Lightening Talk On Covering Indexes Ka-chow! Ka-chow!

October 12, 2010 Leave a comment

“I’m a precision instrument of speed and aerodynamics.” That’s what Lightning McQueen tells Mater when they first meet in Cars. The ever astute Mater replies “You hurt your what?” I love that movie!

I often get a similiar response when I ask people about covering indexes. It’s not that aren’t bright, knowledge professionals. It just seems as though this topic isn’t very well known. And that’s a shame because queries that can be resolved using only a nonclustered index are some of the fastest queries you can run in SQL Server. I explain and demonstrate why in a Simple-Talk article.

I’ll also take up this topic in a Lightening Talk session at the 2010 PASS Summit. We’ll go from zero to covering indexes in 5 minutes.

If you’re attending the Summit, join me for this Lightening Talk. I’ll be the one who’s downing seven expressos right before the session so I can be sure to “cover” all the material in 5 minutes.

Filed under Administration, Events, Optimization, SQLServerPedia Syndication

The InfoSec 10 Conference in Nashville

September 13, 2010 Leave a comment

For those in the Middle Tennessee Area: the Nashville Technology Council and Middle Tennessee chapter of Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) are hosting “InfoSec 10: The Changing Security Landscape” tomorrow in the Nashville Convention Center.

If you’re interested in security issues, whether from the technical or management perspectives, for healthcare and other industries, check it out.

Filed under Events, Security

Twitter: The Next Best Thing To Being There

August 24, 2010 15 Comments

Why do DBAs want to go to PASS, TechEd, or SQLConnections? If asked, I suppose that many would point to the great technical content that’s available there. Others, when out of earshot from their employers, may admit to going solely to visit the city in which the event is held. As for me, I’ve known for years that the number one reason I go to a conference is the people.

It’s A Small World After All

The SQL Server Community is a close-knit community. It’s not small mind you; there are hundreds of thousands of SQL Server professionals from around the globe. But still, it’s close-knit. People in the community know and regularly exchange emails with others in the SQL Community from all over creation. We don’t get to see each other often, but we’re still close.

Conferences are one place where we do get to see each other. When I’m attending a conference, I love catching up with members of the SQL Community. I would gladly forego many a technical sessions – as good as they are – to sit and have coffee with a friend from another part of the world. To me, that’s what makes a conference great, it’s the people who are there.

You Can Be In Two Places At Once

But alas, sometimes you simply cannot make it to a conference. You can only travel so much, you can only afford a certain number of trips out if the office, or other obligations get in the way. That doesn’t mean you have to completely miss out on the event. You can still be there from the comforts of your own home or office through the wonder of Twitter.

This past weekend at SQLSaturday #51 in Nashville, I monitored the #sqlsat51 hash tag on Twitter. There were lots of tweets from attendees throughout the day. Some asked questions, others made jokes, and others still shared what was taking place. Tweets made the day even more enjoyable.

A nice byproduct of event tweeting is that they open up the event to others who couldn’t be on-site. Twitter allows people who couldn’t make it to the event to still participate, to still interact, and to still network with those at the event. From afar, friends can crack jokes, ask questions, and add to the conversation.

Is it really as good as being there? No, but it sure beats missing it altogether.

Twitter can also be leveraged by the speakers to extend their reach and include an even wider audience. I first saw this at PASS last year when Paul Randal tweeted during Kim Tripp’s pre-con. He tweeted major bullet points and answered questions in the Twitterverse. Very cool! I know Brent Ozar has done similar things. I’ve used a plug in to PowerPoint that will automatically send tweets as I progress through my slide deck.

How Do I Get Started?

If you’re not familiar with Twitter, it’s free. Just go to the Twitter site and sign up. Then download Brent Ozar’s short ebook and read it in one sitting. It’ll give you the information you need to know to get started.

Filed under Community, Events, Social Media, SQLServerPedia Syndication

SQL Server Trivia

August 23, 2010 3 Comments

Think you know SQL Server past and present? Here are the next-to-impossible questions I asked at the SQLSaturday #51 Stump The Experts session in Nashville. There were a few people who apparently have far more active brain cells than me who managed to answer a couple of these questions. But for the most part, these questions, did indeed, stump the experts.

Let’s see how you do.

The Trivia Questions

Question 1:

True or False. The following T-SQL statement is valid.

CREATE TABLE # (Column1 INT);

Question 2:

What’s the maximum number of nonclustered indexes per table for a 64-bit instance of SQL Server 2008 R2?

Question 3:

There was a little known and cancelled upgrade to Windows 95 that eventually became known as Windows Desktop Update, Internet Explorer 4.0. What was its codename?

