA, Internal Auditor, Management Accountant, and SQL Server MVP (BI) enables him to provide value to clients as a liaison between Accounting / Finance and Information Services. Bill has implemented enterprise business intelligence systems over the years for many Fortune 500 companies and focuses his practice upon the integrated Microsoft Business Intelligence
Andy Warren
Twitter: - @sqlandy
Contact: https://sqlandy.com
Andy Warren is a SQL Server consultant and trainer based in Orlando, FL. Focusing on administration, performance tuning, and SQL Server patterns and practices, he’s been a SQL Server MVP since 2008. Andy served two terms on the PASS Board of Directors, was a founding principal in SQLServerCentral, and created both the SQLSaturday and SQLRally event models.
Janis Griffin
Twitter: - DoBoutAnything
LinkedIn: Janis Griffin
Janis Griffin has over 30 years of DBA/database experience including design, development and implementation of many critical database applications. Before coming to Quest Software, Janis primarily worked in the Telecom/Network Industry, working with both real-time network routing databases and OLTP business to business applications. Janis also held positions as a Principal Architect and Senior Manager, mentoring other DBAs on best practices in database performance tuning.
Argenis Fernandez
Twitter: - DBArgenis
LinkedIn: Argenis Fernandez
Contact: http://blog.purestorage.com/author/argenisfernandez/
Argenis is a Principal Architect at Pure Storage. He works with customers around the world to make sure they don’t have to worry much about their infrastructure for Data. He is a former Data Platform MVP, former VMware vExpert, Microsoft Certified Master, and more recently worked in the Microsoft Azure Data/SQL Server engineering team as a Principal PM in the Tiger team.
William E Pearson III
Twitter: - @Bill_Pearson
LinkedIn: William E Pearson III
Contact: https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile=02C5CD07-7511-4151-A678-3A4A3451F85E
Bill Pearson created Island Technologies Inc. in 1997, and has developed a large and diverse customer base since. Bill#39;s background as a CPA, Internal Auditor, Management Accountant, and SQL Server MVP (BI) enables him to provide value to clients as a liaison between Accounting / Finance and Information Services. Bill has implemented enterprise business intelligence systems over the years for many Fortune 500 companies and focuses his practice upon the integrated Microsoft Business Intelligence
Sean McCown
Twitter: - @KenpoDBA
Contact: http://www.midnightdba.com/dbarant
Sean McCown is a Certified Master with 23 years of experience in databases. He is also founder and co-owner of the MidnightDBA.com website, where he records free SQL Server training videos. He also writes the popular Minion Maintenance suite, the most configurable maintenance solution on the planet.
Jack Corbett
Twitter: - http://twitter.com/unclebiguns
LinkedIn: Jack Corbett
Contact: http://www.wisemanorwiseguy.com
JJack Corbett began working with SQL Server, Access, and VB in 1999, when he served an apprenticeship with a good friend who was the software development manager at the local paper mill. He found his niche and has concentrated on SQL Server development and administration since late 2000. He has worked with SQL Server through version 2017 and was a Microsoft Data Plaform MVP from October 2011 to October 2016.
Jack is passionate about helping companies architect, design, and develop high performance applications based on the Microsoft Data Platform. He also has a passion for seeing database developers get the core application code (the database) protected under source control.
Jack has presented at many user groups and SQLSaturday even
Michael Fal
Twitter: - @Mike_Fal
LinkedIn: Michael Fal
Contact: http://mikefal.net
Mike is a specialist in data management technologies. As a community advocate, public speaker, and blogger, Mike is a practicing thought leader for data and automation. He is passionate about DevOps and data, building platforms to optimize, protect, and use data efficiently.
Since 1999, Mike has been working in the database field, focusing primarily on SQL Server and specializes in automating data solutions to improve the reliability and efficiency of his environments. He has been caught playing trombone in public on more than one occasion.
Vicky Harp
Twitter: - vickyharp
Contact: http://vickyharp.com
Vicky Harp is the Group PM Manager for the SQL Server Tools Team, which is responsible for the full set of experiences from drivers and scripting libraries, to GUI tools, to the Azure Portal. She has been building tools for SQL Server for 15 years.
