| Full Schedule | ||
| Date/Time | Session | Room |
| 5/2/2017 9:30 AM -to- 10:00 AM | Welcome |
Emerald |
| 5/2/2017 9:30 AM -to- 10:00 AM | Welcome |
Pearl |
| 5/2/2017 9:30 AM -to- 10:00 AM | Welcome |
Sapphire |
| 5/2/2017 10:00 AM -to- 11:00 AM | Introduction to Power BI Thomas LaBlanc Microsoft has taken all the Power features of Excel and consolidated them into a single product: Power BI. From PowerQuery to PowerView, the basics of Power BI involves getting data then making insightful visualizations. Connections to data sources in Power BI are growing monthly in new releases. Changing the structure of data and formatting columns are tracked through a list of steps that can be reversed or copied and used as a different data source. The measure and calculated columns from PowerPivot are integrated like the Tabular Model from Analysis Services. Finally, lots of built-in and custom visualizations are available for free. Once you get the hang of the basics, you can move to advanced analytics like forecasting or using the R Language to perform deeper analysis."}" style="font-size:13px;font-family:arial,sans,sans-serif;">Microsoft has taken all the Power features of Excel and consolidated them into a single product: Power BI. From PowerQuery to PowerView, the basics of Power BI involves getting data then making insightful visualizations. Connections to data sources in Power BI are growing monthly in new releases. Changing the structure of data and formatting columns are tracked through a list of steps that can be reversed or copied and used as a different data source. The measure and calculated columns from PowerPivot are integrated like the Tabular Model from Analysis Services. Finally, lots of built-in and custom visualizations are available for free. Once you get the hang of the basics, you can move to advanced analytics like forecasting or using the R Language to perform deeper analysis. |
Emerald |
| 5/2/2017 10:00 AM -to- 11:00 AM | Building a Home Grown Auditing Infrastructure for SQL Server Brian Kelley Not everyone has the budget for 3rd party tools to provide audit / security information on their SQL Server environment. If you are in this situation, what do you need to build? What information should you be capturing in order to know what's going on for each of your SQL Servers? How do you gather that information and store it? How do you report on it? In this presentation we'll answer each of those questions, presenting options you can build yourself. We'll look for the most efficient solutions because if you don't have budget, you likely don't have allocated time except for what you can carve out amidst your other responsibilities. Knowledge of T-SQL and Powershell is expected. |
Pearl |
| 5/2/2017 10:00 AM -to- 11:00 AM | SQL Server 2016 SP1 changes the game: things you can do now that were Enterprise-only before Charlie Arehart As some may know, the recent release of SQL Server 2016 SP1 included a major change that enables nearly all features to work in all editions. In other words, there used to be features that were Enterprise-only (or Trial or Dev), such that folks on editions below that (Standard, Web, Express, and Express LocalDB) could NOT use, at all. Or you may try things in Trial/Dev only to find they didn't work in production if using one of those other editions, or Azure SQL DB. Now you can use many features previously limited to Enterprise-only. This opens doors to capabilities which will be very helpful, even amazing, to many. And this is not just about features that are new in SQL Server 2016 but also some features from previous editions which are also now available in editions other than Enterprise (of course, you need to be using SQL Server 2016 SP1 to get the benefit of being able to use such features on an edition below Enterprise). In this talk, veteran server troubleshooter Charlie Arehart will outline, discuss, and in some cases demonstrate the features that are now available. He’ll also indicated the specific editions where they are, as well as why they are so important, and he’ll conclude with some related changes of interest, all of which can be considered before leveraging or planning for this important change of functionality. |
Sapphire |
| 5/2/2017 11:00 AM -to- 12:00 PM | Creating an End to End Power BI Solution Devin Knight Power BI has a many moving parts that can make it difficult to know when and where each part of the tool is necessary. In this session you will get a clear end to end journey through creating a Power BI solution. Start with the data discovery phase by importing and applying business rules to your data. Then load that data into a data model where you can apply hierarchies and calculations. Finally using that data model design reports to visualize the results. Once complete learn how the results can be shared with others by creating dashboards on the Power BI service. Taking this end to end trip through the tool will allow you to fully understand how each piece fits together. |
