 Compañeros! In May, SQL Data Partners was acquired by Marathon Consulting.  There were many moving parts to get this done and we are excited to finally bring this news to the podcast.  In this episode we introduce the principles of Marathon Consulting, and we discuss the future of the podcast.  Make sure your speakers are adjusted properly when you listen to this episode.  If you have any questions or comments, please let us know via LinkedIn—we always look forward to hearing from you.  The show notes for today's episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2023/06/28/episode-265-why-and-whats-next/. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Compañeros! In May, SQL Data Partners was acquired by Marathon Consulting.  There were many moving parts to get this done and we are excited to finally bring this news to the podcast.  In this episode we introduce the principles of Marathon Consulting, and we discuss the future of the podcast.  Make sure your speakers are adjusted properly when you listen to this episode.  If you have any questions or comments, please let us know via LinkedIn—we always look forward to hearing from you. The show notes for today's episode can be found at <a href="https://sqldatapartners.com/2023/06/28/episode-265-why-and-whats-next/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://sqldatapartners.com/2023/06/28/episode-265-why-and-whats-next/</a>. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Episode 265: WHY and What's Next

 A backup is only helpful when you can restore the backup. This should not prove to be overly shocking; however, normally we get the satisfaction of taking a backup and feel like all is well. Ideally, we should be testing our backups on some cadence—and it should be more frequent than the annual disaster recovery test. In this episode of the SQL Data Partners Podcast we talk with Chris Marshall, owner of Verified Backups, about how he has solved this problem and how it can benefit your organization. We discuss some of the requirements you’ll need to address in your own testing, and we give some parameters for who might be a good candidate for the service Chris and his team provide.  The show notes and video for today's episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2023/04/12/episode-264-verified-backups. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

A backup is only helpful when you can restore the backup. This should not prove to be overly shocking; however, normally we get the satisfaction of taking a backup and feel like all is well. Ideally, we should be testing our backups on some cadence—and it should be more frequent than the annual disaster recovery test. In this episode of the SQL Data Partners Podcast we talk with Chris Marshall, owner of Verified Backups, about how he has solved this problem and how it can benefit your organization. We discuss some of the requirements you’ll need to address in your own testing, and we give some parameters for who might be a good candidate for the service Chris and his team provide. The show notes and video for today's episode can be found at <a href="https://sqldatapartners.com/2023/04/12/episode-264-verified-backups" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://sqldatapartners.com/2023/04/12/episode-264-verified-backups</a>. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Episode 264: Verified Backups

 When we couldn’t confirm a guest speaker by recording time, Eugene, Kevin, Amanda, and I decided the show must go on, so we went into the ideas vault and pulled out a couple of listener questions we hadn’t answered.  In this episode, we talk about how to create your own documentation, SSMS installs, SOS_Scheduler_Yield and Eugene gives us an update on SQL Bits and the conference crud he picked up along the way.  The show notes and video for today's episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2023/03/29/episode-263-sql-server-this-n-that. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

When we couldn’t confirm a guest speaker by recording time, Eugene, Kevin, Amanda, and I decided the show must go on, so we went into the ideas vault and pulled out a couple of listener questions we hadn’t answered.  In this episode, we talk about how to create your own documentation, SSMS installs, SOS_Scheduler_Yield and Eugene gives us an update on SQL Bits and the conference crud he picked up along the way. The show notes and video for today's episode can be found at <a href="https://sqldatapartners.com/2023/03/29/episode-263-sql-server-this-n-that" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://sqldatapartners.com/2023/03/29/episode-263-sql-server-this-n-that</a>. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Episode 263: SQL Server This ‘n That

Learning new technology can be difficult—especially when it’s a technology in an area you are not familiar with.  In this episode, Eugene walks us through some of the challenges he has faced getting started with Azure Synapse.  We hope that this episode might be helpful to those trying to learn new features. The show notes and video for today's episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2023/03/15/episode-262-learning-azure-synapse-pt-1. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Learning new technology can be difficult—especially when it’s a technology in an area you are not familiar with.  In this episode, Eugene walks us through some of the challenges he has faced getting started with Azure Synapse.  We hope that this episode might be helpful to those trying to learn new features. The show notes and video for today's episode can be found at <a href="https://sqldatapartners.com/2023/03/15/episode-262-learning-azure-synapse-pt-1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://sqldatapartners.com/2023/03/15/episode-262-learning-azure-synapse-pt-1</a>. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Episode 262: Learning Azure Synapse Pt 1

It would appear Microsoft has run out of words to use for new features/products, so they are just going to recycle existing words for a bit of fun at our expense.  In this episode we explore the Azure Data Lakehouse—which is not a data lake, nor a traditional data warehouse and Books Online (BOL) refers to it as Databricks Lakehouse.  Luke Moloney walks us through how combining the flexibility of data lake storage with some ACID transaction and data governance gives organizations looking to analyze their data a new option.  The hope is the cost to build, store, and analyze data will be easier and more approachable for organizations who don’t want to go with the traditional data warehouse model.  This still feels like an Enterprise feature to me but let me know if your organization would be interested in this approach.  As always, special thanks to Luke and the folks at Microsoft for making themselves available to us. The show notes and video for today's episode can be found at  https://sqldatapartners.com/2023/03/01/episode-261-the-data-lakehouse. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

