In the past, and still today, SQLServerCentral.com has been a strong supporter of the PASS Community Summit. But because of the lack of overlap among those who attend each conference, we felt that we had been missing out on those DBAs and developers who chose to attend the SQL Server Connections event. Because of this, starting last year, SQLServerCentral.com began to offer a SQLServerCentral.com track at SQL Server Connections.

SQL Server Connections (which is a part of the larger DevConnections conference), will be held November 1-5 in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Conference Center, and will follow this schedule:

Monday, November 1, 2010: Two SQL Server pre-conference workshops:

• “Database Best Practices for the Involuntary DBA” with Paul Randal and Kimberly L Tripp
• “Plumbing the Depths of SQL Server / PowerShell Integration” with Bob Beauchemin

Tuesday, November 2, 2010: Microsoft Day

• There will be three different tracks (DBA, DEV, BI), all presented by members of the Microsoft SQL Server Team

Wednesday and Thursday, November 3-4: SQL Server Connections and SQLServerCentral.com tracks:

• There will be three DBA tracks that are managed by Paul Randal and Kimberly L. Tripp, which includes a wide variety of speakers
• There will be a single SQLServerCentral.Com track, that is managed by Brad M. McGehee, which includes four different speakers
• Attendees will be able to attend any of the sessions in these four concurrent SQL Server tracks.

Friday, November 5, 2010: One SQL Server post-conference workshop:

• “Indexing Strategies and Analysis” with Paul Randal and Kimberly L Tripp

For a list of all the speakers, you can visit this webpage, and for a list of all the sessions, you can visit this webpage.

The SQLServerCentral.com track includes four speakers presenting a total of nine different session over two days. If you recognize any of the speakers, that is because you have probably seen their contributions at SQLServerCentral.com or Simple-Talk.com.

Glenn (blog | twitter) works as a Database Architect at NewsGator Technologies in Denver, CO. He is a SQL Server MVP, and he has a large collection of Microsoft certifications, including MCITP, MCDBA, MCSE, MCSD, MCAD, and MCTS, which proves that he likes to take tests. His expertise includes DMVs, high availability, hardware selection, full text search, and SQL Azure. Glenn is also an adjunct faculty member at University College – University of Denver, where has been teaching since 2000, and also where he recently completed the Master Teacher Program. He is the author of two chapters in the book SQL Server MVP Deep Dives, and blogs regularly.

Brad (blog | twitter) is the Director of DBA Education for Red Gate Software, and is an accomplished Microsoft SQL Server MVP with over 15 years SQL Server experience. He is a frequent speaker at SQL PASS, European PASS, SQL Server Connections, SQLTeach, devLINK, SQLBits, SQL Saturdays, TechFests, Code Camps, and SQL Server user groups. Brad is the author or co-author of more than 15 technical books and over 250 published articles. His most recent books include How to Become an Exceptional DBA (2nd Edition), Mastering SQL Server Profiler, and Brad’s Sure Guide to SQL Server Maintenance Plans. His website is at http://www.bradmcgehee.com.

Allen (blog | twitter) is a consultant and mentor for Upsearch Technology Services in Northeast Ohio. He’s spent over 35 years in IT and has been using SQL Server since 1992, and is certified as both a SQL Server MCITP and Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT). Allen has been awarded Microsoft’s MVP Award for the last three years. He’s active in the Ohio North SQL Server User’s Group and contributes in the MSDN Forums, answering questions about SMO and PowerShell, and blogs regularly.

Buck (blog | twitter) is a SQL Server Senior Technical Specialist for Microsoft, working with enterprise-level clients to develop data platform architecture solutions within their organizations. He has over twenty years professional and practical experience in computer networks and database design. He is a popular speaker at TechEd, PASS and many other conferences; the author of over 400 articles and five books on SQL Server; and he teaches a Database Design course at the University of Washington.

If you plan to attend SQL Server Connections this year, be sure to stop by and meet our speakers, if you don’t already know them.