Question 4:

For what processors was SQL Server 4.21a SP4 available?

Question 5:

When did Mainstream Support end for SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition?

Question 6:

What is the maximum number of columns you can have in a single SELECT statement in a 64-bit instance of SQL Server 2008 R2?

Question 7:

What was the final name of the SQL Server feature that originally was known by the code name Rosetta?

Question 8:

What command displays information about the installed versions and registered instances of Notification Services?

Question 9:

How many task in SSIS for SQL Server 2008 R2 are designed for SSAS?

Question 10:

On what operating systems did SQL Server 4.20 run?

Question 11:

How many copies of a query plan can be in memory at one time in SQL Server 2008 R2?

Question 12:

In how many different North American cities has the PASS Community Summit been held?

Question 13:

Name one aspect of SQL Server that separate it from any other Microsoft product.

Question 14:

For which operating system was SQL Server originally developed?

Question 15:

In SQL Server 2008 R2, how many DMVs are related to Indexes?

Question 16:

How much was an unlimited user license for SQL Server 1.1?

Question 17:

When was SQL Server 1.1 released?

Question 18:

When SQL Server 1.1 was first released, it was considered to be well behind in sales compared to Oracle Server for OS/2. How many licenses had Oracle sold already?

Question 19:

True or False. SQL CE can be managed from SQL Server Management Studio 2005.

Question 20:

When AUTO_UPDATE_STATISTICS is ON, updated statistics or cardinality changes to which of the follow tables cause a recompile?

a) User Tables
b) Temporary Tables
c) Inserted Tables
d) Deleted Tables

The Answers

Answer 1:

True. But it’s scheduled to be deprecated in a post SQL Server 2008 R2 release. (http://bit.ly/sqlsat51-1)

Answer 2:

999 (http://bit.ly/sqlsat51-2)

Answer 3:

Nashville (http://bit.ly/sqlsat51-3)

Answer 4:

SQL Server 4.21a Service Pack 4 was available for Intel (x86), MIPS, and Alpha-based computers. (http://bit.ly/sqlsat51-4)

Answer 5:

April 8th, 2008 (http://bit.ly/sqlsat51-5)

Answer 6:

4096 (http://bit.ly/sqlsat51-6)

Answer 7:

Reporting Services (http://bit.ly/sqlsat51-7)

Answer 8:

NSControl ListVersions (http://bit.ly/sqlsat51-8)

Answer 9:

3 (http://bit.ly/sqlsat51-9)

Answer 10:

Windows NT 3.1/Windows NT Advanced Server 3.1 (http://bit.ly/sqlsat51-10)

Answer 11:

2; one for parallel execution and another for serialized execution. (http://bit.ly/sqlsat51-11)

Answer 12:

6; Chicago, San Francisco, Denver, Seattle, Orlando, Dallas/Grapevine (http://bit.ly/sqlsat51-12)

Answer 13:

SQL Server is the only Microsoft product that allows you to set processor affinity. (via Buck Woody)

Answer 14:

UNIX; that’s why SQL Server still has processor affinity on a SMP operating system. (via Buck Woody)

Answer 15:

7 (http://bit.ly/sqlsat51-15)

sys.dm_db_index_operational_stats,

sys.dm_db_index_usage_stats,

sys.dm_db_missing_index_details,

sys.dm_db_missing_index_groups,

sys.dm_db_index_physical_stats,

sys.dm_db_missing_index_columns

sys.dm_db_missing_index_group_stats

Answer 16:

$3,995 (http://bit.ly/sqlsat51-16)

Answer 17:

August 20th, 1990 (http://bit.ly/sqlsat51-17)

Answer 18:

7,000 (http://bit.ly/sqlsat51-18)

Answer 19:

True. (http://bit.ly/sqlsat51-19)

Answer 20:

All of the above. (http://bit.ly/sqlsat51-20)

The Results

So how did you do? Got any other good trivia questions that I could have / should have added to the list?

And a very special thanks to our panel of experts – Thomas LaRock, Jason Strate, Kendra Little, Jeremiah Peschka, Louis Davidson, and Kevin Boles!

Filed under Community, Events, Just for fun, SQLServerPedia Syndication

SQLSaturday #51 in Nashville

August 17, 2010 Leave a comment

SQLSaturday is coming to Nashville this weekend, Saturday August 21st at 8:00am in the Student Services building of Nashville State Community College.

A Short Keynote And Great Intro Session

The day will begin with a short welcoming keynote, and by short I mean no more than 15 minutes. It’ll be just long enough to give you the logistical information you’ll need to make the most of the day.

