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SQLSaturday #393 - Redmond 2015

Start Time (24h) Speaker Track Title
08:30:00 Michael Schaeffer DBA Best Practices for Upgrading to SQL Server 2014
08:30:00 Paul Turley BI Tabular Models: Easier Faster Than Cubes; Really?
08:30:00 Peter Myers Design End-to-End SQL Server Master Data Services
08:30:00 Argenis Fernandez Performance Stored Procedures vs. Ad-Hoc SQL: Performance Showdown!
09:45:00 David Eichner BI SRS Report Builder for Business Intelligence
09:45:00 Sanjay Mishra DBA Business Continuity with SQL Server: Real-Life War Stories
09:45:00 Vern Rabe Performance Practical Fundamentals of Query Performance Tuning
09:45:00 Arnie Rowland TSQL RC, SI, and RCSI, Oh My! –We're off to see the Wizard -to understand how it all works.
11:00:00 Dandy Weyn BI Power BI - getting it right - a full walkthrough
11:00:00 Denis McDowell DBA DevOps for the DBA - Bridging the Gap Between Infrastructure, Administration, and Development
11:00:00 Steve Jones Design Get Testing with tSQLt
11:00:00 Aaron Buma TSQL Organizing and Ranking SQL Result Sets
13:30:00 Robert Davis DBA Diagnosing Performance with Wait Statistics
13:30:00 J May DBA Columnstore Indexes in SQL Server 2014: Flipping the DW Fast
13:30:00 John McAllister Design Enterprise-grade MDM On SQL Server - the Keys to Success
13:30:00 Nicholas Cain DBA WHAT HA/DR OPTION(S) ARE RIGHT FOR YOU
14:45:00 Karen Lopez DBA 5+ Database Design Blunders and How To Avoid Them
14:45:00 Steve Stedman TSQL Exploring SQL Server Join Types – INNER, OUTER, and much more
14:45:00 Varun Singh DBA Case Study: How answers.microsoft.com Overcame the key Challenges of Upgrading to SQL Server 2014
14:45:00 Marko Hotti TSQL SQL Server 2016 Technical Overview on New Features

SessionID: 21128

Best Practices for Upgrading to SQL Server 2014

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Event Date: 16-05-2015 - Session time: 08:30:00 - Track: DBA

Speaker: Michael Schaeffer

Title: Best Practices for Upgrading to SQL Server 2014

Abstract:

When Microsoft’s own IT department was looking to upgrade to SQL Server 2014, the team faced a variety of challenges, including overcoming some limitations in AlwaysOn. The primary concern was to avoid the application rewrites necessary to take advantage of the scaled out solution. This presentation will detail the steps the team supporting answers.microsoft.com took to streamline and accelerate the project. Specifically, it will discuss how Microsoft enabled auto failover across data centers while avoiding app errors during failover, achieved automatic read/write split, delivered geo-aware load balancing, enabled zero-downtime maintenance, and supported 8x the original traffic capacity of the deployment.

SessionID: 21869

Tabular Models: Easier Faster Than Cubes; Really?

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Event Date: 16-05-2015 - Session time: 08:30:00 - Track: BI

Speaker: Paul Turley

Title: Tabular Models: Easier Faster Than Cubes; Really?

Abstract:

The future of data analysis is the new, in-memory xVelocity Tabular analytic engine but is this new product ready for enterprise solutions? Is it easier to build Tabular models than multidimensional cubes in SQL Server 2012? Maybe… It depends on what you need to do. Is it faster? Heck, yea. Taking off the Microsoft BI marketing hat, let’s take a tabular journey together and learn some lessons from the first generation of real, enterprise-scale solutions: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly and the Beautiful.

SessionID: 22044

End-to-End SQL Server Master Data Services

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Event Date: 16-05-2015 - Session time: 08:30:00 - Track: Design

Speaker: Peter Myers

Title: End-to-End SQL Server Master Data Services

Abstract:

This session will be co-presented by Peter Myers and Matt Masson. This session describes how SQL Server 2012 or 2014 Master Data Services can be used to implement Master Data Management (MDM). It introduces the discipline of MDM and maps common processes to the feature set of Master Data Services. It also introduces the new capabilities and features planned for SQL Server 2016.

Topics include defining models, entities, attributes and hierarchies, to store and manage master data. Additionally, administrative tasks including business rules to validate data, the import and export of master data, model versioning, and permission management will be described. The two Microsoft user interfaces (the Master Data Manager web application, and the Excel add-in) will be covered, in addition to T-SQL scripting opportunities to automate processes.

