2011 Presentations

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The following is a list of presentations from that I have delivered so far this year in 2011.  For each presentation there is a link to the event and the presentation materials, if they are still available.

If you are interested in having any of the presentations delivered for you user group or company, just reach out and we’ll see if we can work out a time that works.

  • PASSMN (January 25, 2011)
    • Error Logs and Deadlocks, Oh My! – Tired of turning to the SQL Server error log to find out what’s happened? Would you rather just know about a deadlock when it’s occurred rather than later in the day when the manager as you why HRs bonus distribution application failed? Find out how to get this information and more delivered to your inbox so that you can head off issues instead of drowning in them. In this session we’ll look at Event Notifications and find out how to stop having to monitor SQL Server error logs today.
  • EDM PASS (January 26, 2011)
    • Solving Business Pains with SQL Server Integration Services – SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) offers a wide range of features and functionality that can be used to solve business pains within Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) processes.  These pains can be caused by the performance of current ETL process, the maintainability of ETL processes or represent a new pain that SSIS features can resolve.  This presentation will provide a demonstration of real world scenarios where features of SSIS were used to solve business pains through modification of existing SSIS packages or through the creation of new SSIS packages.  The session will also discuss current best practices in SSIS package design.
  • TechFuse 2011 (March 17, 2011)
    • Discovering the Plan Cache – Execution plans are stored after execution in the plan cache. This metadata can provide insight into how your SQL Server environment is functioning. By using XQuery we’ll search the plan cache to find potential performance issues and opportunities to tune your queries. This information can be used to help reduce issues related to parallelism and shift queries from using scans to using seek operations or discover which queries are using what indexes. All of this and more is readily available through the plan cache. In this session, we will explore the plan cache and start you on the road to discovery.
  • SQLSaturday 67 | Chicago (March 26, 2011)
    • Index Black Ops – There’s a lot that goes on under the covers of SQL Server with your indexes. But it’s not as secretive as you might think. Most of this information is made available to you through DMVs. While this information is useful – you need a clear understanding of what is in the DMVs in order to understand what is going on. In this session we’ll take a dive into sys.dm_index_operational_stats to find out what it does and what you can do with this information.
  • Twin City Code Camp 10 (April 9-10, 2011)
    • 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.
  • PASSMN (April 19, 2011)
    • On Becoming and Being a SQL MVP – For those willing to stay a little later than our usual closing time, Jason Strate will tell us what the MVP award is, what’s involved in becoming an MVP, and what it the benefits are for the MVP program.
  • DBTechCon – (April 20-22, 2011)
    • Performance Tuning With Extended Events – SQL Server 2008 saw the launch of a new performance tuning tool was made available. That tool was Extended Events. Where some previous tools were clumsy and intrusive, Extended Events is flexible and light. It’s able to extract exactly the information that you need when you need it. In this session, we’ll explore some common performance issues related to SQL Server and demonstrate method to resolve those issues.
    • What Are You Waiting For? – You’ve spent the afternoon sweating over your T-SQL query. You’ve wrung out all of the wrinkles. It’s deployed, it’s running… now its waiting. In SQL Server the most performant query can become a problem query if there aren’t any resources in the SQL Server for it to use. In this session, we’ll look at wait statistics and what they are. We’ll look into how they are accumulated and how they can be monitored. By the end of the session, you’ll be equipped with the tools needed to determine if there are resource issues in your environment and methods to start mitigating them.
    • Taking a Crack at CLR – A few years back the talk of CLR was all the rage. As time has gone on, the roars of the marketing crows have waned and DBAs fearful of the CLR apocalypse have had to put away theirs signs. With those days behind us, it’s time to make sure that you’ve take a look at CLR and what it can do for your database and your environment. In this session, we’ll look at how to build and implement CLR objects. We’ll also look at some specific use cases that can help improve the performance of your SQL Server environment and leave that environment more secure.
