PASS 24 Data Community Summit

This week it is PASS 24 Data Community Summit

The Microsoft Keynote was entitled, Fuel AI innovation with Azure Databases.

The session abstract: Data is the fuel for innovation, driving the development of transformative AI applications. In this keynote, join Shireesh and the Microsoft engineering team as they explore harnessing the power of data across the Azure databases portfolio to drive ground breaking advancements. Take your first step on the journey with vector search, multi-agent apps and more and learn to unlock new patterns like retrieval augmented generation (RAG).  Explore the latest database innovations in SQL Server, Azure SQL, Azure Cosmos DB, Azure Database for PostgreSQL and Azure Database for MySQL that enhance operational efficiency, deliver personalized user experiences, and revolutionize the way we interact with technology. 

There were some great announcements 

Announcing

• SSMS 21 and Copilot in SSMS
• Azure SQL Database Hyperscale enhancements (Storage up to 128TB (GA) Log throughput rate up to 150 MB per second (Preview) , Continuous priming (Preview))

Preview

• Next gen general purpose on Azure SQL Managed Instance (32TB of storage, 500 DBs, Lower storage latency, improved storage importance, customisable I/O performance)
• Migration Assessment from SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc
• Mirroring in Fabric for Azure SQL Database and Azure Cosmos DB
• In-database embedding generation
• Vector Indexing and search in Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL
• Native vector type and functions in Azure SQL Database (Available now)
• DiskANN indexing in Azure Database for PostgreSQL

Generally available

• Bi-directional disaster recovery with link feature in Azure SQL Managed Instance
• Flat and quantized flat vector indexes in Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL
• Serverless auto-pause delay to 15 min
• Azure AI extension
• Hyperscale elastic pools
• Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB enhancements

SQLBits 2022: a hybrid event

What an emotional event. After 2 years of working at home, and everything virtual we all managed to meet in person. It was amazing to meet people in person again at Excel in London from 8 March to 12 March. It came with some apprehension and trying to be careful with testing daily, keeping your social distance as much as possible and some mask wearing as well. I hope this is the first of many more to come, but everyone I spoke to thought things would never return to how they were.  So I think for the time being hybrid events are here to stay.

I was a helper at SQLBits 2022, an orange shirt, helping out with room monitoring and the event. Also with the event being hybrid we also provided virtual room monitoring, chatting and helping those virtual attendees also enjoy the event.  Speakers were both in person and virtual.

Also this year was the start of something new, an initiative to try and help people on their own and first timers enjoy SQLBits.  We are the Bits Buddies.  The central hub was the newly envisioned community corner.  

In addition to that I was part of two panel discussions. 

1. Data Governance with Azure Purview - Ask the Experts with Erwin de Kreuk, Wolfgang Strasser and Richard Munn asking the questions in this open session, there was the chance to ask the panel of 3 MVPs about data governance for your business using Azure Purview.
2. Women in Tech: Keys to a Successful Career Panel Discussion with Rie Merritt, Pragati Jain and Cathrine Wilhelmsen. Our career is a journey that is unique to us, but that doesn't mean we don't have shared experiences. The panel of women data professionals had an open discussion on their winding career paths, how they got here, and where they're heading next. We talked about what it was like to be a woman in tech, what worked, and how building a strong network of people to be in your corner can help you achieve your goals.

I also took part in Venturi's Voice Podcast which focuses on tech, career and leadership. 

It was quiet a juggling act this year but it was a lot of fun and I think something special. I made new friends and the SQLBits organisers were amazing and all those who contributed to the success of the conference.  

SQLBits 2022 Sessions

SQLBits is only a few days away. It seems very strange to be attending an in person event. The SQLBits panel sessions I am taking part in are all about the community pulling together to create sessions. It is amazing that SQLBits have thought a lot about diversity, inclusion and the sqlfamily this year.

SQLBits Buddies

Bits Buddies is a new idea being trialled at SQLBits Arcade. It is aimed at the social side of the event. We want attendees to really enjoy the event and not feel isolated with no one to talk to or to share the event with. We would love you to attend the event again next year and leave the event having made new connections in the sqlfamily. We want to help you become a part of our amazing community. 

