Tag Archives: SQLServerPedia

The Power of User Groups

Is ROI for Vendors Worth the SQL Saturday Investment?

Piggy backing onto the recent SQL Saturday post here in Louisville, I wanted to take a more in-depth look, from my perspective, on how vendors all fit into these events.

Having the opportunity to work alongside these vendors has been both a learning experience for myself along with forming new bonds along the way. Louisville has been fortunate enough to have some of the best vendors in our industry who see the importance of investing time in others for a few reasons.

Networking
Getting their products name out
Growing their local community pool
Bringing exposure to their company

SQL Saturday events provide a much more intimate setting with a lower number of attendees. Example our event for the past two years had over 220 users sign up. This is a much smaller scale then say what a PASS conference has signed up where over five thousand of your closest friends attend.

The SQL Saturday events allow the attendees to get up close and personal with the vendors on products that they may or may not use. That’s great Chris, but I’m a vendor and how would I get ROI out of it; because at the end of the day if I want to sponsor an event there needs to be some gains on my end?

This therein is a valid question and one that is not taken lightly. In speaking with a vendor they had this to say about our event:

Our sponsorship of SQL Saturday allowed us to connect with a wealth of developers and DBAs, in a single day. The event was organized, productive, and time well spent furthering our business in Louisville.

I am starting to see soft metrics, such as intangibles, in determining the business value sending data professionals for respective vendors to such events. What kind of intangibles? They’re the stuff that doesn’t show up in traditional cost-accounting methods but that truly makes a difference in maximizing the potential knowledge growth of the organization. These include employee learning, vendor interaction, business relationships, and networking. Some of these are clearly more quantifiable than others, but all are important to a vendors success.

Some outside thoughts on how ROI for vendors is applicable:

You have to evaluate your audience.
Make sure your input channel, in this case your interaction with attendees, has some new features for viewing.
List of attendees for potential future clients.
Make your presence known prior to event (outside the marketing done by said event).
Commitment from potential attendees
Flexibility

End of the day, vendors are a huge part from all angles in regards to SQL Saturday events. Getting a great local base at events like this continues to build and solidify companies advancement in the technology space; specifically around the Microsoft stack.

Conclusion

If you are interested in getting involved you can check out or view upcoming schedules at the SQL Saturday home page here.

From personal experience I know that talking with vendors at said events it has opened doors and opportunities for business in my current and previous shops along with building a network base for future discussions.

Are SQL Saturday’s Worth It?

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This past weekend I was fortunate enough to be a part of Louisville’s (for those local the ‘ville) SQL Saturday event held at Indiana Wesleyan. Most of you who end up on this site are probably familiar with it, but for those that aren’t familiar with SQL Saturday events you can check out their site here.

Now to put on an event like this is nothing short of an incredible effort from volunteers, sponsors, speakers, and attendees. Being able to help co-organize the one here in Louisville has been a humbling yet gratifying experience. Let me see if I can break it down a different way for you, the reader, who may not have had the opportunity yet to volunteer or attend such an event.

Volunteers

You can see these people usually with matching shirts on and a lanyard with their name and a ribbon that only says “volunteer.” In the past when I’ve attended such events I knew people helped out to put something like this on, but never in my wildest dreams did I envision all that it took until I volunteered.

Volunteering is not for glitz, glamor, or glory. Instead volunteering is what helps the cogs in the wheel move to get the steam engine running down the track. It is the staple of helping afford the opportunity for free learning to attendees and colleagues in our field.

Many, many, and many hours go into planning and organizing an event; if you attend one of these events make sure you seek a volunteer or organizer out and say thank you for their time; they are doing this for free and on their own time away from their families.

Mala Mahadevan (B|T) as a founding organizer of our event I thank you for allowing me to be a part of it these past few years.

Sponsors

Over the years, SQL Saturday Louisville has been blessed with some great sponsors. For the previous two years, John Morehouse (B|T) and I have taken great pride in working with some stellar companies. Without them, we would not be able to do what we do which is concentrate on the attendees and helping people learn.

Our Gold sponsors this year were:

Our Silver and Bronze sponsors this year were:

A major thank you for all of their contributions and it is always a pleasure to work with all of you.