Argenis Fernandez
Twitter: - DBArgenis
LinkedIn: Argenis Fernandez
Contact: http://blog.purestorage.com/author/argenisfernandez/
Argenis is a Principal Architect at Pure Storage. He works with customers around the world to make sure they don’t have to worry much about their infrastructure for Data. He is a former Data Platform MVP, former VMware vExpert, Microsoft Certified Master, and more recently worked in the Microsoft Azure Data/SQL Server engineering team as a Principal PM in the Tiger team.
Nancy Hidy Wilson
Twitter: - @NancyHidyWilson
LinkedIn: Nancy Hidy Wilson
Contact: http://nancyhidywilson.wordpress.com
Nancy Hidy Wilson has been working with Microsoft SQL Server since 1994. She originally volunteered for PASS at the first Community Summit held in Chicago in 1999 and has served on various PASS Committees since that time. Nancy was a PASS Community Summit speaker from 2000-2007. Nancy led the Houston Area SQL Server User Group (HASSUG) from 2001-15 and presents there and at SQLSaturday events. She also currently volunteers as an editor for the SQL Server Benchmarks with CIS.
Mark Rosenberg
Contact: http://geekswithblogs.net/markrosenberg
Mark Rosenberg has been writing software with Microsoft technologies since 1997. He has been speaking to user groups and at code camps since 2005 and been a certified trainer Since 2007.
Mark likes to talk to developers and has been talking to anyone who will listen. He is very active in the community, both speaking at user groups and on the board of 2 user groups in Southern California.
He currently is working as an senior development instructor at New Horizons in Austin, TX
John Cook
Twitter: - johnpaulcook
LinkedIn: John Cook
Contact: https://www.red-gate.com/simple-talk/author/johnpaulcook-2/
John Paul Cook is a psychiatric nurse practitioner and instructor of psychiatric nursing. He is former Data Platform Solutions Architect for Microsoft and before that a 9 time Microsoft MVP. John understands both the clinical aspects of healthcare and the technical aspects. He provides a unique perspective in being able to explain clinical concerns and issues to technical people. John is passionate about improving mental health in the community, including in the technical community.
Andy Warren
Twitter: - @sqlandy
Contact: https://sqlandy.com
Andy Warren is a SQL Server consultant and trainer based in Orlando, FL. Focusing on administration, performance tuning, and SQL Server patterns and practices, he’s been a SQL Server MVP since 2008. Andy served two terms on the PASS Board of Directors, was a founding principal in SQLServerCentral, and created both the SQLSaturday and SQLRally event models.
Michael D. Newby
Contact: http://www.recursivecreativity.com/
Michael’s background is in accounting and finance but has always leveraged technology to facilitate reducing the level of effort and the man hours involved in all processes. Michael has been actively involved in and presents regularly at various User Groups. Michael’s content can be found on his website, www.recursivecreativity.com.
Tim Mitchell
Twitter: - @Tim_Mitchell
LinkedIn: Tim Mitchell
Contact: http://www.TimMitchell.net
Tim Mitchell is a business intelligence architect, author, and trainer. He has worked with SQL Server for over a decade, specializing in data warehousing, ETL/SSIS, and reporting. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from Texas AM at Commerce, and is recognized as a Microsoft Data Platform MVP. Tim is a business intelligence consultant and principal at Tyleris Data Solutions.
Tim is an active community speaker and volunteer, having spoken at over 100 events including the PASS Summit, SQLBits, Dev Connections, SQL Intersection, and scores of SQLSaturdays. He blogs at TimMitchell.net, and tweets at @Tim_Mitchell.
Michael Fal
Twitter: - @Mike_Fal
LinkedIn: Michael Fal
Contact: http://mikefal.net
Mike is a specialist in data management technologies. As a community advocate, public speaker, and blogger, Mike is a practicing thought leader for data and automation. He is passionate about DevOps and data, building platforms to optimize, protect, and use data efficiently.
