Make sure you get to enjoy my round-up of SQL Server Links, community news and technology banter every week by Subscribing to the Blog Feed. You can also receive posts via Email.

It’s been a bit of a tough one in the SQL Brit camp this week (the flag is at half mast) and so less chat but same old awesome links!

Here’s your weekly roundup of SQL Server Blog Posts, News and Techie Stuff. Enjoy!

• Understanding data vs log usage for spills in tempdb - Paul Randal (Blog|Twitter)
• What Is Your ROE? - Thomas Larock (Blog|Twitter)
• SQL Server RDS - Jeremiah Peschka (Blog|Twitter)
• Did You Know? Turning Off Locking - Kalen Delaney (Blog|Twitter)
• Which SELECT * Is Better? - Grant Fritchey (Blog|Twitter)
• Survey: most prevalent latch waits (code to run) - Paul Randal (Blog|Twitter)
• Implementing a Replication Agent Progress Bar - Brandon Williams (Blog|Twitter)
• SSIS Data Flow Tuning - Josef Richberg (Blog|Twitter)
• Creating a Windows Server 2012 Failover Cluster - Failover Clustering Team Blog (Blog)
• The Importance of Connect Item 636516 - Allan Hirt (Blog|Twitter)

UK SQL Server Upcoming Events

Misc Technology Posts

You regular readers will know that I’ve been endeavouring to learn the art of PowerShell magic and am at a stage now where my skills are dangerous enough to make them perhaps worthy of sharing. On that note:

WARNING: This script will format the disk volumes on your server! Make sure you are 100% certain of what you are doing.

Of course you clever folks don’t need a disclaimer because you would never run code from the internet without first fully understanding what’s involved right!

One of the tasks we DBAs often need to perform are server builds and  I often find myself having the need to configure the disk storage (SAN LUNs). Some of the tasks I might need to perform include:

• Creating a new disk partition
• Ensuring partition alignment
• Labelling the partition
• Assigning either a mount path or drive letter
• Formatting with a desired allocation unit size

DBAs that have had to do this stuff will know that it’s pretty dull and involves a lot of clicking and running various utilities (i.e. DISKPART) in order to get done. When you’ve got multiple disks and servers to do, the time it takes can quickly add up. Enter PowerShell to the rescue then, for all of the above tasks can be performed by it and much more.

The script I have included below performs these tasks and although can be run as is, I would highly recommend that you use it as a either a guide or the basis for doing something similar in you own environments. One of the challenges I have had myself with PowerShell is the accessibility of the language (i.e. being able to leverage programming constructs from other languages) finding the right commands/structures/good examples of things that do similar tasks that I can use/tweak to do what I specifically need. I hope that this will server this purpose for you.

#Date:			30/04/12
#Author:		John Sansom
#Description:		PowerShell script to configure a new server disk (i.e. SAN Lun).
#Example Execution:	.\configureDisk.ps1

#Notes:			This script is intended to be run locally on the server where the storage is already presented and online.

Function Set-DriveFormat
{
	Param(
		[Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
		[Int]
		$logicalDisk
	,
		[Parameter(Mandatory=$false)]
		[String]
		$driveLetter
	,
		[Parameter(Mandatory=$false)]
		[ValidateScript({Test-Path $_ -PathType 'Container'})]
		[String]
		$mountPath
	,
		[Parameter(Mandatory=$false)]
		[Int]
		$clusterSize = 65536
	,
		[Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
		[String]
		$label
	)
	Process
	{
		#Use DISKPART Utility to prepare the Disk
		if( ($driveLetter) -and (!$mountPath) )
		{
			"Creating a disk with letter: $driveLetter"

			try{
				"select disk '$logicalDisk'","select partition 1","delete partition","create partition primary align=1024","assign letter='$driveLetter'" | DISKPART
			}
			catch [system.exception]
			{
				"Error executing the DISKPART command for logical disk: $logicalDisk"
			}

			try{
				"Formatting Disk with letter $driveLetter this can take some time ..."
				$driveLetter = $driveLetter + ":"
				$drive = Get-WmiObject -Class win32_volume -Filter "DriveLetter = '$driveLetter'"
				$drive.Format("NTFS",$true,$clusterSize,$label,$false)
			}
			catch [system.exception]
			{
				"Error formatting logical disk: $logicalDisk"
			}