Before the event, we are having a drop in chat office hours sessions with some of the SQLBits Buddies to answer questions and so you can meet a friendly face. For more details  #sqlbits2022

Bridge to a new universe: the end-to-end Azure Data Platform

 

Exciting to watch the Day 1 Keynote a Bridge to a new universe: the end-to-end Azure Data Platform delivered by Rohan Kumar and many other people. 

A journey to a new universe is just waiting to inspire innovation, to tap into limitless possibilities and potential. It covered how to shape your data so you can harness its power to find a new galaxy of insights, answers, and predictions.  Some amazing slides and discussion to set you on a new path. 

Three universes bridged together unmatched analytics and insights, limitless cloud data services and unified data governance.

Rohan shared a great quote "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. " The SQL Server community has always worked together to achieve some amazing goals. 

Three main data communities were discussed SQLSaturday, Data Saturdays and the Azure Data Community

SQL Server 2022 preview brings with it many new features.  

There are to be two interlinking services Azure Synapse Link and Azure Purview. 

More details were discussed in the keynote but I will share those separately. As ever an inspiring future for us in the data community. 

Read More

Microsoft Ignite book of news

 Announcing SQL Server 2022 preview: Azure-enabled with continued performance and security innovation

Data Platform Virtual Summit 2021 Keynote

The Data Platform Summit has started. An excellent session covering the Azure data stack identifying when to use each tool and the key innovations with SQL. It was nice to see an explanation of when to use what tool. With so many tools now it becomes hard to know which is the best choice.  This useful chart was shown.

Azure SQL Edge

SQL Server 2019

Solves the modern data challenges 

• Data visualization and big data clusters
• Modern platforms with compatibility
• Built-in machine learning and extensibility
• Intelligent performance
• Layers of security and complain
• Business critical availability

SQL Linux/Container

Containers are portable and can run anywhere containers are supported. They are lightweight with reduced disk, CPU and memory footprint. They have a consistent image of SQL Server, scripts and tools and are efficient with faster deployment, no patching required and less downtime. 

Azure SQL

SQL Server vs. Azure SQL PasS are 

• business continuity, high availability, automated backups, long term backup retention , geo-replication
• scale, advanced security, version-less, built in monitoring and built-in intelligence. 

There are Azure SQL Editions for general purpose, business critical and hyperscale

Azure Arc

Bring Azure data services to on-premises, multi cloud and edge with Azure Arc. Azure Arc enabled SQL Managed Instance has many advantages.

The value of the Cloud provides additional tools such as

• Azure Defender to protect your data
• Azure SQL Database Ledger for blockchain
• Telemetry across all your assets with Azure Monitor SQL Insights

Then to help with migration there are tools available

• Azure Migrate to discover and assess your SQL Server assets
• Migrate Inline with Azure Data Studio
• Migrate online with Azure Database Migration Service or Log Replay Service

A few tools were not mentioned that form part of the data suite such as Azure Cosmos DB. The expansion of tools and options has grown significantly over the last few years so it is always good to assess what business objective you are trying to achieve and select the right tool.
 

Data Conferences

I have been surprised by the number of data conferences there are and the continuing growth and diversity of the topics and formats. As well as the main and specialist conferences, a few of which are listed below,  there are a huge number of training events that take place in the evenings and weekends such as  SQL Saturdays ,  Azure Data Community and Data Saturdays . With all these events providing learning opportunities ,and many for free, we are very lucky that we have a community that is so will to share their experience.

