David E. Myers' Blog ( www.DavidEMyers.com )

OttawaSQL.net December Event: SQL Server Linked Servers and Failover Clusters

December 3^rd Evening Event

Session 1: Setting Up and Using SQL Server Linked Servers, Jean Sigouin

Session 2: DemoFest - SQL Server 2008 Failover Cluster on Windows Server 2008, Edwin Sarmiento

Date: Thursday, December 3^rd, 2009

Time: 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM

Venue: Microsoft Ottawa Office

RSVP: http://www.clicktoattend.com/?id=143475

Event Sponsors:

Pizza and pop will be provided by our event sponsors Dream Digital ( dreamdigital.com ) and Opulent ASP Development Inc. ( OpulentASP.com )

Session 1: Setting Up and Using SQL Server Linked Servers, Jean Sigouin

Having access to data, wherever it might be is critical for business.  In a world where data is stored and distributed onto multiple database servers and multiple server platforms, it’s important to have the tools to bring it all together in a seamless, integrated point of access.  The goal of this session is to show the DBA how to use SQL Server’s “Linked Server” capabilities to build bridges between a SQL Server instance and separate SQL Servers, Oracle, Access, Excel and pretty much any other data source out there.  You will see how to retrieve, combine and modify data from a linked SQL Server.  Techniques to abstract linked server objects to improve usability and simplify queries will also be covered.

Speaker Bio:

Jean Sigouin began his career as a software and database designer at an aerospace company then continued at a biomedical high-tech manufacturing company.  Jean has been working in IT for 20 years as a DBA, software architect, business analyst, development team manager and developer.  He has been a SQL Server consultant for the last 2 years.  Jean has been administering SQL Servers and developing databases for the last 15 years.  Jean has expertise in designing large databases tuned for highly transactional OLTP database systems, SSIS, SSRS, SSAS, T SQL coding, database tuning & optimization, replication, administration and disaster recovery.

Session 2: DemoFest - SQL Server 2008 Failover Cluster on Windows Server 2008, Edwin Sarmiento

This session is all about demos - providing step-by-step instructions on how to install SQL Server 2008 Failover Cluster instance on a Windows Server 2008 cluster.

Speaker Bio:

Edwin M. Sarmiento (MVP for SQL Server) works as a Senior SQL Server DBA/Systems Engineer for The Pythian Group in Ottawa, Canada. He is very passionate about technology but has interests in music, professional and organizational development, leadership and management matters when not working with databases. He lives up to his primary mission statement - "To help people grow and develop their full potential as God has planned for them.".

Note: No one will be admitted by building security after 5:55 PM, and the event will start promptly at 6:00 PM.

OttawaSQL.net is a community group of Ottawa area developers and IT professionals.  We share an interest in Microsoft’s data technologies especially:  SQL Server, SharePoint, PerformancePoint, Workflow Foundations, LINQ, ADO.NET and Entity Framework.

OttawaSQL.net Event: Increase Performance of your SQL Server Applications, Michelle Gutzait

November 12^th Evening Event:

Increase Performance of your SQL Server Applications -

Performance Tuning for Developers and DBAs, Michelle Gutzait

Speaker: Michelle Gutzait

Date: Thursday, November 12^th, 2009

Time: 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM

Venue: Microsoft Ottawa Office

RSVP: http://www.clicktoattend.com/?id=142866

Session:

Performance degradation of an application due to database growth or coding against database performance best practices is very common. This could often result in rewriting parts of the application or partial database redesign. This session is about how to prevent performance issues as much as possible and also how to tune applications when performance degrades. One of the goals of the presentation is to give some tips around how we can be proactive by designing our database and application to be more scalable and possibly more performance. It contains information for the DBA as well as for the developer, in relation to the database and database environment.

Speaker Bio:

Michelle Gutzait is the SQL Server Team Lead for The Pythian Group, a worldwide company providing Remote Administration services for databases, operating systems, SANs and networks. Michelle has been involved in IT for 20 years as a developer, business analyst and database consultant. For the past 10 years, she has worked exclusively with SQL Server.  Her skills include SQL infrastructure and database design, performance tuning, security, high availability, disaster recovery, very large databases, replication, T-SQL coding, DTS/SSIS packages, administrative and infrastructure tools development, reporting services and more.  She regularly blogs at http://michelle-Gutzait.spaces.live.com

Refreshments:

Pizza and pop will be provided.

Note: No one will be admitted by building security after 5:55 PM, and the event will start promptly at 6:00 PM.

OttawaSQL.net is a community group of Ottawa area developers and IT professionals.  We share an interest in Microsoft’s data technologies especially:  SQL Server, SharePoint, PerformancePoint, Workflow Foundations, LINQ, ADO.NET and Entity Framework.

