Search results matching tags 'Database Design' and 'PASS'

24 Hours of PASS next week, pre-con preview style

drsql — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 00:53:47 GMT

I will be doing my Characteristics of a Great Relational Database, which is a session that I haven’t done since last PASS. When I was asked about doing this Summit Preview version of 24 hours of PASS, I decided that I would do this session, largely because it is kind of light and fun, but also because it is either going to be the basis of the end section of my pre-con at the summit or it is going to be the section of the pre-con we don’t get to because we are so involved in working out designs that we forget the time and the next day’s precon people start arriving and kick us out.

The session is basically a discussion about the finishing touches that make a database better than average, something you can rave about, something you can brag to your significant other about, something your company will run a Super Bowl ad just thanking you for… Well, ok, seriously, a database that won’t cause you and your coworkers to ralph each time you use it is a solid step towards the way you will want to develop your databases.

The goal is to be reasonably like at a little bit fun, since I am doing the presentation at 11:00 PM Central Time in the US, and well, that isn’t exactly prime SQL time for most people. In Europe it will be the middle of the night, and in half of the US I will be competing with the national news and the end of the football game between the New York Giants and Carolina Panthers. If the game is close, I will be happy to share your attention, and heck, if my internet connection would support streaming video and the sharing client I would probably be watching the game myself (as it is, I will probably TiVo it and watch it on my phone via SlingBox when we are done…yes, I have a little bit of a football problem.)

If you want to attend my session, click here and register. Even if database design isn’t your thing, 24 hours of PASS has (hold on to your hat) 24 different sessions in a 24 hour period to choose from. So click on over to the 24HOP Speaker/Session list and pick your sessions and register for them. I look forward to seeing you (well your name in the list) at the event.

But db design is your thing (or you want it to be!), and you want to get a full day dose on the Monday before PASS, try my pre-con on Relational Database Design. It is going to be a great day, there will be plenty of learning, lots of swag (including at least 30 copies of my book to give away,) and some practical experience doing a bit of team based design. In any case it will be better than a normal Monday at the office.

PASS Week/Speaking/Doing Schedule

drsql — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 23:20:08 GMT

Well, we are finally here at what is the secular version of the holiday season for Microsoft SQL Server nerd types, the week of the SQLPASS Summit. This year, I am speaking 3 times and will also be doing the Quiz Bowl at the Welcome Reception, so I am going to be busy. If you are here and are interested in database design, please do stop by and check out my sessions.

Monday and Tuesday I will be in side sessions that are NDA for much of the day, and that is probably all that I can say. Tuesday night will be the Quiz Bowl where Tim Ford and I will attempt to one up ourselves and attempt to (along with some unwitting (but hopefully full of wit) experts) entertain you with our yearly Jeopardy-esque wanna be game show.

Wednesday, from 1-1:30, a bunch of the writers of the SQL Server MVP Deep Dives 2 book will be signing copies for you (there is a second signing at 7:15 - 8 AM on Friday, if you can stomach the earliness). If you want to see what is in the book, check http://www.manning.com/delaney/. The book will be on sale starting Tuesday afternoon for you if you want is signed or not. Note that all author proceeds of the book are going to charity (this edition’s proceeds going to http://www.operationsmile.org/), so you get a good book with lots of different subjects, and make a donation to a worthy cause. I am almost certain that you get an ebook edition of the book for free with the paper version that you can read on your portable device as well.

At 4:45 - 6 PM, I will be doing my "Characteristics of a Great Relational Database " session that was picked up as an alternate . This needs to be a very interactive session, and my hope is to learn a bit from your ideas as well as the slides I have prepared. The session is fairly light and a bit humorous, so if you are feeling particularly serious and sour, well, my Thursday session is far less fun:

Thursday afternoon, from 3-4:15 PM, I will be presenting "Database Design Fundamentals" which presents a more deep dive on the concepts that go into designing a relational database. My goal here is to present the basics of the process of creating a database from conception until you are ready to start typing CREATE TABLE statements.