This session will be of interest to data stewards, ETL developers and ETL administrators to appreciate what SQL Server Master Data Services can ach

SessionID: 9786

Stored Procedures vs. Ad-Hoc SQL: Performance Showdown!

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Event Date: 16-05-2015 - Session time: 08:30:00 - Track: Performance

Speaker: Argenis Fernandez

Title: Stored Procedures vs. Ad-Hoc SQL: Performance Showdown!

Abstract:

Still not sure of which is faster? Let us put this matter to rest once and for all. We will measure every single aspect of the execution of a stored procedure vs. its Ad-Hoc query counterpart, and only one will prevail! We will look at raw performance, memory consumption, plan cache usage, and network bandwidth utilization. We will also discuss options for environments on which the code cannot be modified.

SessionID: 12801

SRS Report Builder for Business Intelligence

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Event Date: 16-05-2015 - Session time: 09:45:00 - Track: BI

Speaker: David Eichner

Title: SRS Report Builder for Business Intelligence

Abstract:

Learn how easy it is to utilize the free download from Microsoft that allows users to create maps, charts, dashboard objects and reports against any kind of data easily without having to use Visual Studio. See how SQL Report Builder makes creating executive dashboards easy!

SessionID: 23969

Business Continuity with SQL Server: Real-Life War Stories

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Event Date: 16-05-2015 - Session time: 09:45:00 - Track: DBA

Speaker: Sanjay Mishra

Title: Business Continuity with SQL Server: Real-Life War Stories

Abstract:

Having worked with hundreds of customers over the years on their high availability and disaster recovery deployments, at SQLCAT, we have learned a few things. We have learned how old problems are solved by new technologies, and how new technologies bring up new challenges. We have learned what customers do when situations put them between a rock and a hard place, how they solve tough business problems, how they circumvent technology limitations. We will share these lessons with you in the form of war stories – stories you can apply to your world when you or someone you know encounter such situations.

SessionID: 27387

Practical Fundamentals of Query Performance Tuning

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Event Date: 16-05-2015 - Session time: 09:45:00 - Track: Performance

Speaker: Vern Rabe

Title: Practical Fundamentals of Query Performance Tuning

Abstract:

Do you need to write some queries and not sure how to make sure they will perform well? Do you already have some poorly performing queries and don’t know where to start to improve them? In this session I’ll start with a little bit of optimizer basics, then show you how to avoid some query writing pitfalls that result in poor performance. I’ll then show you how to read the execution plan and use other tools to help identify why a query is performing poorly, and how to fix it. I’ll have several examples of how seemingly insignificant changes to a query can have drastic effect on performance.

SessionID: 9868

RC, SI, and RCSI, Oh My! –We're off to see the Wizard -to understand how it all works.

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Event Date: 16-05-2015 - Session time: 09:45:00 - Track: TSQL

Speaker: Arnie Rowland

Title: RC, SI, and RCSI, Oh My! –We're off to see the Wizard -to understand how it all works.

Abstract:

I'm just going to say it straight out. I'm pessimistically optimistic that most really understand transaction concurrency in SQL Server. There is often significant confusion about transaction concurrency and contention options available to Developers -is it 'pessimistic', or 'optimistic', or in between? Everyone ‘sort of’ understands READ COMMITTED (RC). But do you sometimes feel 'dirty' as you attempt to 'repeatedly' read that phantasma? In order to reduce locking and blocking conflicts, some folks adopt SNAPSHOT ISOLATION (SI). And a few hardy stalwarts have ventured into the new world of READ COMMITTED SNAPSHOT ISOLATION (RCSI). In this session, we will explore the differences between the three, including a discussion about the positives and negatives of each option. We will discuss the effects of 'Dirty', 'Repeatable' and 'Phantom' reads, and why you may want to know which may be buried in your code. There will be code examples demonstrating the benefits and traps of each option.

SessionID: 12167

Power BI - getting it right - a full walkthrough

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Event Date: 16-05-2015 - Session time: 11:00:00 - Track: BI

Speaker: Dandy Weyn

Title: Power BI - getting it right - a full walkthrough

Abstract:

There's a lot of sessions around Power BI, let's get focused by getting it right...

In this session you will get a full walkthrough of Power BI: What is it? How is it done? What's in it for me?

