I was originally schedule in the 24th slot of the upcoming 24 Hours of PASS which was to begin at 7am ET on May 26.  I called it the Grand Finale.

As with many events, schedule conflicts arise. So, the Grand Finale session will now be referred to me as the Grant Finale session.  Grant Fritchey will now be speaking at 7am ET on May 26.  My session will be where Grant's was before the change - May 25 @7pm ET..  See the entire schedule here: http://www.sqlpass.org/24hours/2016/edp/Schedule.aspx

My original post about this incarnation of 24 Hours of PASS is here: http://sqlblog.com/blogs/rick_heiges/archive/2016/05/18/24-hours-of-pass-evolution-of-the-data-platform.aspx 

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Since SQL Server 2012, Database Mirroring (DBM) has been a deprecated feature meaning that it will be eventually removed in a future version of SQL Server.  It is still available in SQL Server 2016.  One of the best things about DBM is that it was a limited feature in Standard Edition since SQL Server 2005. The AG feature first introduced in SQL Server 2012 was the successor of DBM, but there were some details which prevented it from being offered at the Standard Edition level such as the requirement for Active Directory Domain security.

To address the eventual removal of DBM from SQL Server, Microsoft has created a new level of AG called a Basic Availability Group.  It is to be very similar to the pros/cons of DBM in Standard Edition today.  The following represent a summary of the new Basic AG:

-          Maximum of Two (2) Replicas (the Primary and one secondary)

-          One (1) database per AG

-          The Secondary Replica is not Active/Readable, but a Database Snapshot could still be utilized

-          Microsoft Clustering Services(MSCS) Required - No Witness – MSCS detects failover via quorum

Due to this new term of Basic Availability Group, the current term of Availability Group may also be referenced as Advanced Availability Group going forward.

One other difference between DBM and a Basic AG is that the Basic AG supports both Synchronous and Asynchronous modes.  DBM only supported Synchronous mode.  I believe the main reason for this change is to make it easier for the secondary replica to be in an Azure VM.  DBM is still in SQL Server 2016; I would have to believe that it will not be in the next release of SQL Server - whenever that is.

Here is another blog post about SQL Server 2016 Availability Groups.  http://sqlblog.com/blogs/rick_heiges/archive/2016/01/20/new-article-what-s-new-in-sql-server-2016-availability-groups.aspx

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http://www.sqlsaturday.com/470/eventhome.aspx

My topic is "First Look at SQL Server 2016".  Microsoft has been busy working on the next version of SQL Server - SQL Server 2016.  We will go over some of the new features at a high level and dig deeper on Row Level Security and StretchDB.  Row Level Security allows you to add another layer of security to your environment.  StretchDB will allow you to transparently place part or all of a table into a SQL Azure DB freeing up your valuable SAN space for data that is COLD.I also plan on being available throughout the day to answer questions on SQL Server 2016 to the best of my ability.

I am currently scheduled for the first session in the morning.  I hope to see you there!  After my session is complete, I will try to find a table perhaps near the vendors to answer any questions that you may have about SQL Server 2016.

Introduction

Recently, an article of mine was published by TechTarget.com on the SearchSQLServer.com site titled “An introduction to SQL Server 2016 dynamic data masking” which can be found here.  I encourage you to read the article in order to get the most out of this blog post and to better understand this feature.  This article was based on the SQL Server 2016 CTP 2.2 release.  Since CTP 2.4 was recently released, I decided to run my script from the article and look for behavior differences. 

The Difference

Everything in my script worked the same except for where I test using a “SELECT INTO” approach to get around the data masking.  Here is the code snippet and result from the article.

Execute as user = 'TestUser'; Select * INTO dbo.maskemployee from dbo.employee; REVERT;   Grant select on maskemployee to TestUser;   Execute as user = 'TestUser'; Select * from dbo.maskemployee; REVERT;

 

When I ran this portion of my script in CTP 2.4, I was happy to see that the security hole had been addressed.  The “SELECT INTO” now creates the maskemployee table with the masked data INSTEAD of the real data.  On a side note, I also ran this script in CTP 2.3; the behavior was the same as CTP 2.2.

