I had the good fortune to overhear some of my good friends and fellow MVPs discussing the process of data modeling for business intelligence systems. So what are the industry standard approaches for modeling dimensional data modelling? The short answer is that Kimball's dimensional modeling is the most widely adopted standard for any sort of data warehouse. Inmon is also well respected. But the consensus is to stick with Kimball, especially if you're looking for something an enterprise standards team is going to recognize as "standard". The book on my shelf and which I most … [Read more...]
What’s the Data Modeling Standard for Business Intelligence Systems?
Filed Under: Architecture, Business Analytics, Business Intelligence, Databases, On-Line Resources, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: Architecture, Best Practices, BI, Business Intelligence, Data Modeling, Data Warehouse, MVP, SQL Server 2012, SSAS
A Fond Farewell to Quest Software
The week of the 4th of July is a happy week for Americans. Most families get out for a parade, a fireworks display, a picnic in the park, a movie where Will Smith puts the beat down on a bunch of aliens, or an afternoon at the pool or lake. We celebrate the contributions of our service men and women. We honor veterans. We drink a lot of beer. We reflect on the founding of our nation and the meaning of “Independence Day”. My own reflections over the Independence Day holiday took me in a new and rather unexpected direction. After ten-and-a-half immensely rewarding years at Quest Software, … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Challenges, Professional Development, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: Goals, Leadership, MVP, Professional Development, Quest Software, Writing
Troubleshooting Repeated Login Failures on SQL Server
I’d recently experienced a situation where I was getting repeated login failures to a SQL Server where I knew that I had the correct user name and password. Each time, I’d get error 18456 in response. "Login failed for user '<user_name>'. (Microsoft SQL Server, Error: 18456)". The challenge when troubleshooting this error message is that you may have a problem with SQL Server or you may have a problem with Active Directory or Kerberos, if you’re using one of those authentication technologies. A False Trail When times are good, and you’re able to make a connection, you … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Administration, Challenges, Databases, On-Line Resources, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication, TCD blog post, Tips & Tricks Tagged With: MVP, SQL Server 2008 R2, Troubleshooting
Pulling real-time data from Twitter using StreamInsight and Other Scandinavian Treasures
On my recent trip to SQLBits with subsequent visits to Dublin, Cologne, and Malmo (southern Sweden), I enjoyed a chance to meet several SQL Server MVPs, including Peter Larsson and Thomas Ivarsson. Among them, I enjoyed Johan Ahlen's article on Pulling real-time data from Twitter using StreamInsight. You can Find Johan's blog here. I also enjoyed several other conversations, such as the one I had with Feodor Georgiev (blog). I particularly enjoyed Feodor's guest post on SQLAuthority.com about waits in the round-trip loop from client to server back to client available HERE. There's a … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Administration, Challenges, Databases, Presentations Tagged With: DBA, Developer, MVP, StreamInsight
SQL People Interview
Many thanks to Microsoft SQL Server MVP Andy Leonard (blog | twitter) for conducting a series of interviews of prominent SQL Server types, including me. The interview found here. ~~~ Enjoy! -Kev Twitter at kekline More content at http://KevinEKline.com … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Databases, Interviews, SQL Server, SQLMag, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: Career, DBA, Developer, MVP, Professional Development, Writing
Video: MVPs talk about SQL Server 2008
Video chat with Brent Ozar and SQL Server MVPs Kevin Kline, Hilary Cotter and Geoff Hiten to talk about how SQL Server 2008 addresses DBA challenges and pain points. In this webcast, we cover features like Transparent Data Encryption, spatial data, and other new things that really differentiate SQL Server 2008 from 2005. Posted December 24, 2008. … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Challenges, Conferences, Cool Technologies, Opinion, SQLServerPedia Syndication, Tips & Tricks, Video Tagged With: DBA, Developer, MVP, SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008 R2, Video
Free Software for Unemployed Developers
Each month, for six months, Arnie Rowland will be giving away a package of software, books, training, and development tools, valued at over $15,000, to an unemployed or underemployed developer that takes on a software project of his/her choice with a non-profit. "The idea is to provide the recipient access to all of the tools needed to improve his/her skills, an opportunity to gain practical experience, the potential to earn a recommendation and/or referral –and to positively contribute to society as a form of 'give-back'. No free lunch, just sweat equity –the kind that makes us all feel … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Ethics, SQLServerPedia Syndication, Virtualization Tagged With: Developer, MVP, Training
Collaboration Nation Call to Action! Calling All SQL Server Bloggers and Twitterers
The Suggestion The Modern Language Association hasn't made up all the new rules yet to govern how one blogger should reverence, er, reference another in their blog posts. But they should! Let's get that ball rolling for them. I'm not exactly sure who started this format, but it's my favorite. When writing a blog post in which you mention another person's blog, let's do it like this: "blogger name (blog_hyperlink | twitter_hyperlink)" So, we might read a blog post by my friend Kimberly Tripp (blog | twitter) that might look something like this: "...the Scottish Terrier was so well … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Memes, On-Line Resources, Opinion, Professional Development, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: Collaboration Nation, DBA, Developer, MVP, Professional Development, Writing
New Interview and SQLMag ToolTime Blog Article on “SQLClue”
A neat new administration and configuration management tool for the SQL Server set. I especially like the Run Book features, because Run Books are the way us "oldtimers" like to run our IT infrastructure. My pal, Buck Woody, also likes Run Books (and really big explosions by the guys on MythBusters, but that's another discussion). Find all the details about the new tool, created by Bill Wunder, here. In addition, I'm honored and amazed that the team at RunAsRadio invited me to participate in interview #143. These are the same guys who also put together one of the best and longest … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Administration, On-Line Resources, Opinion, SQLServerPedia Syndication, Tool Time Tagged With: DBA, Monitoring, MVP, SQLMag, Tools & Scripts
Interview Now Appearing on CSTech.com
I was honored to be recently interviewed by the crew at Consortio Services. You can find my portion of this particular webcast at http://www.cstechcast.com/podcasts/cs-techcast/episode99/ beginning at 17:24. In the interview, I discuss a number of thoughts and opinions about the future of cloud computing, where our profession is headed, and more. When I first became aware of the website, they were audio podcasts only. Since then, they’ve changed up their format a bit, and now have a video portion along with the audio. They now included a visual “slide” with your headshot and title (not a … [Read more...]
Filed Under: On-Line Resources, Opinion, SQLServerPedia Syndication, Trends Tagged With: cloud computing, MVP, PowerPivot, Professional Development
