Monthly Archives: December 2009

Use UGSS and GITCA to support your User Groups

Posted on December 29, 2009 by johnsterrett| 5 Comments

If you are supporting/running a user group or  interested in becoming a technical presenter this blog post will help you. I am starting to help with the Pittsburgh SQL Server User Group and I wanted to share some knowledge learned from working with the Greater Wheeling Chapter of the Association for Information Technology Professionals. If your user group is based on technology (AITP, INETA, PASS) etc. I highly recommend you look into leveraging the resources provided by UGSS and Culminis GITCA.

Today I received an email reminder to sign up for the Q2 UGSS User Group Kit and this motivated me to write this blog post for leaders and presenters who are not familiar with UGSS or GITCA.  At the end of the day you need to offer something of value (knowledge, training, networking, swag)  for people to attend your events. I want to commend both UGSS and GITCA as they provide support to increase the value of your user group meetings.

Global IT Community Association (GITCA)

For starters Culminis is now GITCA.  Global IT Community Association (GITCA) represents over 700 member organizations and over 3.7 million IT professionals.   GITCA is the world’s largest international not-for-profit independent organization powered by dedicated volunteers devoted to the development and growth of the IT community by providing services to support leaders and connect user groups, associations, and student IT organizations.

The following is a list of benefits for user groups:

  • SharePoint hosting for user group
  • LiveMeeting account online meetings
  • Event Support
  • Community Development
  • Access to User Group Support Services (UGSS)  more on this below.

To apply check out the requirements and sign up if you qualify.

User Group Support Services (UGSS)

User Group Support Services (UGSS) is dedicated and committed to serving technical community members and leaders worldwide.  UGSS provides resources that will ignite your efforts as leaders and invigorate your experience as members.

The following is a list of benefits for Community Leaders:

  • Get speakers for your events – if you are interested in presenting sign up here. Groups will find you and ask you to present.
  • Get funding for your events – yes, they will help sponsor your events.
  • Get publicity for your events
  • Get more publicity for your events
  • Get swag (content, demos, samples and more) –  the photo below shows some items I received during the last kit.

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If you are the leader of a user group, a presenter, or someone who would like to sponsor events apply here. If you have any questions feel free to shoot me an email at jsterrett at gmail dot com and I will do my best to point you in the right direction.

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Posted in Professional Development, SQLServerPedia Syndication

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Disk usage monitoring with Data Collector

Posted on December 8, 2009 by johnsterrett| 3 Comments

Today, I am jumping into Adam Machanic T-SQL Tuesday challenge with the following post.

Recently, I created a build request to have a new server to move SQL Server databases.  I put together an estimate for the space needed for data, logs and backups and included this information in the build document.  This request was put in the queue and all was well.  Once this request popped to the top of the queue I reviewed the size of database files using Idera’s Space Analyzer and noticed unexpected data growth in a few of the data files.  Thankfully, the data collector and Management Data Warehouse (MDW) was enabled which helped us track the unexpected data growth.

Introduction

SQL Server 2008 introduces the data collector and the management data warehouse (MDW) into SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS). The Management Data Warehouse exists by leveraging the data collector and a MDW database and custom reports. This allows administrators and developers the opportunity to do some proactive monitoring. If you are familiar with the Performance Dashboard then you will be impressed with the new Management Data Warehouse.

How does the data collector help you?

Out of the box, the data collector provides you with the tools to monitor disk usage, server activity and query statistics.  Therefore, when you are asked the following questions.  How much space do we need for database xyz? Why did database xyz grow from size 123 to size 456? you can use the data collector report to help answer these questions.  For example, below is a screen shot of some sample databases.

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You can see that the third, forth and fifth databases had their current size changed.  I want to focus on this fact because it doesn’t represent the data inside the database files.  This means the actual data files (mdf, ndf, ldf) are growing which can cause disk fragmentation. You want to avoid this when possible.  Ideally, you want your database graph to be a straight line like the sixth database.  Next we will click on the graph for the fourth database and drill deeper to the analysis.

image

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Looking at the two image above you can see that the data size multiplied during a six hour between noon and 6pm on November 30th.  We were then able to use this information to determine the cause for the unexpected growth of data.

Conclusion

I think this is a great tool to troubleshoot unexpected data growth.  I look forward to using this tool as part of the process to estimate future database growth.

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Posted in SQL Server 2008, SQLServerPedia Syndication

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December events to attend in Wheeling, WV

Posted on December 4, 2009 by johnsterrett| Leave a comment

Hello everyone,  I want to share some cool events going down in Wheeling, WV in December. 

If you like wine or technology I highly recommend catching the Greater Wheeling Chapter of the Association for Information Technology Professionals meeting on December 9th.  This meeting is open to the public. We will meet on the forth floor of Wheeling Central High School at 6pm.  All attendees will have the change to share their 2009 accomplishments while we chow down a pizza dinner.  Dinner will be followed by a wine tasting at the Good Mansion Wines store. Check out the event page to signup for the 2009 December meeting.

Are you a young superstar go getter? If so, OVConnect is the group for you.  The mission is to bring young professionals in the valley together.  This months installment includes a holiday toy drive with a happy hour twist.  On December 17th at 5:00pm we will socialize and get our drink on at River City.  In order to attend all you have to do is signup and bring a toy or make a ten dollar donation.  All donations benefit Catholic Charities.

Bonus Pittsburgh Technology Event

Are you a .NET programmer and interested in what’s going on with MVC?  If so, this months installment of the PGH.NET User Group is a must attend free event.  The PGH.NET meeting is on December 8th. You can find more info here or register here.

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Posted in Events

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