I am always amazed at how many people have still not heard of SQL Saturday, a series of events put on by the Professional Association of SQL Server. At the presentation Jeff Szastak and I gave at VMworld on Virtualizing SQL Server: Doing IT RIght, we had an audience of about 800 people each time we spoke. At each presentation I asked the question how many people in the audience had heard of SQL Saturday’s and only about 50 people out of 800 raised their hands each time.

These events are run all over the world. They cost very little and are packed with a whole lot of great Technical content taught by people working with SQL Server in the trenches.

Want to meet a real life Microsoft MVP, attend a SQL Saturday. At every SQL Saturday event I have attended I have met a number of Microsoft MVP’s. Want to feel part of the SQL Server community; this is a great way to become part of it. At these events, I have met some great people and made a lot of good friends.

On December 8th in Washington DC, I will be presenting at SQL Saturday #173. There will be 5 sessions running every hour from 7:30 am to 5:00 pm.

Sample of Sessions at SQL Saturday 173, Washington DC
5 Common SQL Server Performance Issues, Jason Hall

A Complete BI Solution in About an Hour! , Aaron King

DBA Worst Practices, Disasters and Horror Stories, Mike Walsh

Designing an SSIS Framework , Andy Leonard

Minimally Invasive – Tools to Doctor Up Your Code, Wayne Sheffield (Ntirety)

Much Ado About Indexes – Tips, Tricks and TSQL, Robert Perl

Reporting Services for Mere DBAs, Jason Brimhall (Ntirety)

SQL Azure – What is it and why do you need it?, Scott Klein

Tax, Finance, and Money Tips for consultants, Brian Moran

Virtualizing SQL 2012: Doing It Right, Michael Corey (Ntirety)

More About SQL Saturday 173
SQLSaturday is a training event for SQL Server professionals and those wanting to learn about SQL Server. This event will be held Dec 8 2012 at the Microsoft MTC , 5404 Wisconsin Ave Suite 700, Chevy Chase, MD 20815. Admittance to this event is free, but we do charge a lunch fee of 10.00 so that we can provide a lunch – not pizza!
To learn more about SQL Saturday 173 Click Here

Future SQL Saturday Events
Dec 01, 2012
SQLSaturday #181 – Tokyo 2012

Dec 01, 2012
SQLSaturday #182 – Istanbul 2012

Dec 08, 2012
SQLSaturday #173 – Washington DC 2012

Dec 15, 2012
SQLSaturday #180 – Nepal 2012

Jan 25, 2013
SQLSaturday #185 – Trinidad 2013

Feb 02, 2013
SQLSaturday #195 – Mexico 2013

Feb 09, 2013
SQLSaturday #183 – Albuquerque 2013

Feb 23, 2013
SQLSaturday #177 – Silicon Valley 2013

Mar 02, 2013
SQLSaturday #184 – North Haven 2013

Mar 02, 2013
SQLSaturday #186 – Auckland, NZ 2013

Mar 02, 2013
SQLSaturday #192 – Tampa 2013

Mar 09, 2013
SQLSaturday #194 – Exeter 2013

Mar 09, 2013
SQLSaturday #187 – Richmond 2013

Mar 16, 2013
SQLSaturday #188 – Portugal 2013

Apr 13, 2013
SQLSaturday #189 – Costa Rica 2013

Apr 20, 2013
SQLSaturday #196 – Denmark 2013

Apr 27, 2013
SQLSaturday #193 – Phoenix 2013

Apr 27, 2013
SQLSaturday #175 – Fargo 2013

Sep 14, 2013
SQLSaturday #191 – Kansas City 2013

Sep 21, 2013
SQLSaturday #190 – Denver 2013

Michael Corey

Founder & CEO, Ntirety

www.ntirety.com

My Personal Twitter Account: Michael_Corey

Ntirety Corporate Twitter Account: Ntirety

Michael Corey
Founder & CEO, Ntirety
My Personal Twitter Account: @Michael_Corey

I was very fortunate that the presentation I created with Jeff Szastak titled APP-BCA1516 – Virtualizing SQL 2012: Doing IT Right was also selected for VMWORLD Barcelona. Not many presentations were asked to also present in Barcelona putting Jeff and I in good company with likes of Michael Webster and Don Sullivan. If you have not seen them present, I would highly recommend both of them.