		}
		elseif( (!$driveLetter) -and ($mountPath) )
		{
			"Creating a Disk with mount path: $mountPath"

			try {
				"select disk '$logicalDisk'","select partition 1","delete partition","create partition primary align=1024","assign mount='$mountPath" | DISKPART
			}
			catch [system.exception]
			{
				"Error executing the DISKPART command for logical disk: $logicalDisk"
			}

			"Formatting Disk with path $path this can take some time ..."
			$drive = Get-WmiObject -Class win32_volume | Where-Object {$_.name -eq "$mountPath"}
			$drive.Format("NTFS",$true,$clusterSize,$label,$false)
		}
		else{"An Invalid Parameter Combination was specified. Ensure either a Mount Path or letter is given."}

  	}

} #end function Set-DriveFormat

#Call function using the desired parameters
Set-DriveFormat -logicalDisk 9 -driveLetter "J" -label "Data"

If you would you like to read more posts on PowerShell let me know!

Make sure you get to enjoy my round-up of SQL Server Links, community news and technology banter every week by Subscribing to the Blog Feed. You can also receive posts via Email.

British readers can attest to the fact that the SQL community here has really taken off in the last couple of years, with awesome events becoming a regular feature on the Calendar thanks to the tremendous efforts of you and your local community champions. Two key elements are needed to kick start great community events, a few courageous sql community champions to take on the organisation, and you folks out there to get involved in the action.

SQL Relay 2012 

Following on from the great success of last years event our community champions are at it again and this time their looking to host Full Day knowledge packed sessions for you to enjoy. You can find all the details over on the SQL Server FAQ site and follow the banter on the Facebook Page. Make sure you register early for an event near you to avoid disappointment. See you there (well in London at least )!

Here’s your weekly roundup of SQL Server Blog Posts, News and Techie Stuff. Enjoy!

• Are You Using The Right Sql Server Performance Metrics? - A more thoughtful look at making effective use of metrics from Thomas Larock (Blog|Twitter).
• Query Optimizer Deep Dive – Part 1 - The man has been on a blogging rampage recently and all posts should be considered essential reading. Here’s the first part in this great series from Paul White (Blog|Twitter).
• Things Every DBA Should Know (But Most Don’t) - Did you know all of these? Sure me too. Brent Ozar (Blog|Twitter) discusses.
• Cool free tool to parse and analyze SQLIO results - Paul Randal (Blog|Twitter) gives a shout out to David Klee (Blog|Twitter) for his work on this super handy tool.
• Modifying Tables Online – Part 5: Just One More Thing - A bonus post concludes the final part of this excellent series from Michael J. Swart (Blog|Twitter).
• varchar(max) in an Index - A fundamental lesson in problem solving that is so often overlooked due to over emphasis on the solution, shared courtesy of Erin Stellato (Blog|Twitter).
• Parallel Execution Plans Suck - Another query tuning gem from Paul White (Blog|Twitter).
• FILESTREAM on Server Core - An administrative tip sprinkled with a little PowerShell magic is a recipe for a tasty DBA treat, from Mike Fal (Blog|Twitter) this week.
• The Copy Only Backup… What is it and why use it? - DBA insights from Mitchell Bottel (Blog|Twitter).
• Things Every DBA Should Know – Webcast and Scripts - Continuing his earlier theme in this webcast it’s Brent Ozar (Blog|Twitter), also with updates to sp_Blitz.
• A cautionary tale about grandfathering CAL licenses in SQL Server 2012 Enterprise - It’s all about the money, well it is to the bosses and this week Aaron Bertrand (Blog|Twitter) looks at the finer details to be considered for SQL2012.

UK SQL Server Upcoming Events

Misc Technology Posts

Make sure you get to enjoy my round-up of SQL Server Links, community news and technology banter every week by Subscribing to the Blog Feed. You can also receive posts via Email.

Here’s your weekly roundup of SQL Server Blog Posts, News and Techie Stuff. Enjoy!

