This years Christmas wish list for Microsoft

Posted on December 5, 2011 by johnsterrett| Leave a comment

Once again its the first Monday of the month. This means its time for another #mememondy presented by Thomas LaRock . This months topic is what gift do you want Microsoft to leave for you under the tree this year? For this post I am going to list two items I would love to see in SQL Server 2012.

  1. Distributed Replay to be easy to configure, work as advertised and include the great reporting features I am used to seeing with RML Utilities.  Currently, I don’t see much for reporting with Distributed Replay in BOL.  No, need to convert SQL Traces multiple times.
  2. AlwaysOn to be included in SQL Server 2012  Standard Edition. Yes, I know this is a long shot but hey its my Christmas list :-)

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Posted in meme monday, SQLServerPedia Syndication

Share your local drives with a Remote Desktop Connection

Posted on November 22, 2011 by johnsterrett| 3 Comments

Have you ever wished there was a way to share your local drive with an Remote Desktop Connection? I have, especially when a client doesn’t have a test box.  For example, lets say I need to do a perfmon trace for performance tuning.  I would usually use the PAL Tool to generate a perfmon template and copy it from my machine to the server to configure the trace.  Once the perfmon collection is finished I would want to copy the template back down to my individual machine to generate the PAL reports.

This lead me to do some research and I found an easy solution that works.  Hopefully, this tip helps you out in the future.

Time For The Good Stuff…

Load your Remote Desktop Connection tool and enter in your computer name for the server.  For this example I am going to keep the computer name and user name blank.  Now click on the options button in the lower right corner of the RDC screen.

Remote Desktop Connection initial screen

Type in your computer name and user name for your Remote Desktop Connection.  Once your computer name and user name are entered click on the local resources tab.

Share local drive with Remote Desktop Connection

Now that we are on the local resources tab click on the “More” button shown at the bottom left corner of the screen.

Share local drive with Remote Desktop Connection

Select the local drives you would like to share with your Remote Desktop Connection. In this example I am only going to share my C drive.

The following screen shot will show you that I am sharing my local C drive on the Remote Desktop Connection.

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Posted in IT Pro

WVPASS – Performance Tuning for Pirates!

Posted on November 16, 2011 by johnsterrett| Leave a comment

If you are in the Pittsburgh, PA area take a trip down to Wheeling, WV this Thursday to catch me at the WVPASS SQL Server User Group.  Registration is free and there  are a few free seats available.  I will be breaking out a brand new presentation titled “Performance Tuning for Pirates.”

Abstract

If you follow baseball you will notice that my favorite team the Pittsburgh Pirates has to do more with less to be successful. Working as a consultant, I have also noticed this trend with several IT shops. If you need to improve the performance of SQL Server and cannot purchase 3rd party tools this session is for you.  I will help improve your performance tuning process while using several free tools. Through this presentation we will go over wait stats, dynamic management objects, perfmon, PAL, SQL Trace, ClearTrace, SQL Nexus and  SQLDiag.

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Posted in Professional Development, SQLServerPedia Syndication

My #sqlpass 2011 Member Summit Schedule

Posted on October 11, 2011 by johnsterrett| Leave a comment

The following is my tentative plans for the SQL PASS Member Summit this week.  I have listed scheduled sessions to attend but may switch or do something else. You never know what will be going down on the #sqlpass or #sqlfun hash tag on twitter.

Isn’t it awesome that the sessions are recorded and available for playback after the event? I will get the sessions on DVD and will be able to watch them later.

Tuesday, October 11th 2011

* 7:30am to 1pm – Travel to Seattle for PASS Conference (Yes, I am actually writing this on the airplane)
* 1pm to 2pm – Regional Member Meeting (Hopefully, logistics work and I won’t miss this)
* 2:15pm to 5pm – Chapter Leaders Meeting
* 6:30pm to 8pm – Welcome Receptions and Quiz Bowl
* 8pm to 10pm – Red Gate Party

Wednesday, October 12th 2011

* 5:30am to 8am – Visit Pike Place Market or Top Hat Donuts Shop
* 8:15am to 10am – Attend Keynote
* 10:15am to 11:30am – This isn’t your fathers Cloud: Kevin Kline, Buck Woody
* 11:30am to 1:00pm – Chapter Leaders Lunch
* 1:30pm to  3:00pm – Visit and get know Vendors @ Vendor Expo
* 3:00pm to 4:15pm – Tips and Tricks for Writing Better Queries: Joe Webb (AD-314)
* 4:45pm to 6:00pm -  Characteristics of a Great Relational Database : Louis Davison (AD-318)
* 6:15pm to 8:00pm – Attend SQL PASS Vendor Reception
* 8:00pm to 10:00pm – SQLPeople Party & PUSS Party