Following the keynote, SQLRockstar, Thomas LaRock (blog, twitter), will give a presentation based on his book DBA Survivor: Become a Rock Star DBA in the cafeteria. For those who are somewhat new to the role of DBA, it’ll be a great way to start the day.

If that’s not you’re cup-o-tea, the other main sessions start at 8:30am as well.

Over 30 Great Sessions

SQLSaturday #51 is not this kind of conference

We had over 110 session abstracts submitted for SQLSaturday #51 and it was tremendously difficult to pare it down to a manageable number. We only have time and space for 30 sessions. If we’d only gotten a session on how to flex the whole space-time continuum thing using SQL Server 2008 R2 perhaps we could have accommodated more. Maybe next time.

In the 30 sessions we were able to provide, we have a good mix of SQL Server MVPs, authors, industry experts, and local professionals who are willing to share their experiences and their knowledge at the conference. The schedule is available on the SQLSaturday #51 site.

Quest Lunch Session & Stump The Experts

As if 30 sessions weren’t enough to saturate your brain with SQL Server know-how and best practices, we have two more fun yet informative sessions. During lunch, Quest’s SQL Server Expert and Nashville’s own Kevin Kline (blog, twitter) will share with us some things he’s learned over the course of his career.

At the end of the day while we’re raffling off some fantastic door prizes, we’ll play a game we’re calling Stump The Experts. A panel of well-known industry experts have agreed to submit themselves to your questions for a time of fun and humor. Can you stump an expert? Bring your questions and find out.

Don’t Delay, Register Today

This totally free event is sure to be fun, informative, and entertaining. But space is limited and there are only a few seats left. So head on over to the registration page and sign up today. If it’s full, you’ll be added to a waiting list and notified if space becomes available.

Filed under Events, Professional Development, SQLServerPedia Syndication

Conducting Effective Meetings at DevLink 2010

August 6, 2010 6 Comments

I’ve sat in a lot of really poorly run meetings. Meetings that didn’t start on time, didn’t end on time, and didn’t accomplish anything. What a waste of time! And time is a precious resource in any organization.

Early in my career, I didn’t think it was my place to try to improve the meetings. Later I assumed it was just the way things worked. Eventually I realized that I was wrong on both accounts. Meetings can and should be better than they are.

So, I actively sought ways to make every meeting better. After much research, trial, and error, I’ve discovered some best practices for conducting meetings. I’ve also learned some things I can do to help improve meetings that I attend but don’t run.

I’m going to share these best practices later this afternoon during a session that I’m giving at devLINK. Here’s a link to the slide deck I’ll use.

Here’s a summary of my best practices:

  • Distribute an agenda prior to the meeting. Without an agenda, people won’t know how to prepare ahead of time and the meeting will wander
  • Have clearly defined purpose & outcome. Let your attendees know exactly what you expect to accomplish during the meeting.
  • Start the meeting with a welcome, an agenda review, introductions, & ground rules. This sets the tone for the rest of the meeting.
  • Keep to the agenda. Don’t drift; don’t run over.
  • Create and document action items. Make sure everyone leaves the meeting with a clear understanding of who agreed to do what by when.
  • Appoint a scribe to take & distribute notes. The notes don’t have to be fancy; just cover the decisions reached and action items assigned.

Questions:

  • Have I missed a good practice?
  • Are your meetings productive?
  • What do you do to make the run smoothly?

Filed under Business, Events, Productivity, Professional Development

SQL Server Locking & Blocking At DevLink 2010

August 5, 2010 1 Comment

Wow! Thanks to everyone who came to my SQL Server Locking & Blocking session at devLINK this morning! I’m completely humbled by the turnout!

Thanks for hanging around until the end, too! At the beginning of the session, I said we’d have 45 minutes to cover 90 minutes worth of material. Even so, I had in my mind that the session would last until noon. So when I finished at 11:55pm, I thought I had finished 5 minutes early. I didn’t realize until later that I was actually 10 minutes late! I hope it was worth your while.

As promised, here is a link to the presentation slide deck and the demo scripts (Query 1, Query 2). Feel free to ask any follow up questions in the comments area below. And I’d appreciate your feedback on the session in SpeakerRate.

Lots More SQL To Come

If you’re interested in more topics and sessions on SQL Server, the Nashville SQL Server User Group is hosting a SQLSaturday #51 in just a couple of weeks (August 21, 2010). There are over 30 great sessions presented by SQL Server MVPs, authors, and industry experts from around the country. And it’s completely free. Space is limited so register soon.