Speakers

It always amazes me at the number of speakers we have who send in sessions to our event. These speakers are people from all over the U.S. who are willing to travel and give their time so attendees can learn. Getting to spend time with each of them is not always an easy task, but always thankful to catch up with many friends at the speaker dinner.

It was awesome to see the attendees interacting with the speakers asking their questions and getting insight into the variously presented topics. And, because of so many good sessions to choose from, there was a buzz in the air.

As is the case with the volunteers mentioned above, speakers also travel on their own dime, away from their families – a simple thank you goes a long way. Also, for these sessions, I do want to point out that feedback cards are provided; please please please take a moment and make sure you provide good insightful feedback to the speakers. Each speaker uses this feedback to improve their sessions or have take-a-ways on what may or may not have worked. Yes, folks, these are important!

I won’t list every speaker we had; that is not the intent of this topic. But I will take a moment and say to each and every speaker who attended SQL Saturday Louisville 531 we thank you.

Attendees

Two words – – THE PEOPLE. As I have stated, these last two years has been nothing short of amazing. Seeing light bulbs go off with attendees who are learning from some of the best, and having discussions with attendees is why we do what we do.

When individuals come to us stating it was their first time at the event, and they had no idea that there is a local Louisville SQL User Group opens the doors to help reach people in our tech community.

Steve Jones (B|T), who is part of my Fab Five, talks about Dreaming of SQL Saturday. If you have not had a chance to read his post, check it out. Attendees travel from quite a distance. Which tells me the people are eager to learn.

Conclusion

So, the question I opened with “Is SQL Saturday Worth It?” Considering what I know now versus what I knew then the answer is yes. Personally, being a product of these types of events, I am living proof of what can grow from the SQL Community.

Whether you volunteer, speak, sponsor, or attend, all of these make the wheel turn. It’s a team effort with a lot of hard work. So, next time you attend one of these events, please don’t take them for granted.

Here is to continued learning, as we move forward to grow this community!

Community Involvement–Why Wait?

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Everyone has a story; some stories are similar while some stories are vastly different. People always make the statement that you shouldn’t “assume” because if you do….well then you know what happens!

I will go out on a limb and gather to say that many fall into the category I did when it comes to the SQL community. From the years 2000-2010 I had no clue that the SQL community existed yet alone any conferences. It was when I was hired on at my current shop did I learn of this thing they called PASS Summit.

From 2011- to present I can honestly say it has been one heck of a ride. A lot has transpired over the course of soon to be 5 years and I’m thankful for it; I wouldn’t change a thing. I look back at those first 10 years and I was floundering – man o man was I floundering. What that time means to me now though is a light into the future and to know where, as a data professional, a direction I want to go in.

I’m starting to get asked more and more the question of “What can I do to get involved within the SQL community?” or “I’m not good enough to get involved”.

My answer to that is simple, let’s roll. Below are five avenues in which you can get started with community involvement. All they require are you; yes that’s right you to take the initiative and get involved.

Blogging

I can tell you that blogging was not an easy thing for me to get started on but has been well worth it. I’m not the most talented writer; nor am I one of the most captivating individuals you will ever meet. What I do feel that I can bring to the table is real world life examples that have helped me along my way in my SQL journey, and guess what – you can be the same. Some things to keep in mind when starting out to blog are:

1. Don’t beat yourself up if you start to write, but have mental blocks.

2. Get a few blog posts in the pipeline and scheduled to help get your feet wet.

3. Find a good platform; there are several out there such as WordPress.

4. If writing examples; then prove your examples. Don’t just write to be writing. Have a point prepared.

5. If you reference someone’s work then give credit where credit is due. This is a huge pet peeve of mine.

Social Media

In this day and age it is almost impossible to not be connected through some form of social media. You can find many groups, hash tags, companies to follow, and other viable sources to become involved with. Some different types are:

1. Twitter – pay attention to hash tags such as #sqlfamily, #sqlserver, #tsql2sday, #sqlhelp

2. LinkedIn

3. Facebook

4. Instagram

One caveat I want to add here is be professional; companies do look at your involvement.

