I am delighted to host this month’s T-SQL Tuesday invitation. If you are new to this blog party, I encourage you to check out the rules. If you are new to blogging, please consider contributing. You don’t need to post about or be proficient with T-SQL to participate. We are always excited to have new participants. Be sure to post your blog on Tuesday, April 14, 2026.
The Invitation
We are in the heart of the spring conference season. Maybe you had the opportunity to attend FabCon / SQLCon or a weekend event like Data Saturday. This month I’m inviting you to tell us about one or more things you learned at ANY conference you have attended that has impacted you or how you work.
My experience
I am not sure which PASS Summit it was, either 2007 or 2008. I attended a session conducted by a Microsoft engineer from the SQL Server team. He presented on the physical storage patterns of SQL Server to disk. The session delved into how SQL Server wrote data to disk and the related impact to read and write performance.
This session changed how I designed tables and indexes. It also ingrained in me the importance of understanding the physical infrastructure supporting my data work. Later I would learn how to optimize storage for SQL Server Analysis Services much to the chagrin of SAN administrators. They really didn’t like me asking to only write data to the outer 10-20% of the disks.
While the technology has changed, the principles have not. My focus shifted to networking and cloud design. As an architect, I didn’t need to know all the details. But I had the knowledge and understanding required to have meaningful conversations and detailed design sessions with specialists. That one session changed how I designed solutions throughout my career!
Some final guidance
When you have completed your post and published it on Tuesday, April 14th, drop a comment below. Also include the logo and a link back to this post. I will create a summary post within a week, but I need to know you wrote it. I look forward to your contribution.
Are interested in hosting? Contact Steve Jones for details.