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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: 2020

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 31, 2020

20 years ago, the objection to implementing security on the basis of performance had validity—especially for smaller organizations. Security was a pain in the neck; however, how many of us are still hanging on to some of those old biases. Even worse, some of us IT pros seem to put up objections to doing the most basic security procedures—sending usernames and passwords in unencrypted emails for example. In this episode we hear from Karen Lopez, a long time speaker on data architecture and security about 10 things she thinks those of us with data stewardship responsibilities should consider.

The show notes for today's episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2020/12/31/episode-212-10-things-you-need-to-know-about-data-security/. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Dec 23, 2020

Microsoft released a lengthy white paper on the SolarWinds hack affecting thousands of computers. This is scary stuff, and the details continue to come out slowly and you wonder how it all will play out. Many IT pros rely on SolarWinds for monitoring and in this episode, we discuss the exploit, how mere mortals like us might feel a bit overwhelmed at the prospect, and what our due diligence is in a scenario like this.

The show notes for today's episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2020/12/23/episode-211-solorigate/. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Dec 18, 2020

It was sad news to hear PASS plans to dissolve in January of 2021. So much good has come of the community and it is sad to see it go. In this episode, we explore the why behind the collapse and what we think may emerge in the aftermath.

The show notes for today's episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2020/12/18/episode-210-the-elephant-in-the-room/. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Dec 14, 2020

Finding your first full time job is incredibly difficult—and that was before we were in a worldwide pandemic. In this episode, we discuss some strategies and share some experiences about how we got our first jobs and hopefully give you some inspiration as you try to find your first experience.

The show notes for today's episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2020/12/14/episode-209-career-ready-advice-to-new-graduates/. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Oct 28, 2020

There is a growing list of formats to store data and Graph is one of the newer trends. It is becoming so popular SQL Server has created ways to implement graph structures. Mala Mahadevan joins us in this episode, and we revisit some of the origins of Graph, what it is good at, and why you may not want to rush to move all your data to Graph storage.

The show notes for today's episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2020/10/28/episode-208-sql-server-and-graph-data/. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Oct 15, 2020

SQL Trail 2020 was a success! There was a time I was unconvinced this would be the case. This is not to say we didn't have issues; however, talking with others helped us avoid some common pitfalls and make our event unique. Although we were virtual, I sent all the attendees a conference t-shirt, some swag, and cookies! I wanted everyone to feel some excitement and a connection that I was not sure would be possible in a virtual setting.

The show notes for today's episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2020/10/15/episode-207-sql-trail-2020-retrospective/. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Sep 17, 2020

There are many programming languages available to the modern developer and there are even more options for connecting to the database. In this episode, we talk with Taurius Litvinavicius about his Manning course on connecting .NET Core to SQL Server.

The show notes for today's episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2020/09/16/episode-206-net-core-interactions-with-sql-server. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Sep 3, 2020

Power BI is founded on the idea of self-service BI and Excel is the most common data source in the world. While Power BI can import that information with ease, the data may not be in the best format. In this episode, we discuss areas report creators should consider when building Power BI reports so their reports can perform to their satisfaction and maintenance of the reports will be easier over the long run.

The show notes for today's episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2020/09/03/episode-205-data-modeling-for-power-bi. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Aug 19, 2020

A variety of devices now have the ability to report metrics about status, performance, or other sensor information. Collecting this information and making it useful in business operations can be difficult and the Internet of Things (IoT) provides options for consuming, processing, and reporting. Microsoft has introduced a number of different offerings, and in this episode, we touch on a couple of them and discuss scenarios where one may serve you better than another.

The show notes for today's episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2020/08/19/episode-204-iot-in-azure. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Aug 7, 2020

As we stretch the technology stack in this episode, I rely on my trusty co-hosts to get us through. Kevin and Jean-Georges Perrin do a great job giving us their thoughts on Spark. I hope you will enjoy the episode.

The show notes for today's episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2020/08/06/episode-203-spark-in-action. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Jul 23, 2020

As COVID-19 prevents us from gathering in the same place, how do organizers continue to put on compelling events? This strikes home as SQL Data Partners consider whether to have our SQL Trail event this fall. Matt Gordon put on an event in April and I was interested to get his take on how things went and how he accomplished his goals for the event. I have also participated in several online events and in the episode we discuss the pros and cons of virtual events and we give our take on how to make them better.

The show notes for today's episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2020/07/22/episode-202-virtual-conferences. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Jul 9, 2020

After we recorded Episode 189, we knew we lacked some of the business reasons behind the Common Data Model. Luckily, we reached out Tricia Wilcox-Almas and she has helped us fill in some of the gaps and also present how the Common Data Model is implemented in the new versions of Azure Data Lake.

The show notes for today's episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2020/07/08/episode-201-common-data-model. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Jun 25, 2020

To celebrate our 200th episode, we reached out to Bob Ward to come and celebrate this milestone with us. I have to plead the 5th on why it took us 200 episodes to finally invite him; however, we finally wised up and Bob walks us through some of the changes SQL Server has experienced over the years and what is in store (Spoiler—no big scoops) for the relational engine. We also have a several copies of Bob’s SQL Server 2019 Revealed book to give away and he was gracious enough to sign them. We appreciate Bob joining us and look forward to another 200 episodes.

