Oregon SQL Developers User Group – November 2010

Advanced Physical Database Design for SQL Server 2008

Thank you very much to Arnie Rowland for giving me the opportunity to present in a very, very wet Portland. I think I saw more rain in Seattle/Portland in 24 hours than I have in Sydney in the last 10 years. I am NOT kidding…

So a very big thank you to all attendees who showed up. Apologies about all the bad Australia jokes.

Abstract:

In this session we will cover advanced aspects of physical database design such as choice of clustered vs. non-clustered indexes, use of normalization to improve performance, partitioning as a form of indexing, things to consider when working with sparse columns, filtered indexes, indexed views, and partition-aligned indexed views. We will illustrate some of the advanced functionality available in SQL Server 2008 such as missing index DMVs and Database Engine Tuning Advisor (DETA).

Presentation:

SQL PASS Summit 2010

BID323 – What Every DBA Should Know About SharePoint 2010

Thank you very much for those who attended my session, and the extremely positive feedback.

As I indicated at the beginning of the session, I included almost 90 slides in my slide deck so that you could use them as a reference sheet for SharePoint 2010 projects. (I actually chopped out about 10, as I thought over 100 slides in a 75 minute session would be ridiculous.)

Again, apologies due to the change in the date and time slot. As I said before the session started, I had problems with travel due to an unfortunate incident with an airline, and the subsequent backlog of stranded travellers it created.

As I said at the end of my session, I would like to gather some metrics and statistics of how SharePoint 2010 works with SQL Server out in the field. I would then provide the information back to the community, so that we can all benefit. If you would like to volunteer your SharePoint 2010 solutions, please contact me.

Abstract:

Sharepoint is becoming more ubiquitous in both the enterprise and SME market as a core business application. With Sharepoint 2010 Microsoft has re-engineered Sharepoint 2010 so as to leverage SQL Server 2008 R2’s capabilities. Consequently it is more important than ever for DBAs to be cognisant of SharePoint’s architecture and how to best provision, configure and manage the SQL Server infrastructure for Sharepoint. In this session Victor Isakov (MCT, MCM, MCA) will present the Sharepoint 2010 architecture and considerations that every DBA should know, including capacity planning, performance management, configuration, disaster recovery and high availability.

Presentation:

Sydney SQL Server Enterprise User Group – November 2010

DBA: Performance Tuning and Optimization Techniques

Thank you again for such a large turnout.

Apologies about the lack of demos and/or my computer crashing during the session.

I really wanted to demonstrate RML Utilities and SQL Nexus. What I might do is demo them in future sessions in the initial 15 minute time slot reserved for case studies and vendor presentations. Or post some video demonstrations. I will keep you posted.

Congratulations to Tim Davidson for winning the major door prize at the last meeting, a license of the Idera SQL Admin Toolset (valued at AUD $432) that was generously provided by Idera (www.idera.com) and Tony Finnemore from SQL Tools (www.sqltools.com.au).

The content from this month’s meeting is posted below.

Abstract:

How do you troubleshoot performance issues in SQL Server? What is the impact on performance when using DMVs, SET options, SQL Profiler or Perfmon? In this session Victor Isakov will answer these various questions as he goes through the main tools that DBAs can use to troubleshoot performance, including SQLNexus, PAL, RML Utilities and SQLDiag. Victor will also briefly cover Performance Data Warehouse, missing indexes, query plans and the important new feature introduced in SQL Server 2008 – Extended Events.

Presentation:

News:

Sydney SharePoint User Group – October 2010

I’d like to thank Ivan Wilson for giving me the opportunity to present at the Sydney Sharepoint User Group

The Reluctant Database Administrator:

SharePoint has always used SQL Server as it’s data store. With SharePoint 2010 Microsoft has re-engineered the underlying databases and their structures. How well you implement and administer SQL Server will directly impact SharePoint’s performance and reliability. In this session Victor Isakov will cover the SharePoint architecture and considerations that every SharePoint DBA should know, including capacity planning, performance management, configuration, disaster recovery and high availability.

Sydney SQL Server Enterprise User Group – October 2010

ARC – Delivering BI to the Masses at Microsoft Using CBI – Top 10 Challenges

First and foremost a big thank you to Sanjay Soni of Microsoft for delivering a very interesting and useful presentation. The demonstrations were particularly informative and insightful.

Otherwise, thanks again to all attendees.

Congratulations to Brian from OrientCap for winning the major door prize at the last meeting, a license of the Idera SQL Admin Toolset (valued at AUD $432) that was generously provided by Idera (www.idera.com) and Tony Finnemore from SQL Tools (www.sqltools.com.au).

The content from this month’s meeting is posted below.

