Archive for October, 2009

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I’m a Bingo Square Too

2009-10-31

Stuart Ainsworth (blog, Twitter) came up with a great idea: using a bingo game to facilitate networking at the 2009 PASS Community Summit. The idea is to encourage conference attendees to find and meet each other. As I’ve mentioned before, getting more involved in the SQL Server community has been a goal of mine, so this seemed like a great opportunity. Stuart also encouraged me to participate when I met him at SQLSaturday #25.

Stuart teamed up with Brent Ozar (blog, Twitter) to bring the idea to fruition. Brent marshaled the full resources of Quest Software and SQLServerPedia, sparing no expense, and came up with the bingo cards and prizes!

To play, print out three bingo cards. Then at the conference, track down and meet the people that have agreed to be squares (we’re shown by our Twitter name and profile picture… mine can be found over to the right*). They will provide you with a passphrase and you can mark them off. Complete individual lines or the entire card to win.

I chose a geeky RDBMS term for my passphrase, which I hope will generate some discussion. I don’t have any swag to give away, but I will recognize (on this blog) the first person to catch the reference.

I’m also printing out stickers with my Twitter name and profile picture to be affixed to my conference badge.

I look forward to meeting you!

Here are a few other posts about the game:

* The sidebar may not be visible if you are viewing a single post. Go to the main page to see it.

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A Successful Rehearsal and Upcoming Improvements to the Presentation

2009-10-31

My rehearsal this morning went really well. Not in terms of my delivery, but rather in the great feedback that I received and my own ideas for improvement that it generated.

I want to thank Patrick LeBlanc (blog, Twitter) again for helping me to pull off the rehearsal on such short notice! I look forward to returning as a SQL Lunch presenter in the not-too-distant future.

When I gave the SQLDiag presentation on the 21st, there was good response to the recently added case study and it was suggested that I increase its role in the talk. Mike McKinney also made a great observation: I’m spending too much time describing the configuration of SQLDiag (overall, but especially before showing the end result of using it). In other words, I need to firmly establish the value of these tools before delving into the mechanics of their usage. His point made so much sense and I’m grateful for the insight.

I made a lot of changes based on those suggestions, which were put into play for the first time this morning. They made a huge difference, but it did lead to some continuity issues and glitches.

Another friend from the user group, David Stein (blog, Twitter), provided some very detailed and helpful constructive criticism. I also received emails with good ideas from Steve Jones (blog, Twitter), Tim Mitchell (blog, Twitter), and Vic Prabhu (Twitter). The following points, which ring true, were raised by one or more of them:

  • I need to work on my demeanor. Apparently it takes five to ten minutes for me to warm up and start to seem comfortable and confident
  • I should significantly cut back the introduction section
  • I’m switching between windows too often, giving a choppy feel to the talk
  • I need to speed up/cut back on the content. I’m still running out of time long before I cover everything
  • I’m spending too long on the troubleshooting methodology at the expense of demonstrating the tools and techniques
  • I need more practice

I have blocked out at least an hour for each of the next three days for solo rehearsals. I am also making the following adjustments (some based on audience feedback, others based on my own evaluation):

  • I’m reducing the introduction section considerably. People can read the slides and check out this blog to learn more about me. Also, my credibility will be established by the presentation’s content (I don’t need to sell myself based on the number of instances I help support in Terremark’s Highly Managed Hosting environment). Besides, when somebody chooses to attend my session it is because they already have the presumption that my information is reliable and will hold value for them
  • I’m trimming down the coverage on troubleshooting methodology quite a bit. I did classify this session as being at the "intermediate" skill level—the audience members should already understand the importance of having a formal process and it will take less for them to adapt mine to their needs
  • The PAL demonstration will now precede working with SQL Nexus. It will flow better, plus this is actually the order I follow when applying these techniques in the field
  • I will work the demonstration of the RML Utilities back in and explain the way that this tool and SQL Nexus complement each other
  • I plan to move the "’Strategies’ to Avoid" slide to the end of the presentation. If I run out of time, it is the best material to sacrifice
  • I have several improvements for the case study
  • I am considering printing out (and distributing to the audience before the session) the three Microsoft Word documents: "Troubleshooting Methodologies," "Troubleshooting Checklist," and "Case Study"

I feel really good about giving this at PASS!

