John Sansom - SQL Server DBA in the UK » SQL Server News

Something for the Weekend – SQL Server Links 10/09/10

John Sansom — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 12:42:51 +0000

I hope you’ve had a great week!

Make sure you don’t miss out on posts by Subscribing to the Blog Feed. You can also receive this Blog feed via Email.

If you have not seen it already, you have to watch this but make sure you wear headphones as it’s not suitable for work (NSFW): Hilarious Video: Relational Database Vs NoSQL Fanbois

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

SQL Server Links

Where Have All The Good Managers Gone? – Brilliant thought provoking post from Thom Larock(@SQLRockstar), that looks at the myth behind where all the expert DBA’s have gone. This is really well written and I encourage you to take a look.
SQL Server DBA Scripts: How to Find Slow SQL Server Queries – Brent is back and is it just me or does he seem to be a tad bit more cocky. Dam, so would I be had I landed an awesome gig with the clever folks at SQLSKills! Glad to have you back blogging regularly.
A Better DBA Job Description For Everyone – The second contribution from Thom this week, which also stirred up a lot of discussion, looks at how to write a better job description by providing a real world example of what not to do.
Tuning Tip: Identifying Overlapping Statistics – An interesting performance tuning tip here from Kendal Van Dyke and not one that I have come across previously.
Moving Away From Relational Storage – Introduction – Jeremiah Peschka discusses.
More On Overlapping Statistics – The follow up to Kendal Van Dyke statistics post earlier in the week.
Links for Patterns and Practices for the Data Professional – Some weekend reading here with this very useful list of references from Buck Woody.

SQL Server Upcoming Events

24 Hours of PASS Kicks off next week – Make sure you set aside time in your week to get some free SQL Server training streamed live right to your desk!
SQLBits 7 – 30th September – 2nd October - The Seven Wonders of SQL.

UK SQL Server Usergroups

Bracknell - 17th September – SQL Server CLR and T-SQL Functions – Colin Leversuch-Roberts aka GrumpyDBA, Data Tier Applications (DCA) – Neil Hambly
Leeds - 15th September – Using XML data in SQL Server with Anthony Brown, and Martin Bell explores change management in SQL Server 2008 and Iain Kicks from Quest Software.
Manchester - 16th September – User group evening with Allan Mitchell and Iain Kick from Quest Software talks of Managing SQL Server in a global economic meltdown.
Maidstone - 22nd September - Kent User Group – Analysis Services (Andrew Calvett), TSQL Techniques (Dave Ballantyne)
Cardiff - 23rd Septemeber – Chris Testa O’Neill will be creating a cube with SSAS, Ian Archibald from Attunity demonstrating their CDC products.
Edinburgh - 7th October – Implementing Hierarchies using TSQL and the HierarchyId type and understanding aggregation problems (Tony Rogerson); TBD (Allan Mitchell).
Leeds - 27th October – User group evening with Martin Bell and SQL Server and Virtualisation with Mike Kiersey.
Manchester - 28th October – SQL Server Replication with Neil Hambly and Martin Bell explores change management in SQL Server 2008.

Keeping up with PASS - Useful links for keeping up with all the PASS community events, collated by BradMcGehee.

Misc Technology Posts

Scale-out vs Scale-up – An excellent discussion of these two often contrasted architecture solutions.
Hilarious Video: Relational Database Vs NoSQL Fanbois – If you have not seen it already, you have to watch this.

That’s it for this week. If I’ve missed anything that you think deserves a mention this week then be sure to let me know! You can leave a comment below, send me an emailor message me on Twitter(@JohnSansom).

Something for the Weekend – SQL Server Links 03/09/10

John Sansom — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 09:57:33 +0000

I hope you’ve had a great week!

Make sure you don’t miss out on posts by Subscribing to the Blog Feed. You can also receive this Blog feed via Email.

The PASS nominations process got under way this week. All the recent shenanigans aside, make sure you don’t forget to vote! This is your chance to have your say on who you feel can best represent your interests within PASS.

