Kendal Van Dyke

SQL Power Doc Update - Version 1.0.1.0

noreply@blogger.com (Kendal Van Dyke) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 15:25:00 +0000

A quick note to let you know that SQL Power Doc version 1.0.1.0 is now live. This release fixes issues reported since version 1.0, adds 11 new assessment checks, and improves error handling in multiple places. The nitty-gritty details of what's changed are available in the changelog.

You can grab the latest version from the CodePlex project page. If you find it useful please do consider giving it a rating and\or review. And of course if you run into any problems post a description on the discussions page and I'll be happy to help troubleshoot.

Discover, Diagnose, and Document ALL Your SQL Servers On Your Coffee Break

noreply@blogger.com (Kendal Van Dyke) — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 15:00:00 +0000

We all know that we should document our SQL Servers, right? RIGHT?

So let's say you had some time on your hands and decided that today's the day you're going to get it done. You might open SSMS, connect to a server in Object explorer, start clicking around, and copying properties into an Excel spreadsheet. That gets old quick, so you write TSQL to grab information...until you realize that you're going deep down the rabbit hole accounting for all the nuances and new features between versions of SQL Server. If you're adventurous you might crack open your IDE of choice and dig into SMO, but that's another rabbit hole of a different kind, too. Frustrated, you give in and download a trial version of a commercial documentation tool. It works pretty well, except it's taking forever to manually go through every database on every server. A couple hours later you've got a handful of databases documented...but what about server configurations or details about the Windows OS they're installed on? How do you compare server configurations against each other? Or spot potential configuration problems? And what about those servers you just inherited - or don't even know are out there yet?

Wow, you think to yourself as you head home, this could be someone's full time job just keeping track of all this stuff!

There Is a Better Way: Introducing SQL Power Doc

Starting today, there is a better way. I'm proud to officially announce the release of SQL Power Doc.

Imagine combining the functionality of what Quest's Discovery Wizard for SQL Server, your favorite commercial SQL documentation tool, msinfo32.exe, and Brent Ozar Unlimited's sp_Blitz™ script does into a single standalone tool that you can run against all of your SQL servers at once. That's SQL Power Doc.

Here's a look at what SQL Power Doc does:

Discover

Find SQL Server Services on your network by:

Active Directory DNS

Subnet Scan

Computer Name

Document

Collect comprehensive details about all your SQL Server instances and their underlying Windows OS, including:

Service Details For All Installed SQL Sever Services

Database Engine

Configuration

Security

Server Objects

Databases

Configuration

Database Objects

Service Broker

Storage

Security

SQL Agent

Configuration

Jobs

Alerts

Operators

Windows OS

Machine Information

OS Information

Software

Diagnose

SQL Power Doc performs over 100 checks to find hidden problems and performance bottlenecks on your SQL Servers before they turn into major headaches.

SQL Power Doc does all of this using Windows PowerShell and Microsoft Excel. Never touched PowerShell before? Don't worry, I've written a How To Guide for PowerShell Beginners to walk you through every step of the way.

While you're on your coffee break you can put SQL Power Doc to work for you to generate comprehensive, top to bottom documentation of your entire SQL Server environment. This documentation is useful for:

Baselines - know what your SQL Server environment looked like last week, last month, etc.
Security Audits
Licensing Audits
Provide a complete look at how your servers are configured without having to grant access
Troubleshooting
Comparing servers and databases
Creating a runbook that you can give to your operations team
Planning upgrades - see what hidden features are in use on an instance

One More Thing...

SQL Power Doc isn't limited to just SQL Server - you can also use it to collect an inventory of all the Windows machines on your network. If your IT department is looking for a way to document their Windows machines do them a favor and tell them about SQL Power Doc.

Ready To Get Started?

Now that you know there's a tool that can do the work for you there's no excuse not to document your servers. Head on over to the SQL Power Doc CodePlex site, check out the Requirements and How To Guide, then grab the code to discover, document, and diagnose your SQL Servers today!

T-SQL Tuesday #41 - Presenting Opens Doors

noreply@blogger.com (Kendal Van Dyke) — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 21:45:00 +0000

This blog post is part of T-SQL Tuesday, a monthly SQL blog party with a rotating host and common topic. This month marks #41, hosted by Bob Pusateri (@SQLBob), and the theme is how I came to love presenting.

Presenting Changed My Life

My story starts in early 2006; I had moved to Orlando to work for a small E-commerce company as a Sr. Production DBA, but I was the DBA's equivalent of the ghost who codes. While I had a nice resume there really wasn't much associated with my name and SQL server that I could show off to people. When I had a problem I searched for the answer on Google. I didn't follow anyone's blog or know any of the big names in the SQL Server world. I had no idea was PASS was all about or that the concept of a user group even existed. As I write this I laugh because I'm reminded that I even searched for logins to SQLServerCentral on BugMeNot because I wanted to remain anonymous.

A coworker of mine at the time told me that a friend of his was looking for people to present to a local group of database people. It sounded like an interesting way to meet other people around town who worked with SQL Server so I accepted and agreed to talk about the new XML features in SQL 2005. A month later I made the one hour trek across town to present to 15 people and as much as I'd like to remember that it was an overwhelming success it was anything but. I rambled. I had 3 slides and spent the rest of the time showing code in SSMS. I went at least 20 minutes over time. I know I lost a few people along the way and probably gave a few wrong answers to questions. By all accounts it was a terrible presentation.

But I survived.

The next day I received an email from the user group leader - one Andy Warren (@sqlandy) - with constructive suggestions on how to improve and an invitation to give the presentation again at this newfangled concept he called SQLSaturday. I accepted, took the suggestions to heart, and felt like a million bucks after I gave a much improved presentation to a full room at SQLSaturday #1. It was a great feeling, so I did it again...and again...and started to find new things to present about. I began attending OPASS and reading blogs (and started this blog, too). I kept at it, and in 2009 I was selected to present a session at the PASS Summit, an honor I had every year until 2012 when I attended the Summit in a different capacity - as a PASS Board member and Director of the SQLSaturday portfolio.

It's been quite a journey, to say the least! Along the way I've learned a metric ton (that's the technical term) about SQL Server and I've met incredible people, many of whom I have become good friends with. What a difference between the 2006 me and who I've become now - in large part because of presenting.

You Never Know Who You Will Influence

It wasn't obvious to me at first but I've come to the realize that one of the most rewarding things about presenting is that you have the opportunity to open doors for people, if ever so slightly. I doubt Kevin Kline had any idea who I was when I sat in a session he gave in Tampa many years ago, or who that guy named Jonathan Kehayias (@SQLPoolBoy) a few seats over from me was. I certainly had no idea who Jonathan was when I gave my XML presentation at SQLSaturday, and it's fun to think now that I was the one who first introduced him to XML-DML in SQL Server.

My point is that you never know if the next great blogger, user group leader, or eventual PASS President is someone you encouraged to give their presentation or someone who attended your session and walked away motivated to do more because of it. It doesn't matter if you're just getting started or you're a veteran speaker - by presenting you're helping yourself and others at the same time. I'll call that a win any day!

Your Turn

If you've ever considered giving a presentation but something's holding you back, consider this a challenge to get over it and submit. There are plenty of PASS chapters who will be happy to put you on their schedule and there's no shortage of SQLSaturdays these days either. Both are great places to start and there are plenty of people in the SQL community who can help you prepare in advance.

I promise, it won't be too painful - but be careful, because you might just walk away wanting to do it again!

T-SQL Tuesday #39 - Use PowerShell To Copy A Database To Another Instance

noreply@blogger.com (Kendal Van Dyke) — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 20:30:00 +0000

This blog post is part of T-SQL Tuesday, a monthly SQL blog party with a rotating host and common topic. This month marks #39, hosted by Wayne Sheffield (@DBAWayne), and the theme is "Can You Shell What The PoSh Is Cooking?"

For many years I made learning PowerShell a goal and for many years the best I could do was use the PowerShell console as a replacement for the command prompt. Like most DBAs I figured out how get by with T-SQL and multi-server queries...and then I started a side project using PowerShell that didn't involve SQL Server (yet) and it was time to sink or swim. I'm happy to say a year and a half later I swam, and now PowerShell has become such an essential core skill for me that I'm kicking myself for not having learned it sooner!

On that note, Wayne has started an excellent month-long series on PowerShell that even seasoned script writers should check out. Open a console, start at the series landing page, and get scripting!

For today's post I'm going to share a script I wrote which uses Server Management Objects (SMO) to copy a database from one instance to another via backup and restore. This works against all versions and editions of SQL Server starting with SQL 2000.

If you've got Management Studio installed then you've already got SMO. If you want to run this script on a machine that doesn't have SMO you can download it as part of the SQL 2012 Feature Pack.

The script is below. Copy and paste the contents into your favorite editor and save the file as Copy-SqlServerDatabase.ps1. If copy and paste isn't your thing you can download the script - but make sure to unblock the file in Windows Explorer before extracting or you'll run into problems when you try to run it.

Finally, make sure your Execution Policy is set to RemoteSigned before trying to run this script (and I'm hoping Wayne blogs about that in his series!).

<#
.SYNOPSIS
   Copies a SQL Server DB from a source instance to a target instance via backup & restore, optionally renaming the DB at the target

.DESCRIPTION
    This script uses SQL Server Management Objects (SMO) to copy a SQL Server database from one instance to another, optionally renaming the database at the target instance.
    
    SQL Server Native backup & restore operations are used to write a backup to a file and restore it to the target instance.
    
    Once restored to the target instance, the database owner is changed to SA and the compatibility level adjusted to match the target instance's model database.

    NOTE: This script does NOT delete the backup file that it creates. If you no longer need the file you must delete it manually.