October 15th Evening SQL Server DBA Event: Disaster Recovery - Edwin Sarmiento, MVP for SQL Server

October 15^th Evening SQL Server DBA Event: Disaster Recovery - Edwin Sarmiento, MVP for SQL Server

Speaker: Edwin M. Sarmiento, MVP for SQL Server

Date: Thursday, October 15^th, 2009

Time: 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM

Venue: Microsoft Ottawa Office

RSVP: http://www.clicktoattend.com/?id=142063

Session 1 (6:00 PM to 7:10 PM):  Understanding and communicating business-orientated disaster recovery  concepts and objectives

So you have a database maintenance plan that does a backup of your databases and you’re pretty sure that it works fine. But is that really enough? Are you sure that you will be able to meet your service level agreements if and when disaster strikes? This session will explain the need for understanding and communicating business-orientated disaster recovery concepts and objectives to the business stakeholders. This will include defining your RPO and RTO and how it affects your disaster recovery plan.

Session 2 (7:20 to 8:30 PM):  Disaster Recovery for the Paranoid DBA

In the first session, much have been said about disaster recovery in general. In this session, we will look at bringing the concepts down to SQL Server. This session will focus on dealing with a recovery situation for a SQL Server 2005/2008 database, an instance or an entire server. Topics covered will be backup schemes, partial backups and piecemeal restores, page-level recovery and a thorough understanding of how to troubleshoot a "Suspect" database.

Speaker Bio:

Edwin M. Sarmiento (MVP for SQL Server) works as a Senior SQL Server DBA/Systems Engineer for The Pythian Group in Ottawa, Canada. He is very passionate about technology but has interests in music, professional and organizational development, leadership and management matters when not working with databases. He lives up to his primary mission statement - "To help people grow and develop their full potential as God has planned for them.".

Refreshments:

Pizza and pop will be provided.

Note: No one will be admitted by building security after 5:55 PM, and the event will start promptly at 6:00 PM.

OttawaSQL.net is a community group of Ottawa area developers and IT professionals.  We share an interest in Microsoft’s data technologies especially:  SQL Server, SharePoint, PerformancePoint, Workflow Foundations, LINQ, ADO.NET and Entity Framework.

September SQL Server Events in Ottawa

This month we are happy to announce 3 excellent SQL Server training events in Ottawa at the Microsoft office.  Check the RSVP link for event details.

September 17^th Evening:

• Presented by the Ottawa Windows Server User Group
• Topic: How to protect  SQL Server using Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 SP1 (DPM)
• Speaker: Islam Gomaa
• Time: 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
• RSVP: http://www.clicktoattend.com/?id=141173

September 21^st Lunch:

• Topic: Why RPO and RTO should be a requirement in disaster recovery plan
• Speaker: Edwin M. Sarmiento
• Time: 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM
• RSVP: http://www.clicktoattend.com/?id=141028

September 23^rd Evening:

• Unleash Management Studio 2.0, Don Kiely
• SQL Server Efficiencies: Sparse Columns and Filtered Indexes, Don Kiely
• Speaker: Don Kiely
• Time: 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM
• RSVP: http://www.clicktoattend.com/?id=141029

OttawaSQL.net is a community group of Ottawa area developers and IT professionals.  We share an interest in Microsoft’s data technologies especially:  SQL Server, SharePoint, PerformancePoint, Workflow Foundations, LINQ, ADO.NET and Entity Framework.

Windows 7 RTM Demo Machine

Earlier this month I presented a SQL Server Reporting Services session to the Ottawa SQL Server user group.  I was a bit hesitant to re-install my presentation machine to move from Windows 7 RC to RTM.  After all, I didn’t have a lot of time after Windows 7 RTM was released on MSDN before I needed to present.  I decided to bite the bullet and do it anyway.  It turned out to be a good move (hey, sometimes even I’m lucky :)

I was able to run my demos flawlessly using SQL Server 2008 SP1, running on a Windows Server 2008 SP2 virtual machine.  I ran everything from the VM in full screen mode (including the PowerPoint slides) using the release candidate of Windows Virtual PC on top of Windows 7 x64 Ultimate RTM.  The only slight performance problem didn’t come from SQL Server but one of the PowerPoint slides that had animations (go figure).

Some of the attendees were asking what kind of hardware I was running on so here’s the low down:

Laptop – Dell Studio XPS 16; Processor – Intel Core 2 Duo T9600; RAM – 8 GB

With this rig I was able to comfortably dedicate 3 GB of RAM to the virtual machine.  I have to say it was nice to be able to run everything from the VM.

Since I do a lot of demos and testing (playing) with new versions of software I like to keep my host OS installed with a minimum of applications.  No SSMS, Visual Studio or anything of the likes, just a stable release of Office 2007 applications.  I don’t want to go the Hyper-V route on the laptop hard drive, because I want to take advantage of the graphics card and the mobile power management feature.  Besides, I can take advantage of Hyper-V by booting off the eSATA connector (one of the main requirements on my shortlist for the laptop purchase!!!).