It would appear Microsoft has run out of words to use for new features/products, so they are just going to recycle existing words for a bit of fun at our expense.  In this episode we explore the Azure Data Lakehouse—which is not a data lake, nor a traditional data warehouse and Books Online (BOL) refers to it as Databricks Lakehouse.  Luke Moloney walks us through how combining the flexibility of data lake storage with some ACID transaction and data governance gives organizations looking to analyze their data a new option.  The hope is the cost to build, store, and analyze data will be easier and more approachable for organizations who don’t want to go with the traditional data warehouse model.  This still feels like an Enterprise feature to me but let me know if your organization would be interested in this approach.  As always, special thanks to Luke and the folks at Microsoft for making themselves available to us. The show notes and video for today's episode can be found at <a href="https://sqldatapartners.com/2023/02/28/episode-261-the-data-lakehouse" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> https://sqldatapartners.com/2023/03/01/</a><a href="https://sqldatapartners.com/2023/02/28/episode-261-the-data-lakehouse" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">episode-261-the-data-lakehouse</a>. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Episode 261: The Data Lakehouse

We’re back with another SQL Server 2022 feature—Contained Availability Groups.  Have you ever failed over to a secondary node and then found a job or login missing?  This new Enterprise-only feature aims to solve this problem by ‘containing’ all the objects—master, msdb, AND the availability database all in one group so you can manage everything you need when you have to fail over.  Brandon Leach returns after more than 200 episodes to give us the lowdown on this new feature and walk us through where you should start planning your upgrade. The show notes and video for today's episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2023/02/15/episode-260-contained-availability-groups. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

We’re back with another SQL Server 2022 feature—Contained Availability Groups.  Have you ever failed over to a secondary node and then found a job or login missing?  This new Enterprise-only feature aims to solve this problem by ‘containing’ all the objects—master, msdb, AND the availability database all in one group so you can manage everything you need when you have to fail over.  Brandon Leach returns after more than 200 episodes to give us the lowdown on this new feature and walk us through where you should start planning your upgrade. The show notes and video for today's episode can be found at <a href="https://sqldatapartners.com/2023/02/15/episode-260-contained-availability-groups" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://sqldatapartners.com/2023/02/15/episode-260-contained-availability-groups</a>. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Episode 260: Contained Availability Groups

We kick off the new year discussing a new feature in SQL Server 2022 called Transact-SQL snapshot backups. Good luck with the Google search on this feature--we know we had fun. 😊 These are not the snapshot backups you were frustrated with in 2005. We talk a little bit about who will be interested in this feature and what scenarios it will come in handy. The hardware vendors seem particularly excited about this future as they can now introduce snapshots without needing a third-party application like Veeam to do that for them. We predict more collaboration between the database administrator and the hardware administrator with this feature. We also get a couple of use case scenarios from the community that we share in this episode. Are you looking forward to using snapshots more effectively in your environment? Please let us know your thoughts! The show notes and video for this episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2023/01/18/episode-259-t-sql-snapshot-backups/. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

We kick off the new year discussing a new feature in SQL Server 2022 called Transact-SQL snapshot backups. Good luck with the Google search on this feature--we know we had fun. 😊 These are not the snapshot backups you were frustrated with in 2005. We talk a little bit about who will be interested in this feature and what scenarios it will come in handy. The hardware vendors seem particularly excited about this future as they can now introduce snapshots without needing a third-party application like Veeam to do that for them. We predict more collaboration between the database administrator and the hardware administrator with this feature. We also get a couple of use case scenarios from the community that we share in this episode. Are you looking forward to using snapshots more effectively in your environment? Please let us know your thoughts! The show notes and video for this episode can be found at <a href="https://sqldatapartners.com/2023/01/18/episode-259-t-sql-snapshot-backups/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://sqldatapartners.com/2023/01/18/episode-259-t-sql-snapshot-backups/</a>. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Episode 259: T-SQL Snapshot Backups

As we close out the year, we take a look back and think about all those SQL Server 2022 episodes we didn’t record this year—and then make the goal to increase this count in the new year. 😊 We discuss some of the Cardinality Estimation changes in this version and the scenarios in which this may affect other features. I ask Kevin and Eugene what technologies they will be focusing on in the year ahead and how many books Kevin is going to try and write. From all of us at SQL Data Partners, we wish you and yours a Happy New Year! The show notes and video for today's episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2022/12/28/episode-258-leave-2022-enter-2023. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

