We all like free stuff.  Especially when we already know it’s something we love.  And if you are reading this blog, you likely love or really like SQL Server.  Or just maybe you are paid to like it.

What ever the reason, the more you know about it the better you will be in applying the features to your business issues.  Which it turn could lead to things like bonuses and a brand new car.

So speaking of free training,  Pragmatic Works, WROX, SQL Server Central, and SQL Server Magazine have gone together to provide a monthly series on SQL Server training. 

This month’s topics are:

SQL Server Parallel Data Warehousing (PDW)
Register!
May 18, 2010 11:00 a.m. EDT
Bruce Campbell, Microsoft

SQL 2008 R2 Parallel DW Appliance (PDW) – formerly known as Project Madison, PDW, is Microsoft’s first DW Appliance. PDW utilizes Massively Parallel Processing (MPP) and will scale out SQL Server 2008 R2 DW from 10’s to 100’s of TBs. PDW has standard support for MPP, High Availability, Linear Scalability and a HUB and Spoke DW Architecture.  In this session Bruce Campbell will present the underlying architecture of PDW and how Parallel processing will improve upon your current data warehousing designs.

The role of Solid State Storage (SSS) in Modern Data Warehouses.
Register!
May 20, 2010 11:00 a.m. EDT 
Sumeet Bansal

Solid State Storage (SSS) is making a significant contribution towards modern Database systems.  In this session, Sumeet will talk about the challenges that traditional storage systems pose for Data Warehouses, and how SSS can alleviate them.  He will talk about the impact of an SSS based Data Warehouse for vastly increased performance and energy efficiency.

Creating Dashboards in PerformancePoint 2010.
Register!
May 25, 2010 11:00 a.m. EDT
Mark Stacey

With the release of Sharepoint 2010, Performance Point Services has evolved into a enterprise ready rapid development dashboarding and scorecarding toolkit.

Creating KPIs, scorecards and dashboards has never been easier.

During this training session, Mark will show how to connect to disparate data sources such as Analysis Services cubes, databases, and information stored in Sharepoint lists, and present this data in scorecards and charts.

If this sounds appealing – run out and get registered at the links above.  Also, keep up to speed with upcoming sessions from the webinar page.

SQL Server 2008 R2 eBook

As with previous releases of SQL Server versions, Microsoft has released an “introducing” ebook that covers the new features that are a part of SQL Server 2008 R2.  If you aren’t up to speed with the upcoming release, this is a great resource to give it a once over and understand what’s new.

The book is 10 chapters and 216 pages.  So if you average a chapter a day, this should be easy to get through before the launch of R2 later next month.  The book is segmented into two sections.  One for DBAs and the other for BI folks – so those with more specialized interests can reduce some reading and learn the nuts of R2 in less than a week if they’d like.

I haven’t had a chance to read this yet.  It has to wait until after SQL Saturday Chicago.  When I do, I’ll put up a couple post reviewing the book.

It was bound to happen, a launch event for the upcoming release of SQL Server 2008 R2.  This is a great thing because it means we’ll be able to play with the cool new toys in production soon and start getting our client’s upgraded.  I do wonder though if there are talking dolphins in these oceans of data, but that’s a topic for another blog.  If you didn’t read the logo above, the last sentence is probably quite off.

I digress though, so… the event is happening on May 11 from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM and will be done as a joint event between PASS and Microsoft.  Below are some of the details for the event, but the most important detail is that you need to register here.

AGENDA

Registration
8:00am – 9:00am
Welcome & Introductions
9:00am – 9:15am

Keynote Presentation:

Data Platform Vision & SQL Server 2008 R2 Introduction
9:15am – 10:00 am

SQL Server 2008 R2 Overview:

Trusted & Scalable Platform

Managed Self-Service BI

IT & Developer Efficiency
10:00am – 11:30am

With the next release of SQL Server, data analysis is going to go through a major change with the PowerPivot add-in for Excel and SharePoint.  If you haven’t been keeping up with these changes to Business Intelligence, SSWUG.org has an opportunity for you to get up to speed.  On January 22, 2010 there will be an online conference on PowerPivot with the following sessions:

• Getting started with PowerPivot
• Insight and oversight: the IT perspective on PowerPivot
• Power up your Pivots! Building sophisticated applications with PowerPivot
• Beyond the desktop: PowerPivot in your business infrastructure

Not only is the this a great opportunity to learn about some new features, but it is also a free event.  No excuses not to learn on this day…  hope to see you online.