Emerald |
| 5/2/2017 11:00 AM -to- 12:00 PM | Reading Execution Plans for Performance Tuning Thomas LaBlanc This will be a Beginners session highlighting the starting point for using the execution plans from SQL Server to assist in query tuning. Briefly, we will look at the history to get an idea of how Microsoft has improved the display through Graphical Plans and Missing Index suggestion. The, we will answer questions like the following. What is the difference between a Table and Clustered Index Scan? What is a Lookup? How do you improve performance of Lookups? What are the different types of Loops? How to get more information from the Plan with the properties window? |
Pearl |
| 5/2/2017 11:00 AM -to- 12:00 PM | Are Spiders Eating Your Servers? The Impact of Their Unexpected Load and How to Counter It Charlie Arehart For years I've watched people try to tame \"database problems\" with a focus on their code, their SQL, their app server, and so on. Yet often it turns out that the root cause is actually unexpected load. And that load may be from things you never expected (automated), at volumes you never expected. I've found folks with as much as 80% of their web traffic to be such unexpected automated traffic! Worse, there are characteristics of such automated visits that may actually have MORE IMPACT than \"real users\".\n\nA common reaction on learning of this unexpected volume is to want to \"block\" such automated requests, and perhaps some could be, but most just needs to be better \"managed\". (And bad guys have become clever about looking like \"regular users\".) The good news is that there are solutions to better manage (or simply block) such automated requests which may already exist in your environment, and there are tools you may consider (some free, some commercial) which can be easily implemented. There are even SAAS solutions which could help alleviate such problems with just a single tiny change in your environment!\n \nIn this session, veteran server troubleshooter Charlie Arehart will guide a detailed review of the issue, including how to identify such traffic, more on their specific impact, and most important identifying the solutions along with their pros and cons. He has helped shops achieve dramatic reductions in impact from such automated requests, resulting in greater server stability and performance."}" style="font-size:13px;font-family:arial,sans,sans-serif;">For years I've watched people try to tame "database problems" with a focus on their code, their SQL, their app server, and so on. Yet often it turns out that the root cause is actually unexpected load. And that load may be from things you never expected (automated), at volumes you never expected. I've found folks with as much as 80% of their web traffic to be such unexpected automated traffic! Worse, there are characteristics of such automated visits that may actually have MORE IMPACT than "real users". A common reaction on learning of this unexpected volume is to want to "block" such automated requests, and perhaps some could be, but most just needs to be better "managed". (And bad guys have become clever about looking like "regular users".) The good news is that there are solutions to better manage (or simply block) such automated requests which may already exist in your environment, and there are tools you may consider (some free, some commercial) which can be easily implemented. There are even SAAS solutions which could help alleviate such problems with just a single tiny change in your environment! In this session, veteran server troubleshooter Charlie Arehart will guide a detailed review of the issue, including how to identify such traffic, more on their specific impact, and most important identifying the solutions along with their pros and cons. He has helped shops achieve dramatic reductions in impact from such automated requests, resulting in greater server stability and performance. |
Sapphire |