    • SQL Profiler and Extended Events Cage Match – Rival technologies often need to be thrown into a cage match to determine which is the victor. This time the rival technologies are SQL Profiler and Extended Events. SQL Profiler is the tried and true champion when it comes to performance monitoring and troubleshooting. But Extended Events is the newcomer that promises to “”float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.”" In this session, we’ll briefly review the core architecture of extended events. We’ll also take a look at a number of performance monitoring scenarios and compare the application of SQL Profiler and Extended Events to the issue.
  • PASS DBA Virtual Chapter (June 8, 2011)
    • Extended Events, Work Smarter Not Harder – Part 1 – There are many ways to performance monitor your SQL Server environment.  In this session we’ll introduce you to 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.
  • PASS DBA Virtual Chapter (June 22, 2011)
    • Extended Events, Work Smarter Not Harder – Part 2 – In the last session, we dug into the basics of Extended Events (XEvents).  We arrived at an understanding of what is available with XEvents and how to use it.  In this session, we’ll go deeper and look at how to use XEvents for performance tuning and troubleshooting. We’ll explore some common performance issues related to SQL Server and demonstrate method to resolve those issues.
  • Quest: Pain of the Week (June 30, 2011)
    • Understanding Your Indexes: Operational Stats – There’s a lot that goes on under the covers of SQL Server with your indexes. But it’s not as secretive as you may think. Most of this information is made available to you through DMVs.  While this information is useful, you need a clear understanding of what’s in the DMVs in order to know what’s going on. In this session we’ll dive into sys.dm_index_operational_stats to find out what it does and how you can use this information to significantly improve database performance.
  • PASSMN (August 16, 2011)
    • The Creepy DBA, How to Stalk Your Users – Do you know when your users are using the production login accounts from their workstations?  Are you aware of changes being made to the development servers that may impact future deployments?  Has the new Junior DBA start giving out access like candy?  As DBAs, we are responsible for knowing and acting on all of this and much more.  Fortunately, SQL Server provides a number of features that you can use to monitor and track user activity.  In this session, we’ll look at these features and demonstrate how you can use them to the extent that your users find you creepy!
  • SQL Saturday 84 | Kalamazoo (September 17, 2011)
    • 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.
    • The Creepy DBA, How to Stalk Your Users – Do you know when your users are using the production login accounts from their workstations? Are you aware of changes being made to the development servers that may impact future deployments? Has the new Junior DBA start giving out access like candy? As DBAs, we are responsible for knowing and acting on all of this and much more. Fortunately, SQL Server provides a number of features that you can use to monitor and track user activity. In this session, we’ll look at these features and demonstrate how you can use them to the extent that your users find you creepy!
  • MADPASS – Madison SQL Server User Group (September 28, 2011)
    • The Creepy DBA, How to Stalk Your Users - Do you know when your users are using the production login accounts from their workstations? Are you aware of changes being made to the development servers that may impact future deployments? Has the new Junior DBA start giving out access like candy? As DBAs, we are responsible for knowing and acting on all of this and much more. Fortunately, SQL Server provides a number of features that you can use to monitor and track user activity. In this session, we’ll look at these features and demonstrate how you can use them to the extent that your users find you creepy!
  • SQL Saturday 98 | East Iowa (October 1, 2011)
    • XQuery Basics for the DBA – For the past few years, XML has been making its way more and more into our SQL Server instances. For a moment let’s forget that developers often find the need to store XML data in their databases. Outside of those databases, XML has already invaded our SQL Servers. It’s made its way into execution plans with the SHOWPLAN XML. It’s telling us about deadlock through deadlock graphs. It’s also presented to us through service broke, event notifications, and extended events. XML is there and we need to learn how to query it. In this session, we’ll explore some of the basic methods for querying XML through XQuery. By the end of the session you’ll be equipped with the tools and understanding needed to ease yourself into XQuery.
