GuntherB's WebLog https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/guntherb/feed.xml "You can do anything, but you can't do everything!" Tue, 16 Apr 2019 05:10:19 GMT en-US hourly 1 SQLUG.BE - next UG event: The Holy Trinity for SQL Server DBAs https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/guntherb/sqlug-be-next-ug-event-the-holy-trinity-for-sql-server-dbas Mon, 12 Jan 2009 05:50:53 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/guntherb/2009/01/12/sqlug-be-next-ug-event-the-holy-trinity-for-sql-server-dbas/ The Belgian SQL Server User Group is organizing another interesting evening full of technical content.

From their website:
"This UG-evening will start with an introduction of the basics of index design (the heap,clustered/non clustered indexes and covering of a query by an index). Later we will discuss how the optimizer works, why it can be wrong (statistics, procedure cache) and how to correct this. Another part of the session will be some advanced features of indexing like partitioning, locking and  filtered indexes. We will of course not forget indexed views and computed column indexes. If there is some time left we can also look at spatial indexes and xml indexes”

 

Speaker will be Marc Mertens – a very knowledgeable & strong SQL Server expert in the Belgian ICT-industry.

Agenda:
18:00 - 18:30 Registration and welcome with a drink & sandwich
18:30 - 20:00 Part 1 of the session
20:00 - 20:30 pause
20:30 - 22:00 Part 2 of the session
22:00 - ... Networking with your peers"


Hope to see you there!  More information on https://www.sqlug.be.

]]> Kimball University: Microsoft SQL Server Comes of Age for Data Warehousing https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/guntherb/kimball-university-microsoft-sql-server-comes-of-age-for-data-warehousing Thu, 26 Jun 2008 03:16:48 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/guntherb/2008/06/26/kimball-university-microsoft-sql-server-comes-of-age-for-data-warehousing/  

Just bumped into this article in Intelligent Enterprise - June 23, 2008

Impressive to see the impact of the new SQL Server 2008 features, like compression, partitioning and star schema optimization to improve your DW/BI system's query performance.


Guess it's gonna be a busy DW year!  ;-)

]]> SQL Server now with a logo !!! https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/guntherb/sql-server-now-with-a-logo Thu, 05 Jun 2008 04:10:27 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/guntherb/2008/06/05/sql-server-now-with-a-logo/ For many years, SQL Server was a product / platform with no logo.
At TechEd US we finally revealed the new SQL Server logo :

SQL08_h_rgb

Check the Data Platform Insider's post here for more background info.

Cheers!
Guntherb.

]]> Rafal Lukawiecki- Data Mining and Business Intelligence for Enterprises on TechNet Spotlight https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/guntherb/rafal-lukawiecki-data-mining-and-business-intelligence-for-enterprises-on-technet-spotlight Mon, 02 Jun 2008 04:48:24 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/guntherb/2008/06/02/rafal-lukawiecki-data-mining-and-business-intelligence-for-enterprises-on-technet-spotlight/ I've always had a passion for Data Mining... simply because I didn't understand what it's all about :-) and foremost, because it's such a huge - yet unknown - hidden gem in the SQL Server Business Intelligence stack!

 

One of the world's best presenters, Rafal Lukawiecki, presents Data Mining in a very interesting 1-day seminar format :

In Data Mining and Business Intelligence for Enterprises, Rafal Lukawiecki aims to show IT Professionals how data mining can be used in IT infrastructure to support real business scenarios demystifying the perception that Data Mining is complex, untested or only for specialists. This has become possible since Microsoft has taken the technology to new levels making it accessible to all. In four easy-to-understand yet packed with practical information sessions you will learn about what Data Mining and Business Intelligence can do for you, how to deploy and manage it, how to use it, and how to make it available to other parts of your IT environment.

Data Mining and Business Intelligence for Enterprises:

https://www.microsoft.com/emea/spotlight/event.aspx?id=99

Links to Session Videos:

    1. Introduction to Data Mining- Rafal Lukawiecki, Strategic Consultant, Project Botticelli Ltd
    2. Working with Data Mining- Rafal Lukawiecki, Strategic Consultant, Project Botticelli Ltd
    3. Using Data Mining in your IT Systems (Part 1)- Rafal Lukawiecki, Strategic Consultant, Project Botticelli Ltd
    4. Using Data Mining in your IT Systems (Part 1), Rafal Lukawiecki, Strategic Consultant, Project Botticelli Ltd

 

Enjoy!
Guntherb.

]]> What's up with those SQL Injection Attacks lately ? https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/guntherb/whats-up-with-those-sql-injection-attacks-lately Mon, 02 Jun 2008 04:34:03 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/guntherb/2008/06/02/whats-up-with-those-sql-injection-attacks-lately/ As you might have seen in the news, there have been ongoing SQL injection attacks against vulnerable web applications occurring over the last few months.  These attacks have received recurring attention in the press as they pop up in various geographies around the world, and there have been a number of customer inquiries as well.

These attacks do not leverage any SQL Server vulnerabilities, nor any un-patched vulnerabilities in any Microsoft product – the attack vector is vulnerable customer and third party applications.  They do however target installations running IIS and SQL Server and are therefore impacting our beloved SQL Server customers.

 

In order to help our customers respond to and defend themselves from these attacks, we have collaborated with our Microsoft Security Rescue Centers to produce and publish an authoritative blog including talking points and customer guidance.  This can be found at :
https://blogs.technet.com/swi/archive/2008/05/29/sql-injection-attack.aspx

Enjoy & be safe!
Guntherb.