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The Presentations Won’t Be Posted Until After the PASS Summit

2009-10-31

I’ve decided that the posting of my presentation materials (PowerPoint slide decks and sample code) will have to wait until I return from the 2009 PASS Community Summit. I apologize again for the delay.

As I mentioned previously, I’ve been adding to and improving the demonstrations for the SQLDiag presentation. I was satisfied with the code (in terms of functionality, it still needed polishing and testing) until last week, when I got an escalation call about end-user complaints of poor performance with a customer’s application. This type of case calls for the techniques covered in my presentation. I then realized that October has been a bit of a dry spell in terms of complex issues that merited these techniques.

I ended up seeing a number of opportunities to further automate the process, pleased with the dual benefit of 1.) helping to solve the issue for the customer and 2.) having more to share with my audiences. For example, I finally created a PowerShell script that automatically extracts a single SQLDiag data set from a 7-Zip archive and loads it into PAL and SQL Nexus. This saves an immense amount of time! The downside is that I added a significant set of new scripts that have to be refined and tested (but they are absolutely worth it!).

I have been putting the release of the presentation materials above many other tasks (including blogging, participating on forums, and many responsibilities in my personal life), which has really added to my stress level. It’s time to reprioritize… I need to enjoy some down-time with my wife, tie up a few loose ends at work, and prepare for the PASS conference. I’m sorry to postpone further, but on the other hand, the quality and quantity of deliverables will be much greater this way. I’m sure that you’ll find it worth the wait!

Expect the presentation materials the week of November 9th.

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Last Minute Rehearsal

2009-10-29

My friend Patrick LeBlanc (blog, Twitter), host of SQL Lunch, has graciously agreed to help me have one last rehearsal of my "Leveraging PSSDiag/SQLDiag for Efficient Troubleshooting” presentation before delivering it at the 2009 PASS Community Summit next week. I know that this is last minute notice, but if you’re available, please join me for the Live Meeting webcast at 9:30 a.m. (CDT) tomorrow, October 30th.

NOTE: The Live Meeting is set up from 9:00 a.m. through 11:30 a.m. (CDT), however the presentation is actually from 9:30 a.m. through 10:45 a.m. From 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., I will be working with Patrick to work out any webcast related issues. I won’t be allowing participants in until 9:30 a.m. Please do not attempt to join the meeting until 2009-10-30T09:30:00.000-05:00!

I plan on recording the meeting, to review it and improve the presentation, but I won’t make it publicly available.

If you have trouble with the direct hyperlink, you can also start from the Microsoft Office Live Meeting 2007 client on your computer:

  • Meeting ID: HD8QCW
  • Location: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/usergroups

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The Delay Continues…

2009-10-21

I made more progress on my presentations yesterday (on my day off), but they’re not ready to be posted yet. I apologize for the delay. I’m now targeting this coming weekend for their release.

One reason is that the demonstrations for my SQLDiag presentation are still being actively developed and tested. They’ve come a long way so far (at SQLSaturday #25 they didn’t work and at the October NTSSUG meeting they were merely adequate). Last night I decided to add scripts for creating a SQL Server Agent job and alert pair that will launch SQLDiag. I’ve mentioned this technique each time that I’ve given the presentation so I thought that it was time to include the code for doing so. It’s an important addition, but it did take a bit of time to churn out instruction-quality code.

I briefly considered posting the PowerPoint slide decks for the presentations, without the accompanying sample code, but I would hate for somebody to neglect to return and get the updates. I put a lot into the sample code and I hope that it provides great value to the audience members.

Last night, I also had to upload the final revision of my PowerPoint slide deck for the PASS Community Summit 2009. I spent quite a while tweaking the content with ideas that I’ve gotten from the last few deliveries of the material.