Since 1999, Mike has been working in the database field, focusing primarily on SQL Server and specializes in automating data solutions to improve the reliability and efficiency of his environments. He has been caught playing trombone in public on more than one occasion.
Sean McCown
Twitter: - @KenpoDBA
Contact: http://www.midnightdba.com/dbarant
Sean McCown is a Certified Master with 23 years of experience in databases. He is also founder and co-owner of the MidnightDBA.com website, where he records free SQL Server training videos. He also writes the popular Minion Maintenance suite, the most configurable maintenance solution on the planet.
Kevin Boles
Twitter: - @TheSQLGuru
LinkedIn: Kevin Boles
Kevin Boles is a SQL Server expert, working exclusively with the product since v6.5. With over 25 years of database experience and over 45,000 man hours of SQL Server engine experience, he holds many related certifications, is an MCT and was a SQL Server MVP from 2007 to 2012. Kevin has been a very successful independent consultant for over 20 years. His passion is the relational engine, especially designing, building, analyzing and tuning high-performance database applications.
Bryan Smith
LinkedIn: Bryan Smith
Bryan is a Data Solution Specialist with Microsoft Las Colinas, focused on data-driven solutions in the Azure cloud. He also teaches analytics technologies within the MBA amp; MSBA programs at SMU Cox School of Business.
Russel Loski
Twitter: - sqlmovers
LinkedIn: Russel Loski
Contact: http://www.sqlmovers.com
Russ Loski is a SQL Server BI Developer based in Dallas-Fort Worth. He current works as a Data Analytics Engineer for Navisite, a remote managed IT services company. Twenty years ago, he began working with SQL Server 6.5. He has since continued to develop applications connected to all of the versions of SQL Server. He has worked with clients in industries from insurance to healthcare, from movie theaters to American football. Russ is a regular speaker at SQLSaturday events, as well as the SQL Server Users Groups in the North Texas region. Russ likes working with data in various shapes.
Benjamin Nevarez
Contact: http://www.benjaminnevarez.com/
Benjamin Nevarez is a SQL Server MVP and independent consultant based in Los Angeles, California who specializes in SQL Server query tuning and optimization. He is the author of “SQL Server 2014 Query Tuning Optimization”, “Inside the SQL Server Query Optimizer” and has contributed to other SQL Server books including “SQL Server 2012 Internals”. Benjamin has also been a speaker at many SQL Server conferences, including the PASS Summit, SQL Server Connections and SQLBits.
Tim Radney
Twitter: - @tradney
LinkedIn: Tim Radney
Contact: http://www.timradney.com
Tim is a Data Platform MVP and has a whole collection of Microsoft and other industry certifications. His experience includes HA/DR, virtualization, SSIS, SSRS, and performance tuning, among everything else SQL Server-related. Tim is very active and passionate in the SQL Community. He runs the Columbus GA SQL Users Group, has been a PASS Regional Mentor for a number of years, was named a PASS Outstanding Volunteer in 2012, and is a frequent speaker at user groups, SQLSaturdays and PASS Summits. Tim is one of the top ranked in karma on ask.sqlservercentral.com, answers questions as @tradney on Twitter, and blogs at http://timradney.com and SQLskills blog at http://www.SQLskills.com/blogs/tim.
Kevin Boles
Twitter: - @TheSQLGuru
LinkedIn: Kevin Boles
Kevin Boles is a SQL Server expert, working exclusively with the product since v6.5. With over 25 years of database experience and over 45,000 man hours of SQL Server engine experience, he holds many related certifications, is an MCT and was a SQL Server MVP from 2007 to 2012. Kevin has been a very successful independent consultant for over 20 years. His passion is the relational engine, especially designing, building, analyzing and tuning high-performance database applications.
Kris Hokanson
Kris has been building databases for over 20 years. Since SQL Server 7 he’s been looking for ways to shave a second (or an hour) off any query he comes across. His work experience ranges from small construction firms to fortune 200 Oil amp; Gas corporations. He has designed and administered everything from 10 MB single user databases to enterprise data warehouses using SQL Server and SSIS to consolidate data from hundreds of disparate ERP systems.