    • Getting To Know Your Indexes – Without proper indexing SQL Server can be hard pressed to create efficient and performant execution plans. Dynamic Management Views (DMV) and system views provide a slew of information about indexes that can be used to analyze indexes within SQL Server. In this session we’ll go under the hood of SQL Server to look at DMVs and system views to know what indexes you have, should have, and how they feel about the way applications are treating them.
    • Discovering the Plan Cache – Execution plans are stored after execution in the plan cache. This metadata about how queries are executed can provide insight into how your SQL Server environment is functioning. By using XQuery to browse and search the plan cache you can find potential performance issues and opportunities to tune your queries. This information can be used to help reduce issues related to parallelism, shift queries from using scans to using seek operations, or discover exactly which queries are using what indexes. All of this and more is readily available through the plan cache. In this session we will explore the plan cache and start you on the road to discovery.
  • PASS Summit 2011 (October 12-14, 2011)
    • Discovering the Plan Cache - Execution plans are stored after execution in the plan cache. This metadata about how queries are executed can provide insight into how your SQL Server environment is functioning. By using XQuery to browse and search the plan cache you can find potential performance issues and opportunities to tune your queries. This information can be used to help reduce issues related to parallelism, shift queries from using scans to using seek operations, or discover exactly which queries are using what indexes. All of this and more is readily available through the plan cache. In this session we will explore the plan cache and start you on the road to discovery.
    • 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.
  • SQL Saturday 99 | Minnesota (November 11, 2011)
    • SQL Community and Social Networking – Roundtable – This session will be an open discussion on the various types of community involvement such as user groups, professional organizations, and events along with social networking such as Twitter and blogs. We will discuss how to get started, usage etiquette, and career impact related to these topics. Plan on a lively discussion. Panelists are: Andy Lohn, Dan English, Jason Strate, and Steve Hughes. (Moderator: Ted Krueger)
    • Do SQL Server Certifications Really Matter? – Microsoft has a number of certifications for SQL Server. They cover the DBA, developer and business intelligence skills. But, does anyone take them seriously? In this session, see the tracks for SQL Server certifications and discover what you need to know about the exams. Which track will be right for you? What steps should you take? How do you get going? And what value will they bring to your career?
    • SQL Server 2012 – An Open Window To T-SQL Enhancements – The upcoming release of SQL Server is full of new features to help everyone from DBAs to developers. In this session, we’ll examine some of the new features that are being added to the T-SQL language. From error handling to windowing functions, we’ll look at the new flexibility and power available within the T-SQL language.
  • SSWUG Expo Event: Building and Developing with SSIS (November 18, 2011)
    • Building an Incremental Archive with SSIS - Archiving production data can at times be a pain. The business may want some of the data or all of the data. They could want the latest version or all versions of the data. They could want 15 tables from the database and then 200 tables next week. All of these variations can, at times, drive us mad with building the correct solution. In this session, we’ll review an incremental archiving solution. This solution is based on a previously deployed process that provided the end users what they needed while maintaining a flexible design.
  • Adelaide SQL Server User Group (November 21, 2011)
    • Extended Events, Work Smarter Not Harder – Often, as DBAs, we are presented with the prospect of resolving performance issues. Consider when Bob the Developer shows up accusing the server of inadequacies and expecting resolution. After hours digging through log files and traces and you are able to identify code that Bob deployed that was the root of the problem. What if there was a way to do this type of performance tuning before Bob the Developer shows up and before Sue the User figures out there are performance issues? In this session we’ll take a look at Extended Events and how you can leverage it in every day scenarios. We’ll discuss the ins and outs of how to get detailed information on the errors and events that occur within SQL Server and how to understand the information.
  • PASS AppDev Virtual Chapter (December 27, 2011)
    • SQL Server 2012 – An Open Window to T-SQL Enhancements – The upcoming release of SQL Server is full of new features to help everyone from DBAs to developers. In this session, we’ll examine some of the new features that are being added to the T-SQL language. From error handling to windowing functions, we’ll look at the new flexibility and power available within the T-SQL language.