Finally, there are a few remaining preparations for tonight, my last scheduled presentation (before the Summit).

I’m working diligently to get everything ready for you… there’s just a great deal to do. I even passed on going to the first meeting of the DFW IT Professionals users group, despite my strong desire to attend. I decided that my commitment to those of you that have attended my presentations trumped my own enjoyment (in this case).

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A Brief Delay

2009-10-19

I was hoping to knock out a few tasks over the weekend:

I made some great progress on the SQLDiag presentation, but the other tasks had to give way to caring for my sick wife and fielding an inordinate number of escalation calls (it was my turn to be the on-call DBA, a duty that rotates to me every four weeks).

I haven’t forgotten these tasks… hopefully I can catch up tomorrow, since I have the day off from work. Please bear with me.

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My First Anniversary at Terremark

2009-10-19

One year ago, last Tuesday, I joined the Database Escalations and Implementation team at Terremark Worldwide, Inc. Looking back on the last twelve months, this has absolutely been the right move for me, both personally and professionally.

Leaving Usability Sciences Corporation (USC) was not easy to do. Having worked there for nearly eight years, I have significant ties to the organization. I consider several of my teammates amongst my dearest friends. I am also extremely grateful for the opportunities given to me while at USC. It was there that I first encountered SQL Server, which is a pretty important part of my life now. I also matured, first as a software developer, then as a sysadmin and database administrator. Being a small company, there were always more roles than employees, so I was allowed to take on as many responsibilities as I could handle (and then some). I was very much an "accidental DBA" or "involuntary DBA." I was able to learn and grow, becoming a knowledgeable and skilled SQL Server DBA. Eventually, though, the systemic lack of resources (personnel and funding) took its toll and I got burned out. My SQL Server expertise also started to plateau and I realized the need to move on. Thankfully, my departure was on good terms and I’m still in frequent contact with my good friends at USC. They even let me rehearse my technical presentations there from time-to-time.

After I made my job search public, I sent an announcement to the NTSSUG mailing list to solicit ideas and opportunities. I received a fantastic response, including interest from three separate Terremark employees: Jason Massie (blog, Twitter), Kevin Hill (blog, Twitter), and Bill Lester (the manager of the Database Implementation and Escalations team). I knew Jason from the user group and considered him a role model (I still do), so I invited him to lunch for a good ol’ informational interview, which he graciously accepted. Then I got to meet Kevin and Bill at a Terremark open house (showcasing their new Enterprise Cloud product). Several interviews followed and Terremark made an offer, which I gladly accepted. My first day was Monday, October 13th, 2008.

Landing this job has been a tremendous blessing. I was glad to be on a team whose expertise and experience was far beyond my own (two of my teammates came directly from the local Microsoft campus where they were on the SQL Server support team!). For the first time in many years, I could learn database skills from co-workers and wouldn’t have to be out-in-front, teaching myself.

Jason originally worked in a different unit, but by serendipity he became my immediate manager a month later. I’ve learned a great deal about SQL Server from Jason, but he has also helped immensely with my entry into technological public speaking. This type of mentoring, which I don’t consider to be included in his job responsibilities, has been invaluable.

Like any job, there are pros and cons. However, with the exception of the beat down from Project Asculum (which still needs coverage on this blog), I have greatly enjoyed this job and the benefits have far exceeded the drawbacks. I look forward to many more years with Terremark.

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Speaking at the October GFWSSUG and NTSSUG meetings

2009-10-12

I will be delivering my Leveraging PSSDiag/SQLDiag for Efficient Troubleshooting presentation at the October meetings for the Greater Fort Worth SQL Users Group and North Texas SQL Server Users Group.

The NTSSUG meeting will be this Thursday, October 15th (6:30 p.m.), at Microsoft’s Las Colinas campus in Irving, Texas.

The GFWSSUG meeting will be on Wednesday, October 21st (6:30 p.m.), at the Freese and Nichols office in Fort Worth, Texas.