DevLINK, August 5-7, 2010

• How and When to Use Indexed Views
• Identifying SQL Server Performance Problems Using SQL Trace
• Essential DBA Skills: Introduction to Graphical Execution Plans

St. Louis SQL Server Users Group, August 11, 2010

• Identifying SQL Server Performance Problems Using SQL Trace
• Essential DBA Skills: Introduction to Graphical Execution Plans

Baton Rouge SQL Saturday, August 14, 2010

• Best Practices Every SQL Server DBA Must Know
• Database Maintenance Essentials

If you are attending, be sure to stop me and say hello.

The first day of SQLBits will include full-day seminars; day two will include advanced technical sessions; and day three will be the traditional community conference day with sessions targeted towards all skill levels. The first two days are fee-based, while the community conference day on Saturday is free to all attendees.

For more information on this event, check out the SQLBits homepage. Registration is currently not open yet, but be sure to sign up for the SQLBits mailing list to ensure you are the first to know when registration starts. And if you are planning on attending, be sure to mark your calendars now.

The SQLBits call for speakers is also currently open, and you can find out more information on the here.

I accidently ended up in another Microsoft-oriented marketing session again today. I wish there was a good way to know which sessions are more marketing than technical, but it is tough to tell if a Microsoft employee is leading the session. On the other hand, if a SQL Server MVP is leading the session, then it is a sure bet the content will be more useful.

My two favorite sessions of the day were by SQL Server MVPs Adam Machanic and Maciej Pileck. Both offered useful, high-level technical information that I found useful.

On another note, in one of the Microsoft sessions I attended, which was presented by a member of the SQLCat team, there was a reference on one slide that made a specific best practice recommendation about small verses large databases. One of the attendees asked the speaker what they considered to be a small and a large database, and the answer caused me to chuckle out loud. The speaker said a small database was in the 1-2 terabyte range, and that a large database was in the 100+ terabyte range. It is interesting that Microsoft (at least the SQLCat team) considers a database small if it is 1-2 terabytes in size. Times have really seemed to have changed over the past few years in regard to what defines the size of small and large database.

While I have been critical of many of the TechEd sessions I attended this year, and found the quality of the sessions to be a little uneven, overall it was a good experience, and I am glad I attended.

On the other hand, if a DBA were to ask me if they only had one week of training they could attend next year, should they attend TechEd, I would say no. If you only have a single week of training a year, and you want to attend a conference, I would recommend attending the PASS Summit or SQL Server Connections instead. I would only recommend DBAs to attend TechEd if they were in the enviable position of being able to attend at least two or three conferences a year. Both PASS and SQL Server Connections not only offer more DBA content, but the content is generally better than what TechEd offers.

TechEd 2011 will be held in Atlanta, GA, May 16-19, 2011, so mark your calendar if you think you might want to attend. I will be fortunate enough to attend, and hopefully next year’s will be better than this year’s event (from the DBA perspective).

While I am familiar with both topics, I still learned new things. For example, I finally understood the difference between the read committed isolation and snapshot isolation levels that were introduced in SQL Server 2008. Sunil’s examples made it much easier for me to understand how they worked and when to use them.

In Sunil’s data compression session, I learned that SQL Server 2008 R2 now supports row compression on Unicode data types, which was not the case with the original SQL Server 2008. This new engine feature can really improve data compression in any database that uses Unicode. While row and page compression can benefit many companies, it is only available in the Enterprise and Data Center editions of SQL Server 2008 R2.

During lunch I had in interesting conversation with an attendee whose main job was desktop support. We talked a little about his work, and I finally got around to telling him that I was a DBA. Then he chimed in, telling me that he was the “DBA” of several SQL Server instances in his organization. While desktop support was his main task, he fell into the category of the “accidental DBA,” which seems to becoming more and more common among IT staff, especially within smaller organizations.