.PARAMETER SourceInstance
    The source instance containing the database you want to copy

.PARAMETER SourceDatabase
    The name of the database that you want to copy

.PARAMETER TargetInstance
    The target instance that you want to copy the database to

.PARAMETER TargetDatabase
    The new name for the database at the target SQL Server instance. If omitted, the database will retain the same name as on the source instance

.PARAMETER BackupDirectoryPath
    The intermediate location where the backup file will be written. This should be accessible by both the source and target instances

.PARAMETER Username
    Username to use when connecting to the source and target instances with a SQL login. If omitted, Windows Authentication is used.

.PARAMETER Password
    Password to use when connecting to the source and target instances with a SQL login. If omitted, Windows Authentication is used.

.PARAMETER Force
    Force overwriting the database at the target server if a database with the same name already exists

.EXAMPLE
   .\Copy-SqlServerDatabase.ps1 -SourceInstance Server1 -SourceDatabase AdventureWorks -TargetInstance Server2 -BackupDirectoryPath \\Server3\Backups

.EXAMPLE
   .\Copy-SqlServerDatabase.ps1 -SourceInstance Server1 -SourceDatabase AdventureWorks -TargetInstance Server2 -TargetDatabase AdventureWerkz -BackupDirectoryPath \\Server3\Backups -Force

.EXAMPLE
   .\Copy-SqlServerDatabase.ps1 -SourceInstance Server1 -SourceDatabase AdventureWorks -TargetInstance Server2 -TargetDatabase AdventureWerkz -BackupDirectoryPath \\Server3\Backups -Username sa -Password N0tBl@nk!

.EXAMPLE
   .\Copy-SqlServerDatabase.ps1 -SourceInstance Server1,3143 -SourceDatabase AdventureWorks -TargetInstance Server2,4133 -TargetDatabase AdventureWerkz -BackupDirectoryPath \\Server3\Backups
#>
[cmdletBinding(DefaultParametersetName='WindowsAuthentication')]
param(
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true, ParameterSetName = 'WindowsAuthentication')]
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true, ParameterSetName = 'SQLAuthentication')]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [alias('Source', 'Src')]
    [System.String]
    $SourceInstance
    ,
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [alias('SourceDb', 'SrcDb', 'Database')]
    [System.String]
    $SourceDatabase
    ,
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [alias('Target', 'Tgt')]
    [System.String]
    $TargetInstance
    ,
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$false)]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [alias('TargetDb', 'TgtDb', 'RenameAs')]
    [System.String]
    $TargetDatabase = $SourceDatabase
    ,
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    [alias('Path')]
    [System.String]
    $BackupDirectoryPath
    ,
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true, ParameterSetName = 'SQLAuthentication')]
    [ValidateNotNull()]
    [System.String]
    $Username
    ,
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true, ParameterSetName = 'SQLAuthentication')]
    [ValidateNotNull()]
    [System.String]
    $Password
    ,
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$false)]
    [Switch]
    $Force = $false
)

# Load SMO assembly, and if we're running SQL 2008 DLLs or higher load the SMOExtended and SQLWMIManagement libraries
# SMO Major Versions
# 9    :    SQL 2005
# 10:    SQL 2008 & 2008 R2 
# 11:    SQL 2012
[System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName('Microsoft.SqlServer.SMO') | ForEach-Object {
    $SmoMajorVersion = $_.GetName().Version.Major
    if ($SmoMajorVersion -ge 10) {
        [System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName('Microsoft.SqlServer.SMOExtended') | Out-Null
        [System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName('Microsoft.SqlServer.SQLWMIManagement') | Out-Null
    }
}


######################
# CONSTANTS
######################

# SQL Versions
# See http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/783.sql-server-versions.aspx for version timeline
# Also see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/321185
# Also see http://sqlserverbuilds.blogspot.com/

New-Object -TypeName System.Version -ArgumentList '8.0.0.0' | New-Variable -Name SQLServer2000 -Scope Script -Option Constant
New-Object -TypeName System.Version -ArgumentList '9.0.0.0' | New-Variable -Name SQLServer2005 -Scope Script -Option Constant
New-Object -TypeName System.Version -ArgumentList '10.0.0.0' | New-Variable -Name SQLServer2008 -Scope Script -Option Constant
New-Object -TypeName System.Version -ArgumentList '10.50.0.0' | New-Variable -Name SQLServer2008R2 -Scope Script -Option Constant
New-Object -TypeName System.Version -ArgumentList '11.0.0.0' | New-Variable -Name SQLServer2012 -Scope Script -Option Constant


######################
# FUNCTIONS
######################

function Get-SqlConnection {
    [CmdletBinding()]
    [OutputType([System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection])]
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory=$false)]
        [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
        [System.String]
        $Instance = '(local)'
        ,
        [Parameter(Mandatory=$false)]
        [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
        [System.String]
        $Database = 'master'
        ,
        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true, ParameterSetName = 'SQLAuthentication')]
        [ValidateNotNull()]
        [System.String]
        $Username
        ,
        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true, ParameterSetName = 'SQLAuthentication')]
        [ValidateNotNull()]
        [System.String]
        $Password
        ,
        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true, ParameterSetName = 'WindowsAuthentication')]
        [ValidateNotNull()]
        [alias('WindowsAuth','IntegratedAuth')]
        [switch]
        $WindowsAuthentication
        ,
        [Parameter(Mandatory=$false)]
        [System.String]
        $FailoverPartner = $null
        ,
        [Parameter(Mandatory=$false)]
        [System.String]
        $ApplicationName = 'Windows PowerShell' # $MyInvocation.ScriptName    
    )
    try {

        # ConnectionStringBuilder docs: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.data.sqlclient.sqlconnectionstringbuilder.aspx
        # http://www.connectionstrings.com/Articles/Show/all-sql-server-connection-string-keywords

        $SQLConnection = New-Object -TypeName System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection
        $SQLConnectionBuilder = New-Object -TypeName system.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnectionStringBuilder

        $SQLConnectionBuilder.psBase.DataSource = $Instance
        $SQLConnectionBuilder.psBase.InitialCatalog = $Database

        if ($PSCmdlet.ParameterSetName -eq 'SQLAuthentication') {
            $SQLConnectionBuilder.psBase.IntegratedSecurity = $false
            $SQLConnectionBuilder.psBase.UserID = $Username
            $SQLConnectionBuilder.psBase.Password = $Password
        } else {
            $SQLConnectionBuilder.psBase.IntegratedSecurity = $true
        }

        $SQLConnectionBuilder.psBase.FailoverPartner = $FailoverPartner
        $SQLConnectionBuilder.psBase.ApplicationName = $ApplicationName

        $SQLConnection.ConnectionString = $SQLConnectionBuilder.ConnectionString

        Write-Output $SQLConnection

    }
    catch {
        Throw
    }
}

######################
# VARIABLES
######################
$SourceConnection = $null
$SourceServer = $null
$TargetConnection = $null
$TargetServer = $null
$TargetDbExists = $false
$SaLogin = 'sa'

$FileDeviceType = [Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo.DeviceType]::File

$TargetDataPath = [String]::Empty
$TargetLogPath = [String]::Empty
$PhysicalName = [String]::Empty

$Backup = $null
$Restore = $null
$RelocateFile = $null


######################
# BEGIN SCRIPT
######################

try {

    # Open a connection to the target server and check if the target database already exists
    if ($PSCmdlet.ParameterSetName -eq 'SQLAuthentication') {
        $TargetConnection = Get-SqlConnection -Instance $TargetInstance -Username $Username -Password $Password
    } else {
        $TargetConnection = Get-SqlConnection -Instance $TargetInstance -WindowsAuthentication
    }
    $TargetServer = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo.Server -ArgumentList $TargetConnection
    $TargetServer.ConnectionContext.Connect()

    $TargetServer.Databases | Where-Object { $_.Name -ieq $TargetDatabase } | ForEach-Object {
        $TargetDbExists = $true
    }

    # If the target database already exists and -Force was not specified throw an error
    if ($TargetDbExists -and -not $Force) {
        throw "Database '$TargetDatabase' exists on target instance $TargetInstance; Rerun script and specify -Force to overwrite the existing database"
    }


    # Open a connection to the source server and kick off a full, copy-only backup to the backup path
    if ($PSCmdlet.ParameterSetName -eq 'SQLAuthentication') {
        $SourceConnection = Get-SqlConnection -Instance $SourceInstance -Username $Username -Password $Password
    } else {
        $SourceConnection = Get-SqlConnection -Instance $SourceInstance -WindowsAuthentication
    }
    $SourceServer = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo.Server -ArgumentList $SourceConnection
    $SourceServer.ConnectionContext.Connect()

    # Setup the backup
    $Backup = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo.Backup
    $Backup.Action = 'Database'
    $Backup.BackupSetName = "$SourceDatabase FULL Backup"
    $Backup.BackupSetDescription = 'FULL backup of $SourceDatabase for RemitPlus upgrade'
    $Backup.Database = $SourceDatabase
    $Backup.Incremental = $false

    # COPYONLY supported by SQL 2005+ and SMO 2008
    if ((($SourceServer.Information.Version).CompareTo($SQLServer2005) -ge 0) -and ($SmoMajorVersion -ge 10)) {
        $Backup.CopyOnly = $true
    }

    # Compression supported by:
    #    - SQL 2008 enterprise edition
    #     - SQL 2008 R2 standard edition and higher
    if (
        $( $SourceServer.Information.Version).CompareTo($SQLServer2008R2) -ge 0 -or
        (
            $( $SourceServer.Information.Version).CompareTo($SQLServer2008) -ge 0 -and
            $SourceServer.Information.Edition -ilike '*enterprise*'
        )
    )
    {
        $Backup.CompressionOption = 'on' 
    }

    # Build backup filename
    # Note: I'm not accounting for invalid characters here. I'm assuming this won't be an issue for this iteration!
    $BackupFileName = [String]::Join('_', @($SourceServer.Name.Replace('\','_'), $SourceDatabase, 'FULL', [System.DateTime]::Now.ToString('yyyy_MM_dd_HH_mm')))
    $BackupFileName = [System.IO.Path]::ChangeExtension($BackupFileName, 'bak')
    $BackupPath = [System.IO.Path]::GetFullPath([System.IO.Path]::Combine($BackupDirectoryPath, $BackupFileName))

