Despite some inclement Orlando weather causing flight delays I would say my first SQLRally was a success. The information I learned from the presentations along with the people I met and the experience I received presenting made for a 4 day whirlwind adventure.
DBA's new to SQL Server need to understand just how special the SQL Server community truly is compared to other communities. It isn't just a matter of having more knowledgeable presenters or more swag to give away but it is their helpfulness and hard work focused on spreading knowledge and advice. It is the SQL Server community's willingness to take chances on new speakers (like me) and give us an opportunity to tell our stories. It would be easy for only a few big names to dominate the discussion - but they don't. It is great to have them there (Ed Wilson: ScriptingGuys comes to mind as does Kevin Kline blog) but it i also good to see new faces with different perspectives.
After the SQLRally I am both energized and exhausted. I still have lot's to do. I'll be working on some VM articles as well as continuing to work on the book revision (T-SQL). I will also be posting blogs and maybe some articles based on the great feedback I received from people who attended my presentation. I still regret I wasn't able to answer every question and talk to everyone who needed to talk.
For now though I want to give my sincere thanks to all who voted for my presentation and to everyone who attended, as well as those that said they wanted to attend but couldn't. I had a fantastic time and it is a good feeling to finally be able to give back to a community that has given so much.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
SQLRally Day Two
I'm guessing day two will be a difficult day after a night enjoying the sites and sounds of Orlando. I plan on trying to pace myself but I've never been to good at doing so in the past. These are the sessions I intend to participate in:
8:30 - I plan to attend Kendra Little's presentation "Big and Tall: When to Partition". The reason is two-fold. I'd like to see Kendra present and I learned yesterday I'll be heading up a project to configure a 10 TB SQL database which will contain PACS data. I see partitioning in my future.
9:40 - "SQL Server Troubleshooting via DMV's" by Steve Schneider. I'm always excited about learning the ins and outs of DMVs. I hate to admit it but I don't use them enough. Bad DBA!
11:15 - Since my presentation is about managing large number of servers I have to go to John Sterrett's presentation "Evaluate Your Daily Checklist Against 100+ Instances of SQL Server While You Get a Cup of Coffee". My only regret is that John's presentation isn't before mine so I can't steal any of his material. Just kidding John.
1:50 - After a lunch of dead cow and fried bacon I'll attend Thomas Grohser's "SQL Server Storage Engine Under the Hood: How SQL Server performs IO". I rarely have time on my own to dive deep into the database engine black box so I hope to take this opportunity to have the material forcibly injected into my skull.
3:00 - Ed Wilson's "Windows PowerShell Best Practices for SQL DBA's". This should be a good compliment to Aaron's presentation. After both sessions I intend to be able to write a 1,000 lines of PowerShell code Friday night in my hotel room.
4:35 - Lastly I'll be at Jeremiah Peschka's "Fundamentals of SQL Server Internals". I'm due for a refresher course especially since none of the previous stuff I've learned has managed to be retained in my brain.
That's it. Now that I put it all down in writing is seems like one heck of worldwind of knowledge. It'll be fun. I'm already stocking up on Four Loco! Hope to see you there!
8:30 - I plan to attend Kendra Little's presentation "Big and Tall: When to Partition". The reason is two-fold. I'd like to see Kendra present and I learned yesterday I'll be heading up a project to configure a 10 TB SQL database which will contain PACS data. I see partitioning in my future.
9:40 - "SQL Server Troubleshooting via DMV's" by Steve Schneider. I'm always excited about learning the ins and outs of DMVs. I hate to admit it but I don't use them enough. Bad DBA!
11:15 - Since my presentation is about managing large number of servers I have to go to John Sterrett's presentation "Evaluate Your Daily Checklist Against 100+ Instances of SQL Server While You Get a Cup of Coffee". My only regret is that John's presentation isn't before mine so I can't steal any of his material. Just kidding John.
1:50 - After a lunch of dead cow and fried bacon I'll attend Thomas Grohser's "SQL Server Storage Engine Under the Hood: How SQL Server performs IO". I rarely have time on my own to dive deep into the database engine black box so I hope to take this opportunity to have the material forcibly injected into my skull.
3:00 - Ed Wilson's "Windows PowerShell Best Practices for SQL DBA's". This should be a good compliment to Aaron's presentation. After both sessions I intend to be able to write a 1,000 lines of PowerShell code Friday night in my hotel room.
4:35 - Lastly I'll be at Jeremiah Peschka's "Fundamentals of SQL Server Internals". I'm due for a refresher course especially since none of the previous stuff I've learned has managed to be retained in my brain.
That's it. Now that I put it all down in writing is seems like one heck of worldwind of knowledge. It'll be fun. I'm already stocking up on Four Loco! Hope to see you there!
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