Interview with PASS Summit 2012 Speaker - Denny Cherry

This year I decided to assist PASS Summit attendees and also people who are still contemplating whether to attend by getting Summit thoughts from various 2012 speakers. This interview is with SQL Server MVP Denny Cherry.

Tell us about yourself

I am an independent consultant with over a decade of experience working with various platforms, including SQL Server, Hyper-V, vSphere, and Enterprise Storage solutions. My areas of technical expertise include system architecture, performance tuning, replication, and troubleshooting. In addition to being a Microsoft MVP, I currently hold several Microsoft certifications related to SQL Server for versions 2000-2008, including the Microsoft Certified Master. I am also a VMware vExpert and have written several books and dozens of technical articles on SQL Server management and how SQL Server integrates with other technologies.

Blog(s):

http://www.mrdenny.com/

http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/sql-server/

Twitter: @mrdenny

Tell us your favorite thing about your PASS session(s)

My favorite thing about my PASS sessions is the same thing about every session that I give.  The fact that people are willing to come and sit in a room for an hour (or a day at my pre-con) and listen to what I’ve got to say.  I love sharing the knowledge that I’ve picked up over the years and the fact that the session attendees trust me enough to teach them still inspires me.

Tell us about your first time at PASS Summit

My first time at the PASS summit was the year we were in Denver 4 or 5 summits ago now.  I was there on a budget and a had a GREAT time at the sessions and the after events just talking to people and making new friends, many of those friends are people that are still friends to this day.

What advice do you have for PASS Summit First Timers?

Rule #1 at the PASS summit: never eat alone, for any meal.  There are going to be over 4000 people at the summit that all work with the exact same product that you do for a living.  You don’t have to go out drinking and get trashed all night every night, but go out and try and meet some people.  There are lots of places that you can go to meet people, both inside and outside of the convention center.  The easiest place to find people later in the evening is usually a bar/restaurant called the Tap House.  It’s in 6th between Pike and Pine above a 3 minute walk from the convention center.  I know that it’s hard for a lot of people, but just walk up to a group of nerdy looking people (it’ll probably be mostly guys) and just introduce yourself.  Another place to look for people is the lobby bar of the Sheraton hotel.  For lots more ideas check out my webcast that I’m doing for first timers.  The webcast will be October 17th at 1pm Pacific and will be recorded so that you can view it after the fact.

What are your can't-miss PASS sessions?

Besides my sessions, anything by Bob Ward is a great session that you won’t want to miss.  It’ll be a very in-depth session, but the technical knowledge that Bob and his team have is amazing.

Besides sessions, what's on your must-do list at Summit?

Outside of the sessions my only must-do is to socialize with friends that I don’t get to see all that often.  With SQL Saturdays all over the world it’s a lot easier to see some people, but there are still lots of friends that I only get to see at the PASS summit.

How can attendees become involved in the SQL Server Community and continue their learning throughout the year?

The SQL PASS website (http://www.sqlpass.org/) is a great place for free education.  There are the local user groups and chapters as well as the virtual chapters all of which provide free sessions usually monthly.

 

 

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DBCC CHECKDB WITH DATA_PURITY Command

As I mentioned in my last post, many people may be considering upgrading their SQL Server Instance(s) due to the release of SQL Server 2012 and the upcoming release of SP1. Because of this reason I thought it would be a good idea to highlight the importance of the command for people who are planning to upgrade from SQL Server 2000.

Before I get into the details about the command, let me just highlight that DBCC CHECKDB is a command that checks the logical and physical integrity of all the objects in the specified database and should be run on a regular basis. If you are a SQL Server DBA but never used or heard about DBCC CHECKDB before then you need to do some reading about it and start using it! 

In versions prior to SQL Server 2005, it was possible to import invalid data into databases. This was resolved for databases created in SQL Server 2005 and later versions by adding column-value integrity checks. This was a great solution to avoid the issue in the future but how do you deal with the invalid data issue in older databases that are being upgraded?

Solution -

DBCC CHECKDB ([DATABASENAME]) WITH DATA_PURITY

When this command is executed it will confirm if there are any data issues in the specified database. Once there are no issues/errors then DBCC CHECKDB column will check the column value integrity by default aka you don’t have to specify the DATA_PURITY anymore.

For more information about this command, I recommend Paul Randal's post:

CHECKDB From Every Angle: How to tell if data purity checks will be run?

and of course MSDN: DBCC CHECKDB.

 

 

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Script To Transfer Logins From SQL Server 2000/2005

A few years back when I was working on a project to with some Dynamics databases, I found a script on a Microsoft site that can capture SQL Logins for SQL Server 2000 and 2005 instances. The script is very useful for transferring SQL Logins not only to 2000 and 2005 instances but also 2008, 2008 R2 and 2012 as well. Since I can no longer find the link, I decided to upload the script – Capture_Logins.sql.