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

SQL Server Links

How Old Are Your Database Statistics? – Some handy T-SQL query scripts her from Glenn Berry.
Replication Gotcha – Including An Article In Multiple Publications – Another post here from the guru of SQL Server Replication Kendal Van Dyke.
Plan cache monitoring – insert and remove – An excellent technical walk-through by Gail Shaw.
Interview with the Intrepid Buck Woody – An interview with the legend that is Buck Woody (@buckwoody) brought to you by Brad McGehee.
Optimizing CREATE SET in Cube Calculation Scripts – Excellent article here from the clever chaps in the Microsoft SQL Server Development Customer Advisory Team.
So you want to go to a conference, but you are afraid that you don’t know anyone there – What with SQLBits and the PASS Summit just around the corner, here’s some advice from Denny Cherry.
Inside the Optimizer: Plan Costing – Another great post from Paul White, this time providing a detailed look at costing, and more undocumented optimizer fun.
SQL Server Types – Numeric vs Int – Excellent investigative database design themed post.
Sorting, Row Goals, and the TOP 100 Problem – This weeks second contribution of awesomeness from Paul White.
SQL SERVER – Soft Delete – IsDelete Column – Your Opinion – Pinal Dave gives his thoughts in response to a recent post from Michael J Swart.

SQL Server Upcoming Events

SQLBits 7 – 30th September – 2nd October – The Seven Wonders of SQL

Time is running out for you to register for this awesome event. If you are still undecided about whether or not to attend then I suggest you take a look at the following items:

20 MVPS AND 4 FORMER MVPS AT SQLBITS – Stacks of talent will be on hand at SQLBits at the end of this month. Make sure you do not miss out on the biggest SQL Server event in Europe this year.
Seven Reasons You Should Attend SQLBits 7 – Here in plain black and white are just some of the reasons that you should attend.

UK SQL Server Usergroups

Bracknell - 17th September – SQL Server CLR and T-SQL Functions – Colin Leversuch-Roberts aka GrumpyDBA, Data Tier Applications (DCA) – Neil Hambly
Leeds - 15th September – Using XML data in SQL Server with Anthony Brown, and Martin Bell explores change management in SQL Server 2008 and Iain Kicks from Quest Software.
Manchester - 16th September – User group evening with Allan Mitchell and Iain Kick from Quest Software talks of Managing SQL Server in a global economic meltdown.
Maidstone - 22nd September - Kent User Group – Analysis Services (Andrew Calvett), TSQL Techniques (Dave Ballantyne)
Cardiff - 23rd Septemeber – Chris Testa O’Neill will be creating a cube with SSAS, Ian Archibald from Attunity demonstrating their CDC products.
Edinburgh - 7th October – Implementing Hierarchies using TSQL and the HierarchyId type and understanding aggregation problems (Tony Rogerson); TBD (Allan Mitchell).
Leeds - 27th October – User group evening with Martin Bell and SQL Server and Virtualisation with Mike Kiersey.
Manchester - 28th October – SQL Server Replication with Neil Hambly and Martin Bell explores change management in SQL Server 2008.

Keeping up with PASS - Useful links for keeping up with all the PASS community events, collated by BradMcGehee.

Misc Technology News

Something for the Weekend – SQL Server Links 27/08/10

John Sansom — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:00:07 +0000

I hope you’ve had a great week!

Make sure you don’t miss out on posts by Subscribing to the Blog Feed. You can also receive this Blog feed via Email.