As we close out the year, we take a look back and think about all those SQL Server 2022 episodes we didn’t record this year—and then make the goal to increase this count in the new year. 😊 We discuss some of the Cardinality Estimation changes in this version and the scenarios in which this may affect other features. I ask Kevin and Eugene what technologies they will be focusing on in the year ahead and how many books Kevin is going to try and write. From all of us at SQL Data Partners, we wish you and yours a Happy New Year! The show notes and video for today's episode can be found at <a href="https://sqldatapartners.com/2022/12/28/episode-258-leave-2022-enter-2023" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://sqldatapartners.com/2022/12/28/episode-258-leave-2022-enter-2023</a>. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Episode 258: Leave 2022 Enter 2023

Have you ever thought about working for yourself? It can be very enticing for some, and in this episode, we talk with John Sterrett about the pros and cons of running your own organization. We tackle some of the reasons you might get started and we share some of our experiences of working in our own organizations. Each person’s journey is going to be different and as hard as it will be, you need to ensure you don’t allow others success or failure to overly influence your decisions. As the work environment has shifted in the last two years, it may that be some of the previous ‘whys’ no longer apply. If you have thoughts around this, let us know!! The show notes and video for today's episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2022/11/30/episode-257-the-business-of-working-for-yourself. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Have you ever thought about working for yourself? It can be very enticing for some, and in this episode, we talk with John Sterrett about the pros and cons of running your own organization. We tackle some of the reasons you might get started and we share some of our experiences of working in our own organizations. Each person’s journey is going to be different and as hard as it will be, you need to ensure you don’t allow others success or failure to overly influence your decisions. As the work environment has shifted in the last two years, it may that be some of the previous ‘whys’ no longer apply. If you have thoughts around this, let us know!! The show notes and video for today's episode can be found at <a href="https://sqldatapartners.com/2022/11/30/episode-257-the-business-of-working-for-yourself" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://sqldatapartners.com/2022/11/30/episode-257-the-business-of-working-for-yourself</a>. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Episode 257: The Business of Working for Yourself

Seven years ago, I started the SQL Data Partners Podcast. We have now arrived at Episode 256, and we dedicate this episode to you, the community. Thanks to everyone who has joined us along the way, and we hope to continue providing content you can enjoy on the go while still connecting with your SQL Server community. While we originally thought we might focus on SQL Server 2022, we really found there are just lots of great topics to be covering in the future. We hope you enjoy this special community edition of the SQL Data Partners Podcast. The show notes and video for this episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2022/11/03/episode-256-the-community-episode/. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Seven years ago, I started the SQL Data Partners Podcast. We have now arrived at Episode 256, and we dedicate this episode to you, the community. Thanks to everyone who has joined us along the way, and we hope to continue providing content you can enjoy on the go while still connecting with your SQL Server community. While we originally thought we might focus on SQL Server 2022, we really found there are just lots of great topics to be covering in the future. We hope you enjoy this special community edition of the SQL Data Partners Podcast. The show notes and video for this episode can be found at <a href="https://sqldatapartners.com/2022/11/03/episode-256-the-community-episode/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://sqldatapartners.com/2022/11/03/episode-256-the-community-episode/</a>. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Episode 256: The Community Episode

Hosted by Carlos L Chacon, the SQL Data Partners Podcast focuses on Microsoft data platform related topics mixed with a sprinkling of professional development. Carlos and guests discuss new and familiar features and ideas and how you might apply them in your environments. Visit our website for episode show notes at sqldatapartners.com/podcast and leave a comment if you have a topic you think we should discuss. We’ll see YOU on the SQL Trail.

Great

Thank you Carlos &amp; team. I subscribed and started listening podcast few months back; listen to new and old ones. Podcasts have helped me better understand many topics e.g. index, isolation, statistics, locking-blocking and many new features like - always encrypted, power bi, azure database etc.

Thank you !!
Umesh

Very helpful

Hosted by Carlos L Chacon, the SQL Data Partners Podcast focuses on Microsoft data platform related topics mixed with a sprinkling of professional development. Carlos and guests discuss new and familiar features and ideas and how you might apply them in your environments. Visit our website for episode show notes at <a href="http://sqldatapartners.com/podcast" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">sqldatapartners.com/podcast</a> and leave a comment if you have a topic you think we should discuss. We’ll see YOU on the SQL Trail.

SQL Data Partners Podcast

We can incur technical debt in several ways—aging technology, choosing delivery speed over scale architecture, or implementing new technology the entire team cannot yet support. I don’t know that I’ve ever worked at a place that hasn’t talked about technical debt. It wasn’t until I stumbled on a talk by Adam Lenda that make me think about the ways I might contribute to technical debt. He also gave some ideas of how I can help pay it off.  In this episode, we talk with Adam about what technical debt is, why we might be okay incurring some, and situations we might put ourselves into when trying to do ‘the right thing’. Adam also suggests some ways to pay off some of this burden and like most debt, there is no easy fix and he suggests running a pretty tight ship; however, I found his ideas insightful and I think you will, too. The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2020/05/06/episode-199-technical-debt. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