I took and passed the Microsoft exam 70-452: Designing a Business Intelligence Infrastructure Using Microsoft SQL Server 2008.  This completes my requirements for the certification Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP) Certifications for Microsoft SQL Server 2008.

It is a good test with some great questions.  No more questions that required memorization of the minutiae of Business Intelligence.  And there was only a single question I would consider a “reading” question.

I posted some advice last week on taking exams.  Check it out if you are even the tiniest bit interested.

I finally got around to taking the 70-445 exam, Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Business Intelligence–Implementation and Maintenance, and got a passing score.  I was joking beforehand that my SQL Server Analysis Services and Data Mining knowledge might not carry me through.  But it happened to be sufficient, barely.

Sadly, I’ve been “kind of” studying for this exam since last winter.  Reading off and on and pretending that I was actually learning the stuff.  Mostly it was fear of the test that stopped me – the “oh-no, I might fail” even though I always use Second Chance exams.

If you are thinking of taking an exam and have been putting it off for a while, here’s my advice…

“Go take the test.  If you PASS then FTW!!  If you don’t FAIL, you have the second shot and a test result that tells you what areas you are lacking.  Again FTW!!.”

You just might end up with this…

Ok, I hammed up the logo by adding everything I could to it.  But the MCITP logo isn’t unlocked yet – they still haven’t linked the 70-445 and 70-446 since I took them in the incorrect order.

BI-SIG – Q1 2007 Meeting
Wednesday, March 14th / 3:00 – 6:30
Microsoft Bloomington Offices

Intelligent Business With Business Intelligence

The inaugural meeting of the Microsoft Business Intelligence Special Interest Group (BI-SIG) in December was a huge success with over 120 attendees. Since then the organizational board has held several meetings, established committees, and planned the first meeting of 2007. That meeting is on Wednesday, March 14th. See the agenda and times below. Refreshments will be provided.

3:00 Registration

3:30 BI-SIG Updates & Announcements

3:40 Case Study – Performance Dashboards

Karl Lacher – Manager of Business Intelligence – Capella University

4:30 Microsoft Updates re BI & BPM

4:45 Break

5:00 Key Note Presentation – Project REAL & BI

Rich Johnson – BI Solutions Architect – Microsoft Consulting

With the permission of Barnes & Noble, Inc., Microsoft created an end-to-end data warehouse solution built on SQL Server 2005 based on an actual production data warehouse at Barnes & Noble. Microsoft then put that solution into the public domain as a fully functional data warehouse and set of best practices called Project REAL. Customers can use Project REAL to save 6-12 months of development and design effort in building their own BI solution on SQL Server 2005. Rich was the project architect and manager for the solution at Barnes & Noble and presents and helps customers start their own solutions based on Project REAL. Rich will present a high level overview of all of the pieces of Project REAL during this session.

6:15 Wrap-Up / Prizes

6:30 Optional – Technology Open Forum Q&A Session

So there’s this story:

Some time ago, Wal-Mart decided to combine the data from its loyalty card system with that from its point of sale systems. The former provided Wal-Mart with demographic data about its customers, the latter told it where, when and what those customers bought. Once combined, the data was mined extensively and many correlations appeared. Some of these were obvious; people who buy gin are also likely to buy tonic. They often also buy lemons. However, one correlation stood out like a sore thumb because it was so unexpected.

On Friday afternoons, young American males who buy diapers (nappies) also have a predisposition to buy beer. No one had predicted that result, so no one would ever have even asked the question in the first place. Hence, this is an excellent example of the difference between data mining and querying.

Well, while based partially in fact… a lot of the details are just not correct.  Mark Whitehorn researched the story for The Registerand determined that it’s an IT urban legend for the most part.