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

SQL Server Links

How It Works: Timer Outputs in SQL Server 2008 R2 – Invariant TSC – Wisdom shared by the CSS SQL Server Engineer’s team.
The New World of Work: Swarms – The changing landscape of the role of the Data Professional discussed here by Buck Woody(@Buck Woody). I’ve seen and taken part in these work groups myself. It would seem that they are becoming more common and so it’s important that as Data Professionals we understand how to leverage and be effective within them.
SQL Server Trivia – A bit of SQL Trivia Fun here from Joe Web, although if I’m still undecided if it’s a good thing knowing the answers to these or not
Scripting Database Mail Configuration with Powershell and SMO – A useful Powershell script here from Jonathan Kehayias.
Its all about the end result – Richard Douglass shares his thoughts on change control for the Data Professional. It’s not the most exciting topic but it is arguably one of the most important and Richard does an excellent job of putting forward findings from his experiences.
Replication Gotcha: Blank XML – A nice find here from Kendal Van Dyke, highlighting a recently discovered Transactional Replication gotcha.
Query performance and table variables – More from the real world customer case files of the CSS SQL Server Engineers team.
Ten Things I Hate to See in T-SQL – Are some of your pet peeves on the list? Find out what gets on Michael J Swart‘s goat.
T-SQL UDTs. (Huh!) What are they good for? – I still don’t know. Maybe here’s where we find out….

SQL Server Upcoming Events

UK SQL Server Usergroups
- Bracknell - 17th September – SQL Server CLR and T-SQL Functions – Colin Leversuch-Roberts aka GrumpyDBA, Data Tier Applications (DCA) – Neil Hambly
- Leeds - 15th September – Using XML data in SQL Server with Anthony Brown, and Martin Bell explores change management in SQL Server 2008 and Iain Kicks from Quest Software.
- Manchester - 16th September – User group evening with Allan Mitchell and Iain Kick from Quest Software talks of Managing SQL Server in a global economic meltdown.
- Cardiff - 23rd Septemeber – Chris Testa O’Neill will be creating a cube with SSAS, Ian Archibald from Attunity demonstrating their CDC products.
- Edinburgh - 7th October – Implementing Hierarchies using TSQL and the HierarchyId type and understanding aggregation problems (Tony Rogerson); TBD (Allan Mitchell).
- Leeds - 27th October – User group evening with Martin Bell and SQL Server and Virtualisation with Mike Kiersey.
- Manchester - 28th October – SQL Server Replication with Neil Hambly and Martin Bell explores change management in SQL Server 2008.
SQLBits 7 – 30th September – 2nd October – The Seven Wonders of SQL. Pricing
Keeping up with PASS - Useful links for keeping up with all the PASS community events, collated by BradMcGehee.

Misc Technology News

Something for the Weekend – SQL Server Links for the week 20/08/10

John Sansom — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 08:47:53 +0000

I hope you’ve had a great week!

Make sure you don’t miss out on posts by Subscribing to the Blog Feed. You can also receive this Blog feed via Email.

Congratulations to Tracey Hamlin(@tracyhhamlin), Winner of the 2010 Exceptional DBA of the Year Award!

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

SQL Server Links

Taking A Hint – A fantastic in depth article, courtesy of Brad Schulz, that walks the reader through a real world performance tuning scenario utilising Query Hints.
How to change the SQL Replication Agent History Cleanup Job – A simple but important tip here, especially if you are administering high throughput OLTP topologies, courtesy of the Microsoft Replication Team Blog,
Proper Usage of MAXDOP Setting When Compressing Indexes in SQL Server 2008/2008 R2 – Discussed here by Glenn Berry.
This Blog Post Won’t Explain Anything – There’s been a lot of discussion regarding the PASS Directors nominations and the selection process involved. Thomas Larock provides his thoughts here.
Thoughts On The 2010 PASS BoD Elections Candidate List – Kendal Van Dyke shares his thoughts on recent events.
How To Find Duplicate Indexes – This is a powerful and often overlooked performance optimization opportunity. Find out how you can benefit from it using this excellent walk-through with example code, brought to you by Thomas Larock.
How Do You Defragment Your SQL Server Indexes – Continuing the performance optimization theme, here are some interesting results of a Survey carried out by Brag McGehee, providing insight into how other SQL Server data professionals are administering the indexes in their environments.
Integer List Splitting: A SQL Fable – Another great post, again coming to you from Brad Schulz.
How to Performance Tune a VLDB on your Desktop – A discussion into some uses for SQL Virtual Restore, a relatively new product offering from RedGate.

