It’s been a busy week and I haven’t been able to put the time in to picking the winner for the MSDN Ultimate Subscription contest I was running through July 31st.  I know I suck.

Tonight during a client’s SQL Server 2008 migration I took a couple minutes to write down the names of each of the people that commented on the contest post.  There were only three names, so that made this an easy task.

After that, I folded up each of the names and put them in my pocket.  Later I threw them on my desk.  Then back in the pocket.  Then on to my desk when I got home.  After the kid’s were down and out, I am came down and saw that one of the scraps of paper was in view.  That seemed to make it random enough for my tastes and that’s the winner.

And the Winner is…

Kelly

Wow!  That might be the only time I’ll find a use for Comic Sans on this blog.  Congratulations.  I’ve sent him an e-mail for his address and hopefully he’ll get it early next week.

The Other MSDN Subscriptions

As I mentioned, I have two others… or rather had two others.  One was sent over to Arnie Rowland (blog |twitter).  He’s running a program to help unemployed and under-employed developers get a leg up.  Great stuff that I highly encourage checking out.  If you or someone you know qualify for this, I wish you luck in this endeavor.

The last I’ve decided will go to a person attending one of the upcoming PASSMN meetings.  You’ll have to attend to find out which meeting or event. 

Along with a number of my MVP peers, I received three (3) MSDN Ultimate subscriptions.  These were sent to us with the intention of finding someone that hasn’t had the opportunity to use Visual Studio 2010 and provide them with the opportunity to get in and play with it. 

MSDN Ultimate Subscription

If you aren’t familiar with the MSDN Ultimate Subscription, it’s the ultimate subscription that you can get from MSDN.  Yeah, I went there.  For real though, it is full access to the MSDN library that includes Visual Studio, Windows 7, etc.  This subscription licenses all of that software for you to use to build and develop applications.  If you’ve looked at MSDN Subscriptions before then you probably know that they run for around $12,000.

Now I need to figure out how to get rid of my three subscriptions.  Some MVPs have already determined how they are going to give theirs away.  Take a look at how some others are giving away their MSDN subscriptions like Arnie Rowland (blog | twitter), Ken Simmons (blog | twitter), Denis Gobo (blog | twitter), and Jeremiah Peschka (blog | twitter).

CodePlex

I’m a big fan of CodePlex.  This is a place where open source projects can be placed for others to use.   There are also a ton of cool tools out there that you can use to make life simpler, for instance:

• SQL Server PowerShell Extensions
• Performance Analysis of Logs (PAL) Tool
• Enterprise Policy Management Framework
• BIDS Helper
• SSMS Addins
• SQL DMVStats
• Internals Viewer for SQL Server
• FileSystemHelper SQL Server CLR
• Index Analysis

Admittedly the last two project are my own.  But the rest are some cool projects that you should already be checking out.

The Contest

What does this have to do with CodePlex?  Well, that is the focus of the first of three methods to give the MSDN Subscriptions away.

So for the first of the three MSDN Ultimate Subscriptions, leave a comment on this blog with the description of the a project you are interested in building and placing on CodePlex for the community to share.  You will have between now and July 31st that to leave the comment.  I’ll choose the winner randomly between the comments.  Of course, you can only be in the drawing once.

The suggestions do not have to deal with SQL Server specifically, but I am sure most that read this probably use that fairly regularly.  Leave any other questions in the comments below. 

Aren’t There Three

Yes, there are.  Part of the purpose of receiving these subscriptions is to get them to people that haven’t had a chance to experience Visual Studio 2010.  When I get creative on another method to give away the other two, I’ll do a post for those.  Of course, if you have suggestions there is a comment section on this post.

Almost time to hit the road… and I’m heading to SQL Saturday 31 in Chicago.  Rumor has it that this weekend will provide an awesome experience.  From the presentations being provided to the karaoke after party – I’m expecting a great time.