• Modifying Tables Online – Part 3: Example With Error Handling - Here’s Part 3 of this excellent series from Michael J. Swart (Blog|Twitter).
• Less Is More, Even With Databases - Talking data philosophy it’s Thomas Larock (Blog|Twitter).
• SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Groups in AWS - Cloud considerations and what they mean for SQL2012 from Jeremiah Peschka (Blog|Twitter).
• Understanding LOB data (2008/2008R2 & 2012) - Interesting LOB data internals from Kimberly Tripp (Blog|Twitter), who’s been blogging MIA for a while. Be sure to click through to the original posts that sparked the discussions to get the full picture.
• SQL Server Builds (April 2012) - A handy script for identifying your upgrade path based on your current SQL version, courtesy of Neil Hambly(Blog|Twitter).
• Backup Database Object - A dose of PowerSell magic from Chad Miller (Blog|Twitter).
• 6 Little Known Things That Can Cause Big Performance Issues - All good advice here that each and EVERY DBA should take note of from Thomas Larock (Blog|Twitter).
• Video – How to Test Availability Groups in SQL Server 2012 - Another video walk-through from the PLF crew this week, with your host Kendra Little (Blog|Twitter).
• Connection to readable secondary fails when login SIDs are different - Troubleshooting insights for the DBA looking to SQL 2012 administration, courtesy of Microsoft SQLCAT (Blog).
• Distribution Agent is blocking users on Subscriber - Replication troubleshooting master class stuff here from the Microsoft SQL Server Replication Support Team(Blog).
• New White Paper: SQL Server Extended Events and Notifications - Kevin Kline(Blog|Twitter) shared this whitepaper written by Jason Strate (Blog|Twitter).

UK SQL Server Upcoming Events

Misc Technology Posts

Make sure you get to enjoy my round-up of SQL Server Links, community news and technology banter every week by Subscribing to the Blog Feed. You can also receive posts via Email.

How safe is your Gmail account? If you’re not all that concerned because you have a super secret complicated strong password you may want to read this post from Coding Horror: Make Your Email Hacker Proof. It takes a couple of minutes to set up but it could save you a whole world of pain.

Here’s your weekly roundup of SQL Server Blog Posts, News and Techie Stuff. Enjoy!

• Bug: reverting from a database snapshot shrinks the transaction log to 0.5MB - Another sneaky little Snapshot related bug revealed thanks to Paul Randal (Blog|Twitter).
• Maintenance Plans and Roombas Suck – in a Good Way - Making the case FOR maintenance plans. No really. It’s Brent Ozar (Blog|Twitter).
• Modifying Tables Online – Part 1: Migration Strategy - A high quality walk through from Michael J. Swart (Blog|Twitter). How would you solve this task in your environment? I’m loving the artwork in this post too, it really captures/communicates that tense moment all DBAs go through.
• BCP Script Generator - Sharing the results of her recent BCP adventures, Michelle Ufford(Blog|Twitter) provides us with another one of her valuable scripts.
• Max server memory configuration survey results - Interesting stuff as always in the latest survey results from Paul Randal (Blog|Twitter).
• Modifying Tables Online – Part 2: Implementation Example - Continuing his excellent series, it’s Michael J. Swart (Blog|Twitter)
• I was going to call this post “Windows Azure Best Practices” but I’m not allowed to - Buck Woody (Blog|Twitter) sharing Windows Azure Best Practices. Maybe he cannot boldly say so but SQL Brit sure can !
• Allans AlwaysOn Availability Groups FAQ - In case you did not know already, Allan Hirt (Blog|Twitter) has a ridiculous amount of knowledge to share when it comes to HA solutions using SQL Server.  This week Allan talks about AlwaysOn Availability Groups.
• SQL Server 2012 Certification Changes Video - Summarising what you need to know about Certification changes for 2012 in this video, courtesy of Kendra Little (Blog|Twitter). I also talked about some of the hidden changes in my post Where Have all the DBAs and DB DEVs Gone this week.

UK SQL Server Upcoming Events

Misc Technology Posts

Here We Go Again

You know the drill. It’s the usual dance we go through every 5 years or so, where the Microsoft marketing machine spins into action to come up with even more buzz words and acronyms to confuse the life out of all hiring managers. Diminishing further the already futile hope that they have even the slightest idea of what it is that you actually do as a Data Professional.