Friday, I will be in a panel discussion called "Are you a Linchpin? Career management lessons to help you become indispensible.", representing the corporate developers in the world who like that they have one set of problems to solve that while the basis never varies, can never really be solved because the demand outstrips the realities of the day. Other members of the panel include Jeremiah Peschka, Stacia Misner, Kevin Kline, Brent Ozar, Thomas LaRock, Andy Warren, Andy Leonard

Saturday I go home...

See you in Columbus Saturday?

drsql — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 04:32:45 GMT

Assuming all goes as planned, I will be in Columbus, OH this Friday night and Saturday for SQL Saturday 75. I really love SQL Saturday events the best of all of the events because they are very intimate in nature. As a fairly antisocial person, I sometimes get overwhelmed by the size of other events, even the SQL Rally was just barely in my comfort range. Here the number of people and size of rooms just feels like home, like you are shooting the breeze with a group of friends.

My session will be at 9:00 AM (full schedule), so don’t be late!

Characteristics of a Great Relational Database
When queried, most database professionals would mention normalized as one of the most important characteristics that tell the difference between a good and bad database design. I won't disagree in the least, but there is so much more to be considered. Even if you did a great job of normalization, poor naming, poorly implemented keys, too many or too few indexes, and so on can derail your design. In this session I will present seven primary characteristics of a design that differentiates between an ugly design that will have your colleagues nitpicking you to death and one that will have them singing your praises. Characteristics such as comprehendible, documented, secure, well performing, and more (including normalized, naturally) will be discussed.

It is the second time I will do this presentation, and the first time where I can see the faces of the recipients, so it will be nice to gauge how people like it. It is a lot of fun actually, though no matter what I am talking about I want to talk more about normalization, which I believe is the key to improving the databases of the future. So many of the session that are given at these things are geared towards systems that are already screwed up and limping along, and I really want to evangelize the merits of doing it right. That is where this presentation fits in, the time period between design and performance tuning, where you determine the future work that is done with the system. Is it well performing, understandable, easy to maintain and use? Or does it take a crew of ten thousand DBAs doing nothing but putting their fingers in the leaks to keep the thing running?

And don’t forget all of those BI sessions too… The better you do with the relational database, the easier the dimensional designer/implementers have it too.

Anyhow, I hope to see you all there (well, not all of you, just the SQL nerds who are reading this. The history buffs who are still wondering why we are going to be inside the founder of our continent this weekend, well, you I feel sorry for you.

NOSQL- A Quick Overview

KKline — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 03:55:00 GMT

Several attendees at the SQLRally were asking about NoSQL ("Not Only SQL") and its benefits. This article gives a quick overview: HERE.

Also, two good resources have come out from my friend Guy Harrison. This piece on Cassandra, one of the most popular NoSQL databases, was published a while back in Database Trends and Applications Magazine. I also really liked these entries from Guy at TechRepublic and TechTarget. Guy also had the good fortune of having one of his articles published on GigaOm and then picked up in the New York Times Technology section.

The article, titled “Real World NoSQL: HBase at Trend Micro,” is the first in a five-part series Guy wrote, spotlighting NoSQL (non-relational) database deployments at five different companies. The other good learning experience for me was hearing about GigaOm for the first time. GigaOm, now on my reading list, is considered an influential and prestigious publication in the NoSQL realm.

Let me know what you think. Enjoy!