I hope to see you at either (or both)!

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Home from SQLSaturday #25

2009-10-12

I’m really glad that I was able to attend SQLSaturday #25 over the weekend; Tim (blog, Twitter) and I had an excellent time. I will post a more substantial blog post on the topic, probably this coming weekend, but I have a few tasks that need attention first. Until then, know that it was a great experience.

Congratulations Stuart (blog, Twitter) and company!

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My First Forum Contribution

2009-10-12

NOTE: This post was composed on an airplane on 2009-10-11.

As I’ve mentioned, a goal for the year has been to begin participating in technical forums, answering questions for other IT professionals and developers. I set up a few accounts/profiles last weekend and resolved to answer at least one thread over the course of the week. It was a busy week!

Well, last night Tim (blog, Twitter) and I left the SQLSaturday #25 afterparty some time between 7:30 and 8:00 p.m. We were having a great time, but the weariness from traveling and the lack of sleep was catching up with me.

We got back to the hotel, relaxed briefly, then broke out the laptops. Tim planned to download videos about the Tableau product suite, a very impressive "visual analysis and data visualization" tool that had been demonstrated during the conference, for the flight home. I planned to continue working on my SQLDiag presentation and hopefully compose a blog post or two as well.

Instead, we got caught up in discussion, visiting such varied topics as: SQLSaturday #25, SQLSaturday #17, the North Texas SQLSaturday (that is being planned), the NTSSUG leadership, presentation styles, career goals, marriage, books, friendships, our jobs, the folly of youth (specifically not applying ourselves in school), and our mutual admiration for Tim Mitchell (blog, Twitter). It was a lot of fun!

A little after 11:00 p.m. (I think), I suddenly remembered my forum-post-for-the-week-of-October-4th goal, which hadn’t been achieved. I decided not to let it slip, so I took action.

First, I needed to find a good thread to which I could contribute. I brought up the ServerFault, SQL Server Central, and TechNet forums in different browser windows and began searching. I wasn’t quite sure the best way to conduct the search, so I started by only including threads that hadn’t been answered yet. I skimmed through the remaining post titles and saw a few about deadlocks. I quickly latched onto that topic and refined my search. Moments later, I found my target: "how to analyse deadlock graph and deadlock xml ?" [sic].

One of the suggestions in my deadlocks presentation is to sanitize the deadlock graph and then reach out to the SQL Server community (by way of forum of newsgroup) or send the graph to a colleague for help (at least until attaining proficiency with deadlock troubleshooting), so this was a great fit.

I copied the deadlock graph’s XML content from the forum post into a text file and then changed the extension of the file from "txt" to "XDL." Doing so made it so that SQL Server Management Studio would automatically open the deadlock graph and render a diagram of the deadlock. I also reformatted the XML contents so that it was easier to read.

I figured out the reason for the deadlock (as much as one can without access to the system and/or schema) pretty quickly, but the write-up took quite a while. I wanted to include enough information and references that the poster would learn from the answer, and not just take it and be no better off in the future.

Unfortunately it was past midnight by the time that I posted the answer, which meant that I hadn’t technically met my goal of posting an answer during the week of October 4th. However, I have rationalized that I did reach my goal, as it was still before midnight in the Central Time Zone (in which the goal has been set). ;) Cheap? Yes… but I’m still happy with it!

I plan to answer at least two forum questions this week.

Now for the punch line: The thread that I answered was posted on January 23rd*, so my effort probably has little-to-no value for Anjali Vishwakarma! I’ll chalk that up to being a forum newbie. Tim tells me that this behavior has its own, very fitting and humorous term on ServerFault/StackOverflow. Hopefully the answer will be useful to somebody else, in the future, when they are researching deadlocks.

* I noticed the dates in the deadlock graph, thought that it was strange that the poster needed help with a deadlock from so long ago, but failed to make the connection that I was dealing with a long-forgotten thread. Remember that I said I was sleep deprived. :)

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