SQL Server Upcoming Events

UK SQL Server Usergroups
- Bracknell - 17th September – SQL Server CLR and T-SQL Functions – Colin Leversuch-Roberts aka GrumpyDBA, Data Tier Applications (DCA) – Neil Hambly
- Leeds - 15th September – Using XML data in SQL Server with Anthony Brown, and Martin Bell explores change management in SQL Server 2008 and Iain Kicks from Quest Software.
- Manchester - 16th September – User group evening with Allan Mitchell and Iain Kick from Quest Software talks of Managing SQL Server in a global economic meltdown.
- Cardiff - 23rd Septemeber – Chris Testa O’Neill will be creating a cube with SSAS, Ian Archibald from Attunity demonstrating their CDC products.
- Edinburgh - 7th October – Implementing Hierarchies using TSQL and the HierarchyId type and understanding aggregation problems (Tony Rogerson); TBD (Allan Mitchell).
- Leeds - 27th October – User group evening with Martin Bell and SQL Server and Virtualisation with Mike Kiersey.
- Manchester - 28th October – SQL Server Replication with Neil Hambly and Martin Bell explores change management in SQL Server 2008.
SQLBits 7 – 30th September – 2nd October – The Seven Wonders of SQL. Pricing
Keeping up with PASS - Useful links for keeping up with all the PASS community events, collated by BradMcGehee.

Misc Technology News

PlayStation 3 ‘hacked’ by hardware crackers
Ofcom report highlights ‘multi-tasking media users’ – Interesting to see how users now regularly consume multiple media streams in parallel.

Something for the Weekend – SQL Server Links for the week 13/08/10

John Sansom — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 17:15:45 +0000

I hope you’ve had a great week!

Make sure you don’t miss out on posts by Subscribing to the Blog Feed. You can also receive this Blog feed via Email.

Check out the recently added Popular Posts section to find out what content visitors to this site enjoy the most.
Don’t forget to have a go at this weeks SQL Server Crossword.

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

SQL Server Links

Index Tuning Advisors – Some vendor bashing and a reminder to not treat the DTA results as gospel here from Thomas LaRock.
New Disaster Recovery option for Peer-2-Peer (P2P) Replication in SQL 2008 – An interesting feature change to how Peer-2-Peer Replication behaves in SQL Server 2008.
Iterators, Query Plans, and Why They Run Backwards – An intriguing look at some query plan specifics here from Paul White.
Passing a TABLE variable into dynamic SQL – A T-SQL coding tip from Adrian Hills (@AdaTheDev)
Vardecimal storage format and upgrade to SQL2008 RTM or SQL2008R2 – Useful knowledge, shared by the SQL Server Storage Engine Team via their blog.
Benchmarking: Introducing SSDs (Part 3: random inserts with wait stats details) – The next instalment of Paul Randal’s excellent series on performance benchmark testing SSD’s.
Finding SQL Agent Jobs Owned By The Wrong Person – A nice T-SQL tip for DBA’s here, courtesy of Jeremiah Peschka.
Conor vs. Misbehaving Parameterized Queries + OPTIMIZE FOR hints – I really enjoy reading Conor Cunningham’s posts on the Query Processor but I know that some readers may find the content tough going. It’s incredibly valuable content if you can understand it. I suggest that if you’re struggling go and read SQL Server 2008 Internals to get you started.
Microsoft announces SQL Server Migration Assistant for MySQL – Could prove very interesting. I’d be very interested to hear from anyone who has played around with this.
Introducing sp_CascadingDataViewer – A nifty little utility Stored Procedure here from Jamie Thomson.
The Impact of Non-Updating Updates – Here’s this weeks second contribution from Paul White and great work once again.

