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Pluralsight: Getting Started With Your First SQL Server Instance

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Almost a full year after I first thought I might have something relevant to contribute, my first Pluralsight course has been published!

Its called “Getting Started With Your First SQL Server Instance” and is targeted to non-DBAs that want to know more about SQL Server Administration, or just want to understand SQL Server beyond the random Google Search when something breaks.

I’m hoping this is just the first of many “Getting Started…” courses that take SQL Server all the way down to entry-level training so people can learn, then test, then do as they go.

The trailer for the course:

BONUS: Pluralsight is offering a $100 discount on both of their Annual personal plans, but you need to sign up before midnight March, 18, 2019 (Pacific time)

I want to thank Chris and Derek at Pluralsight for their guidance along the way…and a huge shoutout to Eugene Meidinger (b|t) for his valuable input before, during and after the course creation.

Thanks for reading!

Kevin3NF

SQL Saturday Cincinnati 2019

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Dallas DBAs is proud to announce that we are a 💎Diamond Sponsor💎 of SQL Saturday Cincinnati on March 30, 2019, being held at the University of Cincinnati.  We will be presenting a lunch session: “Your SQL Servers Are Misconfigured!”

In addition, Dallas DBAs team members Kevin and Derek will present a pre-conference on Friday, March 29: “DBA Fundamentals: Give yourself a solid SQL Server foundation.”  This all day session is targeted to Developers, Students, System Admins, Managers, Oracle DBAs, etc.  Anyone that can benefit from knowing more about the Administration side of SQL Server. $75.

Please come Saturday for a free day full of training options. Register here.

2018 Highlights and 2019 Goals

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Happy New Year!

They say focus on the positive and make your goals public, so that’s exactly what I’m going to do here!

Dallas DBAs had a great 2018, by every measurable category.  No formal goals were laid out, other than “don’t close the doors” and “help people”.

The stats:

  • 7 new clients added – mix of short-term and long-term
  • 1 customer carried from 2017 into the year and 3 extensions signed for 2019
  • 21K views/115K minutes watched on our YouTube channel
  • 26,415 page views on DallasDBAs.com
  • 1 new employee added (part-time Junior DBA)
  • 2 new contractors working on skills not in house (Power BI and SQL Dev)
    • 3 other sub-contractor agreements signed
  • 1 SQL Saturday sponsored (Dallas, May) with a booth (many others at the “personal” level)
  • 2 Pre-conference sessions and 2 regular session presentations given at SQL Saturdays (Cincy and Dallas)
  • 3 scripts updated or added to the Microsoft Technet Gallery
  • 2 Databases rescued from corruption issues (Thanks Red-Gate!)
  • 6 free HealthChecks
  • At least $12 in net profit

The goals for 2019:

  • 6 new long-term part time DBA support clients
  • Add one Senior SQL Server DBA to staff
    • Add one apprentice to this DBA
  • Add one new Oracle DBA to the team
  • Sponsor 2 SQL Saturdays with a booth (Dallas and Cincy)
  • Deliver “DBA Fundamentals” training for free once per quarter (Cincy, Dallas(?), Q3/Q4 TBA)
  • 30K views/180K minutes on YouTube channel
    • 6 new videos – Accidental DBA target audience
  • 40K Hits on DallasDBAs.com
  • At least $13 net profit
  • 12 Free HealthChecks, bare minimum once a month

The things we put in place this year have worked well, so I may be fudging the number too conservatively for 2019.  Check back next year…we may actually hit $14 net profit!

Thanks for reading!

Kevin3NF

DBA Fundamentals pre-cons 2019

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While this post is for everyone, it is specifically written for  SQL Saturday organizers…

I am filling out my 2019 schedule of target dates/locations of SQL Saturdays I want to attend/present (US only…I don’t even have a passport)

I am offering to do my DBA Fundamentals pre-con and one or two Saturday sessions (Security/DR) with a twist:

You keep my part of the pre-con proceeds for your group.  I’ll cover my own travel, meals, etc. if you provide the space.  This should allow you to increase your funding for the rest of the event, buy some pizza for your local group, or even discount the pre-con price should you choose to do so.

If you only have 1 or 2 pre-con spots and cannot secure an additional room at your venue, please pick from the other submissions 🙂

Tentative schedule:

  • January –
  • March – Chicago (23rd, submitted) or Cincinnati (30th)
  • April – Dallas *
  • June –
  • August –
  • October –
  • December –

* All of these are tentative, some dates not granted yet

So, dear organizer…if you think this offer will be a benefit to your SQL Saturday, please get in touch and let me know what your planned date is so I can be sure to submit.  Kevin@DallasDBAs.com

Thanks for reading!

