Tagged: Meetings

Event link at our Meetup page.

• 5:30 Networking
• 6:00 Meeting

Exploring PostgreSQL: Features, Strengths, and Comparisons with SQL Server

PostgreSQL has become a powerhouse in the database world, known for its open-source nature and extensive capabilities. This presentation will introduce PostgreSQL, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses, compare it with SQL Server, and delve into its environment setup, basic functionalities, and advanced features.

In this session, we will cover:
● Introduction to PostgreSQL: Learn about PostgreSQL, its core focus areas, and where it excels or may not be ideal for use.
● Comparison: PostgreSQL vs. SQL Server: An in-depth comparison of key aspects like licensing, platform support, data types, tools, performance, support, and backup/recovery options.
● PostgreSQL Environment & Setup: Explore various installation methods (Linux, Windows, macOS, Docker, Cloud-based), initial configurations, and key tools for interacting with PostgreSQL.
● Basic PostgreSQL Functionality: Understand how to connect to PostgreSQL, create schemas and tables, perform data queries, and manage transactions.
● Advanced PostgreSQL Features: Dive into advanced functionalities such as partitioning, Foreign Data Wrappers (FDWs), replication, high availability, performance tuning, and query optimization.
● Recap, Resources, & Q&A: We’ll summarize key concepts, provide resources for further learning, and open the floor for questions.

You will leave this session with a comprehensive understanding of PostgreSQL and how it compares to SQL Server, gaining insights into its features, setup, and how it can be leveraged for various data management needs.

Leo Custodio

Leo Custodio is a data specialist and SQL enthusiast with over 15 years of expertise in data analysis, data security, systems architecture, and software design. With a master’s degree in computer science and numerous industry certifications, he has worked extensively with a variety of data science tools, including R, SPSS, Databricks, Spark, and MongoDB, to build robust data infrastructures. His experience spans deriving insights from complex datasets and implementing security measures to protect sensitive information. Passionate about the latest in database technologies, Leo actively shares his knowledge with the technical community, making advanced concepts accessible and practical.

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Event link at our Meetup page.

• 5:30 Networking
• 6:00 Meeting

Mastering Dynamic SQL

Dynamic SQL has a bad reputation. Some of it is even deserved. However, dynamic SQL can be a great tool to have in your toolbox when used correctly.

In this session, we’ll dive into creating and troubleshooting dynamic SQL syntax. We will start by examining various scenarios that would be good candidates for implementation. Then we’ll take a look at how it executes under the covers. We’ll discuss ways of smarter and safer ways of crafting our SQL statements. And of course, we will discuss various ways to debug the statements as well as add error handling.

You will leave this session with a better understanding and appreciation for how dynamic SQL works as well as why and when to use it.

Deborah Melkin

Deborah Melkin has been working as a database professional with SQL Server for over 20 years. She spends her days helping coworkers with all aspects of database design, queries, performance, documentation, and deployment. In 2016, she began her blog, Deb the DBA. Soon after that, she began speaking at SQL Saturdays and user groups. Deborah is a board member of the New England SQL Server User group (NESQL) and a member of the Azure Data Community Advisory Council. She was named “One To Watch” as part of the #Redgate100 and won Speaker Idol at PASS Summit 2019. Deborah is also a Microsoft MVP for the Data Platform.

In her spare time, Deborah can usually be found doing something musical or doing something geeky with her husband, Andy, and dog, Sebastian.

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Event link at our Meeting page.

• 5:30 Networking
• 6:00 Meeting

5 Critical Considerations When Moving Your Database to the Cloud

Migrating an existing on-premises SQL Server application to the cloud can be a daunting task that consists of many complicated steps. In this webinar, we will focus on what is perhaps the MOST important step of the process – those that lead up to the actual move to the cloud.

We will dive deep into the most critical considerations for moving your data and databases into the cloud, whether you use Microsoft Azure, Amazon, or another cloud provider.

We will cover:

• Forecasting how much migration will cost
• The importance of cleansing your data before a major migration
• Fully documenting your data sources and metadata
• Choosing from many different tools and techniques to actually move data
• How to test data for fidelity
• How to maintain parallel systems during transitional phases

Attend this session with one of the industry’s database top experts!

Kevin Kline

Kevin Kline is a noted database expert and software industry veteran. A 20-year Microsoft Data Platform MVP and noted community leader in the IT industry, Kevin is a founder and former president of the Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS.ORG), as well as the author of popular IT books including the bestseller “SQL in a Nutshell”. Kevin is a top-rated speaker at industry trade shows worldwide and has a monthly column at Database Trends & Applications magazine (DBTA.com). His product designs for database tools have won numerous awards at industry trade shows and from a variety of trade magazines. He is on social media as @kekline and blogs regularly.

