Tag Archive: sswug

Virtual Training Out the Wazoo

Written on October 20, 2009 by in SQL Server

You wanna learn? This is your lucky week. There’s two big virtual conference events going on, and I’ve blogged about ‘em before, but here’s a last-minute reminder.  For all of my sessions below, I’ll be online & available for questions.

October 21-22 – Quest Connect Virtual Conference

Quest is putting on a completely free virtual conference with sessions on SQL Server, Exchange, SharePoint, virtualization, and much more. Sessions will include:

  • A Sysadmin’s Guide to SQL Server with Brent Ozar, Tim Ford and Tom LaRock – Scared to touch that SQL Server database? You can do it, and we can help. In this webcast, our SQL Server experts will show Windows administrators how to manage SQL Server with confidence. The experts will cover the basics of backup and restore, security and permissions, and performance tuning. Plus, they will show how a favorite Windows performance tool can help manage SQL Server.
  • Understanding Execution Plans with Grant Fritchey and Brent Ozar – Mystified by why your queries are running slow? Don’t be stumped – learn what the fancy diagrams mean and how to make your schema work for you. Grant Fritchey, author of SQL Server Query Performance Tuning Distilled, will boil down the basics in this one-hour session.
  • Top 10 SQL Server Administration Mistakes with Kevin Kline, Colin Stasiuk, Jason Strate, Mike Walsh – The defaults aren’t necessarily the best answer. Find out about things like autogrowth before they penalize your performance and risk your recoverability.
  • Practical Approaches to Designing and Managing your Virtual Infrastructure with George Pradel
  • Preparing for Your Upgrade to SharePoint 2010 Today with Joel Oleson
  • And many more live webcasts and on-demand webcasts!

You can register for the free Quest Connect conference here.

October 21-23 – SSWUG Virtual Conference

Performance Tuning for Race Car Drivers

Times are tough even for the best drivers: Helio Castroneves is dancing for money and Danica Patrick is doing ads for what appears to be an adult services company. Maybe it’s time to switch careers, and I have just the thing. Use your hard-earned knowledge of high speeds, million-dollar hardware and surviving disastrous crashes to become a SQL Server performance tuner!

In this session, I will show you:

  • Why Colin Chapman would check for indexes before adding new ones
  • The importance of well-tested safety gear to performance tuning
  • Why not monitoring your servers is like overdriving your headlights
  • Just like races are lost in the pits, uptime records are lost during maintenance windows

The Top 10 Developer Mistakes That Won’t Scale

You’ve heard it before: “It worked fine on my machine, but the users say it’s too slow.” Don’t blame the developers: they’re using SQL Server features that look great on paper, but in reality, they won’t scale up to production loads. Learn to recognize these common mistakes before they go into production, and be armed with easy fixes for:

  • User-defined functions that go through too much data
  • Triggers that perform business logic
  • Cursors that process data row by row

Be Prepared for the New Virtual Reality

SQL Server does indeed work in virtual environments: the catch is that it doesn’t always work *well*. After years of working with SQL Servers running inside VMware and Hyper-V, I’ve gained valuable experience and learned some ugly lessons that I’ll pass on to you during his session.

In this session, I will show you:

  • Why your sysadmins want to virtualize your servers
  • The pros and cons of moving your SQL Servers into virtualization
  • How to monitor your server performance after you make the switch

For one price, you get access to all of my sessions, plus tons of other great sessions. Register today with the VIP code SPBOUVC09 and get $25 off.

Brent Ozar

Brent specializes in performance tuning for SQL Server, VMware, and storage. He's one of the very few Microsoft Certified Masters of SQL Server, a published author, and a Microsoft MVP. He likes travel, Jeeps, Apple gear, jokes, and writing about himself in the third person. Read more and contact Brent.

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The SSWUG Virtual Conference: Getting What You Pay For

Written on September 15, 2009 by in SQL Server

If anybody’s all about free training, it’s me. I’m Editor-in-Chief over at SQLServerPedia, a completely free site dedicated to SQL Server tutorials, wiki articles, blogs, videos, scripts, and more. There’s no registration required in order to view any of the stuff we’ve got.

So why would I fly to Tucson, Arizona to record sessions for the SSWUG Virtual Conference, a series of streamed presentations that cost around $200 to watch?

Because you get what you pay for.

I do a lot of remote presentations, and SSWUG has the best remote presentation setup I’ve ever seen. It’s not even close. They film sessions in a real video studio using multiple high definition cameras. They capture our demos in high def too, so even when presenters aren’t using ZoomIt, you can still see enough that you’re not lost in a screen full of squiggly text.

The end result is completely worth it. You can see every bead of sweat on Tom LaRock’s brow when his demos don’t work. You can see every syntax error in my T-SQL scripts highlighted with the fuzzy underlines in SSMS. Brian Knight’s jokes somehow seem even funnier.

And since the video quality is so good, it seems like the presenters bring their A-game. Here’s my presentations for this year, along with a couple of sneak peeks at some of the slide photos:

Performance Tuning for Race Car Drivers

Microsoft Access Performance Tuning

Microsoft Access Performance Tuning

Times are tough even for the best drivers: Helio Castroneves is dancing for money and Danica Patrick is doing ads for what appears to be an adult services company. Maybe it’s time to switch careers, and I have just the thing. Use your hard-earned knowledge of high speeds, million-dollar hardware and surviving disastrous crashes to become a SQL Server performance tuner!