| 5/2/2017 12:00 PM -to- 1:00 PM | Deploying SSIS Projects to the Catalog Thomas LaBlanc Integration Services (SSIS) stepper up its enterprise case for managing ETL jobs with the addition of the SSIS Catalog. This container has deployed packages safely stored in a SQL Server database. More integrated than MSDB, the deployed projects enable many ways for SSIS packages to be executed and configured. The Environment for a project has replaced the configuration files of the past. Project Parameters can be shared between packages without having to pass variable values from a parent package. There is also a Project Connection Manager for sharing database connections as well as the expressions used to change the database or server locations. The logging and error tracking in the Catalog has free reports and dashboards integrated into Management Studio for failed jobs as well as performance tracking. Of course, the Data Management Objects have been updated giving you the ability to dig into the execution of the package logs."}" style="font-size:13px;font-family:arial,sans,sans-serif;">Integration Services (SSIS) stepper up its enterprise case for managing ETL jobs with the addition of the SSIS Catalog. This container has deployed packages safely stored in a SQL Server database. More integrated than MSDB, the deployed projects enable many ways for SSIS packages to be executed and configured. The Environment for a project has replaced the configuration files of the past. Project Parameters can be shared between packages without having to pass variable values from a parent package. There is also a Project Connection Manager for sharing database connections as well as the expressions used to change the database or server locations. The logging and error tracking in the Catalog has free reports and dashboards integrated into Management Studio for failed jobs as well as performance tracking. Of course, the Data Management Objects have been updated giving you the ability to dig into the execution of the package logs. |
Emerald |
| 5/2/2017 12:00 PM -to- 1:00 PM | Performing a Risk Assessment for Your SQL Server Environment Brian Kelley You have SQL Servers you need to secure. But where do you start? In this presentation, we'll look at how to do a security risk assessment on SQL Server. First we'll start off with how to present your findings to management. What information do you need to give them? What will sway them to your side? We'll then switch to the technical side and cover what to look at first: the issues that could lead to a server breach, data loss, and/or a system becoming unavailable due to mismanagement. Finally, we'll discuss how to assess other problems you may find and how to rank and prioritize them. |
Pearl |
| 5/2/2017 12:00 PM -to- 1:15 PM | SSIS Packages – Data collection with For Loop Matt DeWitt SSIS packages are excellent tools for data gathering from multiple sources. In an environment where a COTS database is being managed for multiple clients. Data collection for enterprise level data marts and reporting. Environment: SQL 2014 Enterprise There are five database instances that have ten databases housed on each. Each database is schematically the same and kept in sync at the DDL level. These databases are used for separate facilities to stored and manage that site’s data. Each facility is separate from the others and no interaction occurs. Each facility is related and under the direction of a controlling entity. That controlling entity needs to be able to report on data and investigate information from a high level view. |
Sapphire |
| 5/2/2017 1:00 PM -to- 2:00 PM | APIs for your Database: Building Dynamic Data Apps with Angular, React & D3.js Jerod Johnson Do you want to see your SQL Server data used in dynamic Web apps? The CData API Server allows you to create universally consumable REST APIs for your databases (plus 80+ other data sources) making it simple to build dynamic Web apps using popular JavaScript frameworks to display and report on that data. In this session, we will cover creating a REST API for your SQL Server databases using the CData API Server and work through 3 sample projects (using Angular2, React, and D3.js) that build dynamic Web apps featuring data from the SQL Server database. |
Emerald |
| 5/2/2017 1:00 PM -to- 2:00 PM | BEST OF: Powershell Ben Miller |
Pearl |
| 5/2/2017 2:00 PM -to- 3:00 PM | SQL Server Cardinality Estimator in SQL Server 2014/2016 Dean Savovic Cardinality Estimator had a major upgrade in SQL Server 2014 version and 2016. After a few introductory words, I will speak about model assumptions of Cardinality Estimator, calculation direction, model selection of Cardinality Estimator and improvements in SQL Server versions 2014 and 2016. I will also have a few demos where I will demonstrate how to optimally use the new features |
Emerald |
| 5/2/2017 2:00 PM -to- 3:00 PM | Steps to a Perfect Pitch Presentation Laura Rose Have you ever needed to: convince someone to vote for your cause? influence someone to purchase your product or service? or illustrate why you are the best person for the promotion?
Regardless if you are pitching a project, an idea, a product, a service or even convincing your boss why you are the right person for the next high-profile position, being well-prepared is essential.
So - what if you had a proven technique in the form of a re-usable presentation structure that can be used to pitch any situation?