In this blog, I am going to attempt to give you my honest appraisal of VMWORLD 2012 Barcelona. My review will be from a Business Critical Applications perspective (Oracle, SQL Server, Exchange, SAP, E-Business Suite). Not from a general VMware perspective. Which is the perspective that matters most to me.

Fira Barcelona Gran Via Venue Score
Grade: “C”

The city of Barcelona is Beautiful. As a destination city in Europe it is a wonderful place to visit. As a conference city it has a very long way to go. When the city built the conference center known by the locals as Fira Barcelona Gran Via. They chose to put it quite a distance away from the city center. In addition there was no shuttle service from the Hotels to the venue. Given the distance the hotels were from the conference venue I suspect it was cost prohibitive to run such a shuttle service.

I talked to some attendee who attempted to use public transportation. There was not a subway stop near the conference center. I also was told there was a very long wait for the busses, that would take you to the nearest Metro station. Making public transit a very unlikely option. Most attendees myself included used the local taxi service. The Line was usually at least 30 minutes long. There was no attempt to try and group people together. So every day, I spent around 25/30 Euro. Which was pretty typical. Making it a very expensive trip in and out.

The registration desk was right as you walked in. You could not miss it. The conference registration lines were very reasonable and the staff very helpful.

The conference layout itself was terrible. It was very long and narrow. It also made it feel very crowded. It took some getting use too. In the facility’s defense they had lots of help around to show you the way. Because it was so long and narrow, you had quite a long walk to get to the tradeshow & Hands-on labs portion of the event.

At European events I have attended in the past. Food is usually much better than their U.S. counterpart. That was not the case here. No one was happy with the food. By conference standards it got low marks. Problem was you had no alternatives. The conference was in the middle of nowhere and you could not walk outside for an alternative.

Speaker services were excellent. A real strength as compared to other events I have spoke at. There is a place for speakers to work, lots of support staff to help and coffee and snacks available.

Tradeshow & Hands-On Labs
Grade: “A”

The Hands-on Labs were excellent. Just spending your time in the Hands-on labs alone can make it worth your while to attend the event. I did not experience this first hand, but I was told there was some issue’s the first days. That seems to be a recurring theme at all VMworlds. I think they always underestimate just how popular the hands-on labs are going to be.

Here is a sample of some of the Hands-on Labs that were available:

HOL-APP-03 Enable Database as a Service (DBaaS) in Your Cloud with VMware vFabric Data Director

HOL-APP-01 Manage Your vCloud Suite Applications with VMware vFabric Application Director

HOL-INF-02 Explore vSphere 5.1 Distributed Switch (vDS) New Features

HOL-INF-05 Implement Disaster Recovery for the Cloud with VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM)

HOL-INF-06 Deploy and Operate Your Cloud with the VMware vCloud Suite

HOL-OPS-01 Manage Your vCloud Suite Deployment with VMware vCenter
Operations Manager Enterprise

HOL-OPS-05 Explore VMware vCenter Operations Manager Enterprise New
Features

The Trade Show, which is, known as Solutions Exchange was excellent. All the major players I would expect to see were there except for Oracle.

VMworld Barcelona 2012 Technical Content
Business Critical Applications Technical Content Grade: “A”
Business Critical Applications Quantity of Presentation Grade: “C”
VMware Technology Content Overall Grade: “A”

The overall content concerning VMware product and features was excellent. When it came to Business Critical Applications like an Oracle Database or a Microsoft SQL Server database I thought the technical content was excellent, but there was not enough representation.