Alas, I’m not going to talk about what exams you now need to take to achieve which shinny new certification, or what snazzy acronym you now get to have after your name. Plenty of other bloggers have covered those exciting details already. Kendra Little (Blog|Twitter) talks about them here. The comments are certainly worth a look for comedy value, just to see how much confusion these changes to SQL certifications are already generating.

Your Career Focus Is Shifting Has Shifted

What I want to bring to your immediate attention, is the fact that there is no longer a separate Certification path to follow for Database Administrators and Database Developers. These two camps have got a lot of history and have not always played nicely together. That’s all old hat though as far as Microsoft are concerned because these two forces have now been united under a common cause and the banner of Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MSCE). Confused?

This is a powerful statement from Microsoft who are essentially saying that they see the future role of the Data Professional as being a hybrid of both Administrator and Developer. Makes sense right, as a lot of us wear both of these hats already. Historically folks have felt the need to consider their core role (DEV or DBA) as being on one side of the fence or the other, as if there were actually some significant divide between the two. Arguably there perhaps was, albeit quite some time ago now. When I think back on my own illustrious professional career, sure I call myself a DBA but I can also work a little DEV magic too, as I imagine most of you can.

I think we all knew this role merging was coming and it probably already has done for quite a few of you. What I think is significant about these events is that Microsoft has now made it official. If you’re currently a DBA who has been ignoring the development side of things, especially when it comes to SQL Azure and the cloud, it’s time for to get your hands dirty or get left behind.

Your Head in the Cloud

Thanks to the wonder that is the internet, there’s already an abundance of information out there to help you get started with learning how to work with SQL Server in the cloud. With the shift in role focus for the SQL Server Data Professional and the inclusion of SQL Azure on the new examination syllabus, you really need to start sticking your head in the cloud if you have not done so already.

You don’t even need to deploy a database to the cloud in order to get started. Community champion Jamie Thomson(Blog|Twitter) has already done that for you, through his ingenious idea to host the AdventureWorks database on SQL Azure for the benefit of all. Now it’s important to keep in mind that although this is Free for you to use, Jamie generously stuck his hand in his own pocket (no small feat ) in order to make this service offering a reality for the community. A great idea deservers no less than great support, so if you find value in the service be sure to make a donation.

Go forth and stick you head in the cloud….

Make sure you get to enjoy my round-up of SQL Server Links, community news and technology banter every week by Subscribing to the Blog Feed. You can also receive posts via Email.

Here’s your weekly roundup of SQL Server Blog Posts, News and Techie Stuff. Enjoy!

• The 5 Database Design Process Failures You Don’t Want To Make - Even great design can fall foul of process failures. Here’s 5 failures you don’t want to make, courtesy of Thomas Larock (Blog|Twitter).
• Analytic functions – they’re not aggregates - Taking a more detailed look at some of the considerations for working with the new analytic functions in 2012, Rob Farley (Blog|Twitter).
• DBA Darwin Awards: T-SQL Edition Webcast - In this webcast Brent Ozar (Blog|Twitter) shares insights into the top 3 T-SQL traumas he sees out in the field.
• How It Works: HealthCheckTimeout Interval Activities - A look at some internals for clustering and AlwaysOn in 2012, brought to you by the CSS SQL Server Engineers (Blog).
• Hash Partitioning, SQL Server, and Scaling Writes - Another high quality and insightful read from Jeremiah Peschka (Blog|Twitter), this week looking at how and when to scale SQL Server writes.
• Converting SQL Trace to Extended Events in SQL Server 2012 - More from “Mr Extended Events” Jonathan Kehayias (Blog|Twitter) who has put a lot of work in to this for your benefit. Go try it out and let the man know what you think.
• Importance of how you run consistency checks - The latest survey results are in, as Paul Randal (Blog|Twitter) discusses why he’ surprised by the numbers three years on.
• An Introduction to VLDBs Video -  When is a database considered a Very Larger Database (VLDB) and what should you be doing differently when it comes to administering it? Brent Ozar (Blog|Twitter) with the answers in his second webcast of the week.
• 2012 Party: Dancing on the FileTable - Busting a move for T-SQL Tuesday, Mike Fal (Blog|Twitter) takes a look at this new to SQL 2012 feature.
• Understanding the sql_text Action in Extended Events - Jonathan Kehayias (Blog|Twitter)
• Changes to Microsoft SQL Server Certifications - This week Microsoft announced a variety changes to SQL Server Certifications, in particular there are new tracks and the old tracks for DBAs and DEVs have been merged. Here’s Kendra Little (Blog|Twitter) with what you need to know.
• SQL Server 2012: RML, XEvent Viewer and Distributed Replay - More SQL Server 2012 goodness for you, courtesy of the CSS SQL Server Engineers (Blog).

