Nr: 393
SQLSaturday #393 - Redmond 2015
SessionID: 21128
Best Practices for Upgrading to SQL Server 2014
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?
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
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
Event Date: 16-05-2015 - Session time: 08:30:00 - Track: Performance
Speaker: Argenis Fernandez
Abstract:
SessionID: 12801
SRS Report Builder for Business Intelligence
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
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:
SessionID: 27387
Event Date: 16-05-2015 - Session time: 09:45:00 - Track: Performance
Speaker: Vern Rabe
Abstract:
SessionID: 9868
RC, SI, and RCSI, Oh My! –We're off to see the Wizard -to understand how it all works.
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
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
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:
SessionID: 24544
Get Testing with tSQLt
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
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
Event Date: 16-05-2015 - Session time: 13:30:00 - Track: DBA
Speaker: Robert Davis
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
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
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
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
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
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
Event Date: 16-05-2015 - Session time: 14:45:00 - Track: DBA
Speaker: Varun Singh
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
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.