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SQL Data Partners Podcast

Hosted by Carlos L Chacon, the SQL Data Partners Podcast focuses on Microsoft data platform related topics mixed with a sprinkling of professional development. Carlos and guests discuss new and familiar features and ideas and how you might apply them in your environments. Visit our website for episode show notes at marathonus.com/podcast and leave a comment if you have a topic you think we should discuss. We’ll see YOU on the SQL Trail.
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Now displaying: 2019

Hosted by Carlos L Chacon, the SQL Data Partners Podcast focuses on Microsoft data platform related topics mixed with a sprinkling of professional development. Carlos and guests discuss new and familiar features and ideas and how you might apply them in your environments. Visit our website for episode show notes at marathonus.com/podcast and leave a comment if you have a topic you think we should discuss. We’ll see YOU on the SQL Trail.

Dec 27, 2019
2020 dawns a first for our podcast. This episode is dedicated entirely to a listener question. We've had questions before; however, this episode the team tackles two questions from longtime listener Trent Adams. The context of his questions surround the concepts of IT having the ability to provide new functionality to the business and the business appearing to be uninterested in moving forward. While we don't know the entire situation, we discuss the best way to identify pain points and ways to introduce new technology without imposing new rules/processes on the business.

We would very much like to have more listener inspired episodes this year. If you have something you want to share with us, head over to sqldatapartners.com/podcast and submit your question and we'll try to help you on the SQL Trail!
 
The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2020/01/01/episode-186-analytics-security-find-pain-points-make-a-plan. Have fun on the SQL Trail!
Dec 19, 2019

Why write a book, when you already have a site full of documentation? In this episode we chat with Rob Sewell about his project to write a book, DBATools in a Month of Lunches. He gives us some insights on what the book is about, how it is different than documentation, and how the process of making the book available in pieces has helped the creative process.

The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/12/19/episode-185-dbatools-in-a-month-of-lunches. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Dec 12, 2019

​You've seen the visualizations and want to dive in--perhaps you were assigned the task. However you started with Power BI, chances are you might get stuck at some point. In this episode, we chat about strategies you can employee to help ensure success. Have a take on this? Hit us up on social media. We'd love to hear from you.

The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/12/11/episode-184-where-do-people-get-stuck-with-power-bi. Have fun on the SQL Trail.

Dec 4, 2019

SQL Server 2019 is out and one of the most interesting additions is SQL Server 2019 Big Data Clusters. In this episode, Kevin Feasel covers the marriage of SQL Server and Apache Spark. We discuss what Big Data Clusters are (and how it's not a SQL Server feature or an edition of SQL Server, but a thing in itself), cover some of the architecture behind the solution, and explain how we can use them.

The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/12/04/episode-183-sql-server-big-data-clusters. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Nov 21, 2019
The very first podcast episode I recorded was about Extended Events. We've had several new versions of SQL Server since that time, so I thought it was time to bring up the subject again. We are joined by MVP Jason Brimhall and he shares his insights on Extended Events, what has changed, and how to get started.
Nov 13, 2019
In the second quarter of 2019, it was announced that Power BI would support paginated reports--at first this was assumed to be connected to an announcement that Power BI would support the RDL files from Reporting Services. The guidance however, was to continue building paginated reports in Power BI. In the fourth quarter of 2019, more information emerged about paginated reports and in this episode we drill into the offering of paginated reports in Power BI and...shhh...we won't spoil it, but an old friend just might play a role in this 'new' offering.

The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/11/13/episode-181-paginated-reports-in-power-bi. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Nov 6, 2019
This week we heard the news of the release for SQL Server 2019 and a major focus of this release is data virtualization. In this episode, we discuss PolyBase--a topic we covered in Episode 95; however it has really come of age with SQL Server 2019. Our very own Kevin Feasel talks about some of the improvements of the feature and we discuss some of the use cases of when it will be useful and some of the pitfalls you might run into as you implement it. We discuss how PolyBase can help you reduce storage and other costs by avoiding the need for ETL processes that duplicate data in order to make it accessible from one source. Kevin is putting the final touches on his book PolyBase Revealed, and if you are looking for a deep dive into the subject, we invite you to check out his book.
 
The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/11/06/episode-180-polybase-in-sql-server-2019. Have fun on the SQL Trail!
Oct 24, 2019
SQL Trail continues to be an experiment in the making and year three proved no different. Eugene joined us this year and we discuss some of the changes, how the vision has changed for the conference and what the future will hold for our event. While there is plenty to be excited about with our event, we couldn't help ourselves and get into a discussion about Power BI and purchasing options.
 
The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/10/24/episode-179-sql-trail-recap-buying-power-bi. Have fun on the SQL Trail!
Oct 17, 2019

After 170 episodes, we bring back Louis Davidson to talk about database design and get his thoughts on how we can get better at planning for our data.

The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/10/16/episode-178-database-design. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Oct 9, 2019
The Lock Pages in Memory policy came up in our internal discussions. I wanted to chat about it a bit more and I couldn't think of a better person than Rick Lowe. After our recent SQL Trail, we sit down to discuss this policy option.
 
The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/10/09/episode-177-lock-pages-in-memory. Have fun on the SQL Trail!
Sep 25, 2019
Creating reports in Power BI is awesome, but once you are ready to publish the reports--where are you going to store all the data? In this episode, we discuss storage options for Power BI and discuss how the version of Power BI can affect storage.
 
The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/09/25/episode-176-power-bi-storage-options/. Have fun on the SQL Trail!
Sep 18, 2019
Are you in the cloud? Lots of folks are talking about moving to the cloud; however, as we find in today's episode this can be tricky to quantify what people mean by being "in the cloud". We are happy to welcome Rick Lowe to the show and he gives his take on working with AWS. We explore what it means to move to the cloud, our experience helping companies get there, why companies would want to consider cloud options, and how you can keep up with all the craziness of new technologies in the cloud.
 
