Tag Archives: Presentation

Why is My SQL Server Execution Plan Changing and How do I fix It!

Posted on March 23, 2017 by | Leave a comment
Speaking at Performance Virtual Chapter

Speaking at Performance Virtual Chapter

Have, you noticed an important query suddenly takes longer to run? Have you noticed the execution plan looks completely different than what you normally expect for your query? Today, I talked at the Performance Virtual Chapter going over how to identify plans that change and went over options to fix them in SQL Server 2005 to 2016 by forcing plans.

Where is the Code?

As promised, the demo code is attached here.

How Can Query Store Get Better?

I would love to see Query Store have the ability to capture statistics for AG Secondaries that are enabled for read traffic. A bonus, would be the ability to force plans for AG Secondaries as well.

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Free Video for Accidental DBA’s

Posted on February 18, 2015 by | 1 comment

Recently, Mike Walsh and John Sterrett teamed up with Embarcadero to give a 60 minute presentation focusing on the skills that are necessary for accidental DBA’s to master to become DBA’s with a successful long lasting career.

I wish I had all this advice when I started as a SQL Server DBA.

Resources:

All Resources mentioned in the video to complete the tasks discussed can be found at http://linchpinpeople.com/where

Video

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Upcoming Presentations

Posted on October 6, 2014 by | Leave a comment

It’s an honor to always be able to give back to the SQL Server Community. I would never be where I am today with out others helping me along the way.  I look forward connecting and sharing with everyone at the following events.

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I am Speaking at 2013 PASS Member Summit!

Posted on May 30, 2013 by | 2 comments
Speaking at PASS Summit 2013

Speaking at PASS Summit 2013

Every single year I look forward to the PASS Member Summit. In a nutshell it is the SuperBowl for SQL Server Professionals. It is so vital to my career I have paid my own way.  It is the best place to connect, share and learn about SQL Server.  It is an honor to be selected as a speaker. In my opinion, every year the process gets harder as more DBA’s become public speakers because you don’t have to be an expert to share your knowledge. I will never forget the first time I got to speak at PASS Summit or my second time. This blog post is bringing up some great memories. This year, I will be talking about Table Partitioning with Big Data.

Here is my session abstract:

Big Data starting to slow you down? Data growth putting your maintenance tasks in danger of not meeting your SLAs? Wish you could archive old data with minimal impact to your tables during the archive process or that you could eliminate most of the data in your tables when you query them? If so, it’s time you consider implementing table partitioning to help with general performance and reduce your window for completing maintenance tasks.

Come learn how table partitioning works and when it should be implemented. You’ll see how to initially configure partition functions and partition schemes to have a rock-solid partitioned table. And you’ll learn how to implement an automated sliding window to maintain your partitioned tables and ensure optimal performance.

Still want to speak at PASS Summit?

Did you get denied to speak at PASS Summit? I have good news, you don’t have to wait until next year. Keep an eye out for the call for speakers for lightning talks. These are short presentations on a single topic. This is a great way to get your first PASS Summit speaking opportunity. My very first PASS presentation was a Lighting Talk and it gave me the motivation to keep moving forward with my public speaking.

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Performance Tuning Texas Style!

Posted on January 15, 2013 by | Leave a comment

If your in Texas and interested in learning some tips to help you do SQL Server Performance Tuning with free tools then I highly suggest that you attend one of these presentations coming to a city near you!

If you cannot make it out no worries, you can catch a recorded version of my presentation.

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12 Steps to Workload Tuning – Winter 2012 Performance Palooza!

Posted on December 5, 2012 by | Leave a comment

 

[UPDATE] Video recording from PASS Virtual Performance Chapter’s Winter 2012 Performance Palooza can be found here.

I am a huge fan of the PASS Virtual Performance Chapter and I am excited that they pinged me to speak at their Winter 2012 Performance Palooza event tomorrow. This event is similar to 24 Hours of PASS but it will focus on Performance.

I will be sharing my 12 Steps to Workload Tuning at 1PM Central Time (1900 GMT). We will focus on the methodology and we will  use RML Utilities which is a free tool provided by Microsoft CSS to help you replay, add additional stress and compare results.  If you want to improve your performance tuning skills I strongly recommend you checkout out the schedule and attend as many sessions as possible.

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Dallas, TX to Pittsburgh, PA A #sqlsat171 Story!

Posted on October 12, 2012 by | 1 comment

 

First SQL Saturday in Pittsburgh

First SQL Saturday in Pittsburgh

It was an honor to speak at the first SQL Saturday in Pittsburgh. The company I

We even got some professional development done while I was in the office.

We even got some professional development done while I was in the office.

currently work for is based out of Pittsburgh so I flew in a week early and traded my work from home lifestyle this week for working in the office.  It was fun to do some training and mentoring in person this week.  One of my coworkers went all out and hosted a great BBQ dinner while my boss picked me up at 1:30am on a Monday morning and let me crash with him all week.  I am very lucky to work with some great people.

For this event I had two goals. One, help Gina anyway possible with finding speakers and sponsors. Second, I wanted to encourage and help some great local DBA’s in Pittsburgh give their first #sqlpass presentation. So, months before this event I gave myself a personal challenge to target three great DBA’s in Pittsburgh and I tried to get them to deliver their first presentation locally at the SQL Saturday.  I was very happy to help and see two of the three potential speakers give great presentations.  They even filled all the seats and had standing room only.  One of them has even caught the speaking bug and submitted abstracts to SQL Saturday in DC.