We can incur technical debt in several ways—aging technology, choosing delivery speed over scale architecture, or implementing new technology the entire team cannot yet support. I don’t know that I’ve ever worked at a place that hasn’t talked about technical debt. It wasn’t until I stumbled on a talk by Adam Lenda that make me think about the ways I might contribute to technical debt. He also gave some ideas of how I can help pay it off.  In this episode, we talk with Adam about what technical debt is, why we might be okay incurring some, and situations we might put ourselves into when trying to do ‘the right thing’. Adam also suggests some ways to pay off some of this burden and like most debt, there is no easy fix and he suggests running a pretty tight ship; however, I found his ideas insightful and I think you will, too. The show notes for today's episode can be found at <a href="http://sqldatapartners.com/2020/05/06/episode-199-technical-debt" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://sqldatapartners.com/2020/05/06/episode-199-technical-debt</a>. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Episode 199: Technical Debt

Listener Cody Ford wrote in and asked if we could share some thoughts on getting familiar with an unfamiliar database.  While we have done episodes in the past on best practices, this episode takes the approach of what we should look for on a server that is new to us--the components we should document and then review for potential updates. Do you agree with our list?  Let us know on by leaving a comment on the show notes page. The shownotes for today’s episode is found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2017/06/07/inspect-new-database/ ‎and have fun on the SQL trail.

Listener Cody Ford wrote in and asked if we could share some thoughts on getting familiar with an unfamiliar database.  While we have done episodes in the past on best practices, this episode takes the approach of what we should look for on a server that is new to us--the components we should document and then review for potential updates. Do you agree with our list?  Let us know on by leaving a comment on the show notes page. The shownotes for today’s episode is found at <a href="http://sqldatapartners.com/2017/06/07/inspect-new-database/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://sqldatapartners.com/2017/06/07/inspect-new-database/</a> ‎and have fun on the SQL trail.

Episode 101 Inspecting a new Database

Availability groups provide some exciting features in mixing high availability and disaster recovery; however, from a performance consideration, there are a few drawbacks.  With the advances in SQL Server 2016, our guest Jimmy May from SanDisk, set out to test the features and see if they could get some really high performance out of an availability group with two synchronous replicas. In this episode he talks with us about some of his findings and some of the pains associated with getting there.  Show notes are available at  http://sqldatapartners.com/2016/12/31/availability-group-improvements/ and have fun on the SQL trail!

Availability groups provide some exciting features in mixing high availability and disaster recovery; however, from a performance consideration, there are a few drawbacks.  With the advances in SQL Server 2016, our guest Jimmy May from SanDisk, set out to test the features and see if they could get some really high performance out of an availability group with two synchronous replicas. In this episode he talks with us about some of his findings and some of the pains associated with getting there.  Show notes are available at <a href="http://sqldatapartners.com/2016/12/31/availability-group-improvements/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> http://sqldatapartners.com/2016/12/31/availability-group-improvements/</a> and have fun on the SQL trail!

Episode 76: Availability Group Improvements

At one time there were two different products named SSDT and that was confusing for lots of folks. and we’re pleased to have Kevin Cunnane, the program manager for SSDT, as our guest.  We wanted to ask him about some of the new database features in Visual Studio and what kind of problems they are looking to solve.  We think it is awesome the Microsoft folks will take some time our there their schedules to talk with us and we think you will this episode an interesting discussion on the future of database tooling. The shownotes for today’s episode is found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2017/04/18/episode-92-ssdt/ and have fun on the SQL trail.

At one time there were two different products named SSDT and that was confusing for lots of folks. and we’re pleased to have Kevin Cunnane, the program manager for SSDT, as our guest.  We wanted to ask him about some of the new database features in Visual Studio and what kind of problems they are looking to solve. We think it is awesome the Microsoft folks will take some time our there their schedules to talk with us and we think you will this episode an interesting discussion on the future of database tooling. The shownotes for today’s episode is found at <a href="http://sqldatapartners.com/2017/04/18/episode-92-ssdt/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://sqldatapartners.com/2017/04/18/episode-92-ssdt/</a> and have fun on the SQL trail.

Episode 92 SSDT

Part of what we like to do on podcast is to present topics and discuss different ways you might use features. In this episode, we go back to basics and discuss indexes. Like most topics, we made sure to explain all the important aspects. Because this is a such broad topic, we decided to carry this over into our next episode as well. Using the phone book as an example, we chat with our guest Randolph West and explain heaps, non-clustered indexes, and clustered indexes. We also explain best practices to use them when creating new tables.  We didn’t forget to cover the problems you might run into. For example, you might not think about indexes until your data grows very large. Sure, you can attempt to resolve the problem by moving to SSD’s and increasing memory, but this will push the issue further in the future. In this episode, we will discuss considerations for indexes and why database architecture is so important.  We would like to hear your opinions. What are your strategies when using indexes? Use the hashtag #sqlpodcast and let us know! The shownotes for today’s episode is found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2017/02/01/episode-81/ and have fun on the SQL trail.