SQL Server Upcoming Events

UK SQL Server Usergroups
- Kent – 18th August – This is a new SQL Server Usergroup.
- Leeds - 15th September – Using XML data in SQL Server with Anthony Brown, and Martin Bell explores change management in SQL Server 2008 and Iain Kicks from Quest Software.
- Manchester - 16th September – Agenda to be confirmed
SQLBits 7 – 30th September – 2nd October – The Seven Wonders of SQL. Pricing
Keeping up with PASS - Useful links for keeping up with all the PASS community events, collated by BradMcGehee.

Misc Technology News

What’s On Your Utility Belt? – If it’s good enough for Batman right.
How I Use My iPad for Business – So it is possible to do business on the iPad but with the number of quality games that are just a click away I think I will have to steer clear.

Something for the Weekend – SQL Server Links 06/08/10

John Sansom — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 09:41:43 +0000

I hope you’ve had a great week!

Make sure you don’t miss out on posts by Subscribing to the Blog Feed. You can also receive this Blog feed via Email.

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

SQL Server Links

So I Got Promoted, Now What? Employ the Same Successful Tactics – I’ve really been enjoying this post series and thoroughly recommend you check it out. This is post 3 in the excellent series from Joe Webb.
There is no such thing as a “Small Change” to a production database – Making a point, DBA Jonathan Keyhayias explains why he feels so strongly on the subject.
Top Ten Presentation Mistakes – Not limited to SQL Server presenting only, here is an excellent professional development post from Thomas LaRock(@SQLRockstar) that highlights mistakes that we should all avoid in our presentations.
Loading data to SQL Azure the fast way – An interesting look at the performance considerations of data loads to the SQL Azure platform, courtesy of the Microsoft Development Customer Advisory Team. There has been a lot of movement this week with regard to the SQL Azure technology offering, with Microsoft assigning some of their big hitters to the project. Personally I’ve not invested much time working with the technology but this weeks activity in the community is making me rethink my position.
Object-Oriented Programming Concepts For DBAs – Courtesy of Jeremiah Peschka.
Conor vs. Finding a Misbehaving Query – A troubleshooting case here that will prove interesting reading to those that enjoy learning the internals of the SQL Server Query Processor.
SQL Server Management Through Monitoring – Another great post from Thom Larock, this time discussing how you manage your SQL Server environment. Thom has an abundance of great advice for SQL Server DBA’s, both on his blog and in the awesome title he authored, DBA Survivor.
A Small Collection of DBCC Commands – A quick look at some of the non consistency related DBCC commands, provided by Glenn Berry.
The importance of being earnest – Professional development post here from Adrian Hills (@AdaTheDev) on the importance of being earnest.
Testing Native Backup Compression in Combination with SQL Server 2008 R2 Data Compression - Glenn Berry investigates.

SQL Server Upcoming Events

UK SQL Server Usergroups
- Kent – 18th August – This is a new SQL Server Usergroup.
- Leeds - 15th September – Using XML data in SQL Server with Anthony Brown, and Martin Bell explores change management in SQL Server 2008 and Iain Kicks from Quest Software.
- Manchester - 16th September – Agenda to be confirmed
SQLBits 7 – 30th September – 2nd October – The Seven Wonders of SQL. Pricing
Keeping up with PASS - Useful links for keeping up with all the PASS community events, collated by BradMcGehee.

Misc Technology News

Google drops Wave because of lack of users

Something for the Weekend – SQL Server Links for the week 30/07/10

John Sansom — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 10:11:23 +0000

I hope you’ve had a great week!

Make sure you don’t miss out on posts by Subscribing to the Blog Feed. You can also receive this Blog feed via Email.