    $BackupDevice = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo.BackupDeviceItem -ArgumentList $BackupPath, $FileDeviceType
    $Backup.Devices.Add($BackupDevice)

    # Do the backup
    $Backup.SqlBackup($SourceServer)

    # Cleanup
    $Backup.Devices.Remove($BackupDevice) | Out-Null
    $Backup = $null
    $SourceServer.ConnectionContext.Disconnect()



    # Get the path to the data and log file directories on the target server

    # Get the default data and log file path on the target server
    $TargetDataPath = if (($TargetServer.Settings.DefaultFile).Length -gt 0) { $TargetServer.Settings.DefaultFile } else { $TargetServer.Information.MasterDBPath }
    $TargetLogPath = if (($TargetServer.Settings.DefaultLog).Length -gt 0) { $TargetServer.Settings.DefaultLog } else { $TargetServer.Information.MasterDBPath }


    # Setup the restore
    $Restore = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo.Restore
    $Restore.Action = 'Database'
    $Restore.Database = $TargetDatabase
    $Restore.NoRecovery = $false
    $Restore.Devices.Add($BackupDevice)

    # Iterate through files in backup and set up a new physical path for each
    $Restore.ReadFileList($TargetServer).Rows | ForEach-Object {
        $RelocateFile = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo.RelocateFile
        $RelocateFile.LogicalFileName = $_.LogicalName

        $PhysicalName = [System.IO.Path]::GetFileName($_.PhysicalName)
        #$PhysicalName = [System.IO.Path]::GetFileNameWithoutExtension($_.PhysicalName) + '_TEST' + [System.IO.Path]::GetExtension($_.PhysicalName)

        # Set new physical path depending on file type
        if ($_.Type -ieq 'L') {
            $RelocateFile.PhysicalFileName = [System.IO.Path]::GetFullPath([System.IO.Path]::Combine($TargetLogPath, $PhysicalName))
        } else {
            $RelocateFile.PhysicalFileName = [System.IO.Path]::GetFullPath([System.IO.Path]::Combine($TargetDataPath, $PhysicalName))
        }

        $Restore.RelocateFiles.Add($RelocateFile) | Out-Null
    }

    # Do the restore
    $Restore.SqlRestore($TargetServer)

    # Cleanup
    $Restore.Devices.Remove($BackupDevice) | Out-Null
    $Restore = $null


    # Get the SA login for the target instance (fallback is 'sa')
    $TargetServer.Logins | Where-Object { [System.BitConverter]::ToString($_.Sid) -eq [System.BitConverter]::ToString(0x01) } | ForEach-Object { $SaLogin = $_.Name }

    # Have SMO update the list of databases
    $TargetServer.Databases.Refresh()

    # Change DB Owner to SA and compatibility level to match target server's model DB compatibility level
    $TargetServer.Databases.Item($TargetDatabase) | ForEach-Object {
        $_.SetOwner($SaLogin)
        $_.CompatibilityLevel = $TargetServer.Databases['model'].CompatibilityLevel
        $_.Alter()
    }

    $TargetServer.ConnectionContext.Disconnect()
}
catch {
    # Get the lowest level error and throw it
    $ThisException = $_.Exception
    while ($ThisException.InnerException) {
        $ThisException = $ThisException.InnerException
    }
    throw $ThisException
}
finally {
    # Close any open connections
    If ($TargetServer.ConnectionContext.IsOpen) { $TargetServer.ConnectionContext.Disconnect() } 
    If ($SourceServer.ConnectionContext.IsOpen) { $SourceServer.ConnectionContext.Disconnect() } 
}

Remove-Variable -Name SourceConnection, SourceServer, TargetConnection, TargetServer, FileDeviceType, BackupFileName, `
BackupPath, TargetDataPath, TargetLogPath, Backup, Restore, RelocateFile, PhysicalName, SmoMajorVersion, TargetDbExists, SaLogin

Transactional Replication Toolbox Scripts: Show Articles And Columns For All Publications

noreply@blogger.com (Kendal Van Dyke) — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 19:45:00 +0000

During the last few years I've worked extensively with transactional replication and have written a handful of scripts that have found a permanent home in my "useful scripts" toolbox. I've provided these scripts as downloads whenever I've presented about replication...but not everyone who has worked with replication has been to one of my presentations (or had access to the downloads afterwards) so I'm posting them here.

The first script in my toolbox shows all of the articles and columns in each article for all transactional publications in a published database. It's pretty straightforward - just execute the script in the published database on the publisher. Note that because it uses the FOR XML PATH directive it must be run on SQL 2005 or higher.

Here's the script:

/********************************************************************************************* Transactional Replication Toolbox: Show Articles and Columns for All Publications Description: Shows articles and columns for each article for all transactional publications (C) 2013, Kendal Van Dyke (mailto:kendal.vandyke@gmail.com) Version History: v1.00 (2013-01-29) License: This query is free to download and use for personal, educational, and internal corporate purposes, provided that this header is preserved. Redistribution or sale of this query, in whole or in part, is prohibited without the author's express written consent. Note: Execute this query in the published database on the PUBLISHER Because this query uses FOR XML PATH('') it requires SQL 2005 or higher *********************************************************************************************/ SELECT syspublications.name AS "Publication", sysarticles.name AS "Article", STUFF( ( SELECT ', ' + syscolumns.name AS [text()] FROM sysarticlecolumns WITH (NOLOCK) INNER JOIN syscolumns WITH (NOLOCK) ON sysarticlecolumns.colid = syscolumns.colorder WHERE sysarticlecolumns.artid = sysarticles.artid AND sysarticles.objid = syscolumns.id ORDER BY syscolumns.colorder FOR XML PATH('') ), 1, 2, '' ) AS "Columns" FROM syspublications WITH (NOLOCK) INNER JOIN sysarticles WITH (NOLOCK) ON syspublications.pubid = sysarticles.pubid ORDER BY syspublications.name, sysarticles.name

T-SQL Tuesday #36 - SQL Community (Guest Post)

noreply@blogger.com (Kendal Van Dyke) — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 22:30:00 +0000

This blog post is part of T-SQL Tuesday, a monthly SQL blog party with a rotating host and common topic. This month marks #36, hosted by Chris Yates (@YatesSQL), and the theme is "SQL Community". This post is not mine, but the handiwork of Andy Levy (@ALevyInROC), a first timer at the 2012 PASS Summit. Andy doesn't have a blog yet, but was compelled by the topic so I offered to let him post on my blog as a guest. Hopefully this won't be his only post and we'll see his own blog up and running soon!

I'm very new to the SQL Community and still finding my way around. I had been exposed to it a little through SQL Saturday #129 and several MVPs I've spoken with over the past 18 months or so, but my first real exposure to the community was last week at PASS Summit 2012. I was completely blown away.
I arrived not knowing anyone, and feeling a bit overwhelmed by the sheer enormity of the event. 3900+ people. Sessions & events (official & unofficial) stacked from pre-dawn until midnight or later. Tweets flying by at a ridiculous pace. But after a couple hours, I finally came to a realization: These are my people. We're all here for similar reasons, but we don't have to have serious technical discussions all the time. In fact, in a lot of cases it's better that we don't. We can talk about topics at a high level, then redirect for more detail - "go read so-and-so's blog, he had a real good post last month about that" or even skip technical discussion entirely - "I had that particular experience, but now I need something different, and really want to move more toward doing this other thing." We don't have to get into details if we don't want to.

I met one woman near the Community Zone on Wednesday who told me that I should come speak at her user group - not 10 minutes after we met for the first time. But I don't have anything to present. No worries, she says - surely I can come up with something. The following day, a discussion about SQLite came up, and Brian Davis pointed me at a blog post he wrote last year about working with SQLite from within SSMS. This got me started on about a half-dozen ideas for ways I could use data that I already had, ideas that were relevant to another hobby I engage in, which eventually I could turn into a presentation for a user group. Wow! I stumbled into a topic for a presentation - and the very notion of speaking at a user group - thanks to two brief conversations with members of the SQL Community. I had previously tried blogging and failed due to a lack of material. Now I see that I have my own ideas & insights into topics discussed by others that I can contribute back to the community, so I'm thinking about starting up again.

There's a recurring theme of "everyone in this room can learn at least one valuable thing from someone else in the room" that I've heard for quite a while, both in conversations and presentations, and now that I've experienced it firsthand (both as a learner and a teacher), I see just how true and valuable it is. It's very karmic - today I may get help from someone via twitter, and tomorrow I may be able to help someone else out the same way. There's no competition, it's incredibly collaborative & supportive. There's a tremendous feedback cycle - someone writes a blog post, someone takes the idea & make some adjustments to it or takes it to the next logical step, and then the original author integrates that feedback - or someone else can pick it up and run with it.

SQL Server & our general job roles may be the reason why we congregate at Summit, SQL Saturdays & user groups, but it's not what brings us together. What brings us together is the conversations we have on the side, sharing not just technical expertise but life and career knowledge & insights. The passion for the community is infectious - I've already asked my local chapter president how I can get involved with planning the local SQL Saturday in 2013, because I want other people to experience what I've experienced from this community in a very short time already.

Note from Kendal: Did you like Andy's post? Follow him on Twitter and encourage him to keep it up!

2012 PASS Elections Letter Of Recommendation From Ed Watson

noreply@blogger.com (Kendal Van Dyke) — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 20:30:00 +0000

I'm a candidate in the 2012 PASS Board of Directors elections and believe that an important part of what makes a good candidate is support from the community that they wish to represent. During the last 5 years I have connected with people in PASS community from chapter members to speakers and from SQLSaturday volunteers to Directors. I've been fortunate this year to receive several letters of recommendation in support of my desire to continue serving on the Board. In this post I'm sharing the letter I received from Ed Watson (Blog | Twitter).