-Kev

~~~

Twitter at kekline

It's the Atlanta Attendance Contest!

KKline — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 15:02:00 GMT

I'm speaking tonight on Top 10 Mistakes DBAs Make at the Atlanta SQL Server User Group meeting in Alpharetta, GA. You can find all of the details here.

The Best Dang Design Book for SQL Server Professionals - EVER!

I thought I'd liven things up a bit with a little contest. The rules are simple:

A. If you don't follow me on Twitter, then follow me by clicking here.

B. If you already follow me on Twitter, then tweet the details for tonight's event.

C. Every new follower or current follower who retweeted the details and then attends the event tonight will get a free ebook for Professional SQL Server 2008 Design and Implementation by my buddy and fellow Nashvillian Louis Davidson (blog | twitter).

As the fine print usually says, "Must be present to win". But just to liven things up a little bit extra, I'll pull several names from the hat of all the folks who were NOT present but followed or retweeted the event details between now and 6:30 PM EST tonight.

Thanks and good luck!

-Kev

Sessions I Submitted to the PASS Summit 2010

andyleonard — Wed, 26 May 2010 11:00:00 GMT

Introduction

I'm borrowing an idea and blog post title from Brent Ozar (Blog - @BrentO). I am honored the PASS Summit 2010 (Seattle, 8 - 11 Nov 2010) would consider allowing me to present. It's a truly awesome event. If you have an opportunity to attend and read this blog, please find me and introduce yourself.

If you've built a cool solution to a business or technical problem; or written a script - or a bunch of scripts - to automate part of your daily / weekly / monthly routine; or have some advice on community or career development; I urge you to submit an abstract (or four) to present at the PASS Summit 2010. The Call for Speakers is open until 5 Jun 2010!

I submitted the following four sessions to the PASS Summit this year:

Applied SSIS Design Patterns, Part 2 (Level 400 Spotlight)

"Design Patterns" is more than a trendy buzz phrase; design patterns are a way of breaking down complex development projects into manageable tasks. They lend themselves to several development methodologies and apply to SSIS development. Chances are you're using your own design patterns now! At the PASS Summit 2009, Andy Leonard demonstrated ways to use some less-deocumented features of SSIS. At the PASS Summit 2010 Andy shares more SSIS Design Patterns.

This session includes patterns:
- to migrate SSIS packages through your enterprise without editing connection managers;
- to load data from variable-length row files;
- to extend the functionality of the parent-child pattern to create SSIS execution groups.

The session is designed for those with little or no exposure to design patterns or application development methodologies; but with good experience in SSIS. The goal is to introduce the science, terminology, and philosophy of design patterns to those wishing to learn more.

ETL With SSIS (Pre- / Post-Conference)

SQL Server MVP Andy Leonard spends a day walking you through creating an ETL Solution in SSIS to load a Relational Data Warehouse.

Topics include:
- A Brief SSIS Refresher: Business Intelligence Developer Studio
- Relational DW Design Concepts: Dimensions and Facts
- The Dimension
- The Date Dimension
- The Fact
- Externalized Metadata
- Logging
- Execution Strategy
- Monitoring and Maintenance

Database Design for Developers (Level 200)

This session is for software developers tasked with database development. Attend and learn about patterns and anti-patterns of database development, one method for building re-executable Transact-SQL deployment scripts, a method for using SqlCmd to deploy re-executable Transact-SQL deployment scripts, and fodder for a lively discussion about NULLs.

Build Your First SSIS Package (Level 100)

This highly-interactive, demo-intense presentation is for beginners and developers just getting started with SSIS. Attend and learn how to build SSIS packages from the ground up.

Conclusion

Not every submission is selected and that's ok. As I stated earlier, I'm honored to participate in the PASS Summit in any capacity. I hope to see you there!

:{> Andy

SQL Saturday is Coming to Nashville! Won't You?

KKline — Tue, 18 May 2010 02:42:00 GMT

How 'Bout a Little Context?

Let me be direct with you. I love SQL Saturday. If it were a woman, I'd marry it. (Avoiding all extraneous thoughts of what my real wife would say, etc etc).