Conferences	Date	URL
Dativerse	13-Aug-21	https://datagrillen.com/dativerse/
Data Platform Virtual Summit	13-18 Sept 2021	https://dataplatformgeeks.com/dps2021/
Future Data Driven	29-Sep-21	https://datadrivencommunity.com/
DataMinds Connect	11-12 Oct 2021	https://datamindsconnect.be/
New Stars of Data	22-Oct-2021	https://www.newstarsofdata.com/
Data Weekender	06-Nov-2021	https://www.dataweekender.com/
PASS Data Community Summit	8-12 Nov 2021	https://passdatacommunitysummit.com/
The SQL Server & Azure SQL Conference	7-9 Dec 2021	https://www.mssqlconf.com/#!/
Data & AI Summit	27-30 June 2022	https://databricks.com/dataaisummit
Big Data LDN	22-23 Sept 2021	https://bigdataldn.com/
SQLBits	2022	https://sqlbits.com/
Azure Cosmos DB Conf	20-21 April 2021	https://gotcosmos.com/conf
Power BI Summit	7-11 March 2022	https://globalpowerbisummit.com/
Data Toboggan	12-Jun-2021	http://www.datatoboggan.co.uk/
Microsoft Build 2021	25-27 May 2021	https://mybuild.microsoft.com/home
Microsoft Ignite 2021	2-4 Nov 2021	https://myignite.microsoft.com/home
Microsoft Inspire 2021	14-Jul-2021	https://myinspire.microsoft.com/home
DataMinutes	22-Jan-2022	https://datagrillen.com/dataminutes/

PASS Data Community

Redgate has been amazing taking over the data community flag of PASS. They are sharing resources at speed with the community.

PASS Summits

Redgate commits to the future of PASS

They feel in-person events aren’t going to be an option for a while, so they are thinking about planning the Summit as a virtual community conference again this year.

“PASS Pro” Educational series 

Redgate announce that the expert-led educational training courses covering the following four topics are available to all: Data Modernization, Azure Migration, Azure Synapse, Azure SQL. Watch the sessions and learn from a range of experts online here

PASS Summit 2019 Learning Pathway 

These videos are arriving on PASStv on Youtube

PASS cease operations

I read some sad news. PASS have been an amazing organization for helping me grow my data platform expertise, learn and network in the database world. The summit events will always be something to remember. They have just always been there. It is sad to have another casualty of COVID-19. 

PASS could not have anticipated the impact COVID-19 would have on the world, and on our organization. We are all reeling from what this year has been and done, and it is with heavy hearts that we must share yet one more bit of bad news from the annus horribilis that was 2020. We are saddened to tell you that, due to the impact of COVID-19, PASS is ceasing all regular operations, effective January 15, 2021. With the registration shortfall from PASS Virtual Summit, a lack of cashflow, and considering future obligations that PASS has on the books (i.e. 5 years’ worth of convention center and hotel agreements), PASS has no choice but to cease its operations and pursue dissolution. During our December 3rd, 2020 Board meeting, the PASS Board unanimously approved taking next steps in this unfortunate, but necessary, direction. PASS has engaged experienced insolvency counsel and other professionals. All steps that PASS takes now are under the advice of our independent legal counsel as a part of the insolvency process. This includes communications, debt repayment, asset disbursement, conducting Board business, and all other actions. We encourage you to take full advantage of any access that you have to PASS content between now and January 15, 2021. After that point, PASS servers will cease to function and members will no longer be able to access any PASS resources. So, in the meantime, you can watch sessions on our website, and download session recordings that you’ve purchased or that you have access to as a PASS Pro member. Please take full advantage of this exclusive content while you can. Thank you for your support and engagement over the years. We wish you all the best. The PASS Board

Out of ashes rises something new that shines brightly in the sky. A beacon of hope and new beginnings. Time to create a new free community conference and #sqlfamily home that utilizes technology, not just  Teams and virtual conferencing but create a virtual world with 3d imaginary of yourself for full interaction with ones peers. There needs to be a central hub as it is so important to be a part of the community to share, grow and innovate. That is what makes the #sqlfamily such a strong community.

PASS Virtual Summit 2020 Keynote Day 1

The summit, 10-13 November 2020 is being live streamed through PASSTV.

This year’s first keynote is entitled 'Bringing the future into focus, the end to end Azure Data platform'.

Digital transformation brings change. This change of new technologies can be challenging to learn. For businesses the economies of scale can create efficiencies. The data platform has many elements BI, Analytics and AI, Hybrid Data management, relational databases, Edge and IOT, NoSQL databases, Azure Open Source Database Services (OSS databases) etc. New technologies can help save time. It is good news that the DBA’s key skills are transferable.