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Event link at our Meetup page.

• 5:30 pm Networking
• 6:00 pm Meeting

Parallelism in Azure SQL

SQL Server can execute queries in parallel which can sometimes improve the performance of your queries. However, parallelism has its own challenges; therefore, we will look at the concept of parallel executions to understand when it makes sense to run a query on more than one thread. We deal with topics such as CXPacket, threads, workers, execution context, branches, MAXDOP, Cost threshold for parallelism, NUMA nodes and the iterators that SQL Server can implement in the execution plan to enable parallelism.

Torsten Strauss

Torsten (MVP, MCSE, MCT) has been working with Microsoft SQL Server since the turn of the millennium and is specialized in performance optimization for large SQL Server environments.

He has been with bp as a Senior Software Engineer for over two decades and collaborates closely with Sarpedon Quality Lab as a Principal Microsoft SQL Server Consultant.

Torsten has given more than 200 presentations on Microsoft SQL Server performance optimization at national and international conferences and user groups.

Torsten has been recognized as a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for Data Platform since 2018.

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Event link at our Meetup page.

• 5:30 pm Networking
• 6:00 pm Meeting

Securing your Azure SQL Database using TDE, Always Encrypted and more

Protecting the data is one of the prime responsibilities of the DBA. During this session we will cover some of the features of Azure and Azure SQL Database that will help make our data more secure. We will cover how to implement TDE, Always Encrypted, Always Encrypted with Secure Enclaves, Azure Locks and a brief introduction to firewalls.

Dave Bland

Manager of Database Administrators, Stericycle

Over 20 years of SQL Server experience that includes being a DBA, BI development and Application development using VB.NET.  Dave currently is the Manager of the DBA team at Stericycle.  Dave is a Friend of Red-Gate for 2019.  He is a frequent presenter at SQL Saturday events and user groups around the country.  Has been teaching SQL Server since version 2000 and is the SQL Server instructor at Harper College in Palatine, IL.  Current certifications include: Microsoft Certified Trainer; MCTS: SQL Server 2008, Implementation and Maintenance; MCTS: SQL Server 2008, BI Development and Maintenance; MCSA: SQL Server 2008; MCSA: SQL Server 2016; MCSE: SQL Server 2016 – BI; MCDBA: SQL Server 2000; MCSD; MCSE: Data Management and Analytics.

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Event link at our Meetup page.

• 5:30 pm Networking
• 6:00 pm Meeting

How database security changes when moving to the cloud

The cloud is secure, right? So if we move our data to the cloud, we don’t need to worry about security, right?

WRONG.

No matter where your data is housed, security needs to be a top concern. Cloud providers like Azure and AWS provide security to a point, but it’s not complete. There’s still a lot that you, as a developer or DBA, must do. In this session, we’ll discuss the security concepts that apply to all database systems, and we’ll dive into how those concepts apply specifically to the cloud.

Ed Leighton-Dick

Ed Leighton-Dick is a Microsoft MVP, SQL Server performance and architecture specialist, and Founder/Principal Consultant of Kingfisher Technologies. He is a frequent volunteer with PASS, including roles as regional mentor, chapter leader of I-380 PASS SQL Server User Group, and organizer of SQLSaturday Iowa City. He can often be found teaching sessions at local, regional, and national events, including user groups, SQLSaturday, and PASS Summit. 

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Event link at our Meetup page.

• 5:30 pm Networking
• 6:00 pm Meeting

What is Power BI?

You’ve heard all the buzz about Power BI, but you have no idea what it is or how it works. This session explains what Power BI is, who can use it and why you would want to. It’s an introductory session that gives you the information you need to determine if Power BI is right for you and your organization.

Level: Beginner/Intro

Target Audience: Anyone who is interested in learning more about what Power BI is and if it’s right for you. For people with both technical and non-technical backgrounds.

Angela Henry

Angela is a Principal Consultant, living in High Point, NC and loves what she does. She’s worked with all versions of SQL Server & worn all the hats that come with dealing with SQL Server throughout the years: developer, administrator, data architect and BI developer. She has her MSCE in Data and Analytics (f.k.a., Business Intelligence), is a Data Platform MVP, and a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT). She is the former chapter leader for the PASS Triad SQL User Group in Greensboro, NC. In her spare time you can probably find her in or at the pool, she’s an avid US Masters Swimmer, Coach, Instructor and Official.