Kevin3NF

PASS Summit 2018 – My Schedule

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If you are going to PASS Summit in Seattle and want someone to sit with, check out my schedule (primary and backup sessions) – very much subject to change:

 

Wednesday, November 7, 2018

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10:15 AM – 11:30 AM Room: 2AB

dbatools Powershell Library – The Complete Introduction (Yes, my very first session is Powershell, lol)

http://www.pass.org/summit/2018/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=85712

10:15 AM – 11:30 AM Room: 612

Uncovering Duplicate, Redundant, & Missing Indexes

http://www.pass.org/summit/2018/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=77036

1:30 PM – 2:45 PM Room: 606

Improving Availability in SQL Server and Azure SQL Database

http://www.pass.org/summit/2018/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=84728

1:30 PM – 4:00 PM Room: 6E

SQL Server Migrations Done the Right Way

http://www.pass.org/summit/2018/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=84219

4:45 PM – 6:00 PM Room: 6A

SSMS & T-SQL Tricks: Working Smarter, Not Harder

http://www.pass.org/summit/2018/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=78153

Thursday, November 8, 2018

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10:45 AM – 12:00 PM Room: 6B

Containers, Pods, and Databases- The Future of Infrastructure

http://www.pass.org/summit/2018/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=78022

1:30 PM – 4:00 PMRoom: 606

Query Tuning Internals for the Advanced SQL Developer

http://www.pass.org/summit/2018/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=78050

1:30 PM – 2:45 PM Room: TCC Tahoma 2

Top 5 Power BI Custom Visuals

http://www.pass.org/summit/2018/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=82110

1:30 PM – 2:45 PM Room: 6C

Top Tips for Deploying AGs and FCIs On Premises or In the Cloud

http://www.pass.org/summit/2018/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=78041

3:15 PM – 4:30 PM Room: 618

An Introduction to Partitioning

http://www.pass.org/summit/2018/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=77002

4:45 PM – 6:00 PM Room: 604

Data Science 101 for the SQL DBA

http://www.pass.org/summit/2018/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=86521

4:45 PM – 6:00 PM Room: 6C

Validate Your SQL Server Estate with Ease Using dbachecks

http://www.pass.org/summit/2018/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=78382

Friday, November 9, 2018

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8:00 AM – 9:15 AM Room: 6C

T-SQL Habits and Practices That Can Kill Performance

http://www.pass.org/summit/2018/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=78111

9:30 AM – 12:00 PM Room: 6E

Migrating to SQL Server 2017

http://www.pass.org/summit/2018/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=78285

11:00 AM – 12:15 PM Room: 3AB

BI Power Hour

http://www.pass.org/summit/2018/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=86517

2:00 PM – 3:15 PM Room: 3AB

Lightning Talks: DBA

http://www.pass.org/summit/2018/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=85592

2:00 PM – 3:15 PM Room: 618

What’s New With Adaptive Query Processing?

http://www.pass.org/summit/2018/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=78238

3:30 PM – 4:45 PM Room: TCC Yakima 1

A DBAs Guide to the Proper Handling of Corruption

http://www.pass.org/summit/2018/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=78274

3:30 PM – 4:45 PM Room: TCC Tahoma 4

SQL Server Performance Monitoring Made Easy

http://www.pass.org/summit/2018/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=85138

 

PLEASE feel free to come introduce yourself like we are old friends.  My brain is defective in remembering names and where we met, so you may have to remind me if in fact we have met before 🙂  Fair warning…I may ask you to take a selfie with me.  I suck at selfies so I may actually get a shot of your shoes, or the ceiling 🙂

Thanks for reading!

Kevin3NF

SQL Saturday Dallas, 2018

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Quacky rides bikes!

 

SQL Saturday Dallas #734 is a wrap!

I’m still tired, 2 weeks later!

This is my 7th or 8th SQL Saturday as an attendee.  3rd as a pre-con presenter.  5th delivering a Saturday session, 1st as a sponsor and 1st as a co-organizer.

And it was a blast.

Months of prep work went into getting things ready…venue change, sponsor chasing, speakers, goodies for speakers and attendees, pre-con stuff, after-part, speaker dinner…you name it, I at least read an email about it.  This was my first time around so I was following the lead of veterans on the NTSSUG board.  We had over 1000 people register…I don’t recall the final tally of actual attendees but the place was packed all day!

My pre-con (DBA Fundamentals) went really well, with a record number of attendees. By design this class is usually small and intimate.   The BI session next door had 65 or so!  I’ve done this pre-con 3 times now, and this was the first time I actually had a technical issue (fonts went wacky) and a brain cramp in the middle.  But, I recovered and people (hopefully) learned something they can take back with them to the office.

I also did my Disaster recovery session on Saturday, which I think went really well, and got a bonus of meeting someone I knew through a previous client and only by phone.  I always think you’ve done your session well when people line up to chat with you afterwards:

Either something was really funny, or my backpack has way too much stuff in it…

 

Our Dallas DBAs sponsor table went really well…except everyone seemed to think I was raffling off my personal racing bike.  Lots of folks came by for the raffle and the free t-shirts (100 only…gone in 90 minutes).  Some even stopped to ask what we do, giving me the chance to promote our Apprentice program.  Thanks to everyone that came by!  And also to Richardson Bike Mart for providing the $150 gift card for our raffle.

Not the raffle item….just clickbait apparently:

The entire staff of Dallas DBAs, in official uniform

 

A very special shout out to my good friend and graphics/web guy, Jeff Miller of Igniss Images for shooting this event as a free service to the SQL Server Community.  See the pics!

Thanks to all the attendees for coming, and to the Sponsors that make it possible!

Kevin3NF