After using Windows 7 RTM for 2 weeks, I can honestly say that I haven’t experienced any issues and performance has been smoking.  (Funny thing is that I can say the same thing about my Windows 7 RC experience too!)

So, what’s next?  Time to dig into BitLocker to see if the performance story continues. ***Yes!  I can finally have the laptop, my portable USB hard drive and USB thumb drive all encrypted by the same system!!!***  (Have laptop will travel… with data this time, no more bad dreams, no more paranoia… LOL)

OttawaSQL.net Business Intelligence Evening Event August 12th: SSRS 2008

Business Intelligence with SQL Server Reporting Services 2008 – an Evening Event: Wednesday, August 12th 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM

Microsoft Ottawa, World Exchange Plaza

Part 1: An Introduction to SQL Server Reporting Services 2008, David E. Myers

Ever since business database applications were introduced, there was a need for great reporting tools.  Executives soon realized that the difference between an okay report and a great report could make or break sales, or their career advancement.  With the release of SQL Server Reporting Services 2008, Microsoft has made a stronger case for investing in their reporting solution.  In this session we will get an overview of the value proposition, core architecture, development tools and how SSRS integrates nicely with SharePoint and MS Office 2007 applications.

David E. Myers (MVP for SQL Server, MCT, MCITP, MCDSB, MCSE) is an IT professional and developer at the Upper Canada District School Board (Brockville, ON).  David primarily works with SQL Server, SharePoint and Windows Client / Server infrastructure, but like most Canadian IT professionals he wears many hats.  As an active member of the Ottawa IT community, he is constantly looking to connect with people that share his passion for technology.  In his spare time, he works as a consultant and trainer for AgileDesignworks.com.

Part 2: An Introduction to Developing Enterprise Solutions with SQL Server Reporting Services 2008, Colin Melia

A powerful set of features sits behind the SSRS designers and web interface.  This session will introduce you to how you can programmatically integrate some of those capabilities into your own solutions from creating RDL files to integrating report generation into your enterprise application workflow.  The architecture of SSRS also allows for various types of extensions.  We’ll further explore how you can extend the reporting pipeline with custom components for deeper integration.

Colin Melia is a Solution Architect for DreamDigital, a UK company CTO/director and committee member for Ottawa user groups.  He has been a hands-on Architect for over 17 years having led the creation of award-winning desktop-based immersive business simulation technology, online learning portals and in-depth competency performance tracking systems as well as creating the first streaming video community site with Windows Media.  He has worked in the finance, telecoms, e-learning, Internet communications and gaming industries, with his latest business solutions now in use by thousands world-wide in corporations like GE, HP, O2, Cisco, IBM, KPMG & Reuters.

Register at: http://www.clicktoattend.com/?id=139999

Refreshments: Pizza and pop will be provided.

Note: No one will be admitted by building security after 5:55 PM, and the event will start promptly at 6:00 PM.

OttawaSQL.net is a community group of Ottawa area developers and IT professionals.  We share an interest in Microsoft’s data technologies especially:  SQL Server, SharePoint, PerformancePoint, Workflow Foundations, LINQ, ADO.NET and Entity Framework.

OttawaSQL.net Business Intelligence Evening Event July 23rd 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM

Introduction to SQL Server Integration Services 2008

SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) is an ideal tool to extract, transform and load / distribute data. In many BI projects up to 70% of the effort is spent on developing efficient ETL processes. SSIS is designed to reduce the development time and maintenance involved with this critical task.

In his session, Christian will cover the following topics:

• Overview of SSIS control flow tasks
• Overview of SSIS data flow components
• Useful new features in SSIS 2008
• Demonstration: Integration of various data sources including XML, flat files and Excel into a data mart.

Christian Coté, IA-Tech Consulting

Christian Coté is an IT professional with more than 10 years of experience working on business intelligence projects. He is currently working on his 6th major SSIS implementation since it was released in 2006. Before SSIS was released, Christian developed ETL processes using a range of tools on multiple platforms. Christian has been a presenter at a number of conferences and code camps and most recently presented a special session to our OttawaSQL.net BI study group. He currently co-leads the SQL Server PASS chapter in Montreal.

Register at:  http://www.clicktoattend.com/?id=139419
Arrival:  5:30 PM to 5:55 PM
Session:  6:00 PM to 8:30 PM
Refreshments:  Pizza and Pop

Note: No one will be admitted by building security after 5:55 PM, and the event will start promptly at 6:00 PM.

