Upcoming SQL Saturdays - June 2016

I am speaking at two different SQL Saturdays in June!

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First up on June 4th is SQL Saturday #517 Philadelphia (#SQLSAT517) - I am speaking at 2:45pm on "Getting Started with Extended Events."  This is quickly becoming my favorite of the talks that I give because I learn something new every time I present it:

Few subjects in Microsoft SQL Server inspire the same amount of Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD) as Extended Events.  Many DBA's continue to use Profiler and SQL Trace even though they have been deprecated for years.  Why is this? 

Extended Events started out in SQL Server 2008 with no user interface and only a few voices in the community documenting the features as they found them.  Since then it has blossomed into a full feature of SQL Server and an amazingly low-impact replacement for Profiler and Trace. 

Come learn how to get started - the basics of sessions, events, actions, targets, packages, and more.  We will look at some base scenarios where Extended Events can be very useful as well as considering a few gotchas along the way.  You may never go back to Profiler again!

Register for SQL Saturday Philadelphia now (before it goes to wait-list!) at https://www.sqlsaturday.com/517/registernow.aspx!

I am also excited about this event because I will be attending Karen Lopez's (blog/@Datachick) Friday pre-con "Model-Driven Database Development: Physical to Implementation" - Karen is a very engaging and entertaining speaker who really knows her stuff.  There are still tickets available at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/model-driven-database-development-physical-to-implementation-karen-lopez-tickets-24628652964! 

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The following Saturday June 11th is SQL Saturday #523 - Iowa City (#SQLSatIowa) - I am up at 10am with "Does it Hurt When I Do This? Performing a SQL Server Health Check":

How often do you review your SQL Servers for basic security, maintenance, and performance issues?  Many of the servers I "inherit" as a managed services provider have quite a few gaping holes. It is not unusual to find databases that are never backed up, servers with constant login failures (is it an attack or a bad connection string?), and servers that need more RAM/CPU/etc. (or sometimes that even have too much!)  

Come learn how to use freely available tools from multiple layers of the SQL Server stack to check your servers for basic issues like missing backups and CheckDB as well as for more advanced issues like page life expectancy problems and improper indexing. If you are responsible in any way for a Microsoft SQL Server (DBA, Windows Admin, even a Developer) you will see value in this session!

This talk covers a wide array of tools to check out your servers, including the awesome DMV scripts from Glenn Berry (blog/@GlennAlanBerry) of SQLskills.

Register for SQL Saturday Iowa City now at https://www.sqlsaturday.com/523/registernow.aspx!

I am not headed to any pre-cons in Iowa City but there is an impressive line-up from many top speakers including my buddy David Klee (blog/@kleegeek) - he is covering "SQL Server Infrastructure Tuning for Availability and Performance" - tickets for his (and the other) pre-cons are available at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/sqlsaturday-iowa-city-2016-pre-conference-sessions-registration-24792389705?ref=ebtn

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I have written multiple times about how amazing SQL Saturdays are as both training and networking opportunities.  If you are in the area either of these weekends come see me and check it out!

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Hope this helps!