Thursday, October 13th, 2011

* 8:15am to 10:00am – Keynote Bloggers Table @ Dell Ballroom
* 10:15am to 11:30am – Advanced SQL Server 2008 Troubleshooting: Klaus Aschenbrenner (DBA-403) @ 6E
* 11:30 am to 1:30pm – Women in Technology – Lunch @ 6B
* 1:30pm to 2:45pm – Lighting Talk (I am presenting) @ 201
* 3:00pm to 4:30pm – All the Magic Knobs: Cindy Gross @2AB
* 5pm to 7pm – Vendor Appreciation Party
* 7pm to 10pm – Microsoft Community Appreciation @ GameWorks

Friday, October 14th, 2011

* 7:00am to 8:00am – Breakfast
* 8:15am to 10am – Keynote Presentation or Microsoft Labs
* 10:15am to 11:45am – Query Tuning Mastery: Adam Machanic (AD-500) @ 6E
* 11:30am to 12:30 – Birds of a Feather – Lunch
* 12:15pm to 1:30pm – Board of Directors Meet and Greet
* 1:30pm to 2:30pm – Final review for my sessions
* 2:30pm to 3:45pm – Evaluate your Daily Checklist against 100+ Instances of SQL(ME) @602-604
* 4:15pm to 5:30pm – Best Practices for Deploying SQL Server on VMWare: Wanda He (DBA-310) @ 2AB

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Posted in SQLServerPedia Syndication

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Speaking at SQL PASS Member Summit 2011

Posted on October 3, 2011 by johnsterrett| 3 Comments

Last year I attended my first PASS Member Summit in 2010.  After attending the conference I made it a goal to make sure I return.  You see, not only was this the first time I attended but also the first time I was a presenter.  Last year I gave a lighting talk on how to use profiler and a chalk talk on SQL Server 2008 for Developers.

Two weeks ago I got a very cool email.  It asked if I would be interested in being an alternate speaker.  The answer was simple.  Hell yea! I would like to speak at the biggest and best conference for SQL Server Professionals.

My topic is Evaluate Your Daily Checklist against 100+ Instances While You Get A Cup Of Coffee. I will also give a lightning talk on Hosting A SQL Saturday.

Reciently, I downloaded screen flow. I hope to give everyone a teaser video to my session next week.

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Posted in SQL Server 2008, SQLServerPedia Syndication

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Monday Meme: My First SQL Pass Member Summit

Posted on September 5, 2011 by johnsterrett| Leave a comment

Once again Tom LaRock (blog | twitter) has put together another Monday Meme assignment.  The goal is simple just get your writing juices going. This months topic is to write about your favorite moment from a previous  PASS Member Summit.

What is PASS Member Summit?

PASS Member Summit is an annual conference to bring together SQL Server professionals for deep-dive technical learning, hands-on labs, and the best networking in the community.

My Favorite PASS Summit

Last year was by far my favorite PASS Member Summit.  Why was last years Summit my favorite? The answer is very simple. Last year was my first Member Summit. I paid my own way and it was one of the best decision I made. In fact, I enjoyed the Member Summit so much that I decided to make it a goal to try to make it every year.

Favorite Member Summit Moment

On Saturday after the Summit ended I stood inline at the hotel lobby to checkout.  I noticed the guy standing next to me had the same backpack so I started a conversation saying, “nice backpack, I am John Sterrett.”  Little did I know this was Aaron Nelson (blog | twitter) and I quickly learned that he was trying to meet me all week. We are both big fans of SQL Saturday’s and he told me that he tried to motivate other chapter leaders into hosting a SQL Saturday by saying, “If Wheeling, WV can host a SQL Saturday so can you.”  We ended up chatting for about an hour.  It’s strange to think that I built a good friendship while I was checking out of my hotel room after the Member Summit.

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Posted in meme monday

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How long will this sql server restore take?

Posted on August 29, 2011 by johnsterrett| Leave a comment

Have you ever wanted to know how long its going to take to complete  a restore once you issued the restore T-SQL command? The DMV’s can actually give you this information.  My script to complete this task is included below.

/* Query used to find status of a backup. */
SELECT	sysdb.NAME,
    dmv.PERCENT_COMPLETE AS [PercentComplete],
    dmv.TOTAL_ELAPSED_TIME/60000 AS [Elapsed_Time_in_Minutes],
    dmv.ESTIMATED_COMPLETION_TIME/60000	AS [Time_Remaining_in_Minutes],
    [Individual Query] = SUBSTRING (qt.text,  dmv.statement_start_offset/2, (CASE WHEN dmv.statement_end_offset = -1
   THEN LEN(CONVERT(NVARCHAR(MAX), qt.text)) * 2
   ELSE dmv.statement_end_offset END - dmv.statement_start_offset)/2),
   [Parent Query] = qt.text
FROM	MASTER..SYSDATABASES sysdb
inner join sys.dm_exec_requests dmv on sysdb.DBID=dmv.DATABASE_ID AND dmv.COMMAND LIKE '%restore%'
CROSS APPLY sys.dm_exec_sql_text(dmv.sql_handle)as qt
ORDER	BY 2 desc, 3 desc