By the end of this session you will have a full understanding of the Power BI offering and the tools used to discover data (Power Query), design dashboards and visualizations (Power View and Power BI Designer), visualize them on all devices (including iPad), how to optimize your Power Pivot model for Power BI, and even natural language query.

SessionID: 13078

DevOps for the DBA - Bridging the Gap Between Infrastructure, Administration, and Development

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Event Date: 16-05-2015 - Session time: 11:00:00 - Track: DBA

Speaker: Denis McDowell

Title: DevOps for the DBA - Bridging the Gap Between Infrastructure, Administration, and Development

Abstract:

DevOps is a term that has come to mean many things to many people. At its core, this important concept represents a way to remove old barriers between the infrastructure, application, and development tiers within an IT organization. An understanding of scripting and automation platforms is becoming a critical skill for SQL Server Database Administrators. Additionally, as hardware is increasingly virtualized, new opportunities for scripted deployment and configuration are available. This session will utilize demos to illustrate the many ways SQL Database Administrators can automate routine tasks from deployment through configuration.

SessionID: 24544

Get Testing with tSQLt

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Event Date: 16-05-2015 - Session time: 11:00:00 - Track: Design

Speaker: Steve Jones

Title: Get Testing with tSQLt

Abstract:

tSQLt is a testing framework that is designed to help you write repeatable, isolated tests against your database code. In this session we will briefly examine the goals of testing, where it can be used in an automated deployment pipeline, and introduce you to the tSQLt framework. We’ll show you how to design and write tests to enforce standards, check calculations and other DML operations as well as check exception handling. You will see how a real world refactoring task can be tested in a repeatable manner. Learn how you can incrementally write tests that help you build higher quality code and minimize the introduction of errors against your existing objects.

SessionID: 8828

Organizing and Ranking SQL Result Sets

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Event Date: 16-05-2015 - Session time: 11:00:00 - Track: TSQL

Speaker: Aaron Buma

Title: Organizing and Ranking SQL Result Sets

Abstract:

Did you know SELECT TOP 10 can return more than 10 rows, or the difference between RANK and DENSE_RANK? This query-heavy class uses many live examples to demonstrate the in’s and out’s of the TOP, RANK, DENSE_RANK and ROW_NUMBER functions; and how they will return different results depending on your data. As an alternative for TOP for data paging, OFFSET and FETCH will be shown as an efficient alternative.

SessionID: 11463

Diagnosing Performance with Wait Statistics

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Event Date: 16-05-2015 - Session time: 13:30:00 - Track: DBA

Speaker: Robert Davis

Title: Diagnosing Performance with Wait Statistics

Abstract:

Wait statistics get more complaints about a lack of documentation than just about anything in SQL Server. The documentation that is available is not always very clear. Let's clear up these gray areas once and for all.

This session will cover what you need to know about wait stats like the best way to investigate them, how to interpret their meanings, and which wait types are important and which can be ignored.

SessionID: 16842

Columnstore Indexes in SQL Server 2014: Flipping the DW Fast

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Event Date: 16-05-2015 - Session time: 13:30:00 - Track: DBA

Speaker: J May

Title: Columnstore Indexes in SQL Server 2014: Flipping the DW Fast

Abstract:

Columnstore indexes were introduced in SQL Server 2012 have been wholly re-architected optimized in SQL Server 2014.#160; Columnstore indexes are optimized for data warehouse workloads are a hybrid technology leveraging the best of off-disk in-memory capabilities. Transparent to the app, columnstore has been shown to render queries at sub-second response times which heretofore took many minutes or longer. This presentation includes an overview of SQL Server 2012 a deep dive into SQL Server 2014 columnstore indexes, including a review of the architecture, as well as the challenges, workarounds, travails, big wins at customer sites inside MSIT. The presentation is rich in demos.#160;Learn whether columnstore can change your users' world why columnstore may be a compelling reason to upgrade. Learn how columnstore indexes flip the DW faster bit why columnstore manifests my motto, “Change the world or go home!”

SessionID: 17157

Enterprise-grade MDM On SQL Server - the Keys to Success

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Event Date: 16-05-2015 - Session time: 13:30:00 - Track: Design

Speaker: John McAllister

Title: Enterprise-grade MDM On SQL Server - the Keys to Success

Abstract:

This session discusses a proven organizational approach and important technical considerations that lead to the successful adoption of Master Data Management (MDM) on SQL Server. Organizational considerations include building buy-in, team capability expertise, and selling MDM to the rest of the organization while building a subject-area center of excellence. We also discuss approaches to improved time-to-value and to ensure that the technology and staff investment is matched to the expected outcome. Great technology choices will help ensure that your best laid plans succeed and the second half of this session goes over some important technology considerations. In this part of the session we discuss User Experience, Integration Patterns, Matching, Programmability, and Data Quality.

