This session covers Planning, Implementing, Testing and Administration of SQL Server Failover Clustering while mainly focusing on SQL Server 2008. This session also includes a step-by-step demo of implementing a SQL Server 2008 failover cluster.

Kalyan Yella (Kal)

Kal has 10+ years of experience in the SQL Server field as a DBA, Consultant for various financial and consulting organizations. In his current position as a Senior Consultant for the Operations Consulting team at Microsoft, Kal helps several Enterprise level customers with various SQL Server focused operational reviews including Performance & Scalability, High Availability, Disaster Recovery, Consolidation and Migration reviews. Kal holds several SQL Server certifications including MCITP, MCT (Microsoft Certified Trainer) and the esteemed MCM (Microsoft Certified Master).

Over the years, Microsoft Customer Service and Support has developed a number of amazing tools for troubleshooting SQL Server. Thankfully many of these tools have been shared with the public. In this session I will demonstrate the configuration and usage of PSSDiag (for SQL Server 2000) and SQLDiag (for SQL Server 2005 and 2008), which collect valuable diagnostic data. We will then analyze the data using RML Utilities as well as a few scripts of my own. Come and see how these tools can save you massive amounts of troubleshooting time!

Trevor Barkhouse

Trevor is a DBA on the Database Escalations and Implementation team for Terremark Worldwide, Inc. He is also a volunteer on the board of NTSSUG and maintains the group's web site.

Most tools in the SQL world exist to tell you what is running slow. Once you have found the offending T-SQL code, then what? This presentation will show you why particular code runs slow or doesn't do exactly what you think it does.

Geoff Hiten

Microsoft MVP Geoff Hiten is a Principal SQL Server consultant for Intellinet. Geoff began working with SQL Server in 1992 with version 4.2 and has used every version since. He specializes in high-availability and high-performance SQL systems. Recent projects include: system upgrades, SQL Server platform migrations, performance tuning, custom reporting solutions, virtualization, and database strategy implementations. Geoff is currently on the leadership team of the Atlanta area Microsoft Database Forum Users group (AtlantaMDF) and can be found lurking in the halls at PASS (Professional Association for SQL Server) Community Summit events. In addition, Geoff has been a Subject Matter Expert for Microsoft Training Curriculum materials and has authored articles, white papers and podcasts on SQL Server.

Red Gate Software makes ingeniously simple tools for over 500,000 Microsoft technology professionals working with SQL Server, .NET, and Exchange. The company's product line includes tools for comparing, synchronizing, backing up and recovering SQL Server databases; understanding and fixing .NET code problems; and email archiving for Exchange. Red-Gate.com.

Ever want to implement drag-and-drop reporting in your application and stop the rampant report queue. In this session you'll have a gentle introduction to SQL Server Analysis Services. You'll see how to use it to give your users their own ad-hoc reporting and have better than expected performance results.

• The Benefits of SSAS
• What are Dimensions and Hierarchies
• User Interfaces for Developers
• Cube Design and Measures
• Including UBO and MDX in SSAS

Brian Knight

Brian Knight, SQL Server MVP, MCSE, MCDBA, is the co-founder of SQLServerCentral.com and JumpstartTV.com. He runs the local SQL Server users group in Jacksonville (JSSUG) and was on the Board of Directors of the Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS). Brian is a contributing columnist for SQL Server Standard and also maintains a regular column for the database website SQLServerCentral.com and does regular webcasts at Jumpstart TV. He has co-authored and authored more than 9 SQL Server books including Admin911: SQL Server (Osborne/McGraw-Hill Publishing), Professional SQL Server DTS, Expert SSIS, Professional SQL Server 2005 Administration and Professional SQL Server 2005 SSIS (Wrox Press). Brian has spoken at conferences like PASS, SQL Connections and TechEd and many Code Camps.

Time and again you hear people talk about how you should implement software using established patterns and best practices. Online forums, books, and conferences about .NET and SQL Server are filled with advice about how to do things correctly. But rarely do people focus on the other side of the equation: What are the potential pitfalls that exist, and how will you know when you've fallen into them? Software developers need to know more than just what they should do; knowing what not to do is half the battle. In this session you will learn how to make your SQL server prone to SQL Injection, how to use SQLCLR for all data access, how to use cursors instead of DML, exploit the Tumbling Data pattern, and so on. Come and learn what not to do -- and how to fix it -- from the masters of [anti]patterns and [mal]practices!