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

SQL Server Links

Alternative to restoring to a point in TIME – Another fantastic post this week from Janice Lee, providing a detailed walk through with good clear examples. Janice is a relatively new Blogger on the scene and is consistently delivering great content so be sure to add her to your Reader.
Powershell Remoting with SQL Server – I really need to spend some more time with Powershell because posts like this, from the Scary DBA (oooh), illustrate how it can increase the productivity of a DBA.
Count(*) or Count(1) ? – This post produced some lively discussions this week on Twitter.
Hit and miss – Some excellent troubleshooting tips for investigating usage of the Plan Cache, courtesy of Gail Shaw.
Return of the 24 Hours of PASS – Brilliant news! Previous events have been simply awesome and it looks like the format will be slightly different this time around.
Finding Key Lookups In Cached Execution Plans – An awesome performance tuning query here from Kendal Van Dyke. This is the second time in as many weeks that harnessing the XML plan from the plan cache has come up as an awesome performance tuning method. Just last week Brent Ozar(@BrentO) kindly pointed me in the direction of a SQL Server Pedia article Queries with Index Scans Due to Implicit Conversions, to use as the basis of a query I was writing. My goal was to identify queries that perform Full Table or Index Scans and so you can see just how versatile this query method is!
Installing SQL Integration Services after SQL Cluster Setup has Completed – A sneaky little gotcha here to watch out for when installing SSIS on a SQL Server 2008 SP1/Windows 2008 Cluster.
So I Got Promoted, Now What? Stop Doing Your Old Job – Professional development post with some great advice for you Senior DBA’s or those who manage Data Professionals.
The TechNet Wiki and Updated Security Checklists – TechNet has a Wiki? Apparently so and with some great content to boot.
How I Prepared to Run for the PASS Board – Jack Corbett describes how he prepared for the challenge.
Inside the Optimiser: Constructing a Plan – The first in a series of posts that look at how the Query Optimizer uses rules to build an execution plan, courtesy of Paul White.

SQL Server Upcoming Events

Make sure you vote for the sessions that you want to to see at SQLBits. Simply login to the site, go to the sessions page and click on the ones you want to see for the Saturday lineup.

SQLCruise - 2nd August
UK SQL Server Usergroups
- Leeds - July 20th – AGI Northern Group meeting: Using geospatial data in the Microsoft world.
- Manchester - 5th August – Introduction to the Service Broker with Anthony Brown and Creating compelling reports with SQL Server 2008.
- Kent – 18th August – This is a new SQL Server Usergroup.
- Leeds - 15th September – Using XML data in SQL Server with Anthony Brown, and Martin Bell explores change management in SQL Server 2008 and Iain Kicks from Quest Software.
- Manchester - 16th September – Agenda to be confirmed
SQLBits 7 – 30th September – 2nd October – The Seven Wonders of SQL. Pricing
Keeping up with PASS - Useful links for keeping up with all the PASS community events, collated by BradMcGehee.

Misc Technology News

Snapshot of global internet speeds revealed
Call to check on mobile network security – Yeah right, more like a call to create a market for/push a product that no one really wants.
Facebook data harvester speaks out – Same story over at TheRegister.
Armed with exploits, ATM hacker hits the jackpot

Seen a great blog post this week that I might have missed? Share it with us using the comments form below.

Something for the Weekend – SQL Server Links for the week 23/07/10

John Sansom — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 10:30:01 +0000

I hope you’ve had a great week!

Make sure you don’t miss out on posts by Subscribing to the Blog Feed. You can also receive this Blog feed via Email.

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

SQL Server Links

Additional Resource Added! – The results are in! The latest Blogger rankings from Thomas LaRock have been announced. Yeah I know, where’s my Blog listed right? Honestly some people just have no taste. Maybe Thom has a “special” category in mind just for me
Instant File Initialization Speeds SQL Server – Is this SQL Server setting enabled in your environment? If not you’re missing a trick! Find out why in this post from Brad McGeehee.
SQL Server Sizing Resources – A nice list of resources here courtesy of Bart Duncan.
SQLAuthority News – SolidQ Journal Released – A Must Read for All – I’ll be honest with you, I’ve not read it yet but I have downloaded and printed a copy to read on my commute home this weekend. What I do know is that SolidQ really know their SQL Server stuff and so it should be a good read. Let me know your thoughts.
SQL University – Indexing Week – The theme for SQL Server university this week, Indexing. Make sure you’ve done your homework kids.
Presentation Links: SQL Server Performance Tuning (Quest) – This week Quest organised a fantastic live presentation during which a mountain of resources were mentioned. Here are some of them.
PASS Board Nominations Announced – With the nominations announced it’s time for you to decide who you want to see on the board. I know who I will be voting for. Do you?
Worst error message ever… – I know that I’ve been blocked by this little beauty a few times. Good to see some progress.
When you’re asking for help, make sure you explain what you’re trying to accomplish – An important point here from Buck Woody, reminding us how actually quantifying what the end goel is, can encourage more suitable answers to our questions.

