16Nov 2012 by Grant Fritchey 2 Comments

HDInsight and Buggy Whips

HDInsight
I sat the through the big announcements at the 2011 PASS Summit about the partnership between Microsoft and Hadoop. I recognized it as... interesting, but not necessarily earth shattering. I was aware of the NoSQL movement and understood that it answered a pain point that structured data couldn't really adequately answer, but that was really it. Then I sat through the sessions this year showing the stuff coming out with the Parallel Data Warehouse (PDW) and PolycBAse. Then I watched Dr. Dewitt promise me that I'd be seeing similar functionality within the main SQL Server tool and suddenly... I looked at my structured data knowledge, glanced back at the stuff going on in the keynotes and frankly, they really did look a lot like automobiles. Quick clarification, I've mentioned it…
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14Nov 2012 by Grant Fritchey 3 Comments

Remote Desktop and Surface

Surface
The Windows RT operating system is not the same as Windows. After all the talk about the upcoming OS and hardware, this should not be a shock to anyone. This means that there are going to be some apps that just won't run on your RT device. OK, not a problem. Because you can always attack to a remote desktop session, right? Maybe. The principal app for doing remote desktop from the RT has a funky name. It's called Remote Desktop. It was not installed on my machine by default. I had to go and get it from the Store. No big deal. The UI is incredibly simple. Enter the name of  the PC you want to connect to. I have not made my Surface a part of my domain…
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12Nov 2012 by Grant Fritchey 3 Comments

Surface Problems With Azure

Surface
I've been posting about the Surface over the last couple of weeks and I've tried really hard to be positive about it. But there are some serious problems with the device. I've already made a stink about the apps, but this time, I want to talk about the Microsoft ecosystem. I'm working more and more with online services. These vary from storage, such as SkyDrive to Amazon Servers to Azure. And Azure is my problem. I sit here, typing into a device that is really, really close to being fully productive despite being extremely small and light. Really close. And, it's supposed to be a major player within the Microsoft world. It's what the new OS was designed for, or so I thought. But, I might have just found my…
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11Nov 2012 by Grant Fritchey 1 Comment

Purpose of the Surface RT

Surface
I'm a little over two weeks with the Surface at this point. I've been travelling all of that time, so I have been using the Surface quite a lot, as I used to my (beloved) Android tablet. It took a little while to get functional enough, upgrading the dysfunctional Office that came installed, figuring out how to get various email set up, learning how to use the touch type, and figuring out the operating system. But, at this time, the Surface is close to functional. Close. But what's it for? First, it's a consumption device. I've got a web browser in my hands, wherever I go, as long as I can get WIFI. That gives me a hefty chunk of the world to work with. I can rent movies. I've…
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09Nov 2012 by Grant Fritchey 6 Comments

Using the Surface

Surface
I'm attempting to push this thing. I want it to be a production device, not just a consumption device. Frankly, until there are a lot more apps (which don't crash & burn), this isn't all that attractive a consumption device. Typing with the touch keyboard has gotten radically better as I've worked with it. So much so, it's starting to mess with the way I type on a real keyboard, jut a little. I find a little pause, every so often, after typing quite a few words, resting my fingers, just for a moment, on the home keys (bless my typing class in high school), getting my index fingers reoriented to the little indents that mark F and J. I actually just used that last sentence as an example. Each…
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09Nov 2012 by Grant Fritchey No Comments

PASS Summit Day 3: Dr. David Dewitt

PASS
Two quick points, I'm putting this blog together using the Surface.. ooh... and this isn't a keynote, but a spotlight session at the Summit. Still, I thought I would live blog my thoughts because I've done it for every time Dr. Dewitt has spoken at the Summit. Right off, he has a slide with a little brain character representing himself. But, we're talking PolyBase, and futures. This is basically a way to combine hadoop unstructured nosql data with structured storage within SQL Server. Mostly this is within the new Parallel Datawarehouse. But it's coming to all of SQL Server, so we need to learn this. The information ties directly back to what was presented at yesterday's keynote. HDFS is the file system. On top of that a framework for executing…
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08Nov 2012 by Grant Fritchey No Comments

PASS Summit 2012 Day 2: Keynote

PASS
Welcome to Day 2 of the PASS Summit! It's been a very exciting event so far. Today I'm presenting two sessions, one on tuning queries by fixing bad parameter sniffing and one on reading execution plans. Please stop by, or watch the one on execution plans on TV as PASS is livestreaming events all day long on SQL TV (which is what I used to call Profiler). The intro video, which can be good or goofy was really good this year. They had people from all over the world talking in their native language, making the point that the PASS organization is a global community. It really is. Doug McDowell is giving us the finance and governance information for the PASS organization. I find this boring and vital at the…
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08Nov 2012 by Grant Fritchey 4 Comments

PASS Summit 2012 Day 2: KILT DAY!

PASS
Welcome to the fourth Kilt Day at the SQL PASS Summit. It might be a little silly, but it's fun. It's also Women in Technology day with the WIT Luncheon. Guys are invited. A short word about the bloggers table. Last year we were... a little loud. So this year, we were cautioned... well, more like told to be quiet or they'd take away our toys. I agree with the intent of the message, please keep it down. But the delivery... it hurt PASS at the bloggers table and upset people. As I was reminded last night by a dear, dear friend who I accidently hurt, how you deliver a message is as important as the message you deliver. But, that's OK. Let's learn from our mistakes, grow & move…
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07Nov 2012 by Grant Fritchey No Comments

PASS Summit 2012 Day 1

PASS
We're off and running here at the PASS Summit. New this year is live streaming all day. Bill Graziano is introducing the Summit. More importantly, he's introducing PASS. Further, he's introducing speakers to everyone. He doesn't mean just speakers at the summit, but anyone who has spoken at a SQL Saturday or a user group, and it was a scary large group of people. PASS has created a new web site to make it easier to find local Chapters. Track one down. On the one hand, it's weird that we're sitting at the PASS Summit and introducing the PASS organization, but I think they're right to do it. It's a great organization and I'm always surprised at how many people don't know about it. Bill's big announcement is the all…
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05Nov 2012 by Grant Fritchey No Comments

PASS Summit 2012: Day -3

PASS
The Summit proper starts on Wednesday, but the Summit starts at registration. I left a little early from work setting up for SQL in the City: Seattle in order to run up the hill and get to the convention center around the time that it opened. Why? Cause I get to meet my SQL Family for the first time this week. Lots of people are there and it really is like a family reunion. Smiles, hugs, catching up, stories. It's the best way to launch the event. Not a lot to report, but I just had to share. I love my SQL Family.
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