Bob Duffy's Blobby Blog

SQL Server | BI | Dot.Net | Office | Sharepoint | MCE | Database Stuff

PowerPivot RTM has arrived

I’m just back from the office 2010 roadshow. Phew four cities and six presentations on PowerPivot...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 04/22/2010

SCOM for SQL Folk on 27th May

I’m talking at the SQL Users group on “SCOM for SQL folk”. this session is based on my experiences...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 04/22/2010

Time to get serious with encryption

just read an article indicating the some states in the US are making data encryption on disk and on...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 04/22/2010

SQL Immersion: Dublin 2010

The only local opportunity for advanced SQL training with sqlskills (Paul Randal and Kimberly Tripp)...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 04/22/2010

PowerPivot at the Office 2010 Roadshow for IT Pros

If you haven’t seen PowerPivot yet, there is a great opportunity at the Office + SharePoint 2010...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 04/02/2010

General Guidance for SQL Server on Virtualisation

I have been on about four engagements in a row this year where we are looking at SQL performance on...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 03/31/2010

Hidden Network Devices

One annoying thing about working with Hyper-V  is you can end up with lots of “hidden” network...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 03/19/2010

Taking PowerPivot and Your Domain on the Demo Road

One of the current Technical Limitations of PowerPivot for SharePoint is the fact that the...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 03/18/2010

The Last SQL Academy in this series goes out in style

The last topic in the series is entitled “SQL 2008 R2 – Next Generation Business Intelligence”. We...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 03/18/2010

How good is Data Compression in SQL 2008

Data compression in SQL 2008 is best for data warehouses, where they tend to be very IO constrained...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 02/23/2010

IW 2010 Demo Hyper-V Image Released

For those of you like me running Hyper-V, there is a VPC with the some of the 2010 “IW” stack...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 02/06/2010

SQL Server and Kerberos

One side effect of following the best practices and running SQL Server under a Domain User account...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 02/06/2010

Shorts VBS Script to Determine if SQL Server is installed and running

I am playing with System Centre Operations Manager and Config Manager. They all use VBS to determine...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 01/11/2010

January Seminar – BI with SQL 2008 R2

Rafal Lukewiecki who is a top rated Tech Ed speaker is hosing a whole day BI event at the Burlington...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 01/07/2010

Installing PowerPivot for SharePoint

Installing and Configuring PowerPivot has been painful for me – Partly because I managed to dive in...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 12/08/2009

SQL Academy – Performance Tuning & Optimisation

Registration is still open for SQL Academy on Tuesday 1st December in the usual place (Sandyford,...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 11/28/2009

On my first week trying to setup PowerPivot I was plagues with an inability to see the sexy new...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 11/28/2009

New Install Option for SQL 2008 R2

Using the new “Default Install” option in SQL Server 2008 R2 I managed to get a full instance...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 11/18/2009

Data Connection Libraries missing in SharePoint 2010

If you are using the new “Gemini Team Site” in SharePoint 2010 (I guess this must be renamed in the...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 11/15/2009

Integrating Office and SharePoint in Windows 2008

Three common issues integrating office and MOSS when using Server 2008 as a client: 1) Office cannot...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 11/15/2009

Good Power Pivot / Gemini Resources

Ok, everyone is hopefully aware that Gemini is now renamed to “PowerPivot”. IMO, this technology is...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 11/15/2009

SQL Academy (Dublin, Ireland)– Advanced SQL Configuration

I’m helping deliver a series of advanced seminars for Microsoft TechNet Ireland. The SQL Academy...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 10/15/2009

Tools for SQL Discovery

For anyone looking to find out how many SQL Servers they have deployed, and gain insight into...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 09/16/2009

Paul Randal and Kimberly Tripp at SQL Ireland Users Group in Sept

Paul Randal and Kimberly Tripp are presenting at the SQL Ireland users group on the 23rd September....

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 09/01/2009

Want to learn more about Self Service Business Intelligence (Project Gemini)

Microsoft's new self service business intelligence platform (project Gemini), is set to...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 08/29/2009

Bob Duffy passed MCM 2008 !