PASS Active Member

Become an active member in PASS; it doesn’t cost you anything and can provide various forms of volunteering. This type of involvement has changed my career allowing me to see on a more global scale of how impactful our SQL community can be.

Learn more about the PASS Summit here.

SQL Saturday Events

These events are free. Let me ask you this; does your company not want to provide you with any training; or better yet maybe they do and just don’t know how. These events are free except for lunches and has some very talented speakers that attend. Take advantage of these; you can get a current listing on my blog here or go visit SQL Saturday’s home page here for further information.

Mentor

Maybe you have been in the community for a while and it has become stale. One idea would be to mentor someone; doesn’t have to be someone in a different state; how about someone you work with that is needing help. Do you remember when you started out? I sure do and I would have loved to have some guidance and help earlier on in my career. Five years ago I was fortunate to learn and model some of my ways from a group I called my “fab five” – give them a read here; truly thankful for these individuals.

Mentoring someone ignites the passion to keep those knowledge juices flowing; each one reach one effect.

Recap

I’ve come to learn through my 5 years of involvement with the SQL community that it is not always a bed of roses and flying unicorns but SQL family is composed of not only some of the brightest minds in the business but also individuals who care for one another and who genuinely step in and help when needed.

So I ask you, why wait? How many years will you let go by like I did before you become involved? There has not been one day where I have regretted becoming involved within the SQL community and if you would like to talk more about how to get started let me know. I will be happy to discuss with you offline if need be.

It’s GameTime folks; Let’s roll and keep this community moving forward.

PASS Summit Recap and Experience

Perspective

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It’s one small word, but that one word can pack an awful powerful punch. I got a severe dose of it Friday night. No, I won’t go into the great detail that provoked this word to come to light. What I will do is recognize that it has taught me some valuable lessons especially in my every day work life.

We live in a fast paced society. Work will never cease that’s a given; when is the last time you truly stopped, looked around, and appreciated where you are at in this point in time?

I used to struggle a lot with not blogging enough, not giving back to the community enough, not submitting to speak enough, arguments with other data professionals on what is the right way to do things versus the wrong way to do things, and the list could go on and on.

I look at SQL Family and what does it truly mean to me? I take great pride in my work, the people I am involved with daily, the many issues that come up that provide new solutions waiting to be found, but SQL Family is much more than that. It is shown daily by the likes of you and me. You see it in the generosity when one of our own passes away, you see it in others who rally around a good cause, you see it when a seasoned community member takes a newbie under his/her wing to guide them, and yes you see it shown when you receive heart breaking news that we all endure through the journey we call life.

There are intervals in life when you stop and asses priorities; nothing wrong with that. You start to look at if the he said she said argument was even worth it, you blast a newbie because he made a dumb mistake due to the fact that they just didn’t know, or you get on some ego trip because you believe you are entitled to something.

There will be things you can control and there will be things you can’t control; as a data professional and proud DBA I will continue to do the best I can day in and day out. I come from the school that you work hard regardless of the situation. You won’t find perfection, you won’t find a guy who knows it all; what you will find is a guy who has a passion for the SQL Community and a passion for learning and honing is craft.

To the new community member the days will not always be perfect; heck the days you will sometimes wonder what the heck you got yourself into; enjoy the ride. Don’t beat yourself up for things you think you could have done better; learn from them and move on. Realize that SQL Family IS the people, the interaction – it is what makes it thrive.

For the ones who have been around for a long time, with as much respect as I can muster, I just implore you to realize that when life does happen outside of our SQL walls; don’t let that time go by wasted. You need to cherish every minute of it; we (me included) rush around getting to the next event, next speaking engagement, next post and if we aren’t careful we will let those outside moments pass us by.

Some will take this post as me saying not to worry about the security breach that was caused by a pointless mistake, and some will read too much into it and be wondering if I’m speaking at anyone in particular. I get how it all works, these are just intended thoughts of mine that if I can take to heart myself, then it might help me in the future to become a better data professional and DBA.

Work hard, cherish the moments, and realize that taking one day at a time is okay.

