SQLSaturday 26 Sessions: 10/3 in Redmond, WA

Thanks to everyone that attended my sessions at SQLSaturday 26 in Redmond, WA on 10/3!!

This was my first SQLSaturday event. I was granted the opportunity to be a last minute replacement speaker and gave two presentations. This was my first time speaking in front of a large audience at an event. It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience, and I hope to speak at future events as well.

As promised in my presentations, I have uploaded my materials and am sharing them here through my blog.

Session 1:

Using SQL Trace/Profiler Effectively
This session covered how to use SQL Trace/SQL Profiler effectively. Topics included converting trace templates into T-SQL scripts, running server side traces (and why you should do so), reading trace files via T-SQL.

Demos included creating a trace template in SQL Profiler, converting it into a SQL script, and running a server-side trace via the SQL script. We then stop the trace and read the contents using the trace stored procedures and functions.

Also covered was how to set up a SQL job that detects high CPU utilization and starts and stops a custom SQL trace when CPU utilization crosses a predefined threshold.

The files from this sessions can be downloaded here.

Session 2:

Database Mirroring: Maximizing Availability Through Automation
Database Mirroring is often thought of as a “set it and forget it” technology. But what happens if there are problems and the one person on your team that knows mirroring inside and out is not there? You can have a prolonged outage or you can be prepared ahead of time and set up automation procedures for all of your database mirroring needs.

This session covered setting up automation scripts for managing database mirroring failovers in a controlled fashion. A demo was performed comparing mirroring failovers performed via the GUI (graphical user interface) vs. ad hoc T-SQL statements vs. a well thought out, planned, and praticed automation script.

Also discussed was an automation script to automatically fail a mirroring session back to the original principal as soon as it was back online and the databases are synchronized in order to protect your ability to cover both servers with a single SQL Server license.

The files from this sessions can be downloaded here.