I met Ed for the first time at SQLSaturday #110 in Tampa earlier this year and again at the Tampa Bay SQL User Group in March. Ed is the perfect embodiment of someone who jumped straight into the deep end of the PASS community - he regularly attends chapter meetings, is active on Twitter, started blogging, presented at his first SQLSaturday a few weeks ago, and in November will be joining us for the first time at the Summit. It's been fun to watch Ed's upward trajectory in the SQL community and I have no doubt that we'll be seeing more of him around PASS for a few years. Here's what Ed had to say about me:

To Whom It May Concern:

I have only had the privilege of knowing Kendal Van Dyke for a little over a year which is about the same amount of time that I have been involved with PASS. In that time frame and beyond, Kendal has been an ever present force in the Central Florida area for PASS. I live closer to the Tampa user group; however Kendal has continually invited me to the MagicPASS meetings. He has presented for our Tampa group as well as presenting at all of the local SQL Saturdays that I have attended.

Kendal has never ceased being an ambassador for PASS, in my opinion. I have never seen dialog on twitter or blogs where he has been nothing but the consummate professional always raising the flag for PASS and always looking to help users in the SQL Server community.

He has also encouraged me to do more in the PASS community and I have now presented a session to my user group as well as at a SQL Saturday. He has continued the cycle of mentoring new presenters. After several conversations, I feel that he has a great passion for the SQL Server community as well as some great ideas for the PASS community globally.

I fully recommend Kendal for the PASS Board of Directors without any hesitation.

Sincerely,

Ed Watson

For those of your who have already cast your vote - thank you for helping to decide who you want to lead PASS forward. And for everyone else yet to fill out their ballot, please take the time to visit the elections website, read about each candidate, and exercise your right to vote. (And of course I hope that you'll consider voting for me!)

2012 PASS Elections Letter Of Recommendation From Stacia Misner

noreply@blogger.com (Kendal Van Dyke) — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 20:15:00 +0000

I met Stacia for the first time in person in 2011 at SQLRally in Orlando - which is slightly humorous given that we had both been to the PASS Summit since 2009 but never crossed paths. Stacia has become a trusted friend as we've gotten to know each other better. I value her experience and always look forward to conversing with her about SQL Server and her adventures living in Alaska. Here's what Stacia had to say about me:

I don't remember exactly when I first became aware of Kendal Van Dyke's presence in the SQL Server community, but I do recall that it was on Twitter. His sense of humor and his active involvement with community were the first things that I noticed about him. Those are two qualities that I think are important for anyone seeking a board position at PASS.

Over time, I got to know Kendal in other ways. As a speaker at SQLRally in Orlando, I benefited from his hospitality during a time when he was pulled in multiple directions at once. I observed his graciousness under pressure throughout the event, and appreciated his willingness to participate in after-hours activities when I'm sure he was very tired. I also have been a panel speaker with Kendal, participating in a session at PASS that he moderated. The purpose of that session was to help people learn to blog. It was evident to me from that interaction that Kendal feels strongly, as do I, that we all benefit through shared knowledge. He is encouraging to everyone, even if they feel they have very little to contribute. Again, Kendal's concern for community and passion for helping others stretch their skills was a stand-out quality and his willingness to invest personal time in these efforts is commendable.

Kendal has hands-on experience with many of the activities associated with PASS, which has given him a wealth of insight into the needs of the membership. His roles as a chapter leader, event organizer both small and large, and as a speaker, demonstrate his commitment to serving the community in whatever way he can. Furthermore, he's had the opportunity to serve on the PASS Board in an appointed seat, and has had the opportunity to be involved in initiatives to make things even better. Therefore, he can hit the ground running as an elected Board member. I think our SQL Server community will benefit greatly from Kendal's passion, commitment, and service, and heartily recommend him.

Stacia Misner
DataInspirations.com
Inspiring Intelligence from Information

2012 PASS Elections Letter Of Recommendation From Jes Borland

noreply@blogger.com (Kendal Van Dyke) — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 19:45:00 +0000

Like many people in the PASS Community I first "met" Jes on Twitter about two years ago. Over time we tweeted and emailed back and forth, and at the 2011 PASS Summit we met in person for the first time. Jes is even more energetic in person than she is online! Throughout the last year she and I have had some great conversations about volunteering, careers, and life in general, and I'm fortunate to be able to include her in my network of SQL peers. Here's what Jes had to say about me:

I finally met Kendal Van Dyke in person at PASS Summit 2011, after “meeting” him through Twitter and talking to him virtually for a couple years. Kendal has given me guidance on consulting, and answered questions about SQL Server, user groups and SQL Saturdays. Anytime I’ve had a question, he’s been willing to take time out of his day to answer me. He’s reached out to me when he’s wanted an opinion or needed a volunteer for PASS tasks.

Kendal is passionate about growing the PASS community in a truly grassroots way. He wants to focus on growing members, but not just in numbers. He wants community members to connect with each other, and wants individuals to grow through opportunities such as speaking and volunteering. He has ideas on how to do this, and the drive to accomplish them.

I fully support Kendal running for the PASS Board of Directors, and think he will guide and grow the PASS community with passion and integrity.

Jes Borland

2012 PASS Elections Letter Of Recommendation From Karen Lopez

noreply@blogger.com (Kendal Van Dyke) — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 16:15:00 +0000

I'm a candidate in the 2012 PASS Board of Directors elections and believe that an important part of what makes a good candidate is support from the community that they wish to represent. I've worked hard to connect with people in PASS community from chapter members to speakers and from SQLSaturday volunteers to Directors. I've been fortunate to receive several letters of recommendation in support of my desire to continue serving on the Board. In this post I'm sharing the letter I received from Karen Lopez (Blog | Twitter).

I met Karen several years ago through Twitter and then in person at SQLSaturday. We've crossed paths at PASS events many times since then, and more recently I've had the chance to work with Karen on PASS's Global Growth initiatives where she's served as an advisor to the Board. Over the years as I've gotten to know her I have come to respect Karen for her professional opinions, advice as a consultant, and insight from her time as a member of other Boards. Here's what Karen had to say about me:

Dear PASS Nomination Committee:

I’m recommending Kendal Van Dyke for a continued PASS Board position. My primary reason for supporting him is his willingness to listen to feedback and take actions that he believes are in the best interest of PASS members and the community as a whole.

In my discussions with Kendal about SQL Saturdays, PASS events and PASS communications, Kendal has always been willing to hear what I had to say and shown that he is genuinely interested in the feedback I have. Even at times where he didn’t agree with my recommendations, he treated my ideas with respect and attention. He carried my feedback to the Board and followed up with me about the outcomes.

My interactions with Kendal have always been engaging, fun, and professional, something I think are key to balancing the needs of managing an association and meeting the needs of individual members. I’ve also had the benefit of seeing the outcomes of his efforts as programs are improved. He sets a high standard for leadership and professionalism when interacting with other volunteers and the community. I couldn’t ask for more from a Board member.

Sincerely,

Karen Lopez
Senior Project Manager and Architect
InfoAdvisors

For those of your who have already cast your vote - thank you for helping to decide who you want to lead PASS forward. And for everyone else yet to fill out their ballot, I hope that you'll consider voting for me.

2012 PASS Board of Directors Elections - It's Time To Vote!

noreply@blogger.com (Kendal Van Dyke) — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 20:45:00 +0000

It's time once again to vote for the 3 candidates we feel will best represent the SQL Server community with a 2 year term on the PASS Board of Directors. Voting is open until Oct. 11 and if you were a PASS member prior to June 1, 2012 you should have received an email with your personalized ballot URL by now. (If you haven't, you might want to check your spam folder and\or contact Michelle Nalliah at PASS).

I ran for the Board last year and wasn't elected but was offered a one year appointment as Director for the SQLSaturday portfolio. I took advantage of the opportunity to do as much good as I could in the time and have so far I've thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Even though a lot has been accomplished it feels like there's much more to do and I've got the passion to do it so I made the decision to run again this year and am one of five candidates on the ballot.

So what would I like to do if I'm elected for a two year term? For starters, here's my official campaign platform as published on the elections website:

I believe that the heart of PASS and the key to our sustainability is the grassroots participation of our members. By continuing to establish and support new and existing local communities through Chapters and SQLSaturdays, PASS solidifies its relevance with data professionals through opportunities to connect with peers, advance their careers, and share their excitement and passion for working with SQL Server. Additionally, by offering a multitude of opportunities to speak, volunteer, and lead chapters and events, we are naturally developing the next generation of leaders who will inherit PASS.

I have been honored to serve as a Director and steward of the SQLSaturday portfolio this year, and if elected, I’d like to continue working on its success and growth. In fiscal year 2012, we held 61 SQLSaturdays with 12,000+ combined attendance, 1,675 sessions delivered by 1,320 speakers, and over 12,000 new PASS members. My goal is to continue that momentum by holding 80 SQLSaturdays in fiscal year 2013 and 100 SQLSaturdays in fiscal year 2014.

I believe it is vitally important to the health of PASS that our members know what their leaders are engaged in on their behalf. As a Board member, I will strive to build upon the culture of transparency that has been established by my predecessors through regular blogging about Board, HQ, and PASS activities and encouraging my counterparts to do the same.

I am passionate about helping guide and grow the PASS community and am looking forward to the opportunity to continue to do so if elected a member of the Board.

With that said, here are some of the specific things I'd like to do if elected:

Hold 100 SQLSaturdays in Fiscal Year 2014
We're on target to hold 80 this fiscal year; with the momentum we've gained and the enthusiasm of our passionate event leaders and PASS Community Evangelists I see no reason why we can't do 100 in a year.