Q and A With SQL MVP Chris Shaw

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This has been a long time in the making, back in 2011 I attended a session at PASS Summit by SQL MVP Chris Shaw (B|T). Little did I know that he would become one of my mentors, good friend, and someone I’m truly thankful for. I approached Chris awhile back if he would be interested in doing a question answer session here and without hesitation he said let’s roll. So, without further ado let’s see what the mighty Chris Shaw has to say.

1. SQL Server has many facets to explore; what is one important aspect of SQL that you feel most Data Professionals tend to overlook?

I am not sure if you could call this an aspect in the traditional style. But I think a lot of data professionals overlook the basics. Even some of the basics of design like 3rd Normal Form, what it is, and what are some of the ways it is different from other aspects of database design. Microsoft has done such a great job at making it easier for us to query the data, and faster for us to retrieve the data. But my first reaction when I look into an OLTP at a 16 table join is to question the design of the database (I recall a day when it was best practice for performance that you didn’t have more than 8 joins). I am sure there are many example where this is the best way to approach the design, I just can’t help but wonder how much thought went into a design like that.

2. SQL Saturday’s are everywhere and they are an awesome experience to attend them. Can you explain why these SQL Saturday events are so important to the community and what your favorite venue is?

Multiple aspects to this question. First I think the SQL Saturdays are critical for a couple reasons. The big one of course is the education that is offered at the event free of charge, how can you beat that. But when you look at the community as a whole I think a SQL Saturday gets people ready for A larger event such as the PASS Summit, and knowing what to expect if you have never been. PASS Summit can be a bit overwhelming as a first timer, all the sessions, all the people and then you have the parties and the events that surround the conference. How do you take that all in? How do you network with 200 people on a Saturday event, what can you learn from networking with 200 people that you can apply to 4,000 people over 3 days at the PASS Summit. Anyone can go the Pass Summit, but if go without understanding how to network, how to get involved with the event, you are missing a lot. I pose the question to you Chris… Did you network more during your second Summit or your first? And was the difference because the second time around you knew what to expect?

“Second time was by far the most networking done compared to the first. Not just attending the dinners but also running into people in the hall, people coming up and talking to me off the cuff, the community zone, and the SQL Runs. I think you are correct when you say the first time you go you really don’t know what to expect. It truly is one of the best SQL conferences I’ve attended.”

I am surprised that PASS doesn’t do some sort of award for the SQL Saturdays. I have been to 16 of them as a speaker so far and I have got to admit each one has its own flavor to it. When I organize a SQL Saturday I try to put some sort of flare on the event, something different that you don’t get at the other events. So SQL Saturdays that do thinks just a little bit different are my favorites. So if you are going to hold my feet to the fire and really get me to commit to one event. My favorite event is Kansas City. They go well out of their way to show appreciation for the speakers. If you are a speaker this is a can’t miss event, the Speaker dinner is always special, and the Friday before the BBQ crawl is amazing. Another one I would mention is the Albuquerque event, they have a very good home town feeling, and I love the home made speaker gift I received.

3. PASS Summit is a big yearly event; can you describe what the “community zone” means and why it is so important?

The community zone is a dedicated area where we as speakers and attendees can gather to just network. I believe they have always had bean bags there and it is a great time to just get off your tired feet and visit with other attendees. What do you talk about? Well I had a complex issue that I was working on that became the topic of discussion in the zone for a little while, I was able to come away from the event with an answer to my question. I also learned that a couple of friends were going through a rough patch in their life, some pretty serious stuff and they still came to the conference. I hope that I was able to lend an ear for just a while and to be a friend.

4. What’s on Chris Shaw’s book shelf?

Well due to my lifestyle I don’t have enough room for a book shelf (I am a full time camper and live in my rig). I do however have enough digital media to make many people jealous. Right now most of my attention when I am not working is spent on photography. I have a lecture series from a guy name Manny, out of Florida who does this series called “Go Get that Shot”. I spend a lot of time watching that and re-watching it. One thing I do have on a very small book shelf is my MVP Award, something that is very symbolic to me.

5. Most DBA’s don’t start out being a DBA, but they take various routes to get where they are at. Curious how you became involved with SQL?