What about Azure SQL Database?

The Azure SQL Database preview was also recently updated.  I am happy to report that the above behavior is consistent with that outlined above.  One other note that I’d like to make about Dynamic Data Masking in Azure is that there are now suggestions for columns to be masked and also suggestions of what type of mask to use when navigating the blades.  I think that this is a good idea for those just starting to play with this feature, but that it will most likely go unused once the user is more experienced

Summary

As SQL Server 2016 gets closer to release next year, the CTP releases show progress on how the team at Microsoft is moving forward.  I imagine the team is starting to move into the “fit & finish” phase of some of these features.  I continue to look forward to see what’s next.

 

I am pleased to announce that I will be speaking at SQL Saturday #440 on October 3, 2015!

I am originally from Western PA and it is always good to get back "Home".  This will be my 3rd time at this SQL Saturday event.  There is still time to register.  Go to the following link:  http://www.sqlsaturday.com/440/eventhome.aspx 

My topic is "First Look at SQL Server 2016".  Microsoft has been busy working on the next version of SQL Server - SQL Server 2016.  We will go over some of the new features at a high level and dig deeper on Row Level Security and StretchDB.  Row Level Security allows you to add another layer of security to your environment.  StretchDB will allow you to transparently place part or all of a table into a SQL Azure DB freeing up your valuable SAN space for data that is COLD.I also plan on being available throughout the day to answer questions on SQL Server 2016 to the best of my ability.

This should be a great event!  Help make great by being part of it!  See you there!

The following is an observation and not a swipe at the process.  As I understand the current process, the regional seats are filled first before the open seats are filled.

We have 4 excellent candidates running for 3 seats on the PASS BoD this year.  One seat is earmarked for EMEA; one is for US/Canada; and one is open.  We have 1 candidate that qualifies for the EMEA seat - Jen Stirrup.  This means that Jen will be re-elected. The remaining three candidates are all eligible for the other two seats - one US/Canada and one Open. 

When you cast your vote, there are three main scenarios as I see it:

 - Scenario 1: Don't vote for Jen and cast three votes for the other candidates.  This effectively means that you voted but really did not vote.  BTW, I am not advocating that you don't vote for Jen - this is an observation on the situation and no endorsement is put forth here.

- Scenario 2: You vote for Jen and you need to pick 1 or 2 of the others - OR - you don't vote for Jen and cast only two votes for the other candidates.  This will at least make your vote impact the results in some aspect. Again, there is no advocacy here to support or not support any particular candidate.

- Scenario 3: You only cast a vote for the ONE candidate that you feel most strongly about.  Perhaps this magnifies your vote the most.  Again, I am just illustrating how you vote impacts the results.

As an aside, you can't vote more than once for a particular candidate; in other words you can't cast all three of your votes for Candidate A.  At this point, I am unsure of what I am going to do. But I will vote.  I hope that this blog post will make you do some additional research on the candidates before deciding how to cast your vote. I'm sure that all of these candidates want to make sure that you have an informed opinion when you cast your vote.

Go Research and then Go Vote! 

SQL Saturday finally comes to South Dakota!  Register Now! - http://www.sqlsaturday.com/427/eventhome.aspx

 Here are some of the other featured speakers:

Database Snapshots - Making Your Job Easier            Paul Timmerman

Continuous Integration for Databases                           Steve Jones

Developing SQL Skills                                                        Panel Discussion

I will be doing a session titled "A First Look at SQL Server 2016" which will first highlight the new features coming out in the next version and also focus on two features that I have had more exposure to - Row Level Security and StretchDB

If you are in the area, please drop by and experience SQL Saturday for yourself.  Best of all - it is FREE!