Integrate Friday Precons\Seminars into the SQLSaturday toolset
Almost every SQLSaturday is holding a Friday precon\seminar these days. It's a great way to potentially earn extra money for a chapter and help grow the number of precon speakers in the community, but we've left organizers to use their own tools to manage registrations and money. It's time that we take a look at incorporating this into the SQLSaturday toolset.

Open Source SQLSaturday
For years we've had many members of the PASS community offer to help with development work on the SQLSaturday website and backend tools but we haven't had a good way to manage access. We've also had several Code Camps approach us and ask about using our tools (For reference, Code Camp isn't as organized as SQLSaturday - most write their own website and tools for managing their event). Couple that with the fledgling beginnings of PowerShell Saturday, IT Pro Camp, and even SharePoint Saturday, and it has become obvious to me that PASS has an opportunity to be a leader in the technical community space by open sourcing SQLSaturday. In doing so we'd be helping other communities grow while allowing them to contribute their expertise (and the expertise of our own members) to help our tools get better. I'd call that a win for everyone.

Speaker Bureau
I said last year when I ran that I'd like to see PASS implement a speaker bureau and I still believe it's a good idea. Working together with Allen Kinsel (Director of Chapters), money was budgeted to start this in this fiscal year. We've made a lot of progress to date, starting with the in-house development of an abstract submission system dating back to the original SQLRally Orlando in 2011. I'd like to help see it through to completion.

Cohesive Learning\Certification Plans and Study Groups
PASS has a lot of great learning resources available but I don't think we that we do a particularly good job of putting them together into a cohesive plan for someone to get from start to finish on a topic or certification exam. I'd like to work on getting learning plans in place and implement a certification study program at the chapter level to help everyone from beginners to pros reach their professional training goals.

SQLSaturday Video Contest
It's one thing to stand up in front of a group of people and tell them about a SQLSaturday and why they should attend - it's another to show them what a SQLSaturday is. As it turns out we've got some very creative people in the PASS community who have put together their own videos - see this video from SQLSaturday #104 in Colorado and this one from SQLSaturday #138 in Sydney (as in Australia!). I bet the talent and enthusiasm to make more of these is out there and I'd like to encourage it to happen with a contest. Run for one year, once per quarter, SQLSaturday events submit a 2-5 minute video from their event; the quarterly winner (decided by a community vote) gets a comp to the Summit and 15 minutes of fame when we show their video prior to each day's keynote. Chapter leaders and event organizers also gets a great set of videos that we can use to market SQLSaturday at chapter meetings, Code Camps, and other events where we're trying to reach potential attendees and sponsors to show them what SQLSaturday and our community are all about.

For those of your who have already cast your vote - thank you for helping to decide who you want to lead PASS forward. And for everyone else yet to fill out their ballot, I hope that my ideas resonate with you and that you'll consider voting for me.

PowerShell Split-Path Bug And A Workaround

noreply@blogger.com (Kendal Van Dyke) — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 17:00:00 +0000

Split-Path is a cmdlet built into Windows PowerShell that returns a specific part of a path, e.g. a parent directory or a filename. Here's a simple example of how it works:

PS C:\Users\Kendal> $Path = Get-Location
PS C:\Users\Kendal> Split-Path $Path
C:\Users

But try it on a Path that doesn't exist on the machine running the command and you get an error:

PS C:\Users\Kendal> $Path = 'Q:\Users\Kendal\somefile.txt'
PS C:\Users\Kendal> Split-Path -Path $Path
Split-Path : Cannot find drive. A drive with the name 'Q' does not exist.
At line:1 char:11
+ Split-Path <<<< -Path $Path
+ CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (Q:String) [Split-Path], DriveNotFoundException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : DriveNotFound,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.SplitPathCommand

One way you'd see this problem is using SMO to connect to a remote SQL Server and retrieve the paths of each database file, then try to use Split-Path to get the filenames or their parent paths. This Connect Bug indicates that the issue is fixed, but only in PowerShell V3; I can reproduce the error consistently in PowerShell V2.

The workaround is pretty simple: Use the static methods in the System.IO.Path .NET class to get the directory and file names. Using the same path in the previous example, here's how it looks:

PS C:\Users\Kendal> $Path = 'Q:\Users\Kendal\somefile.txt'
PS C:\Users\Kendal> [System.IO.Path]::GetDirectoryName($Path)
Q:\Users\Kendal
PS C:\Users\Kendal> [System.IO.Path]::GetFileName($Path)
somefile.txt

A bonus is that using static .NET methods tend to be faster than their equivalent PowerShell cmdlet - in this example 3-4 times faster. With most scripts speed probably isn't as much of an issue as flexibility but if you're looking to eek out every bit of performance possible (and avoid this particular bug) using static .NET methods is the way to go.

PASS Update #2 - February 2012 Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Kendal Van Dyke) — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 13:30:00 +0000

During the January board meeting we were told that attendance at the 2011 Summit exceeded expectations and as a result there was more money in the budget than originally planned for. The outcome is that some money gets put into reserves for future use and collectively we have to figure out how to responsibly spend the rest in the remaining months of the fiscal year (PASS's fiscal year is Jul 1 - Jun 30). For SQLSaturday that meant working with Karla to put together a wish list of things that didn't make it into the original FY2012 budget, then go make our case to the rest of the board (who were doing the same thing for their portfolios) to convince them we should get the funds.

At this point PASS was giving $500 in "kickstarter" funds to every SQLSaturday event to help them get the ball rolling and in return we were listed as a sponsor. When we could, Karla would be at an event to help out or we would have a Regional Mentor or Board member be there to represent PASS. However, we didn't really have the same kind of presence like most sponsors do - i.e. no table with signs and marketing materials promoting the benefits of PASS membership. I've been speaking and attending SQLSaturdays for years and the impression I'm left with almost every time is that most attendees aren't aware of other PASS events, much less what PASS is even about. What better place is there, then, to tell people about all the great reasons to be a part of PASS than at our own events?

With that in mind, we put together our list of asks - table skirts, signs, laptop stickers, lanyards, road signs, and Summit DVDs for end of day raffles - with the intent of improving PASS visibility and generating interest in chapters, virtual chapters, and other PASS events. We also found ourselves with more SQLSaturdays in the pipeline than originally budgeted for and needed some additional money to be able to continue providing our kickstarter funds. We went in asking for roughly $46,000 to cover it all and in the end approved $30,000 - enough to cover everything we wanted but in smaller quantities. I'll call it a win!

Also of note, Karla and I began holding weekly calls with PASS HQ and marketing to discuss several SQLSaturday items that had been on the backburner for a while during the transition to the new Board. Discussion topics included improving PASS visibility at SQLSaturdays, streamlining HQ processes to reduce the admin overhead associated with each SQLSaturday, changes to the license agreement to adapt it to the non-US based events that Karla's been working on, etc.. Not terribly exciting stuff, but necessary to be able to support the growing number of SQLSaturdays that are taking place everywhere.

Finally, in February we published our first SQLSaturday newsletter to members of the SQLSaturday Advisory Council containing a short editorial, Tips & Tricks for running events, a volunteer spotlight, links to blog posts about recent SQLSaturdays, and a list of upcoming events. I'm happy with how it turned out and it shows that we're trying to stay in touch with our event leaders more often than just at the Summit or when it's time for their SQLSaturday. Our plan is to publish once every other month and eventually move to a monthly schedule.

As always, I recommend reading the minutes from each month's meetings to get a better idea of what the Board discussed in more detail. We had two in February, both via teleconference, and you can read them (PDF format) here and here.

PASS Update #1 - January 2012 Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Kendal Van Dyke) — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 13:15:00 +0000

When I ran for the PASS Board of Directors last year I committed to providing a monthly update on PASS related activities. I wasn't elected, but in mid-January I was appointed to a one year position; long overdue, it's time to make good on that promise. This marks the first in a set of monthly recaps that I'm posting this week to bring the SQL community up to date on PASS from my viewpoint as a Board member.

January was mostly about getting up to speed as quickly as possible for me. As with starting any new job there were some unavoidable administrative tasks to be completed: setting up email, signing agreements, etc.. The more challenging task was figuring out where things stood with the SQLSaturday portfolio - I've been assigned to be the steward of it this year - without losing any momentum on current projects or letting anything fall through the cracks during the transition. Fortunately Karla Landrum (Blog | Twitter), PASS's community evangelist, kept things running smoothly while I got up to speed.

At the end of the month we held our first in-person Board meeting of the year in Seattle. These quarterly meetings last 2-3 days are where the rubber meets the road and most of the real strategic work for PASS happens. Having heard war stories from past board meetings I wasn't sure whether to expect something civil or if it would turn into some kind of cutthroat cage match; I'm happy to report that it was very much the former.

The meeting minutes are available on the PASS website and I'd encourage you to read them to get a better idea of everything we discussed during the 2 days. Among the things we covered: 2012 Summit planning, the call for proposals for SQLRally North America 2013, the prospect of holding a PASS managed BI conference, global growth (i.e. how to transition from a U.S. centric organization to one with a worldwide representation\presence), and the 2011 elections & subsequent board appointments.

Election Controversy

Focusing on elections for a moment, following two years of controversy I had hoped that 2011 would be issue free - especially after an overhaul in the process that resulted from an extensive review. Technically the elections themselves were but the subsequent appointments immediately after the elections ended caused a stir because one of the appointees had not run for one of the open positions. Key to why many people were upset was past precedent that the next highest vote getters in the election would be offered an appointment (despite no such stipulation in the bylaws) and that precedent was not followed. As in previous years the community was divided - there was a petition to change to the bylaws and PASS was labeled unprofessional (and unethical) while others felt the appointments were made with PASS's best interests in mind. Discarding some of the extreme behavioral lows that I saw, the debate was both necessary and healthy. After a lengthy discussion taking all of the community feedback into consideration the consensus was the appointment process could have been handled with better communication of intent during the election cycle but no bylaw changes were necessary.

