On Saturday September 22nd I will be speaking at SQL Saturday San Diego presenting on 2 fun topics:

1. Database Corruption! Preventing Disaster to your Database
2. Environmental SQL Server Troubleshooting

Read on about my presentations…

Database Corruption! Preventing Disaster to your Database

Here is the first session abstract:

Every DBA should know about database corruption because it can be a resume generating event. A corrupt database can ruin your day, affect system stability, lead to unnecessary downtime, and possibly data loss.

In this presentation we will explore database corruption, learn how to diagnose, and see what we can do to fix it. We will discuss the causes, dispel some myths, and learn what questions to ask. After this, we dive into discovering the root cause and putting a plan in place to stop it in the future. Demos will illustrate diagnosing, troubleshooting, and fixing database corruption. Prepare to break a database and go through the steps to return it back to a usable state.

Beginners will benefit along with others who may one day find themselves with a corrupt database. By the end of the session, you will have the tools and understanding necessary to take corrective action and prevent your databases from corruption!

How confident are you with your backup strategy? Are you testing them? What will you do when faced with database corruption? How do you identify and diagnose the problem? How will you correct it? What steps can we implement to reduce the likelihood of this tragedy with data?

We discuss all of that at a beginners level so it is easy to understand. You may leave the session still afraid of things but it won’t be database corruption!

if you want to read up before you can check out these blog posts:

• SQL Server Database Corruption! Understanding and Diagnosing
• SQL Server Database Corruption! Fixing and Preventing

Environmental SQL Server Troubleshooting

Second session abstract:

When called in to diagnose a performance issue what are the 1st things you review? Many DBAs and developers make the mistake of diving straight into the code looking for an answer. However, often times the solution is not in the code but rather in the overall environment.

Environmental troubleshooting is often a quick and overlooked method for discovering and configuring SQL Server to perform at a higher level without the need for application change controls.

In this session we will discuss both performance pitfalls and optimizations that can be made to the system outside of code changes. We will diagnose configurations commonly misapplied and review best practices in SQL Server, Windows Server, and VMware!

Performance is degrading on your SQL Server and you don’t know what it could be since there has been no code change. What do you do?

In this session we walk through numerous best practices and configuration gotchas. There are a few knobs to turn and buttons to press in SQL Server that can make or break performance. Come find out how to optimize your SQL Server!

I wrote these blog posts which inspired the presentation:

• Environmental Checks – Overview
• SQL Server Environmental Diagnostics Guide
• Windows Server Environmental Diagnostics Guide
• VMware Environmental Diagnostics Guide

Hope to see you there!

SQL Saturday Elevator Pitch

SQL Saturday is a free training event for learning about SQL Server. This includes a wide array of topics:

• Enterprise DBA
• Application & Database Development
• Analytics
• BI
• Azure
• Professional Development
• …and many more!

If you’ve never been they are totally worth a few hours on a Saturday afternoon. Make it a point to attend one in your city. If you work with SQL Server this is good quality training for free in a low pressure setting.

Yes, even the most introverted will feel at home.

If you like free things you might also like my recent post about Learning SQL Server for Free Starter Pack.