AJ Mendo
Twitter: - @SQLAJ
Contact: http://sqlaj.wordpress.com/
AJ has over 14 years of experience working with a variety of databases. He has worked for military, civilian, and federal government organizations supporting a wide variety of applications.
AJ is a frequent speaker at user groups, SQLSaturday#39;s, and PASS Virtual Chapters, and is a board member POSSE and CACTUSS. He is a PASS Programs Committee volunteer, and he loves being a part of the SQL Community.
Tim Radney
Twitter: - @tradney
LinkedIn: Tim Radney
Contact: http://www.timradney.com
Tim is a Data Platform MVP and has a whole collection of Microsoft and other industry certifications. His experience includes HA/DR, virtualization, SSIS, SSRS, and performance tuning, among everything else SQL Server-related. Tim is very active and passionate in the SQL Community. He runs the Columbus GA SQL Users Group, has been a PASS Regional Mentor for a number of years, was named a PASS Outstanding Volunteer in 2012, and is a frequent speaker at user groups, SQLSaturdays and PASS Summits. Tim is one of the top ranked in karma on ask.sqlservercentral.com, answers questions as @tradney on Twitter, and blogs at http://timradney.com and SQLskills blog at http://www.SQLskills.com/blogs/tim.
John Sterrett
Twitter: - JohnSterrett
LinkedIn: John Sterrett
Contact: https://johnsterrett.com/community/
John Sterrett is a MCSE: Data Platform, Principal Consultant, and the Founder of Procure SQL LLC. John has experience presenting at community events, including Microsoft Ignite, PASS Member Summit, SQLRally, 24 Hours of PASS, SQLSaturdays, PASS Chapters, and Virtual Chapter meetings. John is a leader of the Austin SQL Server User Group and is the founder of the HADR Virtual Chapter. John’s community activities can be found at https://johnsterrett.com/community/
Bryan Smith
LinkedIn: Bryan Smith
Bryan is a Data Solution Specialist with Microsoft Las Colinas, focused on data-driven solutions in the Azure cloud. He also teaches analytics technologies within the MBA amp; MSBA programs at SMU Cox School of Business.
Jim Murphy
Twitter: - http://www.twitter.com/sqlmurph
LinkedIn: Jim Murphy
Contact: http://sqlwatchmen.com/blogs/jim/
Jim Murphy has been using Microsoft SQL Server since version 6.0 back in the 90#39;s. He is the CEO of SQLWatchmen, LLC., a managed DBA service provider. He runs the Austin SQL Server User Group: CACTUSS Central. He has been a professional DBA and developer for over 25 years and has run a consulting company full time since 2001.
Mike Saleme
Twitter: - @mikesaleme
LinkedIn: Mike Saleme
http://www.linkedin.com/in/mikesaleme
Benjamin Nevarez
Contact: http://www.benjaminnevarez.com/
Benjamin Nevarez is a SQL Server MVP and independent consultant based in Los Angeles, California who specializes in SQL Server query tuning and optimization. He is the author of “SQL Server 2014 Query Tuning Optimization”, “Inside the SQL Server Query Optimizer” and has contributed to other SQL Server books including “SQL Server 2012 Internals”. Benjamin has also been a speaker at many SQL Server conferences, including the PASS Summit, SQL Server Connections and SQLBits.
Tim Mitchell
Twitter: - @Tim_Mitchell
LinkedIn: Tim Mitchell
Contact: http://www.TimMitchell.net
Tim Mitchell is a business intelligence architect, author, and trainer. He has worked with SQL Server for over a decade, specializing in data warehousing, ETL/SSIS, and reporting. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from Texas AM at Commerce, and is recognized as a Microsoft Data Platform MVP. Tim is a business intelligence consultant and principal at Tyleris Data Solutions.
Tim is an active community speaker and volunteer, having spoken at over 100 events including the PASS Summit, SQLBits, Dev Connections, SQL Intersection, and scores of SQLSaturdays. He blogs at TimMitchell.net, and tweets at @Tim_Mitchell.
Sponsors
The following is a list of sponsors that helped fund the event: