Charlotte SQL Server User Group

For our May 15th meeting, we will have Bill Carroll for our short session and K. Brian Kelley presenting for our longer session.

Agenda
• 5:30 PM Networking with Food & Refreshments
• 6:00 PM Short Session
• 6:30 PM Long Session
• 7:30 PM Meeting End

Bill Carroll, a Sr. Escalation Engineer from the Microsoft Commercial Technical Support team will present: Windows Azure Virtual Machines

Have you heard about Microsoft’s Windows Azure Virtual Machines? Did you know you can build a SQL Server VM in the cloud with just a few clicks? Come learn how to get started with WAVM’s.

K. Brian Kelley will present: Building an Infrastructure for Secure SQL Servers

In warfare, understanding your enemy is a supreme advantage. The same is true when it comes to protecting SQL Server. We’ll get into the mindset of an attacker, looking at the methods and techniques attackers use to go after SQL Server. Once we understanding the threats, we’ll then examine defensive techniques to secure and protect our SQL Servers, using both new and creative methods, as well as the tried and true.

Brian is a SQL Server author, columnist, and Microsoft MVP focusing primarily on SQL Server and Windows security. In addition to being a database administrator, he has served as an infrastructure and security architect encompassing solutions with Citrix, virtualization, and Active Directory. Brian is also a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) and has been the head of a financial organization’s computer incident response team. Brian is active in the IT community having spoken at DevConnections, SQL Saturdays, code camps, and user groups. He is also the President of the Midlands PASS Chapter, a Professional Association for SQL Server Chapter located in Columbia, SC.

K. Brian Kelley
kbriankelley@acm.org
@kbriankelley

RSVP here

Agenda
• 5:30 PM Networking with Food & Refreshments
• 6:00 PM Short Session
• 6:30 PM Long Session
• 7:30 PM Meeting End

The Short Session
Curt Mathews, a Sr. Escalation Engineer from Microsoft Commercial Technical Support, will give us a deep dive on the SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn causes of Failover Conditions and health checking routines internals.

The Long Session

Ben DeBow will present:
Index Tuning for the DBA

Indexes are like a turbocharger for your queries: they help the engine process queries faster. Without having the right index strategy, you will be stuck managing a SQL Server environment that end users may constantly complain is “too slow.” How do you avoid that situation by knowing which indexes to add or which ones to remove if they are not working—especially if you are not intimate with a particular application’s database? Knowing fundamentals such as baselining performance and proactively monitoring performance are crucial for long-term index maintenance. This session will give you those fundamentals and more to enable you to implement a solid index tuning strategy for your company’s applications.

Ben DeBow is a consultant who works with customers of all sizes on their mission critical applications and SQL Server deployments. His versatility allows him to assist with everything from virtualization and consolidation to schema design, performance tuning, disk architectures, and everything in between. He has tuned and deployed some of the largest and most complex SQL Server solutions in the world. An active member of the SQL Server community, Ben is also an MCDBA, MCSE, and MCITP. He is also the co-founder of SQLHA with Allan Hirt, and can be reached at http://www.sqlha.com

RSVP here.