Fast forward 8 months to today, and now looking back with the luxury of time and the benefit of perspective I agree with the decision. Having seen the work that James Rowland Jones has put into the global growth initiatives I believe that his appointment fit what PASS needed most at the time...but the PASS membership at large didn't know that. In early February Jeff Atwood (of Coding Horror notoriety) posted Listen to Your Community, But Don't Let Them Tell You What to Do. It's a great read, and I found one point in particular fitting:

"Community feedback is great, but it should never be used as a crutch, a substitute for thinking deeply about what you're building and why. Always try to identify what the underlying needs are, and come up with a sensible roadmap."

I'd like to think the Executive Board had a plan for global growth in mind when they offered James an appointment but undermined themselves by not communicating their plans earlier on in the election cycle. I'd also like to think they learned an important lesson from it and hope that we'll see a clean, non-controversial election in 2012.

Other Notes

On Wednesday night we were invited to dinner with Ted Kummert (Senior VP of the Business Platform Division at Microsoft and regular PASS keynote speaker) and I ended up sitting at the same table with him. Eventually we got on the subject of PASS keynotes and I made my best plea for more technical content and less marketing. We'll see if I was persuasive enough come keynote time at the 2012 Summit!

One of the projects I'd been hoping to take on if I got on the Board was the speaker bureau. As it turned out it was up for grabs; I volunteered to help drive it forward along with Allen Kinsel and Adam Jorgensen. With no budget set aside for it yet the best we could do was start carving out requirements and figure out how to get money to fund any development work needed to make it happen. Stay tuned for more on this later.

The Board meetings finished on Thursday and on Friday Karla (who joined us in Seattle for the day) and I visited the Microsoft campus. We got to talk with User Group Support Services about upcoming changes to their programs that PASS will benefit from. Good stuff but nothing public I can say just yet. We also talked with Jennifer Moser in the SQL marketing group (and also a PASS Board member) about an idea to leverage PASS chapters, both real and virtual, to help people earn SQL 2012 certifications. Again, nothing tangible to report on yet but if it becomes a reality we'll have another great reason for people to get involved with their local chapters.

I went home from my first meeting feeling optimistic for the year ahead. Knowing that I'm holding an appointed position is a bit of a double edged sword - it's motivation to do as much good as I can while at the same time knowing that my time - and ability to affect positive change - is limited.

February's update coming in the next post.

Time Flies When You're Having Fun (Déjà Vu Edition)

noreply@blogger.com (Kendal Van Dyke) — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 20:00:00 +0000

Writing - be it a technical language like T-SQL, C#, PowerShell, etc. or blogging - is like exercise. When you do it often it becomes easier while at the same time you get better at doing it. Conversely, when you let it slip you get rusty and it gets harder to get started back up again. When it comes to this blog I've fallen into the latter. As I write this I'm astonished, if not slightly embarrassed, at the realization that it's been over eight months since I've written anything here and the second time in a year I've let things lapse here. Just like last time, it wasn't intentional; I've started several posts only for them to end up lost in draft wasteland after letting myself get caught up in something else bright and shiny. With this post I'm finally getting out of my blogging funk and taking a step back towards blogging regularity.

What have I been up to?

I may have taken a break from writing but I've kept busy with plenty of other things...

At the end of 2011 I ran for the PASS Board of Directors but wasn't elected. However, in January I was offered a one year appointment to fill the spot vacated by my friend Andy Warren's (Blog | Twitter) resignation. I accepted and was given responsibility for the SQLSaturday portfolio. I could never have imagined when I was just getting started as a speaker at SQLSaturday #1 here in Orlando that I would one day be the steward for the franchise it's become - proof that sometimes you just never know how things will work out in life! (More on what I've been up to with PASS and SQLSaturday coming in the next few posts)

So far this year I've presented at OPASS, the Houston Area SQL Users Group, Orlando Code Camp, South Florida Code Camp, the Tampa Bay SQL User Group, Houston Cloud Tech Symposium, SQLSaturday #110 (Tampa), and SQLSaturday #107 (Houston). Non-presenting travel has included the January PASS Board meeting in Seattle, the MVP Summit in Seattle in February, the May PASS Board meeting paired with SQLRally in Dallas, TechEd North America (ok, technically it was here in Orlando, but it felt like a week away from home!), and a few trips to Houston to visit Insource (my current employer). I think that averages out to roughly one trip a month, though some months it felt like more! It's amazing how much it feels like you're gone from home with even 25% travel.

Last year I had a "working vacation" at the beach where I spent the day at work and the rest of the time with my family. Two weeks after that I found myself looking for a new job, at which point I wish I had just taken a real vacation a few weeks earlier! Vowing not to repeat that mistake again, I took two weeks of real vacation, spending a week on the beach and another in Washington, D.C..

On the technical end I've finally taken steps toward getting certified in SQL Server. I never really had a good reason to be certified until I started working as a consultant (so my company could be recognized as a Microsoft partner). On that note, I took advantage of the free SQL 2012 beta exams and passed 4 of the 5 exams required for MCSE Data Platform. Unfortunately I missed passing 70-463 (heavily weighted towards SSIS, not my strong area of SQL) which keeps me from even the entry level MCSA cert. I followed up the betas by passing 70-432 to earn MCTS for SQL 2008 but narrowly missing 70-450 for MCITP. My goal is pass both 70-463 and 70-450 by the end of this year...not that I need to pass 70-450 for any particular reason, but I didn't have a good test taking experience that day and I want to pass for my own pride's sake!

I also finally took the leap headfirst into learning PowerShell. I've been telling myself for years that I needed to get on board, and now that I have I'm glad that I did because I'm a more capable DBA and troubleshooter for it (plus I got to dabble in programming, always fun). Granted, there's still a lot for me to learn - especially with v3 having just gone RTM as part of Windows 8\Server 2012- but what I've done with it so far has got me excited to do more. The upside is I've got two projects that I've been developing off and on for the last few months and will have ready to post to CodePlex soon for the rest of the SQL community to use. On that note, expect a few PowerShell related posts here in the near future.

Finally, I've continued to help develop the southwest Orlando SQL community by running MagicPASS. It's been challenging to fit into an already busy schedule, but I really enjoy the chance to hang out with other local SQL people and help them learn new things. We even had someone in the group get a new job this year because he came to the meetings and met someone else there who was looking to add a DBA to their team. If that isn't a good example of why you should go to your local user group meeting I don't know what is!

Plan For The Rest Of This Year

The last 4 months of this year are shaping up to be as busy as the first 8 have been. I've got trips lined up for SQLSaturday #164 (Cleveland), the September PASS Board meeting in San Diego, and the PASS Summit in Seattle in November. I'm especially looking forward to the Summit this year where it will be my first year attending as a Board member and not as a presenter.

September 29 is Orlando's annual SQLSaturday at Seminole State College in northeast Orlando and it's shaping up to be our best ever. Technically MagicPASS is lead this year (OPASS was lead last year), but all that really means is I signed my name to the license agreement; planning and execution is a team effort between both groups. Our call for speakers closed last week and we're busy working on the schedule, marketing, and recruiting sponsors. We've also got two great precons lines up for Friday, Sept 28 at $99 each - Stacia Misner (Blog | Twitter) talking BI in SQL 2012 and Kevin Kline (Blog | Twitter) talking Performance Tuning. We think it's going to be a great two days of learning and we're hoping you agree and will join us. Links to register for Friday's precons and Saturday's sessions are on the event front page. (And if you're a sponsor we'd love to have you too - check out our sponsorship plan!)

So all in all it's been a busy but good year for me and I'm looking forward to the remainder of it. I hope you can say the same!

2011 PASS Board Election Results

noreply@blogger.com (Kendal Van Dyke) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 17:30:00 +0000

Results of the 2011 PASS Board of Directors election were officially announced this morning. I want to congratulate my friends Adam Jorgensen (Blog | Twitter), Denise McInerney (Blog | Twitter), and Rob Farley (Blog | Twitter) for each being elected to a 2 year term on the Board. All three are passionate about PASS's success and will work to continue making PASS a better organization every day.

Unfortunately (for me at least) I finished outside of the top 3 and was not elected. Obviously not the result I had hoped for, but it was still a good experience for me and perhaps I'll run again in 2012.

I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to vote (whether it was for me or not). The future of PASS is in good hands with the addition of Adam, Denise, and Rob and I'm looking forward to what they help PASS accomplish in 2012.

2011 PASS Board Elections Notes

noreply@blogger.com (Kendal Van Dyke) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 22:00:00 +0000

As I write this the final hours for the 2011 PASS Board of Directors elections are ticking away. Before the results are announced to the candidates and general public I wanted to share how I thought this year's election cycle went.

Random Thoughts

Whereas each of the last two elections had some contentious issue, this election cycle was controversy free. Kudos to the Election Review Committee for the changes that were made this year!
Gut feel - the community at large was relatively quiet, or at least quieter than previous years. Not a bad thing, though. Maybe it's because every candidate's application was posted, because of the timing of the elections cycle (things ran later this year than usual), because there weren't any big controversies, or some combination thereof. Whatever it was, though, I don't believe there was voter apathy. The #passvotes hashtag received some good buzz on Twitter and several people did post blogs. It'll be interesting to see if the number of votes cast this year exceeds 2010.
The NomCom's job was to vet the 6 candidates but with 3 seats open and an ideal target of 3 candidates per seat their role this year was more or less to make sure that none of the candidates were underqualified. That's not to downplay the job they did by any means - they volunteered a tremendous amount of their time and effort - but it will be very interesting (next year perhaps?) to see what happens when they have to make the really tough call at where to draw the line on who makes the slate and who doesn't.
Many people made the comment that any combination of the 6 candidates would be a good addition to the Board. I agree - even if that means I'm not one of them.