Thanks again and I hope to see you at SQLSaturday #51!

Filed under DMVs, Events, Optimization, SQLServerPedia Syndication, T-SQL

DevLINK, Music City’s Own Technical Conference

July 30, 2010 Leave a comment

To many, August represents the lazy dog days of summer when it’s too hot to even think about going outside. To others, this time of year conjures up thoughts of going back to school, either for us or for our kids. Still others, think of bacon.

But for the technical crowd in Nashville, August is the time of year for one of the best values going in conferences: devLINK. This year, devLINK is August 5 – 7 at Lipscomb University, One University Park Drive Nashville, TN  37204. There are over 150 sessions scheduled. It costs only $100. That’s a great value.

I’m presenting a couple of sessions at this year’s devLINK. One is in the SQL Server track; the other is in the Professional Development realm.

Locking and Blocking Made Simple

A good working knowledge of how SQL Server makes use of locking and transaction isolation levels can go a long way toward improving an application’s performance. In this session, we will explore SQL Server’s locking methodology and discover techniques for enhancing query response times.

Conducting Effective Meetings

Ever been in a meeting that drones on and on? It starts late, runs long, and doesn’t really accomplish anything. It’s a complete waste of everyone’s time. Worse yet, since nothing was resolved you’ll have to have a follow up meeting. Argh! In this session you’ll learn some of the keys to conducting an effective meeting. You’ll gain practical tips for making your meetings more productive and dramatically improving one of the most inefficient parts of your day.

If you’re going to devLINK, look me up and perhaps we can chat during one of breaks.

Filed under Events, Professional Development, SQLServerPedia Syndication

Writing Better Queries in Steel City

July 13, 2010 2 Comments

T-SQL is a very forgiving language. As long as you have the basic syntax of the statement correct, SQL Server assumes you know what you’re doing and it will gladly do your bidding for you.

But anyone who has written queries for very long will tell you that not all queries are created equally. Some return with results in under a second; we like those almost as much as we like bacon. Almost. Some take a few minutes to mull over the data and get back to you; that’s like fake bacon. And alas, some queries will run for eternity minus one.

So what’s the difference? And how can we go for the bacon and avoid the fake bacon and eternity minus one queries?

That’s the topic of a presentation I’m delivering at the Steel City SQL Server User Group meeting next week. If you’re in the Central Alabama area, I hope you’ll come out and join me.

Update:
The meeting starts at 600pm on Tuesday, July 20th, 2010 at
601 Beacon Pkwy, West Suite 106
Birmingham AL 35209.

When you enter the office park, there’s an office building immediately on the right, follow the short curve past it to the next building, it is the New Horizons one.

Filed under Community, Events, Optimization, SQLServerPedia Syndication, T-SQL

PowerShell and Effective Meetings at PASS 2010

July 12, 2010 2 Comments

Last week, PASS announced this year’s program for the 2010 Summit in Seattle, Washington. The program session are available online. This year I had a couple of abstracts that were accepted for the Summit.

Conducting Effective Meetings

The standard for meeting room chairs

Over my umpteen year career in consulting, I’ve patiently sat through literally hundreds of hours of meetings. Some of them were time well spent; most unfortunately were not. Time, money, and even moral are lost during worthless meetings that go on and on seemingly without reason or care.

Over the years I’ve done some research and made my own observations about systematic ways to help ensure that meetings are more productive and not just a big time sink for everyone involved. In this session I’ll share some of the best practices I’ve learned that will help you conduct more effective meetings. I’ll also share some tips that can help you to make the meetings that you don’t run a bit more effective too.

The PowerShell Cookbook for the DBA

When PowerShell was first announced, I was very reluctant. Frankly, I didn’t want to spend the time learning a new technology that 1) may be found wanting when compared to counterparts like PERL and 2) may not be around after a few years due to a low adoption rate. My skepticism was pretty high and my enthusiasm was low.

However since then I’ve become a big fan of PowerShell. It definitely lives up to its name. It’s a powerful object-based scripting language built on the .net framework that’s completely integrated with the Windows environment. It natively knows about the Windows Registry, the devices, and the environment, making many tasks relatively easy.

In this session, I’ll share with you some of the scripts I’ve used to collect and analyze server settings and performance data. Most of my sessions are 50% demonstration; this one may have an even higher percentage of demos.

Question:

  • What tasks do you use PowerShell to accomplish?
  • What are some of your more monotonous activities that could be automated with PowerShell?
  • What kind of scripts would you like to see in my demos?

Filed under Business, Events, PowerShell, SQLServerPedia Syndication

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