SQL Server Upcoming Events

Make sure you vote for the sessions that you want to to see at SQLBits. Simply login to the site, go to the sessions page and click on the ones you want to see for the Saturday lineup.

SQLCruise - 2nd August
UK SQL Server Usergroups
- Leeds - July 20th – AGI Northern Group meeting: Using geospatial data in the Microsoft world.
- Manchester - 5th August – Introduction to the Service Broker with Anthony Brown and Creating compelling reports with SQL Server 2008.
- Kent – 18th August – This is a new SQL Server Usergroup.
- Leeds - 15th September – Using XML data in SQL Server with Anthony Brown, and Martin Bell explores change management in SQL Server 2008 and Iain Kicks from Quest Software.
- Manchester - 16th September – Agenda to be confirmed
SQLBits 7 – 30th September – 2nd October – The Seven Wonders of SQL. Pricing
Keeping up with PASS - Useful links for keeping up with all the PASS community events, collated by BradMcGehee.

Misc Technology News

Facebook hits 500m user milestone – That’s a lot of users. Why that’s like 499,999,999 million more users than subscribe to this blog.
The ups and downs of social networking – Some very interesting statistics here. Clearly the Australians are slacking more at the office

Seen a great blog post this week that I might have missed? Share it with us using the comments form below.

Seven Reasons You Should Attend SQLBits 7

John Sansom — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 07:56:06 +0000

SQLBits is Europe’s Largest SQL Server Event

That’s right, just take a moment to let that point hit home. If you are only able to attend one SQL Server event in Europe this year, this is the one you are going to want to choose!

Maybe the PASS Summit 2010 is not a practical option for you, no problem, get yourself registered for SQLBits – The 7 Wonders of SQL and give yourself the opportunity to learn from top SQL Server speakers.

Three days packed full of SQL Server content to wet the appetite of data professionals from all backgrounds. Whether you’re a DBA, Developer, Report Author, Analyst or just starting out on your SQL Server journey, there is something for everyone at SQLBits.

You Can Vote for the Sessions You Want to See

Not content with merely offering you a huge variety of sessions, those clever folks running SQLBits are giving you the chance to vote on the sessions you want to see. Just head on over to the site, register, and login to vote.

It’s a 3 Day SQL Server Packed Extravaganza

SQLBits 7 is a unique conference offering delivered over the course of 3 days, meaning you can dedicate some serious time to your professional development.

Thursday – Pre-Conference Sessions – for £350 – Want to really immerse yourself in your chosen topic? Pre-Con sessions provide the opportunity spend a full day focussing on a certain area.
Friday – Deep-Dive Conference Sessions – for £225 – Get stuck in to advanced sessions from a number of different speakers.
Saturday – Free Public Conference – A day packed full of whole variety of SQL Server sessions.

Whether you are after regular sessions or really want to get deep into a particular subject, you have the choice to do all of them.

Meet SQL Server Professionals Just Like You

A problem shared is still your problem right but we can certainly help you with it. Attending SQLBits is a fantastic opportunity to meet other data professionals just like you. You’ll be amazed at how many people understand what you are going through and have had to overcome the very same issues.

If your the sole DBA in your shop it can be lonely place at times with no one to turn to. Trust me, we’ve all been there and are here to help. The camaraderie you will experience is quite something and I cannot begin to describe for you just how awesome the SQL Server community is. Attending an event such as this is the perfect opportunity to experience it first hand.

