Welcome

Passionately curious about Data, Databases and Systems Complexity. Data is ubiquitous, the database universe is dichotomous (structured and unstructured), expanding and complex. Find my Database Research at SQLToolkit.co.uk . Microsoft Data Platform MVP

"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing" Einstein



Sunday 23 December 2012

Database Management Survey

The Database Management Survey is open and available to complete at  http://svy.mk/UcaxDm .

I am currently undertaking a PhD with the Open University and my research investigates the current practices and procedures that are used in database management and examines the complexities of managing database systems.  The Database Management Survey is for database administrators, data professionals etc to complete for every database engine.

It is a comprehensive survey that covers the end to end lifecycle for managing database systems across on premises, cloud, differing database engines, virtualization and big data etc. The survey will take about 15 minutes to complete and I would be most grateful if you could complete as many questions as possible.

Many thanks for your help with the Database Management Survey 2013 and Merry Christmas.

@victoria_holt

Thursday 13 December 2012

Management of Database Systems Survey

I am a senior certified Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP) Database Administrator who is examining how management of database systems can be improved for the database community, as part of my PhD study with The Open University. To proceed I need your help and the help of as many people as possible in the industry. We see a lot of discussion about new database engines, tools, features, the cloud, big data etc. but how do we administer and manage this ubiquitous landscape?

I need to know to what extent practices and procedures are utilised by the database community and what affects their adoption. Please help me with my research by completing this survey. It will take 15-20 minutes of your time and it is an in depth survey. There are no prizes for helping, just the satisfaction that you have helped the database community as a whole and of course my gratitude. Thank you very much for agreeing to participate in this survey.

To access the survey click here










To view the Code of Practice for the Research click here.

The survey is broken down into several sections

1 Demographics
2 Server Demographics
3 Database Architecture, Design  and Development
4 Database Technical Practices
5 Data and Database Security
6 Change Management
7 Data Management
8 Frameworks
9 Storage
10 Cloud
11 Organizational Culture
12 Application Centric
13 Best Practice

If you would like to read a little more about my research the details are at http://sqltoolkit.co.uk/index.htm

Friday 7 December 2012

PASS SQL Saturday #194

SQL Saturday http://www.sqlsaturday.com/ comes to Exeter in 2013. This event will be held on 8th and 9th March 2013 at Jurys Inn Hotel Exeter. 

On Friday 8th March the pre-conference training day sessions are:
Dave Ballantyne and Dave Morrison - TSQL and internals
Christian Bolton and Gavin Payne - Mission critical data platforms on Windows Server 2012
Denny Cherry - SQL Server Security
André Kamman - Powershell 3.0 for SQL Server Administrators and Developers
Mladen Prajdić - From SQL Traces to Extended Events - The next big switch.

On 9th March is SQL Saturday. Approximately 30 training sessions over 4 trackscovering all areas of working with SQL Server. For more details
http://sqlsouthwest.co.uk/sqlsaturday.htm 

Saturday 1 December 2012

BI Semantic Model (BISM)

The term BI Semanitc model has been bounded around a lot over the last year. I have come across a few really good articles which explain this in more depth.  The definition is that the  BI Semantic Model is one model for all end user experiences.

Here are my a few of articles that clearly explain this term with a really helpful diagram. 

Updated: Analysis Services – Roadmap for SQL Server Code Name “Denali” and Beyond
http://blogs.technet.com/b/dataplatforminsider/archive/2010/11/12/analysis-services-roadmap-for-sql-server-denali-and-beyond.aspx

So, what is the BI Semantic Model?
http://cwebbbi.wordpress.com/2012/02/14/so-what-is-the-bi-semantic-model/

Understanding the SQL Server 2012 BI Semantic Model (BISM)
http://www.mssqltips.com/sqlservertip/2818/understanding-the-sql-server-2012-bi-semantic-model-bism/