I was a little curious about how he maintained his servers as he didn’t appear to have a lot of SQL Server experience, so I asked him several basic questions about how he handled his DBA duties. Essentially, he didn’t do anything with the SQL Servers, except take daily backups, which were stored locally on the SQL Server hardware itself. He performed no other maintenance, didn’t store the backups offsite, or really had any knowledge of what it meant to be a SQL Server DBA. I treaded carefully, not wanting to hurt his feelings, but I briefly mentioned that he might want to consider taking a more active role as the DBA, but he wasn’t really interested in learning more. He said that it was no big deal if the SQL Server instances went down or if any data was lost. He was also making the assumption that if a database became corrupt that he could perform a restore. He neglected to consider the possibility that the hardware might crash and his backups disappear. In addition, I doubt if he had the knowledge of even how to properly restore a backup.

Up to this point, he has been lucky and has never experienced any data loss, which I think make him feel overconfident. He has yet to learn the lesson that there are only two kinds of DBAs: those that have lost data, and those who will eventually lose data.

I felt a little sorry for the guy, as he has been forced into being a DBA without any training or direction. What I wonder is if the organization he works for realizes the predicament they are in? While he says the SQL Server’s data isn’t all that important, is this his own personal opinion, or the opinion of the organization he works for? I would imagine that if an organization invests in software and hardware that needs SQL Server, that the data may be more important than he thinks it is. I didn’t want to say much more, other than mentioning that he might want to consider looking into learning more about SQL Server, as I didn’t think it was my place to tell him how to do his job.

This got me thinking some more, and I wonder many thousands, if not tens of thousands, of SQL Server instances are being maintained (actually, not being maintained) in this same way, and what the significance this is to these organizations. I imagine (at least hope) that if the owners or managers of these organizations better understood the implications of poor SQL Server management, that most of them would take the necessary action to ensure that their SQL Server instances were better maintained or protected. The problem is how do we, as professional DBAs, educate organizations of the importance of taking proper care of their data. I don’t have a good answer, but perhaps you might have some suggestions that you can add to the comments section below.

It was announced today that 10,500 people are attending TechEd, which includes attendees, speakers, Microsoft employees, and staff, making this event much larger than the 7,000 that attended TechEd held in Los Angeles last  year.

If you read my blog post from yesterday about TechEd, you probably remember me complaining about not enough seating for many of the BI sessions. Fortunately, TechEd management listed to my complaint, and the complaints of others, and started to offer repeat sessions so more people can attend them. I complement them on listening to feedback.

Unlike yesterday, I was fortunate today to find and attend some sessions that really had some technical meat in them. Most of the sessions I attended were related to high availability or virtualization, and were presented by people who really know the technical side of SQL Server.

The last session of the day was also the highlight of the day. It was presented by Buck Woody, the “Real World DBA”. While Buck is an expert DBA, writer, and presenter, he actually missed his real calling, that of being a comedian. Following a “Don Rickles” approach, he fires joke after joke at the audience, all based on spur of the moment wit, keeping the audience fully engaged in his presentation. In fact, there were eight SQL Server MVPs (Buck’s groupies) in the audience, the largest group of MVPs I have seen at any session so far. If you ever get a chance to hear Buck speak, be sure to not miss it, as you will certainly miss an entertaining presentation.

TechEd is designed to showcase Microsoft technologies, and is mostly a marketing effort put on by Microsoft, with a little training thrown in the mix to try and balance the content. Each TechEd seems to have a major theme, and this year it was all about the “cloud”. According to the keynote presentation today, the “cloud” is the future of computing and Microsoft. I’m not personally convinced this is true, but time will tell.

In past years, I have found TechEd to be well organized and fun to attend, but the first day of this year’s TechEd (at least from my personal perspective), has been disappointing. Below are some random thoughts about today.

1) Before the keynote presentation, TechEd started with a live Zydeco band on stage, which was a great start.

2) Unfortunately, the keynote presentation was uninspired and boring, not up to Microsoft’s usual great standards for keynote presentations. I would have much preferred to have seen a dynamic Steve Ballmer presentation than the less than exciting collection of presenters we had today.