Suggestions For Improvement

I have two suggestions for next year's elections:

As with last year's election the NomCom produced a detailed score sheet that assessed each candidate on a variety of topics (see this link for an example of what last year's sheet looked like). These sheets were used to rank the candidates but unlike last year the detailed scores were not published nor made available to anyone outside of the NomCom. As a candidate I would like to have at least seen my own scores so I know what areas I can improve on.
I'd like to see at least one live Q&A session with all the candidates that's moderated by PASS during the elections. If the elections run during the Summit and all the candidates are in attendance we could do something similar to the Board Q&A; otherwise we could leverage LiveMeeting and do it online.

Whether I'm elected or not, I've enjoyed the experience of running and appreciate the support I've received. The results will be announced publicly in the December 28 PASS Connector. THANK YOU to everyone who voted, and stay tuned to find out who your newest PASS Board members are!

PASS Summit 2011 Session Evaluations

noreply@blogger.com (Kendal Van Dyke) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 21:45:00 +0000

Session evaluations from the 2011 PASS Summit have been entered, calculated, and officially released to speakers. While I didn't make it into the "best of" sessions (hey, room for improvement right?) I did improve over last year's scores.

Following a similar format from previous years, each question is rated on a scale of 1-5 (1 = Very Poor, 2 = Poor, 3 = Average, 4 = Good, 5 = Excellent) with room for additional comments should the person completing the form feel compelled to add more information about why they gave a particular score. There were also two comment-only (i.e. unrated) questions. Here's how I fared:

Working With XML In SQL Server

Level: 300
Attendance: 47
Responses: 25
Average Rating: 4.56
Overall Rank: 64 (out of 190 sessions)

1. How would you rate the Speaker’s presentation skills? 4.6
Comments:

Kendall started off the last session of PASS with a corny SQL joke. Excellent. :) Kudos for pointing out the insecure way of connecting to SQL and mentioning that it should never be done

2. How would you rate the Speaker’s knowledge of the subject? 4.68
Comments:

a few questions he couldn't answer on indexes/stats

3. How would you rate the accuracy of the session title, description and experience level to the actual session? 4.64
Comments:

too basic 100 or 200
very good overview

4. How would you rate the quality of the presentation materials? 4.56
Comments:

time was limited

5. Did you learn what you expected to learn? 4.32
Comments

Exactly what I wanted! Thx!
neutral since I'm still new to xml

6. What will you take away from this session? (comment-only question)

Possible methods to improve currently poor XML use.
great tips on working w/XML
a better overview of xml-dml queries
i want to query my execution plan DMV's using Kendal's query
resources to obtain queries

7. What would you change to improve the overall quality of this session? (comment-only question)

correct the level
would like to see a few more of the "cool" examples that were at the end (eg querying for showplans)
Put this session before the 500-level session on performance tuning XML usuage
Not a thing
90 minute

Paging DR Availability, You're Wanted In The Recovery Room

Level: 200
Attendance: 61
Responses: 42
Average Rating: 4.36
Overall Rank: 124 (out of 190 sessions)

1. How would you rate the Speaker’s presentation skills? 4.4
Comments:

Flowed well and handled questions gracefully.
Good, but more dynamic.
Thorough explanations.
Speaks a little too fast for me.
Very easy to understand and open to answering questions.
Applause at the end is a good sign. Humor, self-deprecating - clear, funny and smart. (Note from me: Thanks!)

2. How would you rate the Speaker’s knowledge of the subject? 4.6
Comments:

Knows his stuff :)
Very good knowledge of the topic - was able to answer most questions.
Very good.

3. How would you rate the accuracy of the session title, description and experience level to the actual session? 4.29
Comments:

Hoped for more concreate guide for DR vs. HA.
Should describe this as a high level overview.
This was more of a HA class than DR while still very good, title was a little misleading.
Might have been 100 level.

4. How would you rate the quality of the presentation materials? 4.31
Comments:

More examples.

5. Did you learn what you expected to learn? 4.19
Comments:

Well presented @ SQL DBA!
Not what was expected.
Doing this stuff, but needed "this is what to do!" :)
Speaker broke down technologies.
Learned about replication.
Was hoping for more in depth info but speaker warned us at beginning it was an overview.

6. What will you take away from this session? (comment-only question)

There is no single solution Even though there are many options avaiable
Ideas about different types of disaster recovery.
Better understanding of HQ and HR concepts.
A good idea of the various strategies I can use in my shop.
HA vs. DR. Good score card.
Given me a better understanding of how I can back-up and keep our data current.
More knowledge and points to take back and improve.
Good info on which strategy to use when and why.
Understanding difference between HA/DR.
Different DR technologies - will implement database mirroring with in the next month.
Very good overview of a topic a lot of people mess up: HA vs. DR.
Excellent score card!!!
Good overview of techniques and strategies.
The info on transactional replication was really helpful.
A better sense of what's available out there.

7. What would you change to improve the overall quality of this session? (comment-only question)

Nothing. Good job.
A couple demos (mirroring, t-log shipping) would have been nice.
Less time spent on the "basics" that are well known. Hoped for more info on using combinations of the technologies - clustering with mirroring.
Class focused on clustering over DR.
None, other than to check slides before presentation. (Me: Yep, I had a typo in one of my slides. My fault!)
Add multi site clustering info.
More time.
Demo some types of recovery mirror, etc.
It's skimming the surface. Learned stuff, but was surprised at how much of it i know.

Conclusion

One thing I've learned after presenting at three Summits is that I'm not going to over-analyze the results. I'll leave it at this: I didn't bomb my presentations and I improved over last year's scores so I'm happy. There are a few things I'll tweak to both sessions to make them better, and some of the comments confirm that I could easily turn the HA\DR presentation into a day-long precon (something I've been kicking around for a while now).

I'd like to thank everyone who attended my sessions and took the time to provide honest feedback. I'm happy to have been given the opportunity to present at the Summit and am looking forward to next year!

A PASS Board Of Directors Endorsement

noreply@blogger.com (Kendal Van Dyke) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 18:45:00 +0000

One of the requirements for the PASS Board of Directors application was a collection of recommendations - 3 from volunteers, 3 public, 1 personal, and 1 work-related. Every candidate's application is available for review (here's mine) with some minor amount of information redacted. One such section was for the volunteer recommendations and for me that means the recommendation from my friend Andy Warren (Blog | Twitter).

With permission from both Andy and the Nomination Committee I'm posting his recommendation here:

To: PASS Nominating Committee

Subject: Letter of Recommendation for Kendal Van Dyke for the PASS Board of Directors

I was introduced to Kendal in 2007 and soon after he agreed to do a presentation for the just re-launched oPASS chapter. Since then he’s gone on to speak at many other chapter meetings and SQLSaturday events, and has been selected twice to speak at the PASS Summit. He’s a confident and capable presenter.

He’s done more than just speak at events. He’s been active in growing oPASS and early this year launched our second Orlando chapter, MagicPASS. He was also a key member of the SQLRally team, taking ownership of the local side of marketing and also leading a networking ‘speed dating’ session as part of the event. He’s well known on Twitter, blogs on a recurring basis, and has built a substantial network in the community.

Kendal has all the personal attributes I look for in a candidate. He’s a good listener, willing to work hard, willing to take criticism, understands that not all decisions are perfect and that not all decisions will be popular, and he has no agenda other than to give back. He’s spent time with me discussing how the Board works and why we made some of our decisions, and I know he has spoken with others about this as well.

Kendal is a PASS success story. We held events that opened doors for him, and as a result he’s had a lot of opportunities to grow. I think highly of Kendal, and I believe he would do well on the Board if elected.

Regards,

Andy Warren

Director, PASS

PASS Board Of Directors Voting Open Through Dec. 20

noreply@blogger.com (Kendal Van Dyke) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 18:30:00 +0000

Voting for the 2011 PASS Board of Directors elections started earlier this week and if you were a PASS member in good standing as of June 1 you should have received an email with a link to cast your vote. If you've already voted - thank you! If you're undecided I'd encourage you to visit the election site, read each candidates' background and platform, and if you still have questions post them on the discussion forum. All the candidates, myself included, are monitoring the forum and will usually answer within 24 hours.

So why should you vote? Besides being easy - just a few clicks and you're done - you are helping decide who you want to lead a growing international organization that can impact your day-to-day professional life. If you've ever been to a SQLSaturday, SQLRally, Summit, user group meeting, a virtual chapter meeting, or 24 Hours of PASS you have been part of a PASS event. It takes a strong leadership team to help make all of those events happen, and by voting you're adding your input on who you think will best be able to continue to provide that leadership.

If you haven't received an email with a link to vote, please visit the election website and look for the link in the lower right corner to contact PASS HQ and let them know.

Voting is open through December 20. I hope you take the time to make your voice heard and cast your vote!

Database Mirroring In A Windows Workgroup

noreply@blogger.com (Kendal Van Dyke) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 23:00:00 +0000

Database Mirroring is a popular high availability solution and low-cost alternative to clustering, especially for smaller shops who can't afford the costs associated with SANs and Windows Server Enterprise or for smaller installations where clustering is simply overkill.

I recently set up mirroring for servers in a Windows workgroup and I had a few struggles getting it to work correctly. I did eventually get it running and wanted to share two things in particular that you might find helpful if you find yourself in a similar situation.

SQL Service Accounts

Because a workgroup isn't part of a domain any account that SQL is run as on a machine in a workgroup is a non-domain account. Books Online states "If you run SQL Server under a non-domain account, you must use certificates" for configuring mirroring. However, that's not entirely accurate - unless you have a specific need for certificates you don't have to use them.

The solution is simple - use local machine accounts with the same username and password for each SQL instance that will participate in mirroring.