I just got the email to say I have passed the SQL 2008 MCM exam....

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 08/26/2009

SQL Server Versions

I'm always installing SQL Server or talking to customers about installations and the topic comes up...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 08/22/2009

SQL Immersion: Dublin 2009

There is four weeks until the SQL Immersion event here in Dublin and I'm getting really excited. For...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 08/22/2009

Epicenter on Wed 26th August

The largest Irish conference/ expo is starting this wed. the list of speakers and events is...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 08/22/2009

is your Anti-Virus Strangling SQL Server?

Its very common when I arrive on site to do a performance review or some tuning that a good first...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 07/27/2009

Bob Duffy awarded MVP for SQL Server for 2009/2010

Just got the email announcing that I've been awarded an MVP for SQL Server for 2009/2010. The MVP...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 07/02/2009

SQL Immersion: Dublin 2009 is open for registration

Kimberly Tripp and Paul Randal are coming to Dublin in September for a week of what promises to the...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 06/30/2009

Project Gemini Preview

For anyone attending the SQL 2008 Academy on Friday (link here) we are going to be showing some...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 06/23/2009

Get an MCM at a discount rate!!

I must get about 50 emails a week offering a degree for 50 bucks mail order, but here's an offer...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 06/23/2009

Kimberly Tripp and Paul Randal returning to Dublin

The rumours are true! We are helping to organise Paul Randal and Kimberly Tripp to return to Ireland...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 06/19/2009

SQL 2008 Academy - Analysis Services 101

I'm presenting a complimentary session for Microsoft SQL Academy entitled "Analysis Services 101"...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 06/19/2009

SCCM Reboot during OSD Install - "NO MP Certificates"

I just spent ages troubleshooting an annoying thing with SCCM. Every time I tried an OSD PXE...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 06/01/2009

Processor at 100% after Installing SCCM (or anything else).

I've recently been installing a lot of MS Server products into a lab. One thing I noticed is...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 05/31/2009

SSRS 2008 Event in Cork

If anyone is in Cork on Thursday 4th June, I'll be presenting a seminar on Reporting services 2008...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 05/30/2009

Troubleshooting AD Extension. The dreaded Error 8206

I’m a SQL/Apps dude, not an Infrastructure guy. My weakness is I love technology so much I dabble in...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 05/21/2009

DB Restore causes cache flush in SQL 2005

Ok, I’m sure many people already know this , but I just found out the hard way. When you perform a...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 05/19/2009

Using a SAN to Initialize Replication

I've chatted to a few customers about the possibnility of using a SAN based snapshot to initialise...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 05/16/2009

Disk Partition Alignment De-Mystified

Jimmy May has compiled a great white paper on Disk Partition Alignment Best Practices for SQL Server...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 05/14/2009

Dimensional Modelling and Cube Building 101

Thanks to everyone who came to the Dublin SQL users Group session on Tuesday. I hope that we...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 05/07/2009

Bob the Cube Builder

One thing I do notice about Ireland is we have lots of people who have great knowledge about writing...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 04/24/2009

SQL 2008 SP1 Released

Hopefully everyone knows SP1 is released for SQL 2008 now ! One thing which is really nice is that...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 04/08/2009

MS Tech Days in Belfast - Reporting Services 2008

I'll be delivering a session on SQL 2008 Reporting Services in Belfast for MS Tech-Days on 26th...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 03/17/2009

Why Not to Sysprep SQL Server

If you do a lot of installs its a good idea to have an automated process for provisioning SQL...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 02/12/2009

Troubleshooting SQL 2008 Installation (Access Denied)

I have to say that the improvements in the SQL 2008 installation have been pretty good to me. We...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 02/12/2009

Problems Refreshing Excel Services Data Sources with SSAS

I just spent a day looking into why Excel Services could not refresh an Analysis Services 2005/2008...

Author: MSDN Archive Date: 01/19/2009

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