Ok so this is a really long story, so I am going to shorten it as much as I can. In 1996 I was the operational director at an antifreeze recycling company. Our Access database went down and I had to hire a consultant that charged us an arm and a leg. Well you know when you look at what you pay for things and you say “I am in the wrong business”, well that happened. I started to learn Access and was talking to a guy who work in the office building next to ours. After some discussion he told me I was asking questions that were above his skill level and he thought I could help him on this new thing they were doing. Ended up being SQL Server version 6.0. They made me an offer that was 10k more than what I was making and bought me a personal computer for my home. That database I designed was for Yellow Pages Inc. and the last time I looked it is still online today. Next time we are in the community zone, ask me and I will give you the full run down.

6. Like you, I was privileged to be a part of the DBA Jumpstart that John Sansom (B|T) put together last year. I’ve learned that the SQL life is a journey not a race; what do you feel a new data professional should consider most in starting out their career?

The chapter I wrote for that was telling people they need to choose between wanting a job and a career. I am a firm believer that if you are just looking for a job, then being a DBA is not the way you want to go. This career field requires a lot of dedication, and a lot of work hours.

7. Outside SQL we also have other hobbies; what are some of the things you like to get involved with to relax?

My favorite thing to do is take photos. Recently I took an extra day with a friend on our way to a SQL Saturday, everyone we were traveling with wanted to go ski, but rather than do that we took a back road to Santa Fe, New Mexico. We had a great time visiting and stopping every 20 min to go take pictures of stuff we had not seen before. It was a great time.

8. It’s got to be asked……tacos or barbecue?

Oh that is a hard one. Today I would have to say… Tacos for sure. But when the summer comes, I may be back to Barbecue.

Conclusion

A big thanks to SQL MVP Chris Shaw for taking time out of his busy schedule to drop by and answer a few questions for the SQL Community.

Impact Player Series – Part 1

Reports In SSISDB

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I was approached with an in shop issue where a group could not view the execution reports in the SSISDB. The reason for this was due to the security standards in place at the shop; the user could not be allowed to have the SSIS_Admin role.

In order to allow the user group access to the review Integration Services reports on package executions the SSIS_Admin role had to be given. This role would allow the following capabilities:

· Import Packages

· Delete own packages

· Delete all packages

· Change own package roles

· Change all package roles

This role also elevates privileges to sysadmin. This elevation of privilege can occur because these roles can modify Integration Services packages and Integration Services packages can be executed by SQL Server using the sysadmin security context of SQL Server Agent.

What this document will provide is a solution around not granting the SSIS_Admin role, but still allow the necessary entities access to the SSIS execution reports without granting any write, execute, create, update, or insert access.

The Catalog Views

Microsoft has two catalog views that make up the report access for SSIS packages (2012 and later) that I have found. We will look at both of these views and alter them to comment out the where clause. In doing so this will negate only SSIS_admin and sysadmins from having access to the reports, but will allow other users access to these reports.

Catalog.Event_Messages

The first catalog view we will look at is catalog.event_messages. This view is simply utilized for displaying information about messages that were logged during operations. The way Microsoft has configured this view is to only allow the SSIS_Admin or sysadmin privilege to view. In our case we would like to have other groups the ability to review the messages only. In order to do this we need to alter the catalog view.

To access the catalog view navigate to the SSISDB on the SQL Instance. Right click the catalog view and say alter:

Next comment out the where clause and execute the alter statement updating the catalog view appropriately

Catalog.executions

The second catalog view can be accessed in the same manner as the first catalog by repeating the same methodology of altering the view. Catalog.executions displays the instances of the package execution in the Integration Services catalog. Packages that are executed with the Execute Package task run the same instance of execution as the parent package.

After right clicking and altering the view, the where clause will need to be commented out as shown below:

After the where clause is commented out execute the alter command to update the catalog view.