Peter DeBetta

Peter DeBetta is a SQL Server MVP and an independent consultant, author, and architect specializing in design, development, implementation, and deployment of Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft SharePoint Server, and .NET solutions. Peter blogs at SQLblog.com (cofounder), and writes courseware, articles, and books - most notably the title Introducing SQL Server 2008 from Microsoft Press. Peter speaks at conferences around the world, including TechEd, SQL PASS Community Summit, DevTeach, SQL Connections, DevWeek, and VSLive!

SQL Server Integration Services includes a variety of tools to help you move and transform data many different ways. However, there are some situations that require more flexibility and customization than you'll find in the native SSIS controls. In this presentation, we'll take a look at the Script Task and Script Component in SSIS and will explore some ways these tools can be used to perform highly customized ETL operations.

Tim Mitchell

Tim Mitchell is a Microsoft SQL Server database developer/analyst, writer, and speaker. He has been working professionally with SQL Server for over six years, mostly in the areas of database development, scripting, ETL, and business intelligence.

Analysis Service's OLAP component allows organizations to implement a Unified Dimensional Model (UDM) that is designed for rapid ad hoc information retrieval of their data. The UDM, as a single version of the truth, can be enriched to encapsulate business rules and calculations, and advanced Business Intelligence features including KPIs and actions.

For organizations that have a Standard or Enterprise SQL Server license, Analysis Services is a possible zero-cost opportunity for your organization today. In the session learn how to exploit the capabilities and features, and the basics of best practice design. Be prepared for numerous compelling demonstrations and to leave the session energized by the potential!

This session is targeted at IT professionals with an interest in data analysis, and equally for non-IT professionals interested to understand and evaluate Microsoft's BI strategy and platforms. Apart from a general understanding of relational database technologies, there is no requirement to have any background or experience with OLAP technology.

Peter Myers

Peter Myers has 12 years of solid experience working in OLTP database design and development, DBA support and Data Warehousing/Business Intelligence with SQL Server. He has a broad business background supported by a bachelor degree in applied economics, and he extends this with MCITP, MCSD, MCDBA, MCSE and MCT certifications. Currently, he provides mentoring and technical training internationally, and focuses on delivering training for the SQL Server database engine, Integration Services (DTS), Analysis Services, Reporting Services, ASP.NET and .NET programming (C# and VB.NET).

Since 2005, Peter has authored and presented courses and events for Microsoft internationally. He enjoys sharing his enthusiasm for Microsoft technologies by presenting at SQL Server launch events, user group meetings and technical events, including TechEd. In April 2009, Peter was re-awarded Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) for the third time.

In this presentation, Steve will provide an overview of Resource Governor, a new feature in SQL Server 2008 that will give DBAs and system administrators much more granular control over how CPU and memory are used by SQL Server. He'll discuss the components that make up Resource Governor, then walk through examples of how to set it up along with various usage scenarios. The basis of this presentation comes from work performed by SQL Server MVP, Aaron Bertrand.

Steve Wright

Steve is the Director of Product Support at SQL Sentry, which is located in the suburbs of Charlotte, North Carolina. He is a critical member of the development team behind the award winning SQL Sentry Event Manager and Performance Advisor. Steve holds MCSD, MCDBA, OCDBA 8i, and IT Project+ certifications. Prior to joining SQL Sentry in 2005, Steve developed and presented web based training courses for Wachovia Bank. Previous experience includes education positions at Techskills and Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools.

In addition to our typical door prizes, SQL Sentry will also be providing a full license of SQL Sentry Performance Advisor (a $1,495 value) as a door prize for the meeting!

As an enterprise application grows and load increases, some concurrency issues are bound to surface. Deadlocks are one of the more aggravating of this class of problems. Fortunately, each release of SQL Server includes better tools for troubleshooting deadlocks.

Trevor will demonstrate approaches for handling deadlocks in SQL Server 2000, 2005, and 2008.

Trevor Barkhouse

Trevor is a DBA on the Database Escalations and Implementation team for Terremark Worldwide, Inc. He is also a volunteer on the board of NTSSUG and maintains the group's web site.

This presentaton will focus on security related topics for SQL Server 2005 and 2008 including encryption, execute as, module signing, and other security-related topics.

Peter DeBetta

Peter DeBetta is a SQL Server MVP and an independent consultant, author, and architect specializing in design, development, implementation, and deployment of Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft SharePoint Server, and .NET solutions. Peter blogs at SQLblog.com (cofounder), and writes courseware, articles, and books - most notably the title Introducing SQL Server 2008 from Microsoft Press. Peter speaks at conferences around the world, including TechEd, SQL PASS Community Summit, DevTeach, SQL Connections, DevWeek, and VSLive!