This webinar will outline the steps to creating a pitch-perfect presentation that will not only persuade but excite people into action. |
Pearl |
| 5/3/2017 9:30 AM -to- 10:00 AM | Welcome |
Emerald |
| 5/3/2017 9:30 AM -to- 10:00 AM | Welcome |
Pearl |
| 5/3/2017 9:30 AM -to- 10:00 AM | Welcome |
Sapphire |
| 5/3/2017 10:00 AM -to- 11:00 AM | What Data opportunities can AI/Machine Learning unravel in Healthcare Specialist care? Saumya Sanjeev This session will cover the state of healthcare today, the challenges the industry is facing and how technology can help solve some of the problems. It will further delve into how bigdata can play a key role in transforming the healthcare landscape globally – making quality healthcare accessible, affordable and patient centric for all. |
Emerald |
| 5/3/2017 10:00 AM -to- 11:00 AM | New features in Entity Framework 7 Joydip Kanjilal Entity Framework is an open source, lightweight,extensible Object Relational Mapper that abstracts the calls to your ADO.Net data access provider underneath. This presentation would discuss the some of the interesting new features / enhancements in EF7. These include:
|
Pearl |
| 5/3/2017 10:00 AM -to- 11:00 AM | Indexes - The Unsung Heroes of SQL Server 2014 Pinal Dave Slow Running Queries are the most common problem that developers face while working with SQL Server. While it is easy to blame the SQL Server for unsatisfactory performance, however the issue often persists with the way queries have been written, and how Indexes has been set up. The session will focus on the ways of identifying problems that slow down SQL Server, and Indexing tricks to fix them. We will have a quiz during the session to keep the conversation alive. Developers will walk out with scripts and knowledge that can be applied to their servers, immediately post the session. Session Prerequisites: Basic understanding of SQL Server concepts. |
Sapphire |
| 5/3/2017 11:00 AM -to- 12:00 PM | Introduction to the SQL Server Query Store Brandon Preece Don't you wish there was a recording of everything running on your SQL Server instance tracking performance data? Well in SQL Server 2016, Microsoft has introduced a new feature called the Query Store. This session will go over how the query store works, how you configure it for your workloads and how to use the information to track performance data. When you leave this session, you will know how to get started using the Query Store. |
Emerald |
| 5/3/2017 11:00 AM -to- 12:00 PM | BEST OF: Everything you wanted to know about Stored Procedures Jeffrey Garbus Everything you wanted to know about Stored Procedures but were afraid to ask. This session talks about stored procedure creation management, performance, and transaction management. We also review and make formal recommendations on optimal coding techniques and mechanisms for managing return values. |
Pearl |
| 5/3/2017 11:00 AM -to- 12:00 PM | Enterprise Data Lakes: Design Patterns and Anti-Patterns Vikram Sharma Every data centric organization wants to setup their own Enterprise data lake for their needs. The motivation may vary from democratization of data to transparent and centralized access control to just staying up to speed with the buzz. With the recent data explosion, organizations are generating massive amount of data in a variety of forms and velocity. Consequently, the need to maintain a centralized single source of truth that can be utilized to suit multiple needs is greater than ever. However, this is not a one size fits all situation. The needs are different so are the mechanisms and the type of data. We will explore the underlying concepts of an enterprise data lake, common patterns of usage and how to identify what works and what does not for the current need. We will also touch upon the building blocks of data lakes and a comparison and contrast of the available technologies. |
Sapphire |
| 5/3/2017 12:00 PM -to- 1:00 PM | Performance in 60 Seconds – SQL Tricks Everybody MUST Know Pinal Dave Data and Database is a very important aspect of application development for businesses. Developers often come across situations where they face a slow server response, even though their hardware specifications are above par. This session is for all the Developers who want their server to perform at blazing fast speed, but want to invest very little time to make it happen. We will go over various database tricks which require absolutely no time to master and require practically no SQL coding at all. After attending this session, Developers will only need 60 seconds to improve performance of their database server in their implementation. We will have a quiz during the session to keep the conversation alive. Developers will walk out with scripts and knowledge that can be applied to their servers, immediately post the session. Session Prerequisites: Basic understanding of SQL Server concepts. |
Emerald |