Granting Catalog Access

After altering the catalog views we are left with a manual but needed process. Within the Integration Services Catalogs the following steps will need to be completed:

1. Right click on the package and go to properties

2. Once the Folder Properties dialog box is initiated go to Browse in the upper right hand corner

3. Once the Browse All Principals dialog box is initiated select the public database role and click ok

4. Ensure the grant read access is then given to the database role and click ok

Conclusion

By taking the above steps the users can now see the reports and that is it. In testing I’ve found that users cannot do the following:

· Create new environmental variables

· Create new packages

· Create new folders

· Cannot add, insert, update, or delete anything in the SSISDB or the Catalog Folders

· Cannot initiate any SSIS SQL Agent jobs

· Cannot execute any queries against the SSISDB

What I’ve found users can do the following:

· See package names

· Right click and select all executions

· View the reports

**As with anything do not take code from the web and blindly implement into your production environment.

SQL Sentry Plan Explorer – Don’t Leave Home Without It

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If you’ve been around me long enough then you realize that I am a Red Gate fanatic. With that said I’ve grown accustomed to another utility called SQL Sentry Plan Explorer by SQL Sentry.

I’m a big Aaron Bertrand (B|T) fan and he is the one that first introduced me to this utility via his blog; if you aren’t following this man then you are missing out. He has some stellar commentary on his blog and twitter and has a deep passion for the SQL Community.

What is SQL Sentry Plan Explorer

One thing that I think of when the words SQL Sentry Plan Explorer are said is query optimization. Do you have that one go to script or utility when you are troubleshooting stored procedures and queries? If so, and this utility isn’t part of it then add it to your tool DBA tool belt.

There are two different versions that you can download; a free version and a Pro version. Both utilize SQL Server to help streamline and make optimization of queries become more efficient for the every day data professional.

What does the Free Plan offer

The free plan offers quite a bit. You can check out the overview here

Enhanced plan diagrams
Statements tree
Plan trees
Top operations
Query columns
Join diagrams
Parameters
Expressions
I/O

These are just a few of the things you can expect to see with the free version

What does the Pro plan offer

In addition to what the free plan offers you will find some of the following:

Wait Stats
Full Query Call Stack
Open Deadlock files
Plan Filtering
Rotate plans

…and much more

Personal Approaches

In the past I have found that the free plan has allowed me to:

Quickly identify bottlenecks
Review and compare statements
Review costly operations
Review index seeks and scans

I think one of the most beneficial items that SQL Sentry has done for this utility is adding it as an SSMS add in.

Utility Downloaded, Now What?

Like any other tool, the goal is to help streamline and make the data professional more efficient. With that said, the data professional has to know the “why’s” and how things function within SQL; don’t utilize the tool as a crutch nor should you utilize the tool as a means to solidify commands like a robot.

A SQL community member and MVP has taught me (thanks Tim Chapman (B|T) that just because you have all these tools at your disposal you, yourself have to be able to connect all the dots which means what guys – learn and know what you are reading.

You see an index seek; great….now why?

You see that Plan Explorer is showing you a critical alert in red on index cost…great; why?

Don’t just simply follow a tool; know what you are looking at.

Conclusion

I highly recommend SQL Sentry’s Plan Explorer; from personal experience it is helped me on more than one occasion. You can view all they have to offer here.

Well done SQL Sentry; well done indeed.

I tell you what; check out what my other colleagues have to say on the matter and how they have benefited from this utility:

If you want to read more about the newly released SQL Search, don’t forget to check out these blog posts:

Julie Koesmarno: Analyzing Execution Plans With SQL Sentry Plan Explorer
Jeffrey Verheul: SQL Sentry Plan Explorer: You can’t live without it
Mickey Stuewe: look for new post in next months installment

On a SQL Collaboration Quest

Four SQL professionals gathered from the four corners of the world to share their SQL knowledge with each other and with their readers: Mickey Stuewe from California, USA, Chris Yates from Kentucky, USA, Julie Koesmarno from Canberra, Australia, and Jeffrey Verheul from Rotterdam, The Netherlands. They invite you to join them on their quest as they ask each other questions and seek out the answers in this collaborative blog series. Along the way, they will also include other SQL professionals to join in the collaboration.

"You are the CEO of your destiny"

Rise and Grind

Tag Archives: SQLServerPedia

The Power of User Groups

Is ROI for Vendors Worth the SQL Saturday Investment?

Are SQL Saturday’s Worth It?

Community Involvement–Why Wait?

PASS Summit Recap and Experience

Perspective

Q and A With SQL MVP Chris Shaw

Impact Player Series – Part 1