TechEd North America 2013 Editor’s Choice: SQL Server

It’s a great start to the premiere North American event of the year for IT Pros and enterprise developers and in addition to the post and video on the new Microsoft Cloud OS YouTube channel from Microsoft Server and Tools President Satya Nadella discussing “The Enterprise Era”. We’ve also heard from Server & Tools Corporate Vice President Brad Anderson discuss new offerings in this morning’s keynote address (If you didn’t see it live, you’ll be able to view it on demand, along with many of our TechNet sessions on Channel 9 here), as well as SQL Server’s own Quentin Clark earlier today.

For more details the daily news coming out of TechEd North America, you’ll find a daily overview on the Server Cloud blog here, or find tips on how to take on TechEd North America here.

You’ll also find below some hand-picked selections for SQL Server enthusiasts below, which include the newly release sessions that we hope you’ll enjoy!

Monday, June 3rd

    • Big Data. Small Data. All Data. – Attend this session and dive into the buzz around Big Data, business analytics, and In-memory technologies—the new frontier for the data platform. Learn about unlocking insights on any data, big or small, via new tools which streamline finding and combining all types of data, powerful tools to analyze and refine insights, and a complete data platform for IT to operationalize processes and learnings. Also, learn how SQL Server In-memory technology will light up the new data platform frontier with blazing-fast performance across analytics, data warehousing querying, and transaction processing all backed by a platform that offers flexibility and choice across on-premises and cloud. (Foundation Session, June 3, 11:00am – 12:00pm) https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2013/FDN01
    • Lean and Mean: Running Microsoft SQL Server on Windows Server Core – Do you consider the Windows GUI to be a waste of resources? Starting with SQL Server 2012, you can run on top of Windows Server Core 2008 R2 or 2012. In this session we discuss installation and management of SQL Server on Windows Server Core, along with lots of tips and tricks. (Breakout Session, June 3, 1:15 – 2:30 pm) https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2013/DBI-B202
    • Indexing Fundamentals for Microsoft SQL Server – Having the right indexes supporting your databases is a critical need. But how do you determine what indexes are required? Should you have single or multi-column indexes? Should the index be filtered? What are included columns and columnstore indexes and when should they be used? In this session, we explore various ways to implement indexes and provide the performance expected out of your databases. (Breakout Session, June 3, 3 – 4:15 pm) https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2013/DBI-B302

Tuesday, June 4

    •  Maintain Microsoft SQL Server System and Performance Data with Windows PowerShell – Maintaining a solid set of information about our servers and their performance is critical when issues arise, and often helps us see a problem before it occurs. Building a baseline of performance metrics allows us to know when something is wrong and helps us to track it down and fix the problem. This session walks you through a series of PowerShell scripts you can schedule which will capture the most important data and a set of reports to show you how to use that data to keep your server running smoothly. (Breakout Session, June 4, 10:15 – 11:30 am)https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2013/DBI-B203
    • Microsoft SQL Server In-Memory OLTP: Overview of Project “Hekaton” – “Hekaton” is the in-memory OLTP engine for SQL Server, as a part of XVelocity. In this overview session, we discuss the user scenarios and the hardware trends such as decreasing memory cost, many-core processors, and stalling CPU clock rate that prompted the key architectural pillars of memory optimization, no lock/latch concurrency control, and native compilation. We also cover how “Hekaton” is integrated into SQL Server. (Breakout Session, June 4, 1:30 – 2:45 pm) https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2013/DBI-B204
    • Microsoft SQL Server Management Basics for Non-DBAs – During this session Microsoft MVP and Certified Master Denny Cherry gives you the basic information needed to get that new SQL Server that you’ve just been told you need to manage running and safe. After this session you will be armed with the basic information needed to properly backup the database so that you can recover it after a failure. Learn how to properly maintain the database so that it runs at peak performance, while using the least possible space. Also, learn how to look for and correct database corruption problems. (Breakout Session, June 4, 5 –6:15 pm) https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2013/DBI-B205

Wednesday, June 5

    • Microsoft SQL Server High Availability and Disaster Recovery on Windows Azure – This session discusses high availability and disaster recovery technologies for SQL Server in Windows Azure virtual machines. Through demos, learn how to ensure high availability of SQL Server on Windows Azure VMs, and how to use SQL Server on Azure VMs as a disaster recovery solution for on-premise SQL Server instances. (Breakout Session, June 5, 10:15 am – 11:30 am) https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2013/DBI-B306
    • Microsoft SQL Server Transaction Log Internals – The transaction log plays the most critical role in any SQL Server database. In this session we discuss the importance of the transaction log and the roles it plays inside the database engine. We look at how logging and recovery works, the checkpoint process, write-ahead logging, and steps you need to take as a DBA to ensure proper management of the transaction log for a SQL Server database. (Breakout Session, June 5, 3:15 – 4:30 pm) https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2013/DBI-B309

Thursday, June 6

    • A DBA’s Journey from On-Premise to the Cloud, Part 1  – In this Instructor-led Lab, database administrators learn how to leverage Windows Azure with SQL Server Database and SQL Server running in a Windows Azure Virtual Machine. DBAs learn how to perform common database administrative tasks on-premise as well as in the cloud and understand how to build out a data platform infrastructure in a Hybrid IT environment with on-premise and cloud solutions. This Instructor-led Lab spans two sessions. Please plan on attending both Part 1 (DBI-IL201) and Part 2 (DBI-IL202) of the session in order to complete the lab. Learn how to manage databases on Windows Azure SQL Server Databases using familiar tools. The lab covers how to implement hybrid on-premise / cloud-based high-availability and disaster recovery scenarios, and how to migrate a database from on-premise to Windows Azure. Perform DBA tasks in a hybrid IT environment, and migrate applications from on-premise to the cloud using SQL Server Data Tools. Finally, learn how to troubleshoot and optimize databases in the cloud, and implement SQL Server in Windows Azure VM Role. (Instructor led Lab, June 3, 1:15 – 2:30 pm; June 6, 8:30 am – 9:45 am)https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2013/DBI-IL201
  • Performance Tuning Microsoft SQL Server in Windows Azure Virtual Machines – Are you worried about the performance impact of running SQL Server in Windows Azure Virtual Machines? Don’t be! Come and see what’s different and learn about key performance considerations and characteristics for running SQL Server in Windows Azure Virtual Machines. Understand how to monitor performance and what they key indicators are. Use these tools to troubleshoot performance issues and learn some of the best ways to get optimal performance for your applications in Windows Azure with SQL Server. (Breakout Session, June 6, 2013 from 10:15AM to 11:30AM) https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2013/dbi-b311