]]> SQL User Group evening : "Managing, monitoring and troubleshooting SQL Server using Free tools" https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/guntherb/sql-user-group-evening-managing-monitoring-and-troubleshooting-sql-server-using-free-tools Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:45:33 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/guntherb/2008/04/25/sql-user-group-evening-managing-monitoring-and-troubleshooting-sql-server-using-free-tools/ Woohoo! The guys from the SQL User Group keep going strong. I'm very pleased that our very own Dirk Gubbels will be delivering the next SQL Server User Group evening.

C ya there!
Guntherb.

Speaker: Dirk Gubbels (Microsoft Consultancy Services, SQL Ranger, MCA)

Abstract:
Out of the box, SQL Server 2005 offers nice tools for managing and monitoring servers and databases. If you want to get an even richer experience and a broader toolset, there are a lot of hidden gems out there, free for you to download and to make the life of the DBA easier. This practical and demo-driven session will show you how to make best use of some of these. Topics include: Extending Management studio with custom reports, Performance dashboard, Sqlio, Dmvstats, RML Utilities and more...

Level:
300

Date:
Thu May 29, 2008

Agenda:
18:00 - 18:30 Welcome with a drink & sandwich
18:30 - 20:00 Part 1
20:00 - 20:30 Pause
20:30 - 22:00 Part 2
22:00 - ... networking

Location:
Global Knowledge, Mechelen

Registration is needed, registration is open.
Note that registration will be closed on May 26.

]]> SQLUG.be : Reporting Services by Marc Mertens https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/guntherb/sqlug-be-reporting-services-by-marc-mertens Tue, 23 Oct 2007 11:40:00 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/guntherb/2007/10/23/sqlug-be-reporting-services-by-marc-mertens/ On Thu Nov 22 the Belgian SQL Server User Group (SQLUG.be) will deliver a SQL Server Reporting Services by the one & only Marc Mertens.

 

Abstract:
Reporting Services is Microsoft's server based reporting solution that is delivered together with SQL Server 2005. In this session you will learn how to create a report, deploy and manage it. Also covered is how you can use Reporting Services to control the load on your source system when running a report. If there is time left we will shown how to write custom extensions for your reports.

Prepare yourself for a long night. First we have the session, afterwards we are offered a guided tour in "Huis van de Toekomst". Doors will be closed far after 22:00 hour.

The starting hour will be 18:30, doors open from 18:00 hour.

The event will take place in Huis van de Toekomst

Indringingsweg 1
B-1800 Vilvoorde

Registration is needed. You can register here.

Registration is open.

]]> JDBC Driver 1.2 CTP August 2007 https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/guntherb/jdbc-driver-1-2-ctp-august-2007 Wed, 05 Sep 2007 02:03:17 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/guntherb/2007/09/05/jdbc-driver-1-2-ctp-august-2007/ Good news for all the J2 App Server fanatics! :-) We've just released a new Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) driver with SQL Server 2005.

The SQL Server 2005 JDBC Driver 1.2 CTP August 2007 download is available to all SQL Server users at no additional charge, and provides access to SQL Server 2000 and SQL Server 2005 from any Java application, application server, or Java-enabled applet. This is a Type 4 JDBC driver that provides database connectivity through the standard JDBC application program interfaces (APIs) available in J2EE (Java2 Enterprise Edition).

This release of the JDBC Driver is JDBC 3.0 compliant and runs on the Java Development Kit (JDK) version 1.4 and higher. It has been tested against all major application servers including BEA WebLogic, IBM WebSphere, JBoss, and Sun.

Download here

]]> SQL User Group event : Secrets of Fast Detection and Recovery from Database Corruptions by Paul Randal https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/guntherb/sql-user-group-event-secrets-of-fast-detection-and-recovery-from-database-corruptions-by-paul-randal Thu, 26 Apr 2007 03:54:00 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/guntherb/2007/04/26/sql-user-group-event-secrets-of-fast-detection-and-recovery-from-database-corruptions-by-paul-randal/ On Thu May 24, Paul Randal, Lead Program Manager in the SQL Server Storage Engine team will host a remote presentation at our MS premises in Diegem, Belgium.

Abstract:
How can you tell whether your data is corrupt? If you have corruption, how do you work out what's wrong with the database? How do you ensure you have a valid backup? If you don't have a valid backup, how and what do you repair? If you do have a backup, how do you work out whether you should restore or repair? And at what granularity? How do you go about determining what went wrong in the first place? It's all about limiting downtime and data-loss when a corruption occurs - from knowing the tools to understanding the choices to planning a successful strategy. Some of the features discussed: torn-page detection and page checksums, IO read-retry, backup checksums, consistency checks (DBCC CHECKDB and related commands), and database repairs. Facing database corruption is almost inevitable in every DBAs career - make sure you're prepared when it happens to you.

The starting hour 18:30, doors open from 18:00 hour.

The event will take place in the offices of:

Microsoft Av. Culliganlaan 1A, 1831 Diegem.

Registration is open:
https://sqlug.be/content/NextUGEvening.aspx

See you there!
Guntherb.

]]> SQL Express : How to detect if Express is installed? https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/guntherb/sql-express-how-to-detect-if-express-is-installed Tue, 23 Jan 2007 12:09:00 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/guntherb/2007/01/23/sql-express-how-to-detect-if-express-is-installed/ I recently stumbled across this question from a customer : how can you detect if SQL Express is installed on a local/remote box?

Apparantly, the Add/Remove Programs list lists some confusing entries including general "SQL Server" et all, so how do you know if SQL Express is on the box or not? Here's a trick that I learned from Mike Walach, PM and great guy on the SQL Server Express team : enter the world of the wonderful SQL WMI Provider. Mike posted a cool piece of C# sample code on his blog here: https://blogs.msdn.com/sqlexpress/archive/2006/07/29/faq-detecting-sql-server-2005-using-wmi.aspx

 

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