Speakers Dinner…

The SQL Saturday committee did a great job on picking a venue for the speakers dinner. We meetup at the Rivers Casino across the river from downtown. We had a great view Mt. Washington and the Point. I wish I could have stayed longer but I had a work item that needed to be completed.

Day of the Event..

I started the morning by giving my Performance for Pirates (code, tools and

Kon did a great job, with the room being packed!

Kon did a great job for his first presentation with the room being packed!

videos provided with link) presentation.  Next, I got the opportunity to catch Eric Keeps dive into ORM that make DBA’s happy.  I was surprised when Eric showed one that allowed developers and DBA’s to build the SQL statements.  Finally, I caught Konstantin Melamud who presented an “Introduction to Execution Plans” session.  He did a fantastic job, most of the people in the room wouldn’t know it was his first #sqlpass presentation.

One of the most important parts of attending SQL Saturday’s is to catchup and extend your network.  I love catching up with my #SQLFamily and extending it too.  I had a great time catching up with Karla Landrum,  Joey Dantoni, Rick Heiges, Craig Purnell, Eric Kepes and more (too many to list all!).  After some networking I had to cut out early to catch my flight. I was able to hitch a ride to the airport with Joey and get a sneak peek into traveling like a rockstar as he got me through priority checkin and the US Airways club. Thanks Joey!

The After Event Buzz…

Finally, its now close to a week after the event and I am still hearing good news about the event. We were able to round up about ten co-workers to join in and attend the event.  They are still talking about the event and cannot wait for the next one.  Many of them mentioned that they are going to start attending the Pittsburgh SQL Server User Group meetings, a few are considering going to the SQL Saturday in DC in December.  If this isn’t #SQLWinning I don’t know what is!

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Presenting at OKC SQL Server User Group Tonight!

Posted on October 8, 2012 by | 2 comments

Tonight, October 8th at 6:30pm I am virtually speaking at the OKC SQL Server User Group.  I had a blast there earlier this year when I presented at their SQL Saturday event.  Tonight I will be talking about Performance Tuning for Pirates! There will be free knowledge and food for all who can make it down. I hope you can make it and I look forward to meeting you virtually!

Here are the meeting details!

The title for the talk is: Performance Tuning for Pirates and will cover:

If you follow baseball you will notice that the Pittsburgh Pirates (this speaker’s favorite team) has to do more with less to be successful. This trend can also exist within IT shops. If you need to improve the performance of your SQL Server instances and cannot purchase 3rd party tools this session is for you. Learn to improve your performance tuning process by using several free tools. This session will cover wait stats, dynamic management objects, perfmon, PAL, SQL Trace, ClearTrace, SQL Nexus and SQLDiag.

When: Tonight! Monday, October  08th

Time: 6:00 p.m.- 8:00 p.m.

Food and Drinks will be provided by GDH

Location: GDH Offices – Follow this link for information on location and parking!

1111 N Walker Ave
Oklahoma City, OK 73103

Directions link: Click Here
Our Website/MailingList: http://okcsql.org
Twitter/Facebook:  @OKCSQL and http://facebook.com/okcsql

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Upcoming speaking engagements

Posted on September 19, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Ayyyy, matey being that today is the International Speak Like a Pirate Day I thought it was appropriate to post some future dates for my Performance Tuning for Pirates presentation.

You can download the slides, check out the reference material and videos here!

North Texas SQL Server Group

If your in the DFW area and haven’t been to a North Texas SQL Server Group meeting I highly recommend you check one out.  I will be speaking tomorrow (Thursday,  September 19th) and its not too late to sign up to attend this free event.

 

SQL Saturday #171 in Pittsburgh, PA

On October 6th Pittsburgh will be hosting its first SQL Saturday. It’s an honor to be speaking during the first time slot. If you in the area, there is no better opportunity to get free SQL Server training. I look forward to meeting you there. If for some reason, you cannot make it make sure you check out the Pittsburgh SQL Server User Groups monthly meetings as there also free!

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Free Training: Performance Tuning with Free Tools!

Posted on June 28, 2012 by | Leave a comment

This week I have two presentations on my schedule. I get to give my Performance Tuning for Pirates presentation twice this week.

Pittsburgh SQL User Group Recap

On Tuesday, I presented my Performance Tuning for Pirates presentation at the Pittsburgh SQL Server User Group. Actually, I had a little tweak that went well. One of my friends who does a lot of tuning has alway been interested in doing a presentation so I had him jump on stage and do the presentation with me. I think it was a great success and I think we will be seeing some really cool presentations from him in the future.

Performance Virtual Chapter

Today at 2PM (EST), I am also giving my Performance Tuning for Pirates presentation at the SQLPASS Virtual Performance Chapter. This will be done via LiveMeeting and is free for all PASS Members. If your not a member, I have good news for you. PASS Membership is free so signup and join in on the fun. Also, if you are not able to make it today make sure you come back to the virtual chapter as this session should be recorded for replay.

If you are looking for the resources, tools used in the Performance Tuning for Pirates presentation you can find them here.

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