Part of what we like to do on podcast is to present topics and discuss different ways you might use features. In this episode, we go back to basics and discuss indexes. Like most topics, we made sure to explain all the important aspects. Because this is a such broad topic, we decided to carry this over into our next episode as well. Using the phone book as an example, we chat with our guest Randolph West and explain heaps, non-clustered indexes, and clustered indexes. We also explain best practices to use them when creating new tables. We didn’t forget to cover the problems you might run into. For example, you might not think about indexes until your data grows very large. Sure, you can attempt to resolve the problem by moving to SSD’s and increasing memory, but this will push the issue further in the future. In this episode, we will discuss considerations for indexes and why database architecture is so important. We would like to hear your opinions. What are your strategies when using indexes? Use the hashtag #sqlpodcast and let us know! The shownotes for today’s episode is found at <a href="http://sqldatapartners.com/2017/02/01/episode-81/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://sqldatapartners.com/2017/02/01/episode-81/</a> and have fun on the SQL trail.

Episode 81 Indexes Part 1

What is the future of the DBA and what technologies should I be focused on? In this episode, we attempt to look into the crystal ball and give our take on the future of work for the data platform professional. We focus our conversation around two listener-provided questions about the best way to stay educated in an ever-changing landscape. The DBA is dead. Long live the DBA. Join the discussion. The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2020/03/04/episode-192-the-dba-is-dead-long-live-the-dba. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

What is the future of the DBA and what technologies should I be focused on? In this episode, we attempt to look into the crystal ball and give our take on the future of work for the data platform professional. We focus our conversation around two listener-provided questions about the best way to stay educated in an ever-changing landscape. The DBA is dead. Long live the DBA. Join the discussion. The show notes for today's episode can be found at <a href="http://sqldatapartners.com/2020/03/04/episode-192-the-dba-is-dead-long-live-the-dba" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://sqldatapartners.com/2020/03/04/episode-192-the-dba-is-dead-long-live-the-dba</a>. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Episode 192: The DBA is Dead! Long Live the DBA!

There are lots of reporting options and I watch SQL Server move up the Gartner magic quantrant, I saw another reporting tool moving up as well--Qlik.  In this episode we will start by sharing information about Qlik, what it is and some background in the event it gets adopted at your company. Today we are delighted to have Michael Armentrout as our guest. Michael is a Microsoft SQL Server DBA as well as the developer of QlikView and we discuss the fundamentals of QlikView such as the associative model, in-memory, compression and sharing among others. Also we will hear from Michael the difference between QlikView and QlikSense, and some of the “competitors”. Michael share some of his thoughts on using the technology and how it is different from the traditional Microsoft stack.  We think you will find it interesting. The shownotes for today’s episode is found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2017/04/27/qlik/ and have fun on the SQL trail.

There are lots of reporting options and I watch SQL Server move up the Gartner magic quantrant, I saw another reporting tool moving up as well--Qlik.  In this episode we will start by sharing information about Qlik, what it is and some background in the event it gets adopted at your company. Today we are delighted to have Michael Armentrout as our guest. Michael is a Microsoft SQL Server DBA as well as the developer of QlikView and we discuss the fundamentals of QlikView such as the associative model, in-memory, compression and sharing among others. Also we will hear from Michael the difference between QlikView and QlikSense, and some of the “competitors”. Michael share some of his thoughts on using the technology and how it is different from the traditional Microsoft stack.  We think you will find it interesting. The shownotes for today’s episode is found at <a href="http://sqldatapartners.com/2017/04/27/qlik/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://sqldatapartners.com/2017/04/27/qlik/</a> and have fun on the SQL trail.

Episode 94 Qlik Technologies

After 170 episodes, we bring back Louis Davidson to talk about database design and get his thoughts on how we can get better at planning for our data. The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/10/16/episode-178-database-design. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

After 170 episodes, we bring back Louis Davidson to talk about database design and get his thoughts on how we can get better at planning for our data. The show notes for today's episode can be found at <a href="http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/10/16/episode-178-database-design" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/10/16/episode-178-database-design</a>. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Episode 178: Database Design

DBCC CheckDB.  It is a simple command, but one that can cause database contention, dba stress, confusing results, dba elation, and everything in between.  At one time we will all have to face the results of having a corruption issue and we’re delighted to have Sean McCown with us again to discuss the ins and outs of the issues of this command. If you can remember, Sean was our guest in Episode 41. He is an SQL Server MVP with more than 15 years experience. We talk with Sean about how frequent issues we have with maintenance like we often we should run CheckDB on our databases or what happens when I can only check one database during my window. While we don't end up discussing the command as much, we definitely review all aspects of making sure it can run in ALL environments. The shownotes for today’s episode is found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2017/04/05/dbcc-checkdb/ and have fun on the SQL trail.

