Microsoft CSS @ PASS Summit 2012

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This is a little later than we normally do it, but better late than never!  During November 6th-9th, the US PASS Summit 2012 will be held in Seattle, Washington at the Seattle Convention Center.  The Microsoft CSS team has a long history with PASS.  We have been speaking and working at PASS since 2003 with this year shaping up to be the best yet!  Here is a quick look at what we will be doing.

 

Pre-Conference Seminar

We will have one Pre-Con this year at PASS.  Bob Ward and Adam Saxton are teaming up to bring you Customer Stories from the Front Line!  Bob is a Principal Architect Escalation Engineer who has been supporting SQL Server since 1993!  There is a lot of history there that helps bring these customer stories some perspective.  Adam is a Sr. Escalation Engineer that focuses primarily on our Business Intelligence products, but don’t let that fool you.  He knows a thing or two about the SQL Engine as well.

This day long seminar will feature 10 customer stories.  We will look at what the problem was and what we do to fix these types of issues.  We really want to highlight the things that you can do as users of the products to avoid having to call us.  We will also take some opportunities to dig into the product a little bit and explain how some things work under the hoods.  Some of the areas we will cover:

  • Memory issues
  • Setup
  • Hangs
  • Connectivity
  • and more…

This Pre-Con is primarily SQL Engine focused.  We do touch lightly on the BI area, but that is not really the focus.  We will have lots of great demos and plenty of time for questions.  This will really be a great look at what types of issues we see in Support, along with our insights of how the product works. You can also read a Q&A with Adam Saxton that PASS posted on their website.

 

Main Conference Talks

We will have four main conference talks this year by Engineers in CSS.  These are listed by the dates/times that they will occur.  This doesn’t mean that these times won’t change due to scheduling needs at PASS, or that the rooms will be the same.  Be sure to check your schedules when you arrive at the conference for the latest information.

(DBA-500-HD) Inside SQLOS 2012 – Bob Ward

Wednesday, November 7th – 1:30pm-4:30pm – Room 618-620

Bob continues his Inside series with a look at the underpinnings of the SQL Engine and what is new with SQL 2012.  This is a “500” level talk which means it will be very deep and will focus on internals.  That being said, this will be a great talk to find out how the Engine is powered with looking at the core infrastructure for SQL.  The value in understanding the SQLOS Internals as it will help you plan, design, manage, monitor and troubleshoot your database server.  The more you know about how SQL will behave, the better off you will be.  As always, there will be plenty of demos and even the appearance or two from our Windows Debugger friend!  As this will be a half day session, there will be a lot of time to cover this deep and broad topic.

(AD-310-C) SQL Server and SharePoint: Best Frienemies – Lisa Gardner

Wednesday, November 7th – 4:45pm-6pm – Room 6E

Lisa is a Premier Field Engineer (PFE).  This means that she gets to work closely with some of our customers.  In this talk, she will cover a topic that comes up quite a bit.  Working with SharePoint Databases being hosted within SQL Server.  SharePoint deployments have been increasing and that means SQL Server is seeing a lot more SharePoint Databases.  She will cover what you need to know when working with SharePoint Databases.  If you have to deal with SharePoint databases in your environment, this is a must see talk!

(DBA-407-C) Troubleshooting SQL Server 2012 Performance with Extended Events – Rohit Nayak

Friday, November 9th – 8am-9:15am – Room 301-TCC

Rohit is one of our engineers for the SQL Engine focusing on performance issues.  In this talk, he will show some of the improvements to Extended Events that really make this feature an awesome tool in your belt.  If you have ever struggled with Extended Events in the past and gave up, or you have never heard about it, this is definitely a talk for you!  Extended Events has come a long way and is really a great feature in SQL 2012.  Come learn how you can take advantage of this feature in a great talk with some great demos!

(BIA-401-C) Working with Claims and SQL Server BI Technologies – Adam Saxton

Friday, November 9th – 8am-9:15am – Room 6E

If you aren’t familiar with what Claims is, or have struggled with it, this is a must see!  This talk will have a look at Reporting Services and PowerPivot with SQL 2012 being hosted in SharePoint 2010.  Claims will be in the picture and you need to know how it will affect you.  If you thought Kerberos was dead, think again!  This talk will get into the Kerberos aspects of this configuration as well by someone that is very knowledgeable about the Kerberos topic.  If you have followed this blog, you have seen some of Adam’s posts regarding this.  This will be a great talk to get insight into this complex area and also get a chance to ask questions that you may have.

 

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This is one of the highlights for the SQL PASS Conference.  Imagine a room where, on one side, you have the SQLCAT team to ask “design” or “advisory” type questions to.  And, on the other side of the room, you have the SQL Support team that you can ask about an error you are getting, or how to fix something.  That is the SQL Server Clinic!  And this year, it will be bigger and better than ever! 

We have a new room this year!   We will be in 4C-3 which will be across from the Expo hall and on your way to the meal hall.  It is about 5 times bigger than the room we have had in the past, so there will be plenty of room.  There are also rumors of some much needed refreshment in the afternoon hours.

We will have a full contingent of members of the SQLCAT team.  This will be matched by the CSS Conference Speakers as well as Support Engineers and Premier Field Engineers from across the globe!  This is the ultimate unique opportunity to interact with the CSS and SQLCAT teams line no other.  We cannot guarantee this is like “getting a free case” from CSS, but we can help point you in the right direction.  The questions we get in the Clinic range from “how does this work” to “I have a crash, can you look at it?”.  In some situations in the past, we have been able to use our laptops, or the customer’s, and either demonstrate how to solve the problem, or actually fix it on the spot.  They don’t all work out that way, but it is probably fair to say that when you walk out of the room, you will have left with more than when you walked in the door.  Even if that just means you wanted to come in to meet a new face or network with some of the people from Microsoft that put out customer fires or test the limits of SQL Server.

This year at the clinic, we will be offering what we are calling the Early Bird hours before the Key notes.  This will give you an opportunity to stop by on your way to breakfast or that first cup of coffee to get your morning started.  The Clinic will be open Wednesday thru Friday.  The main hours of the Clinic will begin right after the keynotes (we want to see them too!) and will go until the end of the day with the exception of Friday.

The clinic hours this year are:

  • Wednesday
    • 7:00am-8:00am (Early Birds)
    • 10:00am – 6:15pm
  • Thursday
    • 7:00am-8:00am (Early Birds)
    • 10:00am – 6:30pm
  • Friday
    • 7:00am – 2:00pm

Be sure to stop by the Clinic at least once during the conference!  We want to hear from you and your experience with SQL Server, even if you don’t have a question.  We will be available to talk about any topic related to SQL Server, or to strike up a conversation about your favorite sports teams (although the Rangers and Cowboys may be sore topics this year).

We hope to see you there!