If you will be at SQL Saturday 31, please stop by and introduce yourself.  And if it suits your fancy, sit down and listen in on my topics.  I am scheduled for the following topics:

Using XML to Query Execution Plans

SQL Server stores its execution plans as XML in dynamic management views.  The execution plans are a gold mine of information.  From the whether or not the execution plan will rely on parallelism to what columns are requiring a key lookup after a non-clustered index seek.  Through a the use of XML this information can be available at your finger tips to help determine the value and impact of an index and guide you in improving the performance of your SQL Server databases.

Goals:

1. Discuss information available in an execution plan
2. Demonstrate use of XQuery to query execution cache
3. Demonstrate methods to performance tune

Extended Events – Work Smarter, Not Harder

There are many ways to performance monitor your SQL Server environment.  In this session we’ll review Extended Events, which is one of the newer SQL Server monitoring platforms.  Learn the ins and outs of how to get detailed information on the errors and events that occur within SQL Server and how to dig into the information.  With a few T-SQL statements, issues that could take weeks to research can be investigated in minutes.

Goals:

1. Define the architecture for Extended Events
2. Identify scenarios where Extended Event can be used to troubleshoot performance
3. Demonstrate solutions to real-world performance scenarios

I’ll be staying an extra day in Chicago after the conference, so if anyone has ideas on what I should do please leave a comment.  I haven’t been in Chicago since I was 10 or 11 years old so it’s probably changed a bit.  So far I have been told to get a hot dog from a street vendor and check out the piers.  Any other ideas are very welcome.

PASSMN Meeting Next Tuesday

The Minnesota SQL Server User Group (twitter | website) is meeting next week on Tuesday (4/20/2010).  The meeting should be smoking and I’m not meaning the 4-20 kind.  The meeting will start with a Visual Studio 2010 for the SQL Developers.  Next, Fusion IO (twitter | website) will be on of the presenters on SSD and they have an awesome giveaway – A DRIVE VALUED AT $7,000.  If you plan to attend, please, please, please RSVP so that we can order enough food.  We were a little too close last month and too little is always awkward.

Yesterday I mentioned the upcoming SQL Server 2008 R2 launch event, and today I’m going to bring up this months Minnesota SQL Server User Group (twitter) meeting.  This month’s meeting will be sponsored by Fusion-IO.  Besides the pizza and drinks, they’ll be discussing SSD and some of their products.  If you want to get an idea what could be seen at this meeting, check out some reviews at by Brent Ozar (blog | twitter) and Paul Randal (blog |twitter).

If you can make it to the event, please register here.  This way we can get a good count on the number of people for pizza.  The meeting will be at our regular location at 8300 Norman Center Drive, 9th Floor, Bloomington, MN  55437 on the 9th floor.

Do you have the time but can’t make the drive?  Join us via Live Meeting and get in on all of the information:

• URL: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/usergroups/join?id=Z5DKHG&role=present&pw=2%5B%29%2Bq%2Cq%40B
• Meeting ID: Z5DKHG
• Entry Code: 2[)+q,q@B

More meeting details…

Agenda:

2:30 –3:00 : Networking
3:00 –3:15 : Announcements
3:15 –3:25 : Sponsor
3:25 –4:25 : Visual Studios (Mike)
4:25 –4:30 : Break
4:30 –5:30 : SQL at the Speed of Light (Fusion-IO)

Presentations:

What’s new for the SQL Developer in Visual Studio 2010

Mike Benkovich, Microsoft

In this session we take a look at the latest advances in Visual Studio for the database developer, including the new Data Tier Applications (DAC) that leverage a new type of deployment packaging to simplify and streamline the process. We will show new refactoring capabilities in addition to the schema and data comparison tools as well as the data generation features that can be used to simulate test scenarios. Verify that standard and best practices are being followed with static code analysis tools. Walk away from this session with a better idea of what’s possible for the database developer with the latest tools from Microsoft.

SQL at the Speed of Light

Fred Vasofsky and Christian Schrauder, Fusion-IO

Solid-state technologies are changing the way that MS SQL users run their databases. DBA’s are achieving significant TCO savings through performance enhancements, reliability improvements, and reduced energy and real estate costs using solid-state technologies.  Solid state is changing the way datacenters look and how MS SQL Servers perform.