UK SQL Server Upcoming Events

Misc Technology Posts

To be honest this was not something that I had planned to do but when I received an email from Chris Webb (Blog|Twitter) inviting me to be part of the Blogging/Tweeting panel for SQLBits there was only ever going to be one answer, “absolutely”! To be given an opportunity to author magic alongside community champions such as the likes of Jamie Thomson (Blog|Twitter) and Jen Stirrup (Blog|Twitter) is a privilege. Not to mention the hoards of Twitterati also in attendance, needless to say it’s a bloggers Wrestlemania (i.e. a very BIG deal).

This was my first attempt at Live Blogging an event. I had certainly not expected it to be easy but I did underestimate just how tough it would actually be. I want to share with my fellow bloggers what I did to prepare and what I learned from the experience.

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

In order to successfully Live Blog an event you absolutely have to bring your A game. There are no second chances when publishing content live. Of course your readers understand this and the odd little typo here and there is not going to cost you in a big way but it will still cost you. It’s all about being professional so make sure you are ready to deliver.

• Keeping Up – Staying focused on an event (a presentation/speaker) can be difficult at the best of times, let alone when trying to publish a live blog in parallel. The most important thing you have to do is to remain engaged and to stay on point. If you loose this, you’re going to struggle for content to write about and lag behind. The trick is to not try to capture and communicate everything to your readers but just the pertinent points of interest.
• Preparation – Consider what you could do ahead of time in order to prepare for your live blogging experience. What research can you do, what references can you gather, in order to include and enrich your live blog content on the day? These little injections of added value will help separate your posts form the competition, as well as prove interesting reading for both live and future readers. Do some research on popular live blog posts and identify what made them so good. Perhaps you can adopt a similar style and try it out to see how it works for you.
• Practice – If you have never published a Live Blog before then how will you know what your performance will be like? You don’t! An excellent way to hone your craft before the big event is to practice. You can choose any event you like but the important thing is to practice at the pace and duration you expect to have to deal with. This will help you gauge what you can and can’t handle on the day, which leads nicely onto my next point about….
• Multi-Tasking – Listening to the speaker, taking photos, checking up on Twitter, soaking in the venue atmosphere, writing commentary, editing images, these are all things that you will likely be trying to do and in rapid succession, all the while remaining engaged and focused on the event. The mistake I made was trying to do too much. For beginners I recommend potentially ignoring Twitter completely and focussing on live blogging only. If you want to tweet your live blog entries, there are plugins you can use for this in WordPress but consider that your commentary format may not port well to Twitter.

Weapon of Choice

To live blog an event you’re going to need a device or two to get the job done.

• Hardware – What will be your weapon of choice be on the day? Whether you choose a laptop, iPad, or iPhone, just make sure that you are comfortable with your choice and that you have validated it will cater for all of your publishing needs before the actual event. In my case, I chose to use my laptop to author the live blog and my iPad to check on the status of the blog as the reader would see it and to check on Twitter banter.
• Connectivity – Arguably the most important requirement. If you can’t connect to the Internet then you won’t be publishing anything. Often the event venue will provide Internet access but consider you will be competing with a lot of other folks for bandwidth. If you are invited to live blog the event by the organises, you may be given an alternative means to connect to the internet in order to ensure your quality of access. Check ahead of time what Internet connectivity will be available. Rather than take any chances, I chose to bring my own 3G device to use in order to ensure the quality of my connection.
• Photos – Ideally you want to be using a camera that is appropriate for the event you are live blogging. If it’s an indoor presentation then you will want a camera that can take good pictures in low light quality. My photos were pretty bad. The Pros out there will bring a photographer and I think next time I will try and enlist a fellow community buddy to help me out with this. You want to be focusing on the event and blogging it, not messing about with SD cards and image optimization.