| 5/3/2017 12:00 PM -to- 1:00 PM | How to use LogParser to make it easier to monitor your SSRS log Michael Wall Log Parser is one of Microsoft’s best and most under recognized tools. Originally designed to read IIS and system logs, its simple complexity makes it a true “swiss army knife” of a tool. With its ability to read multiple log and text formats and then spit them out in multiple formats, it can be used to quickly analyze large amounts of data and present them in a readable format. This presentation will start with some basic uses of Log Parser, explain some of the core features, demonstrate some of the challenges, and finally focus on using Log Parser to decrypt SSRS logs. These decrypted logs can then be used as a monitoring system. As with most things, there are multiple ways to accomplish a task. Log Parser will be a welcome addition to your tool belt! |
Pearl |
| 5/3/2017 12:00 PM -to- 1:00 PM | Introduction to Blockchain and cryptocurrencies Vikram Sharma Blockchain is a concept made popular by bitcoin and is the current hot and trending technology that everybody wants to get their hands onto. Blockchain works as a distributed ledger shared across several users, mostly unknown to each other. The beauty of the concept lies in fact that it facilitates making trusted transactions between untrusted users/ machines. Blockchain technology offers a secure, transparent and audit ready mechanism to record digital trail of an interaction or transaction. We will go over the building blocks of a blockchain and explore why is it considered as the next wave of disruption. We will also cover how smart contracts work. We will go over the basic concepts of bitcoin and other popular cryptocurrencies. We will also look at industries/verticals that can be disrupted/ revolutionized using blockchain concepts. |
Sapphire |
| 5/3/2017 1:00 PM -to- 2:00 PM | BEST OF: Ten Query Tuning Techniques Every SQL Developer Should Know Kevin Kline SELECT statements have a reputation for being very easy to write, but hard to write very well. This session will take you through ten of the most problematic patterns and anti-patterns when writing queries and how to deal with them all. Loaded with live demonstrations and useful techniques, this session will teach you how to take your SQL Server queries mundane to masterful. |
Emerald |
| 5/3/2017 1:00 PM -to- 2:00 PM | How I Use PowerBI as a DBA Tjay Belt Microsoft’s PowerBI is the new hotness. In this session you will get your hands dirty and dive into PowerBI and create an actual report, with actual data. You will get to learn from examples from what a DBA has done to implement PowerBI in his shop and make his data accessible. As a DBA, we often need to collect and display data in a friendly and interactive fashion. We will play with some PowerShell to collect data from several systems, store this data in an Azure DB in the Cloud, then point PowerBI at this data to display and interact with said data. You will learn a little about PowerShell, Azure SQL DB, PowerBI, and how to make these work for you. You will be given permissions to an Azure DB, and get connected to this source. You will also need to have PowerBI desktop downloaded and installed. We will be using this to create the report during the session. So please come prepared to interact with the internet, with a cloud based database you will be provided, and PowerBI Desktop. |
Pearl |
| 5/3/2017 1:00 PM -to- 2:05 PM | Working with Entity Framework Core Joydip Kanjilal Entity Framework is a popular ORM and has been in use for quite some time now. Entity Framework Core is a lightweight, open source, extensible, and cross-platform version of Entity Framework. This presentation discusses the architecture of Entity Framework, the new features and enhancements in Entity Framework Core and how to get started using it and work with this ORM to create an Entity Data Model (EDM) and perform CRUD operations. |
Sapphire |
| 5/3/2017 2:00 PM -to- 3:05 PM | SSRS Reports – Variables for reports Matt DeWitt SSRS is an excellent reporting solution. Reporting Server reports can be created with built in criteria and drop down menus to help a user find the correct data for their situation"}" style="font-size:13px;font-family:arial,sans,sans-serif;">SSRS is an excellent reporting solution. Reporting Server reports can be created with built in criteria and drop down menus to help a user find the correct data for their situation. Environment: SQL 2014 Enterprise There are five database instances that have ten databases housed on each. Each database is schematically the same and kept in sync at the DDL level. These databases are used for separate facilities to stored and manage that site’s data. Each facility is separate from the others and no interaction occurs. Each facility is related and under the direction of a controlling entity. That controlling entity needs to be able to report on data and investigate information from a high level view. |
Pearl |
| 5/3/2017 2:00 PM -to- 3:10 PM | PowerShell working with Python and SQL Server Maximo Trinidad As PowerShell is the main technology for automation in Windows Datacenters Infrastructure, now becomes clear its importance in other non-Windows Operating Systems. The way I see it, Windows Admin has the advantage with PowerShell as the Linux Admin has the upper hand with Bash/PHP/Python. Here’s where we can collaborate and work with each other. |
Emerald |