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!
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!
Make it go faster! Visualizations are great, but when users start complaining about the load times on reports, it can be a tough exercise to figure out the issues. In this episode, we discuss ways you can measure the speed of your Power BI reports. We also get into some of the fundamentals of data storage for Power BI.
The show notes for today's episode can be found at http://sqldatapartners.com/2020/01/08/episode-187-power-bi-performance-tuning. Have fun on the SQL Trail!
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!
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.
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!
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!
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!
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!
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!
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!
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!
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!
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!