Presentation:

News:

Sydney SQL Server Enterprise User Group – September 2010

DBD – Change Data Capture vs Change Tracking vs SQL Audit

I hope September’s session clarified what technologies are available in SQL Server to track changes.

Thanks for all the well wishes for my birthday, it’s been a crazy 2 week of celebrations!

Congratulations to Jennifer for winning the major door prize at the last meeting, a license of the Idera SQL Admin Toolset (valued at AUD $432) that was generously provided by Idera (www.idera.com) and Tony Finnemore from SQL Tools (www.sqltools.com.au).

The content from this month’s meeting is posted below.

 

Presentation:

 

News:

Canberra SQL Server User Group – September 2010

Understanding SQL Server Memory Management

A thank you to Shaun Baggett for giving me the opportunity to present in Canberra this month.

Again, I am planning to run a customised SQL Server 2008 DBA course again, so please email me for further details if you are interested. It will cover SQL Server 2005 – SQL Server 2008 R2, and include tips / help on achieving the Microsoft Certified IT Professional: Database Administrator certification. (After all, I helped write and validate the exams.) I believe this course will be far superior to what is being offered in the “plain vanilla” courses offered by other training companies. Please contact me via victor @ sql server solutions . com . au for more information.

Here is the content from the presentation:

Change of Date / Time for September’s User Group Meeting

PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE IN BOTH THE DATE AND TIME FOR SEPTEMBER’S USER GROUP MEETING. DUE TO THE MICROSOFT PARTNER CONFERENCE AT THE GOLD COAST THE SESSION HAD TO BE RE-SCHEDULED.

I am planning to run a custom SQL Server 2008 DBA course again, so please email me for further details if you are interested. It will cover SQL Server 2005 – 2008 R2, and include tips / help on achieving the Microsoft Certified IT Professional: Database Administrator certification.

I am planning to run a customised SQL Server 2008 DBA course again, so please email me for further details if you are interested. It will cover SQL Server 2005 – SQL Server 2008 R2, and include tips / help on achieving the Microsoft Certified IT Professional: Database Administrator certification. (After all, I helped write and validate the exams.) I believe this course will be far superior to what is being offered in the “plain vanilla” courses offered by other training companies. Please contact me via victor @ sql server solutions . com . au for more information.

For the next session I thought we would cover how to track changes in SQL Server, whether it’s for audit purposes, loading data into a data warehouse, or a myriad of other reasons.

In September the Sydney SQL Server Enterprise User Group will be having a meeting as outlined below:

Date	8th September, 2010
Time	12:30
Agenda	12:30 – 13:00: Registration / Networking / Product Demonstration 13:00 – 13:15: News / Case Study 13:15 – 14:30: Presentation
Location	Sydney Mechanics’ School Arts 280 Pitt Street Sydney NSW 2000
Session	DBD: Tracking Changes – Change Data Capture vs. Change Tracking vs. SQL Audit SQL Server 2008 introduced a number of new features to help track changes in your databases: Change Tracking, Change Data Capture, and SQL Server Audit. These 3 different technologies each have their strengths and weaknesses. Consequently it is important to understand which technology is appropriate for the use case at hand. In this session, Victor Isakov will present on these various technologies and how they architecturally work to help you decide which technology to use for your database solutions. Speaker:  Victor Isakov | SQL Server Solutions

 

There will be a number of door prizes given out at this meeting.

Sydney SQL Server Enterprise User Group – August 2010

DBA: Understanding SQL Server Memory Management

Thanks again for such a good turnout, and all your positive feedback.

Understanding SQL Server’s memory management is such a complex topic, we could easily have spent half a day on it. Apologies for going over the allotted time, I know you have work to go back to.

Hopefully this will help you in your configuration and troubleshooting of SQL Server.

One clarification, each scheduler “consumes” 2MB on a x64 architecture, and 4MB on the IA architecture. (See Slide 41.)

BTW, I passed the ITIL exam!

Congratulations to David for winning the major door prize at the last meeting, a license of the Idera SQL Admin Toolset (valued at AUD $432) that was generously provided by Idera (www.idera.com) and Tony Finnemore from SQL Tools (www.sqltools.com.au).

The content from this month’s meeting is posted below.

 

Presentation:

 

News:

Sydney SQL Server Enterprise User Group – July 2010

DBD: SQL Server 2008 R2 – Your Questions Answered

Thanks again to everyone that showed up on such a rainy, miserable day.

Congratulations to Slava for winning the major door prize at the last meeting, a license of the Idera SQL Admin Toolset (valued at AUD $432) that was generously provided by Idera (www.idera.com) and Tony Finnemore from SQL Tools (www.sqltools.com.au).

The content from this month’s meeting is posted below.

 

Presentation:

 

News: