December SQLSaturdays–DC & Providence, RI

Next month, I’ll be speaking at two SQLSaturday events.

Washington, DC – #SqlSat574 – December 3, 2016

Being a DBA is like play Pac-San. Eat all the LUNs before the SAN Admin chases you away.
Being a DBA is like play Pac-San. Eat all the LUNs before the SAN Admin chases you away.

The DC SQL Saturday was the first SQL Saturday I spoke at–so this one will always be a special event for me. Hopefully, I’ll be able to speak at this event every year.

This year, my session is Demystifying Data Compression. I talk about the compression algorithms used by data compression (aka, index compression, not to be confused with backup compression, or compressed backups or the COMPRESS() function). It’s an exploration into how it works, when it works, when it doesn’t work, and gives you the information on how to choose the right compression level for your data.

 

Providence, RI – #SqlSat575 – December 10, 2016

Providence is a short drive from Boston–there’s a ton of overlap between the crowds, so lots of friends to catch up with. If you’re from Boston, don’t forget to register for Providence!

The schedule isn’t posted for Providence (yet), but I submitted two sessions–the compression session that I am doing in DC, and a brand-new session called Inside the Management Studio. I’m incredibly excited about Inside the Management Studio. I got the idea from something Brent Ozar (blog|twitter) did at his 2015 Freecon, and he agreed to let me rip him off run with it.

What sound or noise do you love?
What sound or noise do you love?

If you’ve ever seen Inside the Actor’s Studio, then you know the premise–an interview with a well-known person of the SQL Server community. We’ll find out how they got there, and hear some great stories. Aside from my stack of questions, it’s entirely unscripted. We’ll go where the conversation takes us, and everyone in the room will learn what it takes to be successful in the database business.