Sessions

» Presented by Chris Webb

Analysis Services 2008 contains no major new functionality compared to Analysis Services 2005, but there are some important improvements in existing features that you need to be aware of. This session will look at how Analysis Services 2008 delivers better manageability, a better development environment and most of all better performance.

» Presented by Allan Mitchell

This session is split into two. Using 2005 the first part will be looking at using some of SSIS's more advanced capabilities. We will look to use SSIS as the source for a reporting services report, do some data mining within the pipeline, load Analysis Services partitions directly and we will have a look at some ideas for performance.
The second half we will be looking at SSIS in SQL Server 2008. What advancements have been made and what are some of the coolest things we are going to see at RTM. We will be taking a look at things like the pipeline limiter, Change Data Capture, threading changes in the pipeline and huge enhancements in the reuse of cached lookups.
The session is an advanced session so we will not be covering any of the basics of SSIS.

» Presented by Geert Vanhove

This session will address some problems that might occur when a SSIS solution needs to scale because DB and data volumes to load are getting larger. This session is not only a statement of how you can improve your SSIS performance; the impact of each optimization step is shown in action throughout the demo package that will be the red wire of this presentation.

» Presented by Marco Russo

Many-to-many relationships between dimensions are a powerful tool to better describe real world scenarios. While at first glance it seems that only particular business analysis could benefit from these relationships (like a product that could belong to many categories into a sales analysis), we will discover a lot of scenarios that could be able to benefit from this modelling technique, like: cross-time, arbitrary group, transition matrix, survey analysis and alternative distinct count measures.

» Presented by Markus Raatz

There is no "Best Practices Analyzer" for Analysis Services, and performance tuning tips and tricks are hard to find. The Microsoft product team is trying to overcome this downside in Analysis Services 2008 by incorporating more than 40 best practices for cube and dimension design in the Business Intelligence Development Studio. This presentation will take a detailed look at these hints and help you to avoid the "blue squiggly"!

» Presented by Jeroen Buisman

With the introduction of SQL Server 2005, it was possible to make use of Analysis Server data in Reporting Services. However, the standard method provided doesn't deal well with all business scenarios, nor does it handle parameterized queries very well.
This session will show you how to effectively use Analysis Server data within Reporting Services, using the standard methods provided by Microsoft, and using a more advanced technique, which will allow you to parameterize and present the data in any way you like.

» Presented by Henk van der Valk

Recently Microsoft and Unisys have set an ETL "World record” by loading 1Terabyte of TPCH data into SQL2008 in less then 30 minutes. See in live demo’s how to get best throughput with SSIS 2008 and SQL2008 while processing large data volumes data, and how to benefit from all the performance enhancements!

» Presented by Ted Malone

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 contains a plethora of Business Intelligence-related features and can be used to deliver highly-effective Executive-class BI dashboards. This session will cover the various BI-related features, and will detail how they can be combined and packaged. This session will focus on real-world development and deployment techniques.

» Presented by Richard Osbourn

PerformancePoint Server (PPS) has been launched and is starting to gather momentum as a Business Intelligence solution. This session will look at the Monitoring & Analytics (M&A) component in detail and provide a practical approach on how to deliver dashboards, scorecards, analytics and reports using the initial release. The session will include hints and tips on how to extend the standard functionality and explain how and why combining PPS M&A and ProClarity is a practical BI solution.

» Presented by Greg Low

Appropriate handling of dates, times and timezones is critical for SQL Server developers and DBAs. In this session, Greg will cover date and time handling in SQL Server development in detail, including in associated products such as SQL Server Integration Services and Reporting Services. He will cover the new data types introduced with SQL Server 2008, show the issues that can occur with date searchability in indexes and how this also has changed in SQL Server 2008.

» Presented by Klaus Aschenbrenner

The new version of ADO.NET and SQL Server can interact more seamlessly than any previous combination of DBMS and data access framework. The combination of the two allows a much more easier development of a wide variety of database-centric applications. Learn to use Query Notifications, MARS, asynchronous commands and bulk copy - features that provide a powerful new foundation for creating heavily data-driven applications.

