Kilt Day!

Uncategorized
This is a quick blog post to announce that I am reviving Kilt Day at PASS Data Community Summit. Over the last few years... ah hell, let's just say it. I'm old. Without equivocation, no reserve, I love PASS Summit. But holy smokes it's exhausting. Especially the last few years. What's changed? Me. I'm getting old. So, I looked around at things I could trim, stuff I could avoid, ways I could be both be a bit more comfortable and just take some load off my shoulders. Kilt Day. I tried to get others to "run" it. No one did. It's a bit inexplicable because, there's nothing to it. Announce it. Advertise it (this is the "hard" part). Keep advertising it. Show up in a kilt. That's pretty much it.…
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Restore AWS RDS Databases On-Premises

AWS, RDS, SQL Server, Uncategorized
Did you know that you can restore AWS RDS databases to a SQL Server 2022 instance running locally using native backup and restore? Well you can. Let's talk about it. Why S3? So, why put backups on S3 at all? Two big reasons. Let's say you're mostly, or strictly, on-premises with your servers. You can use S3 storage on AWS as a way to get your backups offsite. I just recently tried to help someone in the forums who was taking backups, but not testing them in any way, only to find that their local storage had become corrupted and when they needed the backup, it wasn't there. First, of course, they should be testing their backups. However, in addition, they should have moved the backup to an offsite location.…
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Queries Impacting TempDB

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The question came up that someone wanted to monitor the queries impacting tempdb using Extended Events. Initially, I was pretty sure that there was no real way to do this. The standard query events like rpc_completed includes spill information, if any occurred, but that's it. There are also no actions that you can add to an event that would capture tempdb behaviors. So, I want to my senior DBA, YaDuBiGle. I found this ancient (2009) article on SQLTips, that surprised me with a pretty slick solution using, are you ready, waits. Clever. How well does it work? Let's try it out. Testing Capturing Queries Impacting TempDB I'm not stealing their code, so you can follow the link to see the setup. I'm much more interested in the results. How well…
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Why You Need Presentation Skills

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And no, the answer is not because you want to be a Microsoft MVP. Multiple surveys have been published over the decades that list "fear of public speaking" as one of people's top fears. Some are even more afraid of this than death. Yet, public speaking is a skill we all need. Allow me to take a moment to explain why. You Are On Stage All The Time You may not think so, but you are tasked with a lot of public speaking as part of your job if you're in IT. Seriously. You constantly do it. Don't believe me? Allow me to ask a few questions. Have you in the last couple of months tried to convince the boss to implement a process change or adopt a new technology?…
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Thank You Andy!

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I remember going into Andy Leonard's session at PASS Summit in Denver. I'm not going to lie, it was kind of sparsely attended, so I got to sit up front and ask questions. Andy answered 'em like the pro that he is and then we got to talking afterwards. I'm honored to say we became friends. Thank you Andy! Andy is one of those people who is quick to try stuff out and then share it with others. He introduced me to Google Hangouts and both of us experimented with them quite a lot, sometimes being the only person in each other's Hangout. Which means we got to talk quite a bit. Thanks Andy. Go read Andy's blog sometime. Yeah, you're going to learn some technical content. However, you're also…
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Thank You Tim!

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Ah, Tim Ford. I remember the time we were sitting at Ruth Kriss Steakhouse trying to figure out which of the two of us was the dumbest person in the room. Just so we're clear, it was me. Anyway, we've been friends for a long time. Thanks Tim! Thanks for being insane enough to think that teaching tech on a cruise was a good idea. Then, being so utterly 'round the bend that you actually did it. Multiple times. Successfully. And I got to take part in it. Thank you Tim! Like with Wendy, there are no words to express how I feel about our time on the PASS board. Thank you. We've spent so much time together, honestly, it's hard to pick out all the ways you've been kind…
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Thank You Wendy!

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I honestly don't know when or how I met Wendy Pastrick, but I'm so happy I did. Wendy and I have been friends for a very long time. Thank you Wendy! I think the biggest thing I can say about Wendy is that she builds communities. I suspect no one knows just how much she has done, behind the scenes at her local events in Chicago, at the national and international level, all to get people together to share & learn from one another. Wendy has been one of the guiding lights and foundational persons, and I know, not enough people are aware. For almost literally toiling in darkness, thank you Wendy. Wendy and I have not shared a technical track the way I have with others. Her specialties &…
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Thank You Allen!

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I know I can say that I'm a friend of Allen White without getting into trouble. Allen and I have a shared a lot of things over the years and I'm inordinately pleased that I know the man. Thanks Allen. Allen was the very first person, ever, to say to me "Say, aren't you Grant Fritchey? You wrote that book on Execution Plans." To say I was blown away that anyone, anywhere, would recognize me, well, there's simply no way to understate this. Thank you, Allen, for the recognition. Allen has always been one of the clever ones. He was up and using Powershell almost before it was released, or so it seemed. When I was just barely starting to figure out the kind of automation I live by now,…
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Thank You Kevin!

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I don't think I'm going too far out on a limb to call Kevin Kline a friend. I'm extremely humbled and honored that I can say that. Kevin is just a good person. Thanks, Kevin. Years ago, on a guess, about 12-13, I was talking with Tom LaRock, another great guy, and we both said, "Damn, I wish I had Kevin's job". Kevin has been an evangelist/advocate for a few different organizations over the years. Within a year, Tom did. About another year after that, so did I. However, Kevin lead the way. He showed us what a good advocate looked like. Thanks Kevin. I wouldn't have my outstanding job if it weren't for you showing me how. Kevin was also one of the founding members of what was the…
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