DBCC CheckDB.  It is a simple command, but one that can cause database contention, dba stress, confusing results, dba elation, and everything in between.  At one time we will all have to face the results of having a corruption issue and we’re delighted to have Sean McCown with us again to discuss the ins and outs of the issues of this command. If you can remember, Sean was our guest in Episode 41. He is an SQL Server MVP with more than 15 years experience. We talk with Sean about how frequent issues we have with maintenance like we often we should run CheckDB on our databases or what happens when I can only check one database during my window. While we don't end up discussing the command as much, we definitely review all aspects of making sure it can run in ALL environments. The shownotes for today’s episode is found at <a href="http://sqldatapartners.com/2017/04/05/dbcc-checkdb/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://sqldatapartners.com/2017/04/05/dbcc-checkdb/</a> and have fun on the SQL trail.

Episode 90 Check DBCC

There has been a remarkable shift introduced in the new features of SQL Server--programming languages have been embedded into the database.  This has led to a few "What are you thinking" questions from myself and others.  It also opens new opportunities for those working with SQL Server and in this episode, I chat with Andy Roberts and Chris Hyde and discuss the new features of R and Python--why they are included, how data teams are changing, and what this means for the rest of us.  As someone who does not and has not ever considered themselves a programmer, I don’t try to tackle any of the technical challenges of the language.  We stay safe on the side of ideas, process, with a sprinkle of installation and setup. One of the most compelling ideas from this conversation is the democratizing of data.  Sure, this is not a new concept; however, now with a programming language in the database it will force a thinking realignment for those that traditionally called themselves gatekeepers.  Where CLR couldn’t quite do the trick, I think the introduction of these languages is going to require increased collaboration with teams and force administrators to up their game as they tackle challenges of data distribution and data consumption. I am interested to see what lies ahead and how consumers will use these new features.  We already have some insights into R and while I won’t call it a smashing success—it is certainly useful to those who know how to take advantage of it and those numbers appear to be growing.  With Python, I think we are increasing the breadth of those who can take advantage of analytics in the database, which I think only bodes well for those who enjoy working with SQL Server. What about you?  Is your team trying to implement R or Python?  What new skills have you had to learn because of these changes?  Hit me up on social media. The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2018/03/15/episode-127-developing-in-the-database. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

There has been a remarkable shift introduced in the new features of SQL Server--programming languages have been embedded into the database.  This has led to a few "What are you thinking" questions from myself and others.  It also opens new opportunities for those working with SQL Server and in this episode, I chat with Andy Roberts and Chris Hyde and discuss the new features of R and Python--why they are included, how data teams are changing, and what this means for the rest of us.  As someone who does not and has not ever considered themselves a programmer, I don’t try to tackle any of the technical challenges of the language.  We stay safe on the side of ideas, process, with a sprinkle of installation and setup. One of the most compelling ideas from this conversation is the democratizing of data.  Sure, this is not a new concept; however, now with a programming language in the database it will force a thinking realignment for those that traditionally called themselves gatekeepers.  Where CLR couldn’t quite do the trick, I think the introduction of these languages is going to require increased collaboration with teams and force administrators to up their game as they tackle challenges of data distribution and data consumption. I am interested to see what lies ahead and how consumers will use these new features.  We already have some insights into R and while I won’t call it a smashing success—it is certainly useful to those who know how to take advantage of it and those numbers appear to be growing.  With Python, I think we are increasing the breadth of those who can take advantage of analytics in the database, which I think only bodes well for those who enjoy working with SQL Server. What about you?  Is your team trying to implement R or Python?  What new skills have you had to learn because of these changes?  Hit me up on social media. The show notes for today's episode can be found at <a href="http://sqldatapartners.com/2018/03/14/episode-127-developing-in-the-database" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://sqldatapartners.com/2018/03/15/episode-127-developing-in-the-database</a>. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Episode 127: Developing in the database

​You've seen the visualizations and want to dive in--perhaps you were assigned the task. However you started with Power BI, chances are you might get stuck at some point. In this episode, we chat about strategies you can employee to help ensure success. Have a take on this? Hit us up on social media. We'd love to hear from you. The show notes for today's episode can be found at  http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/12/11/episode-184-where-do-people-get-stuck-with-power-bi. Have fun on the SQL Trail.

​You've seen the visualizations and want to dive in--perhaps you were assigned the task. However you started with Power BI, chances are you might get stuck at some point. In this episode, we chat about strategies you can employee to help ensure success. Have a take on this? Hit us up on social media. We'd love to hear from you. The show notes for today's episode can be found at <a href="http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/12/11/episode-184-where-do-people-get-stuck-with-power-bi" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/12/11/episode-184-where-do-people-get-stuck-with-power-bi</a>. Have fun on the SQL Trail.

Episode 184: Where do people get stuck with Power BI?