You Can Attend at the Weekend

Can’t get time away from the office? No problem, SQLBits offers a unique conference format over a three day period, with the Saturday lineup being a free Public Conference, ensuring the event is as accessible to as many SQL Server professionals as possible.

Trouble getting away for the weekend? Why not take your partner or family away for the weekend weekend with you!

You Can Get FREE SQL Server Training

Did I mention that you can get FREE SQL Server training. I’m sure you don’t need me to explain just how awesome an opportunity this is. Enough said. See you there!

To Be Inspired

Attending will gives you the opportunity to meet with great SQL Server minds, learn new skills, get your SQL Server questions answered, find solutions to problems in your environment and develop new ideas . You will return to work on Monday bursting with new ideas, zeal and vigour.

Heading to SQLBits 7?

Of course you are! Share your thoughts and plans for the event by using the comments section below. It’s going to be the great event and I want to make sure I catch up with as many of you as I can. See you there!

Something for the Weekend – SQL Server links for the week 16/07/10

John Sansom — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 11:50:52 +0000

I hope you’ve had a great week!

Make sure you don’t miss out on posts by Subscribing to the Blog Feed. You can also receive this Blog feed via Email.

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

SQL Server Links

Benchmarking: Introducing SSDs (Part 2: sequential inserts) – Here’s Part 2 of this excellent benchmarking series from Paul Randal. What I want to know is what are the life expectancy of these SSD’s?
Using “Verbose history agent profile.” while troubleshooting Replication – I’m always getting my hands dirty with Replication and any pointers on troubleshooting are very welcome indeed. Here’s some great advice from Microsoft Replication blog team.
Top ten mistakes to make when attending a class – Thinking of attending a SQL Server class? Here’s what not to do when you’re there.
Sampling can produce less accurate statistics if the data is not evenly distributed – An interesting customer case working with statistics here from the Microsoft CSS Team.
Ors belong in Boats, Not Where Clauses – A nice real world example from Jim McLeod that shows how using Dynamic SQL can in the right circumstance provide superior performing solution.
The Future of Databases – Brilliant article from Jeremiah Peschka. Very well written, detailed and thought provoking.
I CAN HAZ JOB – A non technical post but instead a great piece of SQL Server community inspiration. Oh and congratulations Tim!
Why is my SQL Clustered Instance changing authentication modes? – Very interesting walk through detailing how the Microsoft CSS team solved this customers case. Provides a nice insight into some interesting internals to SQL Clustering.
How Can I Quickly Script Out Replication? – I’m always on the look out for ways to save time and that’s why I love PowerShell. Check out this handy tip from David Levy.
Side-By-Side Installations – What gets changed? – Buck Woody reveals all.

SQL Server Upcoming Events

SQLCruise - 2nd August
UK SQL Server Usergroups
- Leeds - July 20th – AGI Northern Group meeting: Using geospatial data in the Microsoft world.
- Manchester - 5th August – Introduction to the Service Broker with Anthony Brown and Creating compelling reports with SQL Server 2008.
- Kent – 18th August – This is a new SQL Server Usergroup.
- Leeds - 15th September – Using XML data in SQL Server with Anthony Brown, and Martin Bell explores change management in SQL Server 2008 and Iain Kicks from Quest Software.
- Manchester - 16th September – Agenda to be confirmed
SQLBits 7 – 30th September – 2nd October – The Seven Wonders of SQL.
Keeping up with PASS - Useful links for keeping up with all the PASS community events, collated by BradMcGehee.

Misc Technology News

Stuck for ideas what to do this weekend? I’m off to see the new movie Inception. The trailer looks awesome!

That’s it for this week. If I’ve missed anything that you think deserves a mention this week then be sure to let me know! Leave a comment below, send me an email or message me on Twitter(@JohnSansom).

John Sansom - SQL Server DBA in the UK » SQL Server News

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