Running SQL Server workloads in the cloud can yield tremendous price/performance benefits, but dialing in the optimal cloud consumption model can be a challenge. I recently moderated an MSSQL Tips webinar, entitled Rightsizing Your Cloud Consumption on AWS. In the webinar, SentryOne Solutions Engineering Manager, Denis McDowell, and AWS Partner Solutions Architect, Tom Staab, shared guidance to help attendees optimize their cloud resource consumption on the AWS platform. Click HERE to read more. … [Read more...]

The classic standards of database design and normalization are a “gold standard” that many developers struggle with, either because they: Don’t know what the standards areDon’t want to apply them to their designs because they seem old-fashionedAre handed an application that has an already completed but inadequate designI recently teamed up with Louis Davidson (@drsql), a renowned Microsoft MVP and data architect specializing in relational database design with SQL Server, for the SentryOne webinar, “Data Modeling & Database Design for Developers.” Click HERE to read more. … [Read more...]

I’ve been working with Microsoft business intelligence products since their official inclusion in the product line back in the days of SQL Server 7, around 1998. From that time forward, the business intelligence line of products has seen periods of greater or lesser innovation according to Redmond’s strategic plan. Lately, we’re in an upswing. In late 2019, Microsoft brought forth its latest iteration of its business intelligence tools, Azure Synapse Analytics. With this release, Microsoft further aligned and clarified its capabilities for handling data warehousing, data lakes, data pipelines, … [Read more...]

Hi friends. Just because it’s the end of the year doesn’t mean things are slowing down. If you are close by, I encourage you to come to see me at one of these three upcoming events: Click HERE to read more. … [Read more...]

The annual PASS Summit, the industry’s largest gathering of SQL Server professionals, hosted more than 4,000 attendees in Seattle recently recently. PASS (www.pass.org) has grown to more than 300 local chapters around the world, and its 1,000th SQL Saturday will likely be held sometime in early 2020. The opening keynote by Rohan Kumar, corporate vice president of data and AI at Microsoft, focused on the achievements and growth of SQL Server in the marketplace, as well as on the new features and capabilities now available in the public release of SQL Server 2019. (Details about the keynote are … [Read more...]

SQL Server virtualization is an expectation today, including for mission-critical systems. In its first decade of implementation, virtualization was rare for database workloads. However, virtualization is largely defacto across medium- and enterprise-sized business in the USA and around the world. Despite widespread adoption by more than 60% of medium and big business, some businesses remain nervous about taking on a SQL Server virtualization project, largely because of performance concerns and unfamiliarity. But we’re here to help! With proper planning, use of best practices, and … [Read more...]

Webinar Recap Azure Data Studio (ADS) is a lightweight, browser-based query tool that enables access to all Microsoft on-premises and cloud data platforms from clients running Windows, macOS, and Linux. SentryOne Plan Explorer, the free and wildly popular SQL Server query tuning tool, now has a powerful extension for ADS, giving you the ability to run as a standalone application, from SSMS, and from ADS.  I recently teamed up with Warwick Rudd (@Warwick_Rudd), Data Platform MVP and Principal Consultant at SQL Masters Consulting, for the webinar, “Introduction to Azure Data … [Read more...]

When planning a successful cloud migration, several different things need to happen in a specific order. The first step—and possibly the most critical—is to make sure you have clean data to migrate. It’s the perfect time to take a good, hard look at your data and make some assessments. Why assess and cleanse your data? Because storage of data in the cloud has a variable cost. The more there is to store, the more it costs. But if you don’t need or can’t use portions of your data, then performing an assessment literally means you will save money. Click HERE to read more. … [Read more...]

Just a quick note that I’m speaking in Iowa and Nebraska this week. If you’re nearby, I hope you can join us! Plus, I’ve added details for two bonus webinars - one is presented by PASS and the other by my friends at Apex Systems. Click HERE to read more. … [Read more...]

Kevin Kline shares the initial PASS Bylaws, how they came to be, what they focused on, and the first rounds of changes that we made to them as a team. Click HERE to read more. … [Read more...]