3) While TechEd was the main event, the Microsoft BI Conference was being held concurrently, apparently another cost savings tactic. For example, attendees could sign up for the full TechEd conference, or just sign up for the BI Conference (for less money). Supposedly, full TechEd attendees could attend all sessions, while BI Conference only attendees could only attend BI sessions. I say supposedly because designated BI sessions didn’t allow regular attendees to attend as you would expect. Full TechEd attendees couldn’t take a seat in these designated BI sessions until five minutes before the session started, and then only if there were any seats left, which was not the case for the BI session I wanted to attend. This policy of giving preference to BI Conference attendees over full TechEd attendees was not publicly announced, and full TechEd attendees only found out at the door when they tried to enter a session, and they were told, sometimes impolitely by attendees at the door, they could  not enter the room until just before the session started. Large crowds of full TechEd attendees had to stand outside of these sessions, blocking the hallways and generally creating a lot of havoc, and doing a lot of arguing with the door attendants (although the door attendants were not at fault, as they were just doing what they were told to do).

4) Talking about havoc, crowd control at TechEd was very poor. I don’t know if it is the design of the convention center, or just poor planning, but sometimes the hallways on the second floor of the convention center became human traffic jams, with easily 500 or more people stuck going opposite directions down the only hallway, bring movement to a virtual standstill. A similar thing happened when the vendor party started at 5:45 PM. Several thousand people were waiting to enter the event, and after a few minutes past the advertised entrance time, only four doors were opened to allow the thousands of people to enter.

5) As a DBA, I prefer to attend SQL Server-related sessions. Unfortunately, there are very few SQL Server sessions to choose from, and most of them were marketing related, not hardcore information. I overhead one Microsoft employee say that the typical SQL Saturday offers better SQL Server training than does TechEd. I tend to agree.

6) When I was unable to attend the BI session I wanted to attend, I decided to attend a SQL Server 2008 R2 session that was supposed to describe all the new features of the release. Unfortunately, the speaker was from marketing, and was not a DBA, and knew very little about the product. In addition, there was a lot of technical problems, and there was dead time as they were worked on resolving the technical problems. Eventually, two short demos were done, but very little of the new R2 features were covered.

7) Internet access died for several hours on Monday, preventing both attendees and presenters from accessing the Internet. Supposedly this was the fault of the ISP who was providing the service.

8 ) In the past, I have considered the continental breakfast and lunches provided at TechEd to be above average in quality. This year, at least on Monday, both the breakfast and lunch was disappointing. Again, it looks like Microsoft was cutting corners to save some costs.

9) While not TechEd’s fault, ATT’s cell phone and 3G service was horrible, often not allowing me to make calls, or not allowing me to connect to the Internet, making it hard for me to keep up with my e-mail and Twittering.

10) While I know I sound like I am whining (which I am), the best part of attending TechEd is meeting up with all my DBA friends. I had many good conversations with many people I rarely get to see. I also met up with a former co-worker who I had not seen in years.

I’m hoping that the rest of TechEd will go better than today. At least I am crossing my fingers.

SQL Saturday #22 was held on Saturday, June 5, 2010, with about 224 attendees participating in this free event. It was held at the Pensacola Junior College in Pensacola, FL.

Forty-three different sessions in six different tracks were offered (mostly SQL Server, but with a few .NET and miscellaneous sessions thrown in for good measure), offering attendees a wide choice of sessions to attend.

Many well-known speakers attended, including Steve Jones (see photo), Brad McGehee, Joe Webb, Joe Healy, Rushabh Mehta, Robert Cain, Kevin Boles, Patrick LeBlanc, Tim Mitchell, Rodney Landrum, Kevin Kline, and many more.

The event was hosted by Karla and Rodney Landrum, and of course they were helped my many behind-the-scenes volunteers to make this a successful event.

Below are a few photos from the event.

Rodney Landrum teaches a session on “DBA Repository Update 2010 Using SSIS and SSRS”, where he describes the SQL Server management system he developed for his company, and has shared with the SQL Server community.

Karla Landrum giving out prizes at the end of the event.

Annabel Bradford (left), in charge of the Friends of Red Gate Program, gives away a prize to the audience, with Rodney Landrum (right) helping out.