» Presented by Christian Bolton

Think about what happens when you issue a query to update a row:

• The optimizer creates an execution plan
• The query is executed
• The row will be read from disk into memory
• The update will be written to the transaction log
• The row will be changed in memory
• Confirmation will be sent back to the client

Imagine if you could measure the amount of time that was spent waiting for things within each of these stages. It probably won’t surprise you to hear that you can and not only is monitoring waits possible, but it can actually form a very effective part of a performance troubleshooting strategy. Wait time is effectively dead time, and if you can reduce the amount of time you spend waiting, you’ll be able to achieve better overall performance. This session covers how SQL Server waits work, what types there are, and how to view and track them directly through DMV’s as well as using some of the most popular tools. It also covers common scenarios and their associated wait types.

» Presented by Scott Klein

This presentation will begin by explaining how LINQ came to be and why, then delve into the .NET 3.0 and 3.5 language features and enhancements that make LINQ possible, then dive straight in to all the LINQ features (LINQ to XML/SQL). When this session is over, every developer will be excited about it!

» Presented by Klaus Aschenbrenner

The introduction of the GEOGRAPHY data type in SQL Server 2008 provides you a lot of new features for location-aware database applications. This session shows you with a real world scenario how you can enhance a CRM (customer relationship management) application with the GEOGRAPHY data type. To better visualize your query results, this session also shows you how the GEOGRAPHY data type works together with the Virtual Earth platform.

» Presented by Peter ter Braake

Once upon a time, all we stored in SQl Server were integers and strings. Storing pictures led to endless debates. Nowadays, with applications like Exchange and SharePoint needing SQL Server, we ask a lot more from the database engine. To support these new demands SQL Server 2005 introduced CLR UDT’s and native XML. In SQL Server 2008 XML support is enhanced and the engine is enriched with FileStream, Sparse columns and hierarchies. In this session we will see when and how to use these features that led Microsoft to the term ‘beyond relational’.

» Presented by Charley Hanania

Many organisations spend a lot of time locking down access to server rooms and servers only to find that the way that the applications have been developed are insecure. Remember, your data is only as secure as the weakest entry point, physical or abstract!
In the last couple of versions of SQL Server, Microsoft focussed increasingly on providing a wide range of security features to assist in development of secure applications, so accessing your data in application in a secure way has never been easier!
In this session you'll find out about how to design systems to be secure by default, focussing on key security concepts in SQL Server 2000 and 2005, with a view into the improvements that SQL Server 2008 will bring as well.

» Presented by Christian Schütz

HP ist the leading IT company of the world. Besides Hardware and Software solutions for small, medium and large Companies HP also offers a complete portfolio of support services for application developers. This session will give an overview of all programs, tools and resources HP has on offer for all developer needs with a focus on Microsoft SQL Server 2008.

» Presented by Bill Graziano

Many of my consulting engagements come about because of a poorly behaving SQL Server. Time and time again I see the same mistakes being made in applications that use SQL Server. This presentation addresses the most common errors and how to avoid them. I'll cover connecting to SQL Server, basic query tuning, cursors, handling NULLs, error handling and transactions.

» Presented by Remus Rusanu

Delayed asynchronous stored procedure calls, batch processing, reliable workflow, exchanging data between SQL Server instances.
The Service Broker has made all these new programming patterns easy to implement backed by the scalability and reliability of SQL Server, and new applications using these features are spawning everywhere. But asynchronous loosely coupled programs are notoriously difficult to manage and troubleshoot and Service Broker is no exception. This session will shed light into the voodoo art of administering, monitoring and troubleshooting Service Broker.

You will learn:

• What tools are available for Service Broker administration and monitoring.
• How to use the tools at your disposal to deploy and monitor a Service Broker application.
• Where to look for troubleshooting information and how to interpret the Service Broker traces and error messages.
• What’s new in SQL Server 2008 related to Service Broker.

The session will include live demonstrations of the Service Broker tools and a step by step troubleshooting scenario.

» Presented by James Luetkehoelter

Nothing is more frightening to a DBA as getting that phone call that the system is down, especially when it's a mission critical one. Nothing can be more unnerving than having your CEO standing behind you as you attempt a recovery. Seeing a database in "Suspect" mode can literally make you nauseous. This session will focus on being prepared for and dealing with a recovery situation for either a database, an instance or an entire server. Topics covered will be backup schemes, partial backups and piecemeal restores, page-level recovery and a thorough understanding of how to troubleshoot a "Suspect" database.