Let's pretend you have two servers named serverA and serverB that will participate in mirroring and the SQL Service on each server uses a local machine account named sqlservice. When you configure mirroring and use the Database Mirroring Security Wizard you'll want to make sure to pay attention to the part where you specify the service accounts. If serverA is going to be the Principal and serverB the Mirror you'll want to put serverB in the Principal and serverA in the Mirror on this screen:

Although this seems backwards from what you might think at first don't worry - when the wizard completes it will actually create the login for serverA on serverA and the login for serverB on serverB. This is because the wizard creates mirroring endpoints on each server and grants CONNECT access to the service account from the other partner. In this example since serverA is the Principal the wizard will use the credentials you entered for the Mirror (serverA\sqlservice) to create a login on the Principal (serverA) and the credentials you entered for the Principal (serverB\sqlservice) to create a login on the Mirror (serverB).

The simplified reason this approach works is because when a connection is established from serverA to serverB the credentials supplied from serverA match the local machine account on serverB and access is granted - No certificates required!

Fully Qualified Domain Names

Books Online indicates that while you can use a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) for server network addresses you can also use IP addresses. Windows workgroups don't have the concept of a FQDN so I went with IP addresses and everything appeared to work…until I tested failover. Failover to the mirror worked great except that the apps on the web servers using the SQL native client (configured with the right connection string parameters) wouldn't talk to the mirror. On top of that, after failover the mirror would lose connectivity to the witness and if I rebooted the principal all the databases on the mirror would go into recovery mode. Talk about a demo that didn't go over so well!

Digging around in the Windows event log on the mirror turned up this error:

Database mirroring connection error 4 'An error occurred while receiving data: '64(The specified network name is no longer available.)'.' for 'TCP://[SERVERNAME]:5022'.

where [SERVERNAME] is the name of the mirror. It turns out Adam Machanic (Blog | Twitter) had the same issue and fixed it by switching to FQDN. The problem? In a workgroup there are no FQDNs and trying to enter just a machine name in the mirroring wizard results in an error.

The solution? Add "fake" FQDN entries to the Windows hosts file (usually located in c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\) on the principal, mirror, witness, and web servers, then rebuild mirroring using the "fake" FQDNs.

Conclusion

I hope my pain becomes your gain should you ever find yourself having to set up database mirroring in a Windows Workgroup!

PASS Board Of Directors Interview

noreply@blogger.com (Kendal Van Dyke) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 21:45:00 +0000

I had my telephone interview for the PASS Board of Directors this afternoon and I'm cautiously optimistic that I did well enough to make it on the final slate. We had an hour booked but ended up only taking 30 minutes - I'm not sure if that's good, bad, or just is what it is. I prepared by brushing up on the PASS Bylaws and 2011 & 2012 budget (available on the governance section of the PASS website) which certainly helped with some of the questions I was asked. Overall I think I did OK; I'll find out for sure November 18 when all the candidates are notified of their rankings.

In the interest of full disclosure I'll point out that I know everyone on the Nomination Committee at some professional or personal level, though I suspect that's the case for most of the other candidates as well. That said, I'm confident that they'll be able to put relationships aside to provide a fair assessment of all the candidates. It's not an easy task, especially if it means there's a potential for delivering disappointing news to someone you know.

With the interview over I've done everything I can to make it onto the ballot. Make it or not, I'm satisfied with the changes in the process made by the Election Review Committee earlier this year. Hopefully that means PASS election controversy is a thing of the past!

Why I'm Running For The PASS Board Of Directors

noreply@blogger.com (Kendal Van Dyke) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 16:30:00 +0000

If you read this week's onnector email you may have noticed that I'm one of the six candidates who have applied for the PASS Board of Directors this year. Campaigning hasn't officially started yet - the Nomination Committee is still in the review process - but I'd like to at least share a little bit more about who I am and why I made the decision to apply.

Meet Me

Born, raised, and still a Florida native, I graduated with a degree in Computer Science from Florida State University in 1999. I started working as a VB 6 developer where I was first exposed to SQL Server 7.0. It didn't take long before I shifted from writing VB to writing TSQL. The more I learned, the more I got hooked, and from that point on I've always considered myself a DBA. Over the years I've managed both servers and people and learned a ton both technically and professionally.

Married for 12 years, my wife (also a Florida native, a rarity these days!) and I have been blessed with 3 kids. I'm a huge space geek and living in Orlando - just 45 minutes from Kennedy Space Center - helps feed my hobby. When I'm not in front of a computer or chasing rockets I'm either busy doing something PASS related or helping out with Cub Scouts where my wife and I run our son's Webelos den.

Now that you know more about me...

Why I Want To Serve On The PASS Board

Going back about six years ago, I had no idea who or what PASS was except that their logo was on the SQL 2005 system views poster from SQL Server Magazine. In 2006 I moved to Orlando and a coworker introduced me to Andy Warren (Blog | Twitter). That introduction opened the door to start attending OPASS, speaking, and blogging. Between then and now I went from being a consumer - your everyday average DBA who gets the job done - to being a contributor by speaking at SQLSaturdays, User Groups, and the PASS Summit, starting a User Group (MagicPASS), helping plan a brand new conference (SQLRally) bearing the PASS brand, and most recently was recognized as a Microsoft MVP.

Along the way I've had the chance to open doors for people in the same way that Andy opened the door for me. There is an incredible sense of pride and fulfillment in seeing the same spark ignite in someone the way it did for me. PASS has been an enabler for me to get where I am today and I feel like I'm ready to pay it forward by helping to give as many other people those same opportunities as I can. So with that in mind I'm running to help carry the torch forward - to help PASS do what it does even better.

What's Next

If you haven't visited the 2011 election portal yet I encourage you to do so. Between now and November 22 everyone who submitted an application has to complete a personal interview. Once the interviews are done the Nomination Committee will recommend a slate of candidates to the current Board of Directors. Upon approving the slate campaigning and voting is scheduled to run from December 6-20 and the election results will be announced on December 28.

I hope that you pay attention to the elections and cast your vote when it comes time!

My PASS Summit 2011 Experience

noreply@blogger.com (Kendal Van Dyke) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 21:00:00 +0000

The 2011 PASS Summit is in the rear view mirror (has it really been almost three weeks now?)...and as always what an incredible week it was! Here were some of the highlights of the week for me:

The People

The number of old friends and new people I see at the Summit every year is at the top of the experience list for me. There's simply no other time or place where so many SQL people from all walks of life are gathered together. DBAs tend to be few in number at most shops so when we all get together at the Summit it's a great opportunity to talk shop, share stories, and build valuable friendships. I was hard pressed to go anywhere without running into someone I knew from a SQLSaturday, user group meeting, previous Summit, or who I've gotten to know on Twitter. The running joke is that it takes you 30 minutes to go 50 feet at the Summit, but it's really not a joke; with that many people there it's easy to get wrapped up in an engaging conversation with someone and lose track of time.

The Sessions

I was privileged to be selected to deliver two sessions this year and really enjoyed giving both of them. I didn't count how many people came to each (hoping that the program committee will be able to provide that when all the session evals have been tabulated) but the rooms were 3\4 full for each session so I know I had a decent turnout for both. I received positive comments from people after both so I think I did OK...but like all the other speakers I'm anxious to see the evals.

The Announcements

To me announcements are like getting presents at Christmas - you know they're coming, don't always know what they are, and most of the time you're really excited about what you discover. There were no shortage of announcements from Microsoft at this year's Summit: the SQL 2012 name and launch date, the new features for working with Hadoop (including a Windows based Hadoop distribution), an ODBC Linux drive, a new SQL Azure CTP, and Power View (aka "Crescent").

Not to be left out, Red Gate launched one of the coolest contests I've ever seen: DBA in Space. I grew up a space geek so you'd better believe I'm excited about the chance to win a suborbital flight!

The Donations

Last year I left the Summit with mixed feelings - one of the reasons being that I saw a lot of homeless and needy people around downtown. I committed to doing something to try and help in some small way this year and the result was SQLGive, a campaign to collect toiletries and clothes. With help from Chris Shaw (Blog | Twitter) we were able to set up collection bins at vendors' booths in the expo hall on Wednesday & Thursday and at the bookstore on Friday. Thanks to the generosity of many attendees we had close to 50 lbs. of soap, shampoo, toothpaste, socks, gloves, and even some food that were donated to Seattle's Union Gospel Mission.

I want to thank Idera, Quest, Perpetual Technologies, SSWUG, and SQLSentry again for letting us put collection bins at their booths. I also want to thank Tom Roush for his help delivering everything to the UGM dropoff point. I think the best way to relay the appreciation that people feel from receiving even a small amount of help is the story that Tom shared with me afterwards:

When I went there to drop the things off – there was a guy standing out there who helped me to get the stuff into the place - he looked nice, clean shaven, and I asked, "do you work here?" – he laughed, said no, then helped me get the stuff in. Later, he wanted me to know how much it meant for me to have asked that question. Seems he'd only been off the streets less than a week, and was just amazed, and obviously touched, that I'd think he was a "regular" person.

The End

OK so this wasn't a highlight, but it could be next year. I don't like how the Summit ends; There's so much excitement at the beginning but barely a whimper at the end. On any other night it's easy to find a group of people to go to dinner with, hang out with, etc...yet I had a hard time finding people to go to dinner with on Friday night. I think we need some kind of closing event as a way for people who are still there to say goodbye to everyone and end on a high note.

I'd like to see everyone get together in the dining hall for some final words from the PASS president and a champagne toast to say goodbye. Maybe next year I'll convince someone to give this a try. :-)

Final Thoughts

The Summit is one of the highlights of my year. I meet so many people and learn so much that I don't want it to end. I'm already excited about the 2012 Summit, and I hope that you are too!

#SQLGive Update - New Dropoff Locations

noreply@blogger.com (Kendal Van Dyke) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 19:15:00 +0000

Since announcing #SQLGive earlier this week I'm happy to report that two additional vendors have agreed to host dropoff boxes at their booths - Idera and Quest Software. Here's the full list of where can drop off your donations:

Perpetual Technologies - Booth #516
SQLSentry - Booth #512
Idera - Booth #221
Quest Software - Booth #502

...and in case you don't know what SQLGive is you can read all about it here.

See you at the Summit next week!