Sometimes index tuning isn't enough and you must resort to rewriting a stored procedure to improve its performance. When doing so, it is crucial to maintain the overall functionality of the routine so that calling applications don't break. I will be presenting a methodology and a set of tools that I use to ensure that the new implementation behaves identically to the original, but performs better.

Trevor Barkhouse

Trevor is a DBA on the Database Escalations and Implementation team for Terremark Worldwide, Inc. He is also a volunteer on the board of NTSSUG and maintains the group's web site.

This class will start with an intro to PS for those who know absolutely nothing and need the complete basics. Then it'll move to DB management and the many facets of DBA work.

There are so many things you can do with PS in the DB that you really owe it to yourself to learn how to use it.

Sean McCown

Sean McCown has been managing high-end transactional databases since 1995, and with terabyte databases since before they were common. His expertise is tuning databases for sub-second query performance. He has worked with IBM DB2, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle Database, Sybase ASE, and many others including TeraData, MySQL, Ingres, and PostgreSQL. Sean has been a contributing editor to the InfoWorld Test Center since 2003, and he's written for many other publications including SSWUG.org, SQLServerCentral.com, SQL Server Magazine, and SQL Server Standard Magazine.

PowerShell is the new .NET-based interactive shell and scripting environment designed to assist in server management tasks. This presentation is packed with demos to cover PowerShell basic concepts, cmdlets and providers, architecture, in-depth look at SQL Server data access and management using SQL Server provider and snap-ins, error handling, PowerShell SDK, and tips and tricks. Come experience the power of PowerShell!

Darshan Singh

Darshan Singh is Sr. Software Engineer with Intuit, Inc. located in Plano, TX. He has co-authored several books on XML, .NET, and SQL Server.

Using Wait Time Analysis and Wait Types is a newer method for tuning SQL Server instances. As a result, there is often confusion on exactly what the data means. The issue typically centers around the fact the wait time data is analyzed at the wrong level or the collected wait time data is not detailed enough. This presentation will focus on these problems and review several real-life case studies of using SQL Server Wait Type data coupled with Wait-Time based performance analysis to solve the most difficult performance related issues.

Dean Richards

Dean Richards has over 20 years of Oracle and SQL Server project development, implementation and strategic database architecting. Before coming to Confio, Dean held engineering positions at McDonnell Douglas and Daugherty Systems, an object-oriented solution provider for Anheuser-Busch. Dean was also a technical director for Oracle Corporation managing all aspects of their broadband account including short and long-term technical planning and strategic alliances. As a highly successful liaison between management and technical staff, Dean has proven to be an effective collaborator implementing cutting-edge solutions.

SQL Server Reporting Services has long been thought of as a tool specifically for Business Intelligence. While analysts and developers are typically the ones viewing and building reports, the system typically has to be installed, configured, and managed by DBA's. This presentation will discuss the basics of implementing and administering SQL Server Reporting Services as well as how Reporting Services can be used by the DBA's to assist with their own reporting tasks. The full lifecycle of Reporting Services will be discussed, from installation, administration, and report design.

Jason Hall

Jason Hall is a solutions architect for Quest Software, specializing in the architecture and implementation of disaster recovery and high availability solutions. Jason has also done extensive work in the field specializing in performance monitoring and tuning. In addition to on-site customer facing work, Jason has presented on Disaster Recovery at SQL Server Users Groups in Houston, Seattle and Chicago, as well as at SQL PASS conferences and SQL Server Summits.

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 now has a feature called Transparent Data Encryption, which can encrypt your data without any application changes required. But is it the ultimate solution for encrypting your data? This session discusses various options for encryption, including Extensible Key Management, Transparent Data Encryption, and other built-in encryption capabilities.

Peter will also discuss encryption functionality in SQL Server 2005, as well as several other noteworthy features from SQL Server 2008.

Peter DeBetta

Peter DeBetta is a SQL Server MVP and an independent consultant, author, and architect specializing in design, development, implementation, and deployment of Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft SharePoint Server, and .NET solutions. Peter blogs at SQLblog.com (cofounder), and writes courseware, articles, and books - most notably the title Introducing SQL Server 2008 from Microsoft Press. Peter speaks at conferences around the world, including TechEd, SQL PASS Community Summit, DevTeach, SQL Connections, DevWeek, and VSLive!

Data collections are a new feature in SQL Server 2008. They allow you to collect perfmon, trace or query data to a central database. We will start off by setting up and configuring Data Collections. We will look at the default collections and historic reports in Management Studio. We will cover setting custom collections and providing a UI with SSRS.