» Presented by Bob Ward

Want to learn how to solve the toughest issues faced by the Microsoft Product Support Services (PSS) team? Come to this in-depth session on the internals and problem solving techniques for some of the toughest issues faced by customers of SQL Server 2005:

Topics include:

• Debugging latch waits and timeouts
• Understanding the cause and fix for database corruption
• Debugging memory failures and problems
• Understanding odd wait types such as RESOURCE_SEMPAHORE_QUERY_COMPILE, WRITELOG, THREADPOOL
• Troubleshooting Access Violations, crashes, and hangs

In this demo rich session, I will use various tools such as Dynamic Management Views , catalog views, windows debuggers, DBCC commands, SQLTrace, and ERRORLOG files to demonstrate the internals and troubleshooting techniques to resolve these problems. As a bonus, I will discuss new features in SQL Server 2008, such as Extended Events, that can be used to address these types of issues.

» Presented by Ross Mistry

SQL Server is regularly targeted by hackers as it is a repository of sensitive data for organizations. If breached, hackers can gain access to confidential information, including credit card numbers, social security numbers, or marketing information. This presentation will cover topics pertaining to best practices on how to secure and harden a SQL Server 2008 implementation.
Some of the following security and hardening topics will be covered; using database encryption, using SQL Server configuration tools to minimize attack surface, which authentication method should be utilized, enforcing strong passwords, using SQL Server security logs, creating policies and linking them in Active Directory, verifying security with Microsoft Security Baseline Analyzer and installing Windows and SQL Server Service Packs.

» Presented by Pawel Potasinski

Performance monitoring is one of the DBA's daily duties. As a DBA you have to be proactive so you plan the monitoring process and create some baseline. However, it would be nice to have all performance data available to analyze and report from your management console, wouldn't it? SQL Server 2008 provides a new powerful framework called Performance Data Collection for collection, analysis and reporting of SQL Server diagnostics information. The session will cover all aspects of the new feature. You'll learn how to plan, collect and analyze performance data. You'll also learn how to create your own collection sets and manage the data collection warehouse. The session will include live demonstrations of how to use the Performance Data Collection mechanisms in some common scenarios.

» Presented by Steffen Krause

In this session we explain encryption in SQL Server 2005 and 2008 -communication encryption, T-SQL column-based encryption and it's key management, the new SQL Server 2008 Transparent Data Encryption and Extensible Key Management. Find out when to use which encryption, how key management works and what you need to do to prepare for recovery.

» Presented by Michael Sass

SQL Server DBAs must make frequent changes to their SQL Server database environments. These changes can be driven by:

• Enhancements to the application the database is supporting
• Configuration adjustments to improve database performance
• Business-related mandates for data retention
• Data security issues

Managing change can be a daunting task because changes in one area of the database can have far-reaching effects across the database. DBAs need to assess the potential impact of such changes before implementing them in production. In addition, DBAs must know who is making any changes. This information is critical for compliance and diagnosing performance problems. Many SQL Server DBAs cannot safely implement changes in the production environment. This is because native database tools lack functionality for controlling change, measuring its impact, and providing methods for rolling back unintended changes.

» Presented by Damian Widera

SQL Server 2008 will bring a new feature that is Policy Based Management . This is a system to manage a SQL Server instance by allowing administrators to define policies (naming conventions, security settings, force index creation, avoid fragmented data, etc.) and then map these policies onto servers or databases. I will show how to use the PBM using SQL Server Management Studio and how to manage and control PBM programmatically (complete T-SQL code for adding conditions, policies, etc) and present all benefits that administrator might have when using this solution every day.

» Presented by Chuck Hawkins

Event Notifications can be used in SQL Server 2005 and 2008 to help you monitor routine and not-so-routine events on your SQL Servers. This session will focus on the in's and out's of writing event notifications that help you to monitor changes to the schema. The scripts and ideas you will take away from this session will be immediately usable in your daily life as a DBA. If you don't know anything about event notifications, no worries. Come and find out. Make your life easier!

» DBA-Vortrag präsentiert von Bodo Michael Danitz

Wer SQL Server Performance Tuning betreiben will, der muss sich neben korrekter Konfiguration auch um die richtige Indizierung kümmern.
Was sagen uns die DMVs, was ist die richtige Indizierung und wie findet man diese?
Diese Session stellt eine effiziente Methodik vor, wie fehlende aber auch überflüssige Indexe allein schon mit Hilfe von Dynamic Management Views sinnvoll identifiziert werden können.