So what happens when you want to use data from two different sources, manipulate it (transform it) and then present the data in Power BI -- and you don't know how to use SSIS? Well, it turns out you can use Power BI dataflows. In this episode we explore the topic of dataflows with our guest, Matthew Roche, and talk about the scenarios and types of folks dataflows was intended for. The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/02/06/episode-159-power-bi-dataflows. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

So what happens when you want to use data from two different sources, manipulate it (transform it) and then present the data in Power BI -- and you don't know how to use SSIS? Well, it turns out you can use Power BI dataflows. In this episode we explore the topic of dataflows with our guest, Matthew Roche, and talk about the scenarios and types of folks dataflows was intended for. The show notes for today's episode can be found at <a href="http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/02/06/episode-159-power-bi-dataflows" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/02/06/episode-159-power-bi-dataflows</a>. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Episode 159: Power BI Dataflows

Moving data with SSIS is a forgone conclusion for most of us -- it is part of SQL Server, it has a interface we are somewhat familiar with, and connects to lots of common data sources like csv, excel, and of course SQL Server. Are our needs changing as our environments become more hybrid -- as we introduce cloud services? Are you still building packages the same way you were 10 years ago? Just as our data sources have grown, the capabilities needed to move data around have increased. This episode, with Jason Horner and Cathrine Wilhelmsen, challenges some of the thoughts around data movement and gives some things to think about as new tools are available to move data around. The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2018/08/29/episode-144-is-ssis-still-relevant. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Moving data with SSIS is a forgone conclusion for most of us -- it is part of SQL Server, it has a interface we are somewhat familiar with, and connects to lots of common data sources like csv, excel, and of course SQL Server. Are our needs changing as our environments become more hybrid -- as we introduce cloud services? Are you still building packages the same way you were 10 years ago? Just as our data sources have grown, the capabilities needed to move data around have increased. This episode, with Jason Horner and Cathrine Wilhelmsen, challenges some of the thoughts around data movement and gives some things to think about as new tools are available to move data around. The show notes for today's episode can be found at <a href="http://sqldatapartners.com/2018/08/29/episode-144-is-ssis-still-relevant" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://sqldatapartners.com/2018/08/29/episode-144-is-ssis-still-relevant</a>. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Episode 144: Is SSIS still relevant? Part 1

Moving data is fairly straightforward; however, mapping data from one source to another can be extremely challenging. In an attempt to help self-service BI users, Microsoft has introduced a Common Data Model, and in this episode, we discuss the new model. This may not be as approachable for organizations which already have a data warehouse; however, for those who are in the Microsoft suite of tools and looking to report on that data in Power BI, the Common Data Model may be the jump start to get the model you need to get going. The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2020/01/22/episode-189-power-bi-common-data-model. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Moving data is fairly straightforward; however, mapping data from one source to another can be extremely challenging. In an attempt to help self-service BI users, Microsoft has introduced a Common Data Model, and in this episode, we discuss the new model. This may not be as approachable for organizations which already have a data warehouse; however, for those who are in the Microsoft suite of tools and looking to report on that data in Power BI, the Common Data Model may be the jump start to get the model you need to get going. The show notes for today's episode can be found at <a href="http://sqldatapartners.com/2020/01/22/episode-189-power-bi-common-data-model" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://sqldatapartners.com/2020/01/22/episode-189-power-bi-common-data-model</a>. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Episode 189: Power BI Common Data Model

It is not very often the internal codename is used when a product is launched; however, when you think about a database designed with global distribution in mind, CosmosDB makes sense.  I was a bit shocked to hear Microsoft was releasing another database technology in 2017; however, the team leading the charge was very impressive and it looked like it was solving problems other database engines could not.  In this episode, we talk with Sidney Andrews about the Cosmos platform, what we can expect from the product and how it differs from SQL Server.  I think you will find the conversation very interesting. The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2018/05/09/episode-134-cosmosdb. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

It is not very often the internal codename is used when a product is launched; however, when you think about a database designed with global distribution in mind, CosmosDB makes sense.  I was a bit shocked to hear Microsoft was releasing another database technology in 2017; however, the team leading the charge was very impressive and it looked like it was solving problems other database engines could not.  In this episode, we talk with Sidney Andrews about the Cosmos platform, what we can expect from the product and how it differs from SQL Server.  I think you will find the conversation very interesting. The show notes for today's episode can be found at <a href="http://sqldatapartners.com/2018/05/09/episode-134-cosmosdb" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://sqldatapartners.com/2018/05/09/episode-134-cosmosdb</a>. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Episode 134: CosmosDB

One of the neat benefits of putting the podcast together is talking to a wide spectrum of folks with varied backgrounds.  As we get more feedback from listeners, the idea of the Lone DBA emerged.  The Lone DBA is someone who is the only person responsible for database administration at their company.  These tasks may have been assigned or they may have simply been required to help support an application.  Steve and I thought we should explore this a bit and to help give us some context, we invited Monica Rathbun to chat with us about some of the challenges she’s faced. Besides the challenges, Monica shares tactics and techniques to juggle many tasks while being a lone DBA. This includes using social media as a way of building connections with different experts, getting the right tools for the organization’s needs and making your boss your supporter. Have your own perspective on this?  Let us know in the show notes for the episode. The shownotes for today’s episode is found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2017/03/28/episode-89-lone-dba/ and have fun on the SQL trail.