The show notes for today's episode can be found at https://sqldatapartners.com/2020/06/24/episode-200-anything-but-the-cowboys. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Apr 30, 2020

We can incur technical debt in several ways—aging technology, choosing delivery speed over scale architecture, or implementing new technology the entire team cannot yet support. I don’t know that I’ve ever worked at a place that hasn’t talked about technical debt. It wasn’t until I stumbled on a talk by Adam Lenda that make me think about the ways I might contribute to technical debt. He also gave some ideas of how I can help pay it off. 

In this episode, we talk with Adam about what technical debt is, why we might be okay incurring some, and situations we might put ourselves into when trying to do ‘the right thing’. Adam also suggests some ways to pay off some of this burden and like most debt, there is no easy fix and he suggests running a pretty tight ship; however, I found his ideas insightful and I think you will, too.

The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2020/05/06/episode-199-technical-debt. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Apr 23, 2020
In a previous episode (175) we discussed migrating to the cloud, and we had a few comments from our compañeros which mentioned we should include more details around cloud infrastructure—the pieces or processes you want or DON’T want to administer. In this episode, we dive into cloud infrastructure and discuss some scenarios on when you might choose one over the other.  

The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2020/04/22/episode-198-cloud-infrastructure. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Apr 15, 2020

In 1990, the group Snap! release a song called "The Power". It would take Microsoft more than 20 years, but they eventually came up with a series of 'power' tools they built into Excel. Those tools later grew into Power BI--which is kinda like Voltron if you are old enough to remember. In this episode we discuss one of the first data manipulation tools in the set: Power Query. Before you start manipulating all those fun visualizations, you might need to get your data in shape. If you have a data warehouse, you are probably in good shape; however, for the rest of us, there is Power Query. This episode takes us through an overview and discusses in what cases you might have to dive into the code, or M language, when the GUI doesn't cut it.

The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2020/04/15/episode-197-power-query-in-power-bi. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Apr 2, 2020

This is a topic I have been interested in covering for some time and as our world faces a crisis dictating that we stay home, it seems like a good time to talk about teleworking. Everyone will have a different situation of course, but we thought we share some of our experiences. I continue to suggest a need to stay connected to your team and while we have lots of technology available to help us, there are a couple of things you can do to help avoid getting knocked out of the loop.

The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2020/04/01/episode-196-teleworking. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Mar 26, 2020

The number of new programming languages never ceases to amaze me. Technology advances continue to require new ways of allowing users to customize the way they use tools and Power BI is no different. In this episode, Ginger Grant joins us as we continue the conversation about DAX and some considerations you need to make should you want to pick up another language for the toolbelt.

The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2020/03/26/episode-195-understanding-dax. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Mar 19, 2020

After Episode 180 on PolyBase came out, we received a few questions on use cases for PolyBaseCompañeros, when you ask, we reply! This episode we carve out 3 use cases for PolyBase and ways in which you might change workflows based on this SQL Server 2019 feature. If you want to dive much deeper into PolyBase, you can always check out Kevin's book on Apress!

The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2020/03/18/episode-194-polybase-use-cases. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Mar 12, 2020

Our regular host is down for the count with the flu; however, the podcast must go on! In this episode, we answer a listener-submitted question about Power BI Premium. Kevin and Eugene take us through Sachin Gangwar’s questions. We hope you will submit your question for a future episode!

The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2020/03/11/episode-193-power-bi-premium. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Mar 4, 2020

What is the future of the DBA and what technologies should I be focused on? In this episode, we attempt to look into the crystal ball and give our take on the future of work for the data platform professional. We focus our conversation around two listener-provided questions about the best way to stay educated in an ever-changing landscape. The DBA is dead. Long live the DBA. Join the discussion.

The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2020/03/04/episode-192-the-dba-is-dead-long-live-the-dba. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Feb 12, 2020

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could filter the rows a user sees in Power BI? What’s that? You’ve already implemented Row-Level Security at the database level? Well, that actually won’t help you in Power BI. Yikes. In this episode we discuss ways to filter by records in Power BI and why it might be so confusing to implement what at first glance seems like a straightforward request.

The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2020/02/12/episode-191-power-bi-row-level-security. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Feb 5, 2020
Getting released just before the end of the year, SQL Server 2019 is now available in general release. While at first glance, it appeared this release was all about Big Data Clusters, and rightfully so--it brings 'cloud first' options to on-premises scenarios; however, it is not the only big feature. We spoke about some of the Polybase changes in Episode 180 and in this episode, Javier Villegas guides us as we dive into some of the performance enhancements--and run out of time. This just means we need a few more episodes to dig into more features.
 
The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2020/02/05/episode-190-sql-server-2019. Have fun on the SQL Trail!
Jan 23, 2020

Moving data is fairly straightforward; however, mapping data from one source to another can be extremely challenging. In an attempt to help self-service BI users, Microsoft has introduced a Common Data Model, and in this episode, we discuss the new model. This may not be as approachable for organizations which already have a data warehouse; however, for those who are in the Microsoft suite of tools and looking to report on that data in Power BI, the Common Data Model may be the jump start to get the model you need to get going.

The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2020/01/22/episode-189-power-bi-common-data-model. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Jan 16, 2020

A couple of years ago, Netflix offered a reward for anyone who could improve the algorithm for choosing a movie. The team that came in second took what they learned from it and created a company -- Databricks. In this episode, we focus on Databricks; why it is popular, what it can be used for, and considerations for its use.

The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2020/01/15/episode-188-databricks. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

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