In this session, I will show you:

  • Why Colin Chapman would check for indexes before adding new ones
  • The importance of well-tested safety gear to performance tuning
  • Why not monitoring your servers is like overdriving your headlights
  • Just like races are lost in the pits, uptime records are lost during maintenance windows

The Top 10 Developer Mistakes That Won’t Scale

You’ve heard it before: “It worked fine on my machine, but the users say it’s too slow.” Don’t blame the developers: they’re using SQL Server features that look great on paper, but in reality, they won’t scale up to production loads. Learn to recognize these common mistakes before they go into production, and be armed with easy fixes for:

  • User-defined functions that go through too much data
  • Triggers that perform business logic
  • Cursors that process data row by row

Be Prepared for the New Virtual Reality

Pick a Server, Any Server

Pick a Server, Any Server

SQL Server does indeed work in virtual environments: the catch is that it doesn’t always work *well*. After years of working with SQL Servers running inside virtual environments, I’ve gained valuable experience and learned some ugly lessons that I’ll pass on to you during his session.

In this session, I will show you:

  • Why your sysadmins want to virtualize your servers
  • The pros and cons of moving your SQL Servers into virtualization
  • How to monitor your server performance after you make the switch

The SSWUG Virtual Conference isn’t free, but I’d argue that it’s worth every penny.  If your boss is saying there’s no budget money left to send you to SQLPass, try going for the SSWUG Virtual Conference instead.  You still get rock-star quality presentations, and it’s like you’re sitting in the front row.

Register today and use VIP code SPBOUVC09 to save $10 off the cost of registration.

Brent Ozar

Brent specializes in performance tuning for SQL Server, VMware, and storage. He's one of the very few Microsoft Certified Masters of SQL Server, a published author, and a Microsoft MVP. He likes travel, Jeeps, Apple gear, jokes, and writing about himself in the third person. Read more and contact Brent.

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Free SAN 101 video from the SSWUG Virtual Conference

Written on March 12, 2009 by in SQL Server

I just flew out to Tucson to film my sessions for the upcoming SSWUG Virtual Conference.  It’s a pretty cool setup – SWUG has a full blown TV studio in their offices, and it’s really professional.  (Trust me – I know when something’s unprofessional.)

Invisible Cheezburger

Professor Ozar

The best way for me to explain it is to show you what a session looks like: here’s my SAN 101 presentation from last year.  You can watch it in its entirety for free.  You do need a high-speed internet connection – it doesn’t work well with slow connections like the one here in my hotel room.  This year, they’ve upgraded their cameras to high definition, too, so you can get better views of code-intensive demos.

If you like that SAN 101 presentation, then check out the full list of SQL Server abstracts.  There’s some fantastic speakers in there, top notch people, and it’s a heck of a deal for around $100.  In this economy, that’s the most cost effective way to get trained.  Show your boss my SAN 101 video to demonstrate the quality of what you’re getting for your money, and then point at the full list of sessions.  It pretty much sells itself once you see the video quality.

Register for the SSWUG V-Conference now and use VIP code SPVBOZSP09 for $10 off.  That coupon code can be combined with other discounts, too, like the early bird registration or the alumni registration.

Brent Ozar

Brent specializes in performance tuning for SQL Server, VMware, and storage. He's one of the very few Microsoft Certified Masters of SQL Server, a published author, and a Microsoft MVP. He likes travel, Jeeps, Apple gear, jokes, and writing about himself in the third person. Read more and contact Brent.

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Watch a free 10-minute preview of SSWUG videos (update with discount)

Written on October 29, 2008 by in SQL Server

You’ve heard me talk about my SSWUG video conference sessions, but you’re not sure whether it’ll work, or whether it’s worth the money?  Well, Chris Shaw and the good folks at SSWUG are giving away free previews to show you how good it looks.  You can watch the first ten minute of my SQLIO session for frrrrrrrreeeeeee:

Yes, I really do talk with my hands, and yes, I use an Apple Macbook Pro.  The stickers are:

More stickers to come – I’m looking forward to getting some at PASS and plastering them all over the Mac.  Erika hates it when I do that because the Mac does indeed look better naked, but I don’t want you guys thinking I’m a graphic designer or something.

Update 10/29 – I just got word that if you use the VIP code “BOZAVIP” when signing up, you get $10 off your registration, bringing it down to $90.

There’s a drawback, though, and I’m going to tell you about it because I believe that honesty is the best policy.  If you use that signup code, I get $5.  If more than ten of you use the code, my cut goes up to $10 per person.  Here’s where the drawback comes in: Erika has already given me permission to spend my SSWUG money as “fun money” on my week-long Caribbean cruise in December.  I might come back with alcohol-induced amnesia or a bad tattoo.  So maybe it’s better for all of us if you don’t use that code.  I’m just putting it out there, your choice.

Brent Ozar

Brent specializes in performance tuning for SQL Server, VMware, and storage. He's one of the very few Microsoft Certified Masters of SQL Server, a published author, and a Microsoft MVP. He likes travel, Jeeps, Apple gear, jokes, and writing about himself in the third person. Read more and contact Brent.

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SSWUG Virtual Conference discount code

Written on October 17, 2008 by in SQL Server

Psst – want $25 off the SSWUG Virtual Conference, bringing it down to only $75?

I got a promo email today from my employer (see, when it comes from the people who pay your check, you can’t call it “spam”) that says to enter VIPVC2510 in the VIP code field.  For all I know, this might be restricted to the first X people, so if it doesn’t work, it’s worth what you paid me for it.

Funny how this stuff works – I find out about some things via email because my personal email is still in the Quest customer database!

Brent Ozar

Brent specializes in performance tuning for SQL Server, VMware, and storage. He's one of the very few Microsoft Certified Masters of SQL Server, a published author, and a Microsoft MVP. He likes travel, Jeeps, Apple gear, jokes, and writing about himself in the third person. Read more and contact Brent.

Website - Twitter - Facebook - More Posts

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