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Event link at our Meetup page.

• 5:30 pm Networking
• 6:00 pm Meeting

10 Things You Might Have Forgotten About Query Tuning

Have you ever wondered why your SQL Server report queries feel like they should run faster – but don’t? Query performance is as much an art form as a science, but there are some easy wins you can take away to quickly get some performance in your custom queries, such as how to read an execution plan, implicit conversions, and more! Some of these tips might be new to you, and some you might have just forgotten over time, but all are useful so you can speed up your reports. Come learn from this technical session about ten major areas of query performance tuning that you might not know (or have forgotten).

David Klee

David Klee is a Microsoft MVP and VMware vExpert with a passion for the convergence of data, cloud, and infrastructure. David spends his days handling performance and HA/DR architecture of mission-critical SQL Servers as the Founder of Heraflux Technologies. His areas of expertise are virtualization and performance, datacenter architecture, and risk mitigation through high availability and disaster recovery. You can read his blog at davidklee.net, and reach him on Twitter at @kleegeek.

David speaks at a number of national and regional technology related events, including the PASS Summit, VMworld, IT/Dev Connections, SQL Saturday events, SQL Cruise, PASS virtual chapter webinars, and many SQL Server User Groups.

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Event link at our Meetup page.

Creating CrossTab Queries and Pivot Tables in SQL
a.k.a. Reporting on Steroids

“Data” is useless. It tells you nothing until it’s converted to “Information”.

Knowing how to convert “Data” to “Information” is an absolutely critical skill in the multiple worlds of Data Analytics, Predictive Analysis, and related disciplines.

One of the most common and extremely useful methods of converting “Data” into “Information” is to transform the data into a “Cross Tabulation” or “Contingency Table” or, as it is more commonly known, a “Pivot” or “CrossTab” table. The conversion process is also commonly referred to as a “Pivot” or “CrossTab”.

This session is for newbies and highly experienced folks alike. Here’s a short synopsis and the killer end result:

· Purpose and Basics of CrossTabs (a.k.a. Pivots)
· Create a “Single Column” CrossTab
· Create a “Multi Column” CrossTab
· Why the PIVOT Operator is NOT Your Friend
· Intro to Creating Voluminous Test Data and “Minimal Logging”
· 3 Pre-Aggregation Methods for Serious Increases in Performance
· The “Ultimate Pre-Aggregation”
o “Impossible” Reports on 100 Million rows in Milli-Seconds
o Eliminates ETL
o Always Up to Date
o Tiny Footprint

Jeff Moden

Jeff Moden is an “Accidental DBA” with more than 26 years of SQL Server experience. Jeff helped make the advanced technique known as the “Tally” or “Numbers” Table a household word and coined the term “RBAR”, which stands for “Row By Agonizing Row”. He’s written 44 mostly five star articles for SQLServerCentral.com and, having more than 58,000 posts, is one of the leading contributors on that site. Jeff is renowned for being able to teach extremely complex concepts and techniques in such a manner that even beginners can understand without boring the experts. He’s also a 9 year SQL Server MVP veteran, won the Red Gate exceptional DBA award in 2011, has spoken at the PASS Summit, many SQL Saturdays, and many local PASS chapter meetings on many different SQL Server subjects.

His mantra is “Performance is in the code”.

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Event link at our Meetup page.

• 5:30 pm Networking
• 6:00 pm Meeting

How to Troubleshoot SQL Server CPU Problems

CPU is the workhorse of any SQL Server and Azure SQL. CPU handles not only core processing but also worker thread management and parallelism. And yet many of us don’t know the fundamentals beyond “SQL Server take cares of that for me”. So what happens to those CPUs when things go wrong? In this session, we’ll go deep into the internal behavior of SQL Server CPU, including the internal and external memory pressure, worker thread management, and how to troubleshoot CPU problems.

Kevin Kline

Kevin Kline is a noted database expert and software industry veteran. A 20-year Microsoft Data Platform MVP and noted community leader in the IT industry, Kevin is a founder and former president of the Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS.ORG), as well as the author of popular IT books including the bestseller “SQL in a Nutshell”. Kevin is a top-rated speaker at industry trade shows worldwide and has a monthly column at Database Trends & Applications magazine (DBTA.com). His product designs for database tools have won numerous awards at industry trade shows and from a variety of trade magazines. He is on social media as @kekline and blogs regularly.

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