Roundup (2/15) – Things you might find interesting…
So I see all these great posts during the week and I think, “I wonder if everyone else is seeing this post, this is good stuff”. Usually, I read it, file it away and think, “Yeah, I blog about it tomorrow”. So here are some posts from the last week or so that I thought were really good that I think you, my readers wherever you are, might find interesting.
Public Speaking – A Primer by Paul Randall
I have heard so many great things about Paul’s talks. Unfortunately,I could not get into any of sessions at last year’s PASS as evidently you have to camp out in the session before to get a seat. This is a great post about public speaking with a lot of good tips in there. One of the best is on eliminating the use of the word “um”. I spent a whole semester in college trying to eliminate that. One item not in the post that I would suggest is to enlist the services of a friend and have them videotape one of your sessions. This can be a somewhat brutal experience sometimes, but trust me it works. My first speech in college, I would have swore I only said “um” a couple times, but the video doesn’t lie. It was something like 40,50 times in a five minute speech or something like that. But, I would have never been able to fix that without seeing it for myself.
'How Do I...BI?' Screencasts by Lynn Langit
Lynn is a great resource when it comes to BI. Her book is really good and she is great and being able to explain things in a way that people can understand. Which is really hard when it comes to things like MDX and Data Mining Algorithms. So go out and buy her book and watch her Screencasts.
SQLCAT Team Whitepapers
The SQLCAT (Customer Advisory Team) team at Microsoft is a great resource for all things SQL Server. They were doing a number of sessions at the SQL PASS Summit last year and these were by far some of my favorite sessions. I learned so much about how SQL Server works and tips and tricks for getting excellent performance out of SQL Server. Well, they must have been cleaning the vault, because they release a trio of excellent resources recently.
- Analysis Services 2008 Performance Guide - This white paper describes how application developers can apply query and processing performance-tuning techniques to their SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services OLAP solutions
- A Solution for Collecting Analysis Services Performance Data for Performance Analysis - This codeplex solution automates the collection of SQL Server 2008 performance data from any or all of the following data sources and stores the collected data into a single SQL Server 2008 relational database (SQL Server Profiler Analysis Services trace data, Performance Monitor counters, Analysis Services Dynamic Memory Views (DMVs))
- The Data Loading Performance Guide 2008 - This document described techniques for bulk loading large data sets into SQL Server. It covers both the available techniques as well as methodologies to performance tune and optimize the bulk loading process.
Visual Studio Team System for Database Professionals Workshop (Irvine 3/4 & San Diego 3/5) - Visual Studio Team System 2008 Database Edition provides advanced tools for database change management and testing and offers functionality to enable database developers and administrators to be more productive and increase application quality in the database tier. Visual Studio Team System 2008 Database Edition delivers a market shifting database development product that provides a foundation for managed database evolution through the use of an offline, Visual Studio project-centered source code control system together with a suite of tools designed to help understand the impact of proposed changes.
MS Press Book – Understanding Microsoft Virtualization Solutions for FREE! - This guide will teach you about the benefits of the latest virtualization technologies and how to plan, implement, and manage virtual infrastructure solutions. The technologies covered include: Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2009, Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5, Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization, and Microsoft Virtual Desktop Infrastructure. The book also provides insight into the Core Infrastructure Optimization model, and how implementing virtualization technologies can help move a company further along toward the goal of building an efficient, reliable Dynamic IT infrastructure. Simply register at http://csna01.libredigital.com/?urmvs17u33
That’s it for this one. Happy Reading and Enjoy!