One of the neat benefits of putting the podcast together is talking to a wide spectrum of folks with varied backgrounds.  As we get more feedback from listeners, the idea of the Lone DBA emerged.  The Lone DBA is someone who is the only person responsible for database administration at their company.  These tasks may have been assigned or they may have simply been required to help support an application.  Steve and I thought we should explore this a bit and to help give us some context, we invited Monica Rathbun to chat with us about some of the challenges she’s faced. Besides the challenges, Monica shares tactics and techniques to juggle many tasks while being a lone DBA. This includes using social media as a way of building connections with different experts, getting the right tools for the organization’s needs and making your boss your supporter. Have your own perspective on this?  Let us know in the show notes for the episode. The shownotes for today’s episode is found at <a href="http://sqldatapartners.com/2017/03/28/episode-89-lone-dba/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://sqldatapartners.com/2017/03/28/episode-89-lone-dba/</a> and have fun on the SQL trail.

Episode 89 Lone DBA

Do you want to be a data scientist? Do you even know what data science is? In this episode, we tackle the idea of being a data scientist and discuss the criteria and what it may take to get the job description of data scientist. So not everyone feels out in the cold, our guest Brad Llewellyn, talks about how this field has developed out of data analysis and how we may have much more in common than differences between us. The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2018/12/12/episode-155-data-science/. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Do you want to be a data scientist? Do you even know what data science is? In this episode, we tackle the idea of being a data scientist and discuss the criteria and what it may take to get the job description of data scientist. So not everyone feels out in the cold, our guest Brad Llewellyn, talks about how this field has developed out of data analysis and how we may have much more in common than differences between us. The show notes for today's episode can be found at <a href="http://sqldatapartners.com/2018/12/12/episode-155-data-science/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://sqldatapartners.com/2018/12/12/episode-155-data-science/</a>. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Episode 155: Data Science

These are dark times. Drastic measures must be taken. In this episode, we talk about--coding. *Queue scary music* Last year I bumped into Sean McCown and found out he had coded himself a GUI for his MinionWare product. This left me both impressed and stumped. We talk with Sean, Eugene, and Kevin about why they decided to learn a coding language and I give some of my hesitations for not picking up a coding book.   The show notes can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/05/08/episode-169-should-you-learn-to-code. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

These are dark times. Drastic measures must be taken. In this episode, we talk about--coding. *Queue scary music* Last year I bumped into Sean McCown and found out he had coded himself a GUI for his MinionWare product. This left me both impressed and stumped. We talk with Sean, Eugene, and Kevin about why they decided to learn a coding language and I give some of my hesitations for not picking up a coding book.   The show notes can be found at <a href="http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/05/08/episode-169-should-you-learn-to-code" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/05/08/episode-169-should-you-learn-to-code</a>. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Episode 169: Should you learn to code?

We frequently talk about how many DBAs are concerned our job may be phased out in the future. This episode discusses one common career path in going from DBA to Data Warehouse Architect and we talk with Thomas LeBlanc about his transition: his decisions, his path and his advice.  Many companies can’t afford to staff separate individuals as developers, DBAs, analysists and architects, so there are generally opportunities for most of us to learn these technologies. Whether or not you can fully transition into a completely different job, never stop learning and broadening your knowledge base and abilities. The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2018/08/08/episode-143-transitioning-from-dba-to-data-warehouse-architect. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

We frequently talk about how many DBAs are concerned our job may be phased out in the future. This episode discusses one common career path in going from DBA to Data Warehouse Architect and we talk with Thomas LeBlanc about his transition: his decisions, his path and his advice.  Many companies can’t afford to staff separate individuals as developers, DBAs, analysists and architects, so there are generally opportunities for most of us to learn these technologies. Whether or not you can fully transition into a completely different job, never stop learning and broadening your knowledge base and abilities. The show notes for today's episode can be found at <a href="http://sqldatapartners.com/2018/08/08/episode-143-transitioning-from-dba-to-data-warehouse-architect" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://sqldatapartners.com/2018/08/08/episode-143-transitioning-from-dba-to-data-warehouse-architect</a>. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Episode 143: Transitioning from DBA to Data Warehouse Architect

SQL Server 2019 is out and one of the most interesting additions is SQL Server 2019 Big Data Clusters. In this episode, Kevin Feasel covers the marriage of SQL Server and Apache Spark. We discuss what Big Data Clusters are (and how it's not a SQL Server feature or an edition of SQL Server, but a thing in itself), cover some of the architecture behind the solution, and explain how we can use them. The show notes for today's episode can be found at  http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/12/04/episode-183-sql-server-big-data-clusters. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

SQL Server 2019 is out and one of the most interesting additions is SQL Server 2019 Big Data Clusters. In this episode, Kevin Feasel covers the marriage of SQL Server and Apache Spark. We discuss what Big Data Clusters are (and how it's not a SQL Server feature or an edition of SQL Server, but a thing in itself), cover some of the architecture behind the solution, and explain how we can use them. The show notes for today's episode can be found at <a href="http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/12/04/episode-183-sql-server-big-data-clusters" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/12/04/episode-183-sql-server-big-data-clusters</a>. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Episode 183: SQL Server Big Data Clusters

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