SQL PFE @ PASS Summit
I have been a long time supporter and attendee of the PASS Summit. Last year I even had the pleasure of being a first time speaker. Unfortunately, this year I am unable to attend, but I wanted to take the time to tell you about a number of my fellow PFEs who will be attending and speaking at the summit in Charlotte. The great thing about PFE is that we work with large scale customer environments every day. We not only get to see a lot of strange issues, but we also help with many strategic initiatives with our customers. There are a number of PFEs attending and will be helping out in the SQL Clinic alongside CTS and SQL CAT folks. Stop on by!
We have 3 SQL PFEs speaking this year! Their sessions are all going to be great and definitely worth attending:
Daniel Sol is presenting SQL Server Performance and Monitoring in Windows Azure at Scale
Tim Chapman ( @chapmandew ) and Denzil Ribeiro ( @denzilribeiro ) are giving an awesome session on Transaction Log Internals
Tim Chapman is teaching a session on Index Internals
Tim has also teamed up with Thomas LaRock (not a PFE, but no one Is perfect) to present Query Performance Tuning: A 12 Step Method
These will all be great sessions! The PASS Summit is a great event for training, networking, and to see how other companies solve similar problems. It is a great way to get new ideas and find ways to improve performance and efficiency in your environment.
Here is more info on the PFE sessions:
SQL Server Performance and Monitoring in Windows Azure at Scale [CLD-307-M]
Speaker(s) : Daniel Sol
Duration: 75 minutes
Track: Cloud Application Development & Deployment
This session will focus on lessons learned from performance tuning one of the largest Windows Azure SQL Database deployments in the world. We’ll work through the approach and methodology used in the process, especially in the non-functional testing and monitoring phase. We’ll also look at design decisions and match them to real examples, digging into how the monitoring requirements were defined and how the design was turned into reality.
SQL Server Transaction Log Internals [DBA-406-M]
Speaker(s) : Tim Chapman Denzil Ribeiro
Duration: 75 minutes
Track: Enterprise Database Administration & Deployment
The transaction log plays the most critical role in any SQL Server database. In this session, you’ll learn the importance of the transaction log and go inside the roles it plays inside the database engine. You’ll see how logging and recovery work, explore the checkpoint process and write-ahead logging, and walk through the steps you need to take as a DBA to ensure proper management of the transaction log for a SQL Server database.
SQL Server Index Internals: A Deep Dive [DBA-405-M]
Speaker(s) : Tim Chapman
Duration: 75 minutes
Track: Enterprise Database Administration & Deployment
Have you ever wondered what an index actually looks like under the covers? Are you curious as to how SQL Server indexes retrieve data so quickly? In this session, we'll discuss index internals and how SQL Server creates, maintains, and uses indexes internally for normal operations. We’ll cover topics such as index data structures, query optimization (briefly), and maintaining indexes and statistics. After this session, you’ll understand the DMVs available in SQL Server 2012 for viewing index internals, what data is available at each level of the index btree structure and how to make meaningful use of that data, and how data is retrieved through efficient index usage.
Query Performance Tuning: A 12-Step Method [DBA-316]
Speaker(s) : Thomas LaRock Tim Chapman
Duration: 75 minutes
Track: Enterprise Database Administration & Deployment
Performance tuning is hard; everyone knows that. But it can be faster and easier if you have a defined process to follow. This session breaks performance tuning down into 12 easy-to-follow steps to help you understand what actions to take (and when) to improve query performance. If you’ve ever been handed a query and told to “make it go,” these 12 steps are what you need to get the job done in the shortest amount of time.
I also want to give a shout out to fellow Microsoft support colleagues Bob Ward and Adam Saxton who will also be giving amazing sessions on SQL Server 2012 Memory and Power View Performance. Their sessions are always a must see.
Curt Mathews and Shon Hauck are giving a full day precon on Availability Groups as well. It is not too late to sign up for a precon, and this is a good one!
Since I won’t be there to cheer on my teammates, good luck guys!
Thanks,
Lisa Gardner
@SQLGardner