The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/09/19/episode-175-migrating-to-the-cloud. Have fun on the SQL Trail!
Jun 27, 2019
What do you do when you want to use the Visualizations of Power BI but management doesn't want to send company data to the cloud? Well, you can implement Power BI Report Server! In this episode we discuss the differences in architecture with the on-premises version of Power BI along with the limitations and options this version brings.
 
The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/06/26/episode-174-power-bi-report-server. Have fun on the SQL Trail!
Jun 12, 2019

As the data platform continues to evolve, so do certifications. In this episode we chat with Rick Heiges about the new role-based certifications and how they fit into Microsoft's cloud platform. We revisit how certifications still play a role in career development and how certifications have changed. Also, Kevin gives us his experience with taking an exam at home.

The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/06/12/episode-173-new-data-certifications. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Jun 5, 2019

From a SQL Server perspective we have many ways to identify problem areas. In this episode, we discuss ways to diagnose performance issues in Power BI. They are certainly making many strides; however, the tools won't feel as mature as they do in SQL Server. We review usage metrics, audit logs, the new Data Gateway monitoring tool and monitoring options in Power BI Premium. The Performance Analyzer had just been released and while we don't go into great detail, we'll be sure to include it in the show notes.

The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/06/05/episode-172-power-bi-monitoring/. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

May 22, 2019

You’ve got first name, last name, full name, birth date, address, email, phone, tax ID or Social Security Number, driver’s license number, medical evaluation notes, MAC address, and IP address columns in a table. So, what would you encrypt in this table? In this episode, our guest, Tom Norman discusses various encryption options and how he goes about choosing what to encrypt. As there are more and more security breaches, the ability to encrypt data is as important as ever.

The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/05/22/episode-171-sql-server-encryption. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

May 15, 2019

Two years ago blogger Jay Killeen observed, "And with modern languages and modern applications such as PowerBI and Power Query you should be safe to assume there would be modern tooling. You would be wrong." In this episode, Eugene and I explore the challenges with Devops in Power BI and some ways we and others have implemented to help us deal with versions and team development of reports. Companeros, you can also win a SQL Data Partners T-shirt if you post on social media using the hashtag #sqltrail.

The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/05/15/episode-170-devops-with-power-bi/. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

May 8, 2019
These are dark times. Drastic measures must be taken. In this episode, we talk about--coding. *Queue scary music* Last year I bumped into Sean McCown and found out he had coded himself a GUI for his MinionWare product. This left me both impressed and stumped. We talk with Sean, Eugene, and Kevin about why they decided to learn a coding language and I give some of my hesitations for not picking up a coding book.
 
The show notes can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/05/08/episode-169-should-you-learn-to-code. Have fun on the SQL Trail!
May 1, 2019

One of the great abilities we have with Power BI is connecting to multiple data sources. Authors can actually publish data sources for others to use in their reports. Developers then get to mix and match our reports with all that data; however, there will be times we don't want everyone to see all the data sources. In today's episode, we discuss Power BI privacy levels, what they are and what they can--and can't do for you.

The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/05/01/episode-168-data-privacy-settings. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Apr 25, 2019

Azure SQL Data Sync has been generally available for almost a year now. Have you heard of it? Are you using it? Microsoft's page tell us that "Data Sync is useful in cases where data needs to be kept up-to-date across several Azure SQL databases or SQL Server databases." When you want to learn about a new product or feature, who better to ask than the Senior Project Manager in charge of it? Today we chat about Azure SQL Data Sync with Xiaochen Wu from Microsoft. He explains how it works, why you might want to use it, it's current limitations and what's in the pipeline in the way of improvements. It's an exciting time to be in technology and a great conversation!

The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/04/24/episode-167-azure-sql-data-sync. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Apr 17, 2019

The number one reason organizations choose Power BI is the ability to visualize data; however, even with all the immediate choices, many report developers desire to create custom visualizations. In this episode, we chat about custom visualizations for Power BI: how to get them, how to pick them, and when (if ever) you would consider building your own. Have a favorite custom visualization you have used? Let us know!

The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/04/17/episode-166-custom-visuals. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Mar 28, 2019

Why should I care about this episode? I know many of you are going to ask that question. Artificial Intelligence is getting lots of buzz and in this episode we invite Hope Foley from Microsoft to discuss why and how AI is relevant to those in the data platform community. We get a little help from Kevin Feasel as we try to connect the dots between all the hype and how this can and will affect you in the future. Did we do a good job? Let us know and contribute to the conversation.

The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/03/27/episode-165-artificial-intelligence. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Mar 21, 2019

DAX is the acronym for Data Analysis Expressions, and it is the formula language used throughout Power BI. In this episode we talk about DAX concepts and how they are simple and straightforward, but can be confusing for those coming from a relational database background. DAX uses some unique programming concepts and patterns which can make it difficult to fully use and understand. We talk about some experiences getting started with this language and ideas on how you can get started.

The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/03/20/episode-164-the-dax-episode. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Mar 13, 2019

Are you experiencing challenges managing Very Large Databases (VLDBs), or anticipate challenges with future growth? In this episode, we are joined by Aaron Hayes to discuss the practical advice on managing very large databases in SQL Server, focusing on common problem areas we have found, along with our own experiences. Topics include storage layout decisions, unique tuning challenges, HA/DR implications, and database restores, along with the challenges of getting backups, re-indexing and DBCC checks into your maintenance windows. No comparisons here -- we are sure you will enjoy the discussion regardless of your database size.

The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2019/03/12/episode-163-very-large-databases. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

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