OttawaSQL.net June 17th Event: Introduction to Dimensional Modeling - A Case Study, Lynda Rab

Topic:  Introduction to Dimensional Modeling - A Case Study

What do they want to count?  And what do they want to count by?  This session will be presented in the form of a case study that will take the answers to those questions, the data from multiple OLTP databases and take you step by step through the path of creating a basic but well formed dimensional model.  What data should go in the Fact tables?  How many Dimensions tables are needed?   What do you mean by ‘Determine the Grain’?  What is a Bus Matrix?  This session will answer those questions using examples and also provide you with a step by step process that can be used for any new Data Warehousing project.  During the session, Lynda will share what she feels are the most important things to remember and the most important things to avoid based on her 8 years of experience creating and working with Dimensional models.

Speaker:  Lynda Rab, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

Lynda Rab is an IT professional with over 15 years of technical experience. She has been working with SQL Server since version 4.2 and is now focusing her efforts on Data Warehousing working for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.  Lynda is the Program Director for the Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS) and is a member of the OttawaSQL.net executive team.

RSVP:  http://www.clicktoattend.com/?id=138407
Arrival:  5:45 PM to 6:00 PM
Session:  6:00 PM to 8:30 PM
Refreshments:  Pizza and Pop

OttawaSQL.net May 25th Evening Event: Data Warehouse Architecture, Dejan Sunderic

Session: Data Warehouse Architecture

Dejan Sunderic presented this session on Data Warehouse Architecture to the Toronto group last December and attendees were very impressed. We are lucky to have him visit the Ottawa group to share his knowledge.

The main topics of his session include:

• Objectives of a Data Warehouse System
• Components of a Data Warehouse / Business Intelligence System
  • DW, ETL, ODS, OLAP, Data Marts, Grain vs. Presentation Marts, Reports, Analytic Tools
• Data Warehouse Design Methods and Artifacts
  • Normalizing vs. Denormalizing, Dimensional Modeling, Star vs. Snowflake Schema, Surrogate Keys, Conformed Dimensions and Facts, Bus Matrix, Slowly Changing Dimensions, Fact Table Types

Speaker: Dejan Sunderic

Dejan Sunderic is an independent consultant specializing in SQL Server development and architecture. He is an author of couple of books (such as "SQL Server 2005 Stored Procedure Programming in TSQL and .NET") and maintains couple of other web sites (such as tsql.trigonblue.com, ssis.trigonblue.com...)

RSVP: http://www.clicktoattend.com/?id=138406
Arrival: 5:45 PM to 6:00 PM
Session: 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM
Refreshments: Pizza and Pop

Upcoming OttawaSQL.net Events

Full session details for each of these events will be sent out to the OttawaSQL.net mailing list, but in the meantime we wanted to let you know the roadmap so you can save the dates (or register early)!  We will be continuing with a focus on BI for the next 2 events, and we'll be capping it off with a full day event this summer for people interested in the MCITP BI certification on SQL Server 2008.

Monday, May 25th 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM - Microsoft Ottawa, World Exchange Plaza

Session: Data Warehouse Architecture, Dejan Sunderic

Dejan Sunderic presented this session on Data Warehouse Architecture to the Toronto group last December and attendees were very impressed.  We are lucky to have him visit the Ottawa group to share his knowledge. 

The main topics of this session include:

· Objectives of a DW System

· Components of a DW / BI System

· DW Design Methods and Artifacts

Speaker: Dejan Sunderic

Dejan Sunderic is an independent consultant specializing in SQL Server development and architecture.  He is an author of couple of books (such as "SQL Server 2005 Stored Procedure Programming in TSQL and .NET") and maintains couple of other web sites (such as tsql.trigonblue.com, ssis.trigonblue.com...).

Register at:  http://www.clicktoattend.com/?id=138406

Wednesday, June 17th 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM - Microsoft Ottawa, World Exchange Plaza

Session: Introduction to Dimensional Modeling - A Case Study

Lynda will explore introductory dimensional modeling techniques and will demonstrate how to build an OLAP database using these techniques.  Her case study will examine source data from an operational database (OLTP) and step by step create a basic dimensional model and OLAP database.

Speaker: Lynda Rab

Lynda Rab is a Senior Data Warehouse Analyst and has been working with OLAP databases since 2000.  Lynda is the Program Director for the Professional Association of SQL Server (PASS) and is a member of the OttawaSQL.net executive team.

Register at:  http://www.clicktoattend.com/?id=138407

Late July / Early August

Certification Exam Review, MCITP: Business Intelligence Developer 2008

In keeping with the BI theme, we are working on having a full day event (6 to 8 hours) on a Saturday in late July or early August to review all of the exam objectives for the MCITP BI certification (on SQL Server 2008).  We will have a team of 3 or more presenters that will tightly base their presentations on the objectives for the 70-452 exam ( http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/Exams/70-452.mspx ).  Since we have not yet confirmed the date we are simply asking for people that are interested in attending to let us know via email (at Events@OttawaSQL.net ).  Once all of the logistics have been arranged we will setup a registration for the event.