SessionID: 21424

WHAT HA/DR OPTION(S) ARE RIGHT FOR YOU

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Event Date: 16-05-2015 - Session time: 13:30:00 - Track: DBA

Speaker: Nicholas Cain

Title: WHAT HA/DR OPTION(S) ARE RIGHT FOR YOU

Abstract:

Your manager comes to you and asks you to setup your production SQL Server environment so that you have a level of High Availability plus you need to design and implement a Disaster Recovery strategy.

It may sound like an exam question, but it’s something that a DBA gets asked frequently. Do you understand the relative strengths of the various HA/DR technologies, such as Availability Groups, Failover Cluster Instances, Mirroring, Log Shipping and Replication? In this talk we will cover the various options, what the strengths and weaknesses are for each, and help you to go back to your manager with a plan.

SessionID: 17914

5+ Database Design Blunders and How To Avoid Them

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Event Date: 16-05-2015 - Session time: 14:45:00 - Track: DBA

Speaker: Karen Lopez

Title: 5+ Database Design Blunders and How To Avoid Them

Abstract:

What’s going on in your physical data model? How many people can or will update it to match the reality of what’s going on in your databases? Who actually decides what goes into the database design? How do you choose your primary keys? How do you implement them? Are your datatypes the right ones for the data? Are you thinking about the full lifecycle of data?

In this presentation we discuss five physical data modeling mistakes that cost you dearly: performance snags, development delays, bugs, and professional respect.

SessionID: 25752

Exploring SQL Server Join Types – INNER, OUTER, and much more

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Event Date: 16-05-2015 - Session time: 14:45:00 - Track: TSQL

Speaker: Steve Stedman

Title: Exploring SQL Server Join Types – INNER, OUTER, and much more

Abstract:

Joining tables is one of the fundamental aspects of any relational database, but the different ways of joining tables are often misunderstood.

Learn about INNER JOINS, OUTER JOINS (LEFT, RIGHT and FULL), OUTER JOIN with exclusions, CROSS JOIN. Also find out how multiple INNER JOINS impact your result set versus multiple OUTER JOINS. By the end of this presentation you will at a minimum you will be able to answer that common interview of “explain the difference between an INNER JOIN and an OUTER JOIN”.

SessionID: 25900

Case Study: How answers.microsoft.com Overcame the key Challenges of Upgrading to SQL Server 2014

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Event Date: 16-05-2015 - Session time: 14:45:00 - Track: DBA

Speaker: Varun Singh

Title: Case Study: How answers.microsoft.com Overcame the key Challenges of Upgrading to SQL Server 2014

Abstract:

As part of the company’s “Get Current/Stay Current” initiative, Microsoft’s IT organization planned to upgrade its community website, answers.microsoft.com from Microsoft SQL Server 2008 to Microsoft SQL Server 2014. At the same time, the site adopted virtualization and needed to maintain the zero downtime environment the group had built with mirroring. Given the site spans four data centers across the globe and supports more than 1.7 million visitors a day, Microsoft cannot afford downtime, not even for maintenance. This case study details the steps taken to migrate answers.microsoft.com from SQL Server 2008 to 2014, the technologies considered to enable continuous availability, and how the site leveraged AlwaysOn without making application changes. This presentation will be led by ScaleArc’s CTO Varun Singh and will include commentary from Michael Schaeffer, the Senior Service Engineer at Microsoft who manages answers.microsoft.com and architected the upgrade to SQL Server 2014.

SessionID: 37061

SQL Server 2016 Technical Overview on New Features

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Event Date: 16-05-2015 - Session time: 14:45:00 - Track: TSQL

Speaker: Marko Hotti

Title: SQL Server 2016 Technical Overview on New Features

Abstract:

SQL Server 2016 was announced at Ignite in Chicago 4th of May, 2015. In this session you will be hearing more about the new features such as Query Store, StretchDB, Always Encrypted, Row Level Security and the new in-memory features. Marko will also tell what Microsoft is doing on the existing features such as SSIS, MDS and SSRS.