Jason Massie

Jason is a SQL Server Consultant for Terremark Worldwide. He holds MCITP Database Administrator and Database Developer along with MCDBA on SQL Server 7.0 and 2000. Jason is active in the SQL community, speaking locally and nationally. He blogs at http://statisticsio.com. In his free time, Jason likes to spend time with his family, produce electronic music and play games.

Sean will begin with an overview of the current third-party backup solutions on the market. In the process, he'll show how to evaluate and compare them--what's important, what's not, and how to tell when they're working as designed. He'll also share some interesting history on the SQL Server backup space. In his role at InfoWorld, he's been reviewing the backup products for several years. We should also come away with how a magazine like InfoWorld conducts its reviews.

Sean McCown

Sean McCown has been managing high-end transactional databases since 1995, and with terabyte databases since before they were common. His expertise is tuning databases for sub-second query performance. He has worked with IBM DB2, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle Database, Sybase ASE, and many others including TeraData, MySQL, Ingres, and PostgreSQL. Sean has been a contributing editor to the InfoWorld Test Center since 2003, and he's written for many other publications including SSWUG.org, SQLServerCentral.com, SQL Server Magazine, and SQL Server Standard Magazine.

We'll be trying something a little different this month. Because of a speaker cancellation and scheduling conflicts with Microsoft's first-floor Multi-Purpose Room (MPR), we have decided to combine our April meeting with the Dallas .NET Users Group. Both groups will meet in the first-floor MPR and enjoy the same presentation on LINQ.

The following description has been copied from their web site ("Event Detail"):

• What is LINQ and how does it work?
• What benefits does LINQ deliver to the .NET developer?
• What are the flavors of LINQ (LINQ to SQL, LINQ to ADO.NET, LINQ to XML, LINQ to Entities)?
• How can the "LINQ to SQL" Designer in Visual Studio help you build a data access layer?
• What is the future of LINQ?

Rob Vetto

Viewing changes to a database in a development or test environment under a workload leaves much to be desired when considering how they will look in production. Load testing tools work well, but still fall short of delivering a true picture of what you might expect to see. Please join us for a presentation on a technique that you can use to understand and view the impact of changes to the database before they are rolled to production. The presentation will include 1) a case for using this technique, 2) its methodology, and 3) several examples to consider.

Lee Everest

Lee Everest is a Sr. SQL Server Consultant for Integrated Services, Inc. located in Dallas, TX and has worked in a number of industries throughout his career: web, banking, insurance, finance, mortgage, health care, and retail, in both OLTP as well as OLAP environments. He has been a member of the North Texas SQL Server Users Group since 2000, and has taught Microsoft SQL Server courses at North Lake College in Irving, TX since 2002. He can be reached at tsql-northlake@dcccd.edu or through his blog at www.texastoo.com.

Russ Loski has been a member of the North Texas SQL Server Users Group since SQL Server 6.5. He has developed applications using all of the versions of SQL Server since then. Microsoft released DTS with SQL Server 7.0 and Russ began developing ETL applications. He was not content to just use simple transformations, he began tweaking the application using Visual Basic and scripting tasks. With the release of SSIS, many of his hacks were no longer necessary.

SQL Server 2008 has introduced several improvements to the database engine as well as SSIS. Russ will be demonstrating many of these enhancements.

Russ Loski

Russ Loski has been a member of the North Texas SQL Server Users Group since SQL Server 6.5. He has developed applications using all of the versions of SQL Server since then.

It used to be called Declarative Management Framework (DMF), now it has a new name: Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Policy-Based Management. This new feature of SQL Server allows database administrators to create a set of policies to help you control the configurations of one or more SQL Server installations. In this session, I will discuss the new policy management feature of SQL Server 2008 and how the feature may be useful for database administrators. As a by-product I will also introduce the new ability to manage multiple servers at once using SQL Server 2008 Management Studio.

Randy Dyess

Randy is a mentor with Solid Quality Mentors and has been a SQL Server specialist for over 15 years. His current job includes a variety of SQL Server related training and mentoring engagements with a focus on SQL Server performance tuning. Randy has authored dozens of articles and whitepapers on SQL Server topics as well as spoken numerous times at local, national, and international conferences and user groups. Randy’s background involves working with a range of SQL Server environments from those having thousands of databases, hundreds of servers, and thousands of users to environments with over 200TB of SQL Server data. Randy is currently a SQL Server MVP and member of the North Texas SQL Server Users Group Board of Directors.