Check out this fun Flickr Feed from the recent SQL Saturday in Chicago or these picks by Jorge Segara (blog | twitter) to see the sort of fun that's in store. But who can argue with a day of free SQL Server training and a chance to network with great presenters and a wide swath of your peers?

Keynotes are more fun when the put-downs fly!

I've tried to support SQL Saturday as much as I can since Andy Warren (blog | twitter) launched the program a couple years back and have spoken at several. You might say to yourself, "Self, Kevin works for a vendor. Don't they want him to speak at as many SQL Saturdays as is humanly possible?" Well, Mr. Self, you'd be mistaken. You see there's a keyword in the name that might reveal why my employer doesn't provide unlimited enthusiasm for me to speak ... it's the SATURDAY part of the whole thing. Yes, of course, my employer wants me there. But they also recognize that Saturdays are my own and that, if I spend a day or two there on the weekend (including the travel time), then that's a sacrifice of my own choice. I would still need to be at work and on task bright and early on Monday morning. Not that they'd make me, it's just that my job is the sort that work is never simply skipped, it is only ever deferred. So if I took a comp day, which they'd gladly provide, I'd still have to finish the work somehow, someway. All of this goes to say that I really, really love SQL Saturday, the community vibe that it creates, the volunteers who drive it, the folks who attend. So I'm happy to give up a few days throughout the year to support it.

Come to Nashville in August!

Guitar, Cowboy Boots, Cowboy Hat, and Tight Denim NOT Required

My good friends Joe Webb (blog | twitter) and Louis Davidson (blog | twitter) have been angling to host a SQL Saturday here in Nashville for quite a while. As co-leaders of the local PASS chapter in middle Tennessee, it made a lot of sense to host an event like this. I wasn't at all resistant to the idea, I just didn't want to do the work myself. However, they did a great job of getting the ball rolling and even took on the majority of work themselves. Together with other volunteers in our local chapter - Shelton Dickson, Roberto Lopez, and Christina Leo - we've all set to work to host SQL Saturday #51.

The event will be hosted on Saturday, August 21st at the shiny new facility of Nashville State Community College located at 120 White Bridge Rd. Nashville, TN 37209:

If you'd like to attend, check out all the details here. Joe Webb and Christina Leo get all the credit for logistics.

If you'd like to speak, read the details in our call for speakers here. Louis Davidson is running the program selection process.

If you'd like to sponsor, sign up on-line here. This one is my responsibility.

It's free to register, there is a $10 fee if you want us to provide lunch. And remember, seats always fill up fast!

If you're going to attend and you have a twitter account, be sure to tweet using #sqlsat51!

I hope to see you there in August!

Join Me May 19th for 24 Hours of PASS

KKline — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 14:16:00 GMT

Join Us for 24 Hours of SQL Server Training

(with a special focus on SQL Server 2008 R2)

Did I mention that your Cohorts in Crime (that be me and Brent Ozar) are presenting?!?

The FREE 24 Hours of PASS event is bringing an exceptional lineup of SQL Server and BI experts to your computer starting at 12:00 GMT (UTC) on May 19.

Get an in-depth look at the hottest SQL Server and BI topics, including (but not limited to!) - the new SQL Server 2008 R2, with its business intelligence and data management innovations, and much more.

When does it start? 12:00 GMT (UTC):

New York: 08:00
Chicago: 07:00
San Francisco: 05:00
London: 13:00
Paris: 14:00
Moscow: 16:00
Mumbai: 17:30
Singapore: 20:00
Sydney: 22:00

The roster of phenomenal speakers features many MVPs and top-rated presenters, including Adam Machanic, Andy Leonard, Brad McGehee, Brent Ozar, Brian Knight, Chuck Heinzelman, Dean Richards, Don Kiely, Don Vilen, Donald Farmer, Glenn Berry, Greg Low, Jacob Sebastian, Jessica Moss, Kevin Cox, Kevin Kline, Louis Davidson, Maciej Pilecki, Peter Myers, Peter Ward, Rushabh Mehta, Sean McCown, Simon Sabin, Thomas Grosher.

Check out all the great SQL Server sessions you can attend for FREE. Share this information with a friend or colleague.

PASS is looking forward to having you join us all for this exceptional event. Please contact us at 24hrs@sqlpass.org with any questions. You can also find lots of general details at http://www.sqlpass.org/24hours/2010/.