Azure services consist of SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines (for lift and shift and OS level access), Azure SQL Managed Instances (for modernizing existing apps), Azure SQL Database (for build cloud apps). There is also  hyperscale for specific use cases. SQL Server workloads run best on Azure and have patching regimes.

It is good to see that Azure helps customers move at their own pace to the cloud which will enable them to pivot their company with less risk to something new. Azure SQL Server serverless means  pay only for what is required. Azure Edge is an interesting development and is now generally available.

 

With the complex network of applications and systems in the modern data landscape it can be difficult to connect the data to gain value. Data virtualization is an important change.

Azure Arc

Azure Arc is, I think, a real game changer to help with diverse database locations. It is a set of technologies that extends azure management and native data services outside of azure infrastructure to run across your environment even if you can’t migrate to the cloud due to data sovereignty, latency and or regulatory requirements you can still get the efficiency and agility the cloud offers with Azure Arc.

It is a versionless evergreen SQL that ensures you are always current. It provides cloud elasticity on premises which allows optimization of performance of your workloads and dynamically scale up and down without application downtime.   Azure Arc offers unified management which allows you to see your data services running on premises alongside these running on azure through a single pane of glass and manage them using familiar tools like azure portal, azure data studio and azure CLI.

Azure Arc enabled SQL Server Managed Instance and PostgreSQL Hyperscale are in Public Preview

It is possible to use features such as vulnerability assessment and advance threat protection with SQL Defender using the same rules and machine learning algorithms.

The public preview was announced for

•          Azure Cosmos DB – Serverless for all APIs
•          Azure Database for PostgreSQL – Flexible Server
•          Azure Database for MySQL – Flexible Server
•          Azure Cache for Redis – Enterprise

Cloud Scale analytics on Azure with Azure Synapse Analytics and Azure Databricks

 

Announcing public preview of new guided UI for machine learning models. Then to complete the services, Azure Synapse to analyse the data and then report  on it in Power BI completes the stack.

SQLBits 2020 Keynote from Edge to Cloud

The keynote for the 2020 SQLBits was delivered by Rohan Kumar on 'Digital Transformation from Edge to Cloud with Azure Data' . This celebrated the tools used to achieve digital transformation at breakneck speed within months and shared the innovations just launching. The Azure Data Strategy includes various tools such as cloud databases, Azure Synapse Analytics and Power BI. These tools enable innovation anywhere, on premises, at the edge and in the cloud. 

The Azure Data Strategy includes many tools, incorporating SQL Server.

Azure SQL Edge delivers intelligence to the edge. Azure SQL Edge is generally available.

Azure Synapse offers a new class of analytics. There were two announcements Public Preview of Azure Synapse Link for Azure Cosmos DB (Synapse SQL Serverless) and Private preview of Power BI performance accelerator for Azure Synapse Analytics.

Also announced was the Public preview of Power BI app for Teams.

A keynote full of ideas for innovation, how to drive a data strategy forward and help the environment in which we live in today

Microsoft Ignite 2020 - digital event

 It is exciting to see  Microsoft Ignite be a digital event experience on September 22-24, 2020. Despite this being a strange year the 

The sessions catalog is here.The catalog contains some amazinf learning experiences. The session Building Digital Resilience with Satya Nadella will be an interesting session to watch. I find Satya Nadella such an inspirational speaker.

Have you completed your event list?

🗹 Register 🗹 Download Digital Swag 🗹 Schedule sessions 🗹 Schedule Fun & Wellness breaks 🗹 Get favorite comfy outfit

SQLBits 2020 goes Virtual

Very excited to here about the change of event from a face to face event to a virtual event. I don't think a year would be complete without SQLBits. With so many virtual tech conferences this year there is so much choice. My number 1 choice is always SQLBits. I have attended and helped at every event since inception. Further information and how to book your tickets: http://sqlbits.com . The event is running 29th September - 3rd October 2020

Microsoft Ignite 2020

Microsoft Ignite will be back in September 2020. Microsoft Ignite will be launched as a complimentary digital event experience this September. Join them to learn innovative ways to build solutions, migrate and manage our infrastructure, and connect with Microsoft experts and other technology professionals from around the globe.