With the launch of SQL Server 2012 and the upcoming release of SP1, many people may be considering upgrading their 2000 and/or 2005 instances and this script might save you a great deal of time. Remember it isn’t my script aka I didn't write and I don't own it. Enjoy!

(Note: Even though the script mentions that it works on SQL Server 7.0, I didn’t test it on that edition so I can't guarantee that it works.)

 

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SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 1 CTP4

The Microsoft SQL Server Team recently announced the release of the SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 1 Community Technology Preview 4. Unlike the CTP3 which primarily focused on BI functionality, CTP4 focuses on SQL Server functionality across the board.

The new and enhancements features are listed on Books Online and the download page.

SQL Server 2012 SP1 CTP4

SQLServer 2012 SP1 CTP4 Express

SQLServer 2012 SP1 CTP4 Feature Pack

 

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PASS Azure Virtual Chapter Launched!

Earlier this year I became the chapter leader for the PASS SQL Azure Virtual Chapter and decided to reboot it. While in the reboot phase, an announcement was made stating that  SQL Azure would now be known as SQL Database. This situation made the committee members consider not only renaming the group but also changing the focus of the group. The end result is the creation of the PASS Azure Virtual Chapter with a mission to enable Azure knowledge sharing and create a network of Azure and Cloud Computing professionals.

Does this mean that we would not have any SQL Database (SQL Azure) sessions? SQL Database is part of Windows Azure so we will have sessions on the topic but not all the sessions would be focused on it.

Join us for our first session: Getting Started with Windows Azure

Date: Monday 24th September 11 AM Eastern Time (8 AM Pacific) - Add the event to your calendar

Speaker: Brian Prince, Principal Cloud Evangelist Microsoft

Abstract:

Windows Azure is Microsoft's cloud platform for quickly building and running scalable applications. We will cover just what the cloud is, as an industry, and what Microsoft is offering. We will see into the datacenters, how they work, and a high level view of all of the components of the platform.

For more information: http://azure.sqlpass.org/

Follow us on twitter: @AzurePASSVC

 

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TTSSUG School Tour

Later this month, the Trinidad and Tobago SQL Server User Group (TTSSUG) will be hosting sessions at some of the tertiary education institutes in Trinidad. The purpose of the sessions is to introduce students to database topics that would serve them well as they join the IT world.

Agenda:

Introduction to TTSSUG

Introduction to Database Administration

Introduction to Database Programming

 

The presentations will also be highlighting the capabilities and features of SQL Server. The sessions will be from the perspective of an IT professional and not necessarily a theoretical view.

Tour Dates:

University of the Southern Caribbean

Date: Wednesday 26th September 2012

Time: 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm

University of the West Indies

Date: Thursday 27th September 2012

Time: 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm

School of Business and Computer Science

Date: Friday 28th September 2012

Time: 9:00 am to 11:00 am

If you are a student at any of the institutes and you wish to attend, please send an email to events@ttssug.org with your name and the institute that you attend.

 

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T-SQL Tuesday #34 - Presentations Can Be Helpful

The purpose of month's topic chosen by Rob Volk (Blog | Twitter) is to get some insight about where we get SQL Server help.

There are many methods to get assistance with SQL Server when you have issues but what about the help that you didn't realise that you need! How do you ask for help on an issue if you don't know you have an issue? Presentations have been a great resource for providing me with SQL Server knowledge  which assists me with finding and fixing existing and possible future SQL Server issues. It goes without saying that presentations can assist with current known issues as well.

Before you continue reading this thinking that I am just talking about attending sessions please note that  I am also talking about being the presenter. While preparing for a presentation I am sure you will learn something that can be used immediately or eventually for a fix/improvement to you system.

Besides the actual content of the presentation, the interactions during the session (e.g. questions and answers) are quite helpful and informative. You can get direct immediate answers to some of your questions and also both attendee and presenter can possibly learn from other people's scenarios/situations. An extra benefit of attending presentations is the networking opportunities, which can be considered as a separate way of getting help.

In the IT world it is very difficult to attend these presentations but luckily there are many online presentations to deal with this issue. Even if you are unable to attend the online session due to your schedule, many presentations both online and in-person are recorded to allow on demand viewing. Of course it is not going to be as great as being there and the networking opportunity will be lost.

I consider presentations to be a necessity to anyone in the IT world! A great place to get many helpful presentations is the PASS Summit. Sessions are recorded for people who want to see sessions that they missed or people who couldn’t attend but the DVD should not be your first option!

 

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