This session will address:

1. On overview of solid state technology options for SQL Server
2. Why solid state makes a difference?
3. An comparison of the different types of NAND Flash-based products and the advantages and disadvantages of each:
1. Disk-based SSDs
2. Onboard/Embedded PCI Express devices
3. Host-based PCI Express devices
4. Customer proof: Wine.com case study

Part of being in the technology industry requires a constant dedication to learning.  The world is a constantly changing place and the things you know today aren’t going to be cutting edge tomorrow.  Those that stay in place and don’t change with the times can sometimes appear to be zombies.  Just drooling along from one project to the next.

If you aren’t feeling the love of being a zombie, there is a great way to break out of this cycle.  That way is through learning.  But how do you know when or how much you’ve learned.  Well if you were a zombie, you’d count the brains you’d eaten.  But since you aren’t, you should get that infection looked at, certifications and exams are a good way to benchmark where you are in the learning curve.

Alas, though, taking those certifications and exams cost time and money.  Well, right now there is a way to remove the cost factor.

Free Brains

Gerry O’Brien announced last week on the Microsoft Certification blog that the Visual Studio 2010 Beta exams have been opened up. From April 4 through April 30 you can register to take any or all of the exams for Visual Studio 2010.  This is a great thing about going out and taking the exams now is that they are free.

The following exams are in beta and available to take for free:

• Exam 71-511, TS: Windows Applications Development with Microsoft .NET Framework 4
• Exam 71-515, TS: Web Applications Development with Microsoft .NET Framework 4
• Exam 71-513: TS: Windows Communication Foundation Development with Microsoft .NET Framework 4
• Exam 71-516: TS: Accessing Data with Microsoft .NET Framework 4
• Exam 71-518: Pro: Designing and Developing Windows Applications Using Microsoft .NET Framework 4
• Exam 71-519: Pro: Designing and Developing Web Applications Using Microsoft .NET Framework 4

I’d encourage everyone that can find the time to pop in and take an exam or six.  With the low cost remember I said free these are worth the attempt.  You may not pass, but you will get a chance to see the exam.  If you’ve never taken a Microsoft exam before, it’s a good way to see how they are and drop some of the fear of the unknown.  And who knows, maybe you’ll pass out of the gate.  You’ll never know unless you try and taking the beta exams is a great opportunity to comment and influence how the exam will look when it goes live.

These Count

Thought I should mention that the beta exams are as valid as the final exams.  So this is counts towards TS and Pro certifications.  Think of it, a little time and the opportunity to get a free certification.

I’m sitting around tonight trying to reverse engineer a database with Database Professional 2008 and I get this unexpected error.  (they’re all unexpected, aren’t they)

—————————

Microsoft Visual Studio

—————————

Could not load file or assembly ‘System.Data.SqlServerCe, Version=3.5.1.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=89845dcd8080cc91′ or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.

—————————

OK  

—————————

But since I didn’t read the instructions I didn’t know what the problem was.  Fortunately I found the answer; which also mentioned reading Gert’s blog.

Long story short I had to install Microsoft SQL Server Compact 3.5 Service Pack 1 and Synchronization Services for ADO.NET version 1.0 Service Pack 1 for Windows Desktop.

I’ve been working with Database Professional a little bit more these days.  One of the databases that I’ve been working on for a while provides a number of diagnostic features that utilizes some msdb stored procedures.

Fortunately, going forward I can stop ignoring the systax errors that occurs because of those cross-database references.  The Visual Studio Team put together a code project that provides all of the necessary stubs for use in Database Professional.

It’ll take a little work to add this in… but completely worth the effort.

<blantant cross post>

Fellow team member, Lara, posted the upcoming launch of the Visual Studio Team Edition for Database Professionals.

</blantant cross post>

This is definately something to check out.  While the tool isn’t perfect yet, it is long due and has been exceptionally useful in my last couple projects. 

Oh, yeah… filtering by Different objects is neat… but… ummm… filter by Non Skip Objects is much better before doing any updates.  Developers are all smiles when stored procedures and views are deleted when synching up development.  The even let you apologize profusely afterwards.