Monkey Wrench

Fortunately there are number of tools available to help the aspiring live blogger.

• Live Blogging – If you are using WordPress to host your blog then this is the plugin you will want to use. It allows you to insert micro/live blogs into posts with automatic updating of the content. Watch out for the Super Cache plugin playing up here. I had to manually drop my cache during the event to ensure readers where receiving the latest post content. When you’re logged in as an Admin, you won’t see this issue. Another reason why the iPad came in handy to check for this.
• CoverItLive – For those feeling particularly adventurous you will want to take a look at this powerful product. It creates an embedded application on your site and includes an awesome array of integration features for things such as Twitter. I actually tested this out as part of my live blogging practice but opted against using it for my first venture due to the complexity involved.

Further Reading

Fancy having a go at Live Blogging your next event or want to find out more. Take a look at some of these excellent resources.

• Tips on Live Blogging an Event – Great list of ideas over on ProBlogger.
• Complete Guide To Live Blogging – Hardly complete but certainly some good points.
• Liveblog for #SQLPASS 2011 Day 1 Keynote – Brent Ozar (Blog|Twitter) wrote this live blog for the PASS Summit last year. Check out the comments section where we discuss live blogging tips.

There’s no doubt that Live Blogging an event is an incredible amount of fun and hard work but it’s something I would suggest every blogger try their hand at. Share your Live Blogging tips and experiences in the comments.

Live Blogging SQL Bits

I hope you’ve had a great week.

Make sure you get to enjoy my round-up of SQL Server Links, community news and technology banter every week by Subscribing to the Blog Feed. You can also receive posts via Email.

Back after an extended weekend slacking off from work of action packed SQL awesomeness that is SQL Bits. Once more proving without a doubt to be one of the best SQL events there is, putting the Great back into Britain, created by the community for the community. I even tried my hand at Live Blogging Friday’s Keynote. I’ll share more on that experience for blog authors in a future post.

The astute reader will have noticed that yes, we’re a day early for this SFTW! That’s because it’s a Bank Holiday Weekend in Great Britain and I will be doing my best to disconnect for a few days and avoid using technology. I’m sure I will fail miserably…

Here’s your weekly roundup of SQL Server Blog Posts, News and Techie Stuff. Enjoy!

• AdventureWorks2012 now available for all on SQL Azure - Simply put, this idea is absolute genius from fellow Brit, Jamie Thomson(Blog|Twitter). Another great example of the power of community. I was privileged to sit alongside Jamie last week on the panel Live Blogging/Tweeting the SQL Bits keynote. We were also joined by Twitterati  @jenstirrup, @nhaslam and @Technitrain.
• How much memory does my SQL Server actually need? - As much as you can squeeze in surely!? Here with his thoughts on the matter, it’s Jonathan Kehayias (Blog|Twitter).
• How Fast is Your SAN? (Or How Slow?) - Great question. Never fast enough I would say. Brent Ozar (Blog|Twitter) to the rescue.
• SQL Server 2008 Diagnostic Information Queries (April 2012) - Make sure you update your tool kit with Glenn Berry’s (Blog|Twitter) latest version of these excellent scripts.
• Execution Plan for a User Defined Function - A look at the hidden complexity your execution plans may be covering up. Grant Fritchey (Blog|Twitter) reveals all.
• Replicating Non-Clustered Indexes Improves Subscriber Query Performance - Experience from the field share courtesy of Microsoft SQL Server Replication Support Team(Blog).
• How Fast Does Your SAN Need to Be for SQL Server? - With his second SAN themed post of the week it’s Brent Ozar (Blog|Twitter). The man is clearly obsessed with speed and fast cars.
• Sending Query Results to Others - I can’t believe that none of us have actually talked about this before! It’s one of those things we all have to do and have our own favourites. A brilliant comparison of techniques from Michael J. Swart (Blog|Twitter) this week.
• The 6 Performance Tuning Mistakes You Don’t Want To Make – I’m surprised there’s only 6 Thomas Larock (Blog|Twitter) shares these warnings with us.

