One of the great things about these virtual conferences is that you don’t need to travel to attend.  Sessions can be watched from home or work, all you need is a computer and a set of speakers (or headphones).  Looking over the schedule, there are going to be a lot of really good SQL Server 2012 sessions on the schedule.

Now when you go and register for the virtual conference (it only costs $159 for three days of great training material) be sure to use VIP Code VCDENNY (you have to click the “Update Registration” button for the code to take).  So stop stalling and get registered.  There’s another bonus when you register for the virtual conference, because there is so much great material which will be available, you may not be able to see all the sessions you want to the day of the virtual conference.  Because of that you can view the recordings of the sessions for 30 days after the conference ends for free.

I’ll see you at the conference (in the chat rooms at least),

Denny

Denny Cherry, course instructor and SQL Server MVP and Microsoft Certified Master, will explain why storage can be one of the largest bottlenecks when it comes to database performance.

He will also explain why it can be one of the hardest places to troubleshoot performance issues because storage engineers and database administrators often do not get along. Finally, he will dig into LUNs, HBAs, the fabric, as well as the storage itself.

In the second half of the course, Denny will review the pros and cons of moving SQL Servers into a virtual environment. He will also explain how to tie virtual platforms to the storage array, so that DBAs can maximize the storage performance for their SQL Servers and the virtual environment.

Sign up for the virtual class now and get ready to learn about storage and virtualization at your pace and on your schedule.

Denny

Indexing for the .NET Developer

Table Partitioning

I had a great time as always, and I look forward to seeing everyone at the next event.

Denny

The course cost is $169 for full SSWUG.ORG members and $199 for non-members. The cost of the DVD with purchase of the course is an additional $199. The DVD costs $399 if you do not purchase a course seat. Course downloads, office hours and the ability to email questions to the instructor are included with course purchase only.

Class attendees will have access to me via a live chat daily (once I get back from Europe next week), through out the month of the class, to get all their questions answered.

Denny

These classes from SSWUG include office hours with the instructor daily.  Because of a trip to Europe for SQL Saturday and SQL Server Days the office hours won’t be available until starting on November 20th.  However any questions can be emailed to me and I’ll get back to you as quickly as I can.  You’ll receive more information about the office hours when you sign up for the class.

The cost for the class is very reasonable at just $199 for those who are not SSWUG members and the DVD is another $199, so get registered now.

I’ll see you online during the office hours, I look forward to your questions.

Denny

What’s New in Manageability for Microsoft SQL Server Code-Named Denali
Indexing Internals
Using SQL Server Denali’s Always On

If you attended the sessions, don’t forget to rate the sessions on SpeakerRate.com/mrdenny.

Denny

So along those lines a bus has been setup taking people from SoCal to the next Desert Code Camp and registration is open to get a seat on the bus.  Now if you plan on taking the bus don’t wait until its to late to sign up.  If enough people don’t sign up for the bus, it’ll be canceled.

If you plan on attending be sure to get signed up soon, and we’ll see you in Phoenix.

Denny

You can sign up on the normal registration page and enter the code SP11DBTechDC into the VIP Code box then press the “Update Registration” button.

Denny

SQL Server Indexing for the .NET Developer

Using SQL Denali’s Always On

Where should I be encrypting my data

If you attended the sessions please rate my presentations on SpeakerRate.com/mrdenny.

Thanks,

Denny

Speaking by it self isn’t all that easy for a lot of people (oddly not me, but I’m kind of an attention whore) but when that demo blows up, and it will at some point, how you handle that is where you really show that you know the product.  Since it is a little hard to tell a good story in 140 characters, I decided that a blog post would be a good way to give my story.

Windows just won’t cluster

So my first mega fail was actually not in front of a live audience (unless you count the recording engineer).  The first time I did a recording for the SSWUG conference (I think it was the first, I’m going to record by third or fourth set of sessions soon) one of the sessions that I did was on SQL Clustering.  During the session I walked through the Windows 2008 clustering process and got the SQL Installation started.  I would jump back to it through out the session so the demo was throughout the session because sitting there watching the wizard running which I do nothing isn’t very exciting.

So I tested everything before I left home and everything was working perfectly.  I decided to test everything from the hotel the night before (I always fly in the night before when I do the recordings) and when I ran through the clustering validation wizard it took 3 or 4 times for me to get a successful validation.  At this point it was late, so I called it a night.  When we did the recording the next day, wouldn’t you know it the damn validation wizard just wouldn’t work.  Which means that SQL Server wouldn’t install on the cluster as SQL won’t install on a cluster that hasn’t passed validation.  So I just had to wing it, and explain that this is what you should be seeing on this screen, etc.

Needless to say the session went great, and was a pretty good length (I think I went really close to the one hour limit on it) and the reviews were great.  I even got some positive reviews for leaving in the problem demo and not refilming it to make it look correct.

OK, who’s set of the fire alarm?

My second story is more recent, and was in person.  At the 2010 SQL PASS Summit I was doing a quick 45 minute storage session during Buck Woody’s post-con on Sharepoint.  During my talk the fire alarm for the building started going off.  It wasn’t so loud that you couldn’t here me, but it was a bit annoying to listen to (I suppose that is the point).  Someone come in to tell us that we didn’t need to leave, which was good since I was still talking, with occasional pauses to yell at the building, but we worked right through it.

What’s happened to you when you present?

So what sort of fun would this telling of the nightmares be if I didn’t open it up for you to tell us about what sort of problems you’ve had with your demo’s or sessions (hopefully Buck Woody (Blog | Twitter) will post something, he’s got some great stories).  If you aren’t syndicated on SQLServerPedia.com or SSC please link back to me, so I can compile a master list later.

Thanks,

Denny