Here is the List of Oracle Presentations that were available:

APP-BCA1333 Virtualizing Oracle RAC
APP-BCA1344 Virtualizing Oracle for Disaster Recovery with Data Guard and VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager.
APP-CAP2341 Accelerate Database Virtualization with VMware vFabric Data Director
GD46 Oracle Virtualization with Jan-Willem Lammers

Here is the list of Microsoft SQL Server Presentations that were available:

APP-BCA1516 Virtualizing SQL 2012: Doing IT Right
APP-BCA1530 Virtualizing Highly Available SQL Servers
GD44 Database for Microsoft Applications with Jeff Szastak

The Technical content of these presentations were excellent. But there is just not enough quantity. A database is one of the most intensive business critical applications you will ever virtualize. To only have 3 Microsoft SQL Server presentations or 4 Oracle Presentations is not enough. VMWorld needs to get as serious about virtualizing business critical applications as VMware is.

Michael Corey
Founder & CEO, Ntirety
www.ntirety.com
My Personal Twitter Account: Michael_Corey
Ntirety Corporate Twitter Account: Ntirety

Michael Corey
Founder & CEO, Ntirety
My Personal Twitter Account: @Michael_Corey

Well I am sitting in San Francisco right now trying to gather my thoughts about VMworld 2012. It has been non-stop action since I have gotten here. The Hands-On-Labs are running till 10pm at night and people are in there every night. The best Technology conference I have attended in many years. I make that statement for quite a few reasons.

Sense of Community

There is a sense of community at the VMworld conference that just does not exist anymore at other technology events. Perhaps that could be said of the open source community, but I am not an active part of the community and would not have first hand knowledge. It reminds of the early Oracle conferences I attended going back to Oracle Version 4 days, when we knew we were part of something special. I would go to the events and people like Bob Miner were attending the events. For those who don’t know who Bob Miner he was one of the founders of Oracle and in many ways the heart and soul of Oracle. He would be waiting in line with the rest of us thirsty for the knowledge that would be shared shortly.

As I attend VMworld I feel that same sense of being part of something special. This is a technology that is changing the world for the better and its great to be a part of it. To use an Analogy I heard first from Don Sullivan’s at VMware. When you use your cell phone, do you care what cell tower you are using. Do you even need to know as long as it works? Once you break the chains of the physical world you are now into a whole new world order as it pertains to technology. So this strong sense of community and being part of a technology that is changing the world, as we know is making this a very special event to be part of.

The VMworld community

Everyone I meet is approachable and ready to share information. This strong sense of community has created a bond that has spread to everyone there. When I attend the events, I feel like I am in a room of like-minded souls. When I attend the many talks, everyone is respectful of the other technologies that are out there. I have not seen a talk that pitted itself against Oracles hypervisor. The speakers alwasy take the high road and just talk the facts. It reminds me of the saying “The Truth shall set you free”. They are comfortable with the fact that VMware’s technology stack and capabilities speak for themself. Its refreshing, I feel like I am a technology event, not a marketing event designed to assimilate me into the proper way of thinking regardless of the facts. This honest way of thinking extends all the to the local user community known as VMUGS.

VMware – The Company

I can honestly say I like the people at VMware. I like working with them. I like collaborating with them. Everyone I met is dedicated to helping make the customer successful. Its not the Usual what can do you for me? What have you done for me lately approach? There is a sense of collaboration I have not seen anywhere else in the technology community. I joined a conversation where Don Sullivan was talking to Michael Matthies in support. Telling Don just tell the Oracle DBA’s call us no matter what the issue. Feel free to call us before they call Oracle support. There was this strong sense of commitment to help the customer. The customer comes first. It was so refreshing. I don’t know any other Billion-dollar company where I can say I like everyone I have interacted with.

So as I attend VMworld 2012 I think to myself I am part of a technology that is changing the world. It feels great to be part of it.
Michael Corey
Founder & CEO, Ntirety
www.ntirety.com
My Personal Twitter Account: Michael_Corey
Ntirety Corporate Twitter Account: Ntirety

Michael Corey
Founder & CEO, Ntirety
My Personal Twitter Account: @Michael_Corey