» DBA-Vortrag präsentiert von Oliver Goletz

Dieser Vortrag gibt einen Überblick über die neuen Verwaltungstools von SQL Server 2008 und wie sie genutzt werden können, um die Administration von SQL Server zu vereinfachen. Schwerpunkt des Vortrages ist dabei das neue policy based Managemnt, das eine richtlinienbasierte Konfiguration und Verwaltung von SQL Server ermöglicht. Ebenso wird gezeigt, wie sich mit dem Resource Governor eine Priorisierung von wichtigen Datenbankanwendungen erreichen.

» BI-Vortrag präsentiert von Thomas Strehlow

Report erstellen .... kein Problem ... Wizzard ...click ... click ... noch etwas Farbe .... Charts und 3D ... fertig!
Ist das immer erfolgreich? Viele Berichte bringen die Informationen nicht auf den Punkt oder sind schlichtweg unverständlich.
Dieser Vortrag soll Euch zeigen, wie Ihr aussagekräftige und klar formulierte Geschäftsberichte erstellt.
Zielgruppe: Jeder, der z.B. mit SSRS Reports erstellt (keine Vorkenntnisse erforderlich)

» BI-Vortrag präsentiert von Steffen Krause

Ein Hauptfokus für die Entwicklung von SQL Server 2008 waren die Anforderungen, die immer größer werdende Data Warehouses stellen. Erfahren Sie in diesem Vortrag, wie Daten- und Backup-Kompression Ihren Speicherplatzbedarf drastisch reduziert, wie neue SQL-Befehle wie MERGE und minimales Logging die Performance von Einfügeoperationen verbessern, wie Sie mit Change Data Capture leicht erkennen können, was sich in einer Tabelle geändert hat und welche Performanceverbesserungen es in den verschiedensten Bereichen der relationalen Datenbank gibt.

» DBA-Vortrag präsentiert von Ralf Dietrich

Neues im Bereich Replikation mit SQL Server 2008 Wir wollen einen Überblick der Änderungen und Erweiterungen gewinnen, die im Bereich des neuen SQL Servers 2008 mitgeliefert werden.

» BI-Vortrag präsentiert von Sascha Lorenz

Diese Session offenbart Möglichkeiten für BI Architekten, wie diese ein Data Warehouse als Quelle für die wirklich einzige Wahrheit mit einem MS Search Server verbinden können. Das Potenzial einer Business Intelligence Umgebung kann nochmals deutlich erhöht werden, in dem ein Search Connector implementiert wird. In der Session werden die Unterschiede zwischen den Technologien Federated Search Connectoren und Indexing Connectoren beleuchtet. Abschließend wird gezeigt, wie der MS Search Server 2008 genutzt wird, um strukturierte wie auch unstrukturierte Daten aus dem Data Warehouse zu finden und darzustellen.

» BI-Vortrag präsentiert von Robert Hitzelberger

Seit SQL Server 2005 ist Data Mining vom komplizierten Statistiktool zum Standardprodukt geworden. Diese Session zeigt Einsatzmöglichkeiten von Data Mining, die einen Mehrwert für verschieden Einsatzgebiete bieten können. Im Zweiten Teil werden neue Features der Data Mining Engine in SQL Server 2008 vorgestellt.

» Vortrag präsentiert von Johann Weskandt

In dieser Veranstaltung werden wir einige Werkzeuge und Techniken besprechen, um häufige Probleme im SQL Server 2005 und 2008 zu beheben, die um das Datenbankmodul herum auftreten können.
Beispiele solcher Probleme sind: Schwierigkeiten beim Sichern/Rücksichern, Probleme beim Wiederherstellen, Verbindungsprobleme, etc.

» Vortrag präsentiert von Michael Rother

Ein Cluster gilt noch immer als das beste Mittel zur Erlangung eines hochverfügbaren Systems. Was verbirgt sich hinter einen Cluster? Wie wird der SQL Server 2005 in einem Cluster installiert? Was ist bei der Clusterinstallation zu beachten? Dieser Vortrag gibt einen Überblick über Cluster und den SQL Server im Cluster. Weiterhin wird ein kurzer Ausblick auf den Cluster unter Windows 2008 gegeben.