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Posted in Uncategorized

Speaking at WV SQL User Group on August 25th

Posted on August 16, 2011 by johnsterrett| Leave a comment
I look forward to giving my Evaluate your Daily Checklist against your SQL Enterprise with PBM and CMS presentation at the WV SQL Server User Group in Wheeling, WV on August 25th at the Orrick Building.
You can still sign up and registration is free.  In fact, everyone is a winner because there will be free pizza and every user group attendees knows there is no better prize than free pizza!

Abstract

You will walk away from this session with an understanding of how to use the Policy Based Management and Central Management Server to complete a daily checklist against your whole SQL Server farm. We will cover the basics to evaluate, monitor and apply best practice policies, which are included out of the box with SQL Server 2008. We will also make custom policies to cover additional best practices to evaluate daily checklist items. Finally, we will combine Policy-Based Management and Central Management Server with the Enterprise Policy Management Framework on codeplex to automate the monitoring process and create manager friendly reports to monitor your checklist items against the whole SQL Server farm.

Session goals include:
  • You will be able to install, configure and run scripts against the Central Management Server
  • You will be able to use Central Management Server and/or Policy-Based Management to complete a daily checklist
  • You will be able to evaluate and build custom policies.

Bio:
John Sterrett is a database administrator at Remote DBA Experts and a member of the Integrations team. John has been active within the SQL Server community, including hosting the first and second annual SQL Saturday in West Virginia. John also presented a lightning talk and chalk-talk at the SQL Server 2010 Member Summit, presented sessions at three SQL Saturday’s, and presented to the Pittsburgh SQL Server User Group. John is a syndicated blogger at SQLServerPedia and contributes tips at MSSQLTIPS. You can find his blog at www.johnsterrett.com

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Posted in Professional Development, SQL Server 2008, Uncategorized

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Photo Gallery – SQL Saturday #80 in Wheeling, WV

Posted on August 4, 2011 by johnsterrett| Leave a comment

Below is a collection of photos at SQL Saturday #80 in Wheeling, WV on July 23rd.

You can find my recap of hosting SQL Saturday #80 here.

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Posted in Professional Development, SQL Server 2008

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SQL Saturday #80 was a Success!

Posted on July 25, 2011 by johnsterrett| 7 Comments

On Saturday July 23rd the WVPASS and Greater Wheeling Chapter of AITP joined forces to host the 2nd Annual SQL Saturday in Wheeling, WV. SQLSaturday is a one-day free training event for SQL Server professionals and those wanting to learn about SQL Server brought to you by the local SQL Server community and PASS (Professional Association for SQL Server).

The following is a quick run down of our stats for the event. We had 108 people signup, 85 attendees, 11 speakers covering 18 sessions on Saturday.   Many thanks goes out to the speakers, volunteers, sponsors and attendees for making this a successful SQL Saturday.

The Good

  • We had a great mix of MVP’s, experienced speakers and first time speakers. One of the greatest accomplishments for this event is giving Matt Velic (Check out his #sqlsat80 photo’s), Abi Chapagai and Shannon Lowder their first opportunity to speak at a SQL Saturday. The speakers all did a fantastic job. We received several comments from attendees thanking us for having fantastic speakers.
  • Registration was quick and smooth. Everyone was able to get in and get to the main room to socialize and enjoy a free breakfast. The volunteers did a fantastic job.
  • We took a step outside of the box with lunch and got burrito’s from Salsa Café. With only a few complaints this was a hit. Last year we did box lunches from Panera and it was expensive and we also got lukewarm reviews.
  • Speakers received their evaluation’s shortly after their sessions. Personally, I have spoken at a few events and never received my feedback so I completely understand how important it can be towards growing as a speaker.
  • WVNCC was a fantastic host facility. The staff was very friendly and able to get us everything we needed to be successful.
  • Hosted the event on a $2,400.00 budget. There will be more on this in a future blog post.

Stuff to work on Next year!

  • Speakers dinner might have been a little too early. We held our dinner at 6pm and a few speakers wanted to attend but couldn’t make it in time. We also had plans of following our dinner with a voyage of the Italian Festival but a rain storm quickly sidelined that plan.
  • SQLGolf was a great idea and fun until the heat kicked our butt around the fifth hole. Once we got to the eighteenth hole I forgot we were still playing golf.
  • We need more onsite sponsors next year.
  • Bacon was not included in breakfast.

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Posted in SQL Server 2008, SQLServerPedia Syndication

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