It is also possible to view all sessions from last year’s Microsoft Ignite.

Data Weekender

A Virtual Popup Microsoft Data Conference is happening on Saturday 2nd May 2020 https://www.dataweekender.com/

Data Community Weekender Europe is a new online conference hosted by various professionals from around Europe. With many events cancelled or postponed across Europe (and the world) in March, April and May, they wanted to put on an online data platform conference for the community to fill that void left by the cancelling of the in-person events on a day that hopefully, most people can attend.

This is set to be an amazing event.

MVP Virtual Summit

The COVID-19 virus has resulted in Microsoft converting this year’s MVP/ Regional Director Summit to an online-only / virtual event. It was scheduled for the same week (Mar 16-19). Microsoft have worked hard to plan and prepare an alternate experience that still provides the exclusive in-depth technical sessions in an online-only format and is inclusive to our globally distributed community.

After day 2 of the summit it is still an amazing event. Using Microsoft Teams has been brilliant and the team have done an amazing job bringing it all together in such short notice.

Data Relay postpones to help SQLBits, a united community

It is a difficult time for conferences with the COVID-19 virus outbreak. As a conference owner we we have to think about the #SQLFamily and how to help keep everyone as safe as possible. It is with regret that we, Data Relay had to postpone our event in September, however I was proud to be part of a team that worked with a united community front. We have enabled SQLBits to move dates to 29th September - 3rd October, the original Data Relay dates. We now have to plan for a new set of Data Relay events and will share these once we have sorted this out.

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SQL Bits 2020 Microsoft sessions

Here is a quick guide to a few of the Data and AI sessions from Microsoft at SQLBits.
Keynote: Join Gayle Sheppard, CVP, Azure Data for a keynote presentation on the journey of SQL Server from edge to cloud, packed with exciting demos and customer stories.
SQL Server 2019: The modern data platform: Bob Ward will give you the highlights, including the most exciting new features in SQL Server 2019 like Data virtualization, Big Data Clusters, Accelerated Database recovery, and more.
Sandboxing SQL Server 2019 Big Data Clusters: James Rowland Jones Big Data Clusters combine the power of SQL Server, Apache Spark, and HDFS to gain intelligence over all your data.
Modern Database design: Connor Cunningham will talk about improving the performance and scale of the databases in real-world scenarios using technologies including columnstore, in-memory tables, Azure SQL Database Hyperscale, Always On Availability Groups, and readable secondaries.
Azure Data Services on Azure Arc: Vin Yu talks about the newly launched hybrid service Azure Arc, which lets your run Azure Data Services anywhere. He will show you some of the management capabilities of Azure Arc such as elastic scale and automatic patching.
Azure Synapse Analytics:   Michael Rys brings together big data and data warehousing through new technology and a unified development experience.
Azure Data Studio features in 20 minutes: Vicky Harp will provide a quick refresher on the new features in Azure Data Studio.
10 DBA tasks for Azure SQL: Alain Dormehl and Rie Irish talk on the 10 most common DBA tasks for Azure SQL and how they differ from on prem DBA tasks.
Azure SQL Hyperscale Deep Dive: Alain Dormehl, Davide Mauri, and Denzil Ribeiro discuss how Hyperscale can enable you to innovate with nearly limitless storage in a future-proof, world class, fully managed database.
Microsoft Learn will showcase the complete offering of training and certifications available to the Data & AI professionals. 

Data Relay 2020

I am excited to share the 2020 Data Relay tour details. We will be returning to Reading this year following a break last year. The dates and venues are:

Leeds Monday 28 September
Nottingham Tuesday 29 September
Birmingham Wednesday 30 September
Reading Thursday 1 October
Bristol Friday 2 October

SQLBits 2020 Theme

The SQLBits theme has been announced for 2020. The Greatest Data Show!

They say no one ever makes a difference being like everyone else. SQLBits want you to bring your alter ego, embrace oddity, and soak in the spectacle at #SQLBits2020!

Registration is still open, so register now.