UK SQL Server Upcoming Events

Misc Technology Posts

There’s no need to refresh your browser folks, we’re technology savy here at SQLBrit don’t you know and using a LAMP stack  Send your Tweets to @SQLBrit and keep an eye on the #SQLBits hash tag. The best Tweets at the end of the keynote get my drinks tokens, maybe…..

09.07

It’s almost showtime here and the room is packed out. There’s a real buzzing atmosphere as folks are eager to get Europe’s biggest SQL Server event kicked off. No doubt the allure of a free English Breakfast could have had something to do with it too.

It's a Full House

09.08

Nice classic intro from Simon here, short and sweet.

09.11

Quentin Clark of Microsoft, setting the scene by providing an overview of industry trends.

• Data Explosion
• Consumerization of fit
• Public and Private Cloud

Is it time for a Demo yet?

09.14

Introducing SQL Server 2012:

• Mission Critical Confidence
• Breakthrough Insight
• Cloud on Your Terms.

That makes four mentions of Cloud in the first 10 minutes. Are you keeping score Twitter bingo?

09.18

AlwaysOn is being demoed. Got to be honest, I’ve seen this stuff before and am struggling to follow along. Will we hear an ooh or an ahh from the audience?

09.26

Acessable Secondaries

“Offload your CHECKDB operations and Database backups”….

Showing the power of acessable secondaries. Blatantly spelt that wrong but we’re live here people….

 

09.29

More sales stuff, Quentin discussing “Mission Critical Confidence”.

BigData is THE hot topic in technology right now. “Breakthrough Insight” and Microsoft’s vision for BI solutions in SQL 2012

• Managed Self Service BI
• Rapid Data Exploration
• Credible Consistent Data
• Scalable Analytics and DW

09.36

PowerPivot Demo

PowerPivot demo. Interactive reporting capabilities. “Understanding the importance of the data and engaging the audience”.

I think the impressiveness of what I’m looking at is perhaps lost on a DBA….

09.42

Another Demo, this time on Columnstore Indexes. More magic for the analytics folks..

Columnstore Indexes being Demoed

09.43

Data Quality Services. The audience seems very engaged in this segment. It’s certainly something new to me.

Ah ok, it’s about data cleansing….

09.45

Performance of the query dropped from 80 seconds down to 0.8. A round of applause from the audience.

09.51

“Cloud on Your Terms”. Demo on FullText Search and Semantic search.

Technical difficulties on stage, credit to the speakers, winging it through a scenario based discussion.

09.56

Semantic search, a spinning sphere of words. I’m impressed!

For more info and to keep up on the latest with this subject Jamie Thomson(Blog|Twitter) is a good chap to keep an eye on.

09.58

To summarise then:  ”Cloud on Your Terms”

• Extend Any Data, Anywhere
• Fast Time to Market
• Scale on Demand
• Optimized Productivityvty

10.04

SQL Server Data Tools

Talking SQL Server Data Tools, a new tool weapon for SQL Server developers.  A lot of work has gone into this area of the product!

“The DBA who has the fun task of moving the local datbase into the Cloud.” <- Wait that’s me

10.09

That was impressive, super easy to deploy to the Cloud. The audience seemed to love it too. Clearly some closet cloud adopters out there…

10.11

Quentin: “SQL Server 2012 delivers ROI of up to 189% with a l  Year Payback period.”

David Flynn, from FusionIO taking to the stage…

10.15

FusionIO

David: Calls a FusionIO customer(BetOnSoft) to the stage. Online gaming company share the story of their performance woes and how with the combination of SQL Server 2012 and FusionIO, they were able to significantly improve their performance.

10.18

FusionIO: “Do you use a SAN anymore?”

10.20

Some folks are starting to sneak out at the back, eager to get a good seat at the first sessions of the day.

10.22

Whoa, cheese overload. A FusionIO marketing video spoof on the StarWars credits is being played. Not right for a British audience folks…

10.24

SQL Server 2012 looks packed full of new and exciting features. I’m sure we’ll pick up more insights in sessions throughout the day. I’m off to the first session!