The second session, in our invite only SQL Server 2008 training series is happening in Dublin next Tuesday (14th October 2008 from 14.00-17.00 *Registration from 1pm). We have a few spare seats available - so if you're interested in some free training on SQL Server 2008, click here and express your interest (you must be located in Ireland to qualify). Places will be given away on a first come, first served basis - so don't hesitate.
Session two will cover the new SQL 2008 features and capabilities.
1. In the first part of the meeting live CLUSTER installation of SQL Server 2008 will be demonstrated and analyzed. We shall discuss in details the new SETUP options as well as the different considerations that should be taken care when planning your upgrade process.
2. In the second part of the talk we will delve into DATA COMPRESSION, its usage, performance and some internals. We will then discuss T-SQL programmability enhancements, such as MERGE, HIERARCHYID and the new DATE and TIME data types.
3. Last but not least we shell talk about the new FILESTREAM capabilities: FILESTRAM performance, comparison of FILESTREAM and other blob\file storage options, and demos.
Dave
Niall Flanagan (Ireland's SQL Server MVP) is doing a talk down in Cork next week in the Imperial Hotel.
Niall will be going into depth on SQL Server Indexes (Internals and Performance).
The event is on next Monday 13th October and runs from 19:00 - 21:00
Click here to register.
Today I had a go at dispelling the myth that the words Microsoft and Security don't go together. I certainly had "fun" with the projector! Turns out it was a pin in the VGA cable - my Vista laptop was getting well and truly confused as to whether it was connected to a projector or not (you will have noticed that other presentations did not have any RED in them - I can now blame the red pin in the vga cable).
Anyway, I hope all that attended enjoyed my talk and are now convinced that those two words are well and truly joined at the hip.
I've posted my slides here (if you want to take a look) and my little NAP demo can be found here.
Thanks
What are you doing this Thursday evening?
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the release of Blade Runner, TechNet Ireland are running a special COMPLIMENTARY screening of ‘Blade Runner: The Final Cut’. Spectacularly restored and re-mastered from original elements and scanned at 4K resolution, it contains never-before-seen added/extended scenes, added lines, new and improved special effects, and an all-new 5.1 Dolby® Digital audio track.
Where: Cineworld Dublin, Parnell St, Dublin 1. Map. When: Thursday 2 October – ticket collection from 6.30 p.m., the movie commences at 7.20 p.m. (and runs for two hours). Allow another couple of hours if you would like to join us in the bar after, to make the most of the networking opportunities.
Register here for the movie night.
Enjoy
I've been talking to a few people recently who are using Windows Server 2008 as a workstation. Some of their comments are along the lines of: "Server 2008 has the same code base as Vista SP1, how come it feels quicker?".
Interestingly there doesn't seem to be a good answer (yet). I've been shown a single laptop running Vista (and it's slow and unstable), then the exact same laptop running Server 2008 and it is quick.
I then show them my laptop in the same scenarios (I have dual boot) and Vista is quicker than Server - it doesn't make sense!
I've taken this interesting "issue" to heart, and have set about finding out why (I love a challenge).
My first port of call will be the Springboard Series Virtual Roundtable that's on this afternoon (17:00 in Ireland - 9:00am Pacific Standard Time) Wednesday, September 24, 2008. It will be recorded, so it won't matter too much if you miss it (although you won't be able to ask live questions). Mark Russinovich and a panel of industry experts will explore your top of mind performance issues, common misconfigurations, and tips on how to fix them. From boot times and applets to disk performance and battery life, find out how to optimize Windows Vista and what you can do to improve overall system performance.
I'm already in contact with a bunch of people in Corp plus a few local "experts". I'll let you know how I get on - so watch this space (I'll be sharing my 'tips & tricks' later)..
As you know, I'm always "dabbling" with my laptop(s) - trying to get me demos performing at their very best.
I run Windows Server 2008 on my demo machine because I use Hyper-V for all my demos.
Yesterday I put a Solid State Disk (SSD) into my current demo laptop.
I ran a few "noddy" tests before I did though - so I could compare:
1st thing I did was take the machine out of its domain and joined a workgroup (didn't want any external influences to affect my tests).
Then I simply timed how long my laptop took from switching it on until I was presented with the logon screen (1 minute and 32 seconds).
Then I booted a virtual machine (with a 9GB VHD on the C:\ drive) - it took 1 minute and 7 seconds.
Now I replaced my 7200rpm disk with my new SSD, Installed Windows and configured it back to where it was (desktop experience, Hyper-V, etc).
Now I ran the same two tests - and the results are amazing!
Boot laptop (used to take 92 seconds) - now takes 36
Boot VM (used to take 67 seconds) - now takes 25
That's more or less 300% quicker - WOW.
Now, I did do my homework before I bought my SSD. I'm not in the business of recommending other people's products, but the OCZ Core v2 SATA II devices are currently the best/quickest.
You'll find them cheaper in the US - but if you don't live there, you'll stumble across the need for an American address and an American credit card. Look what I found - a local/Irish company who sells memory products at the same price (or cheaper) than the US - http://www.memoryc.com/ - and you'll save on the international delivery.
SSDs are still quite expensive for the capacities they offer - but if you need the speed, they're worth every penny!
More info here.
Kimberly & Paul were with us last Friday. Bob Duffy got to interview them for a while - I like this one best:
Rain & Guinness
Book Fetish
2 in the Morning
SQL Server 2008 Best Bits
Dave.
A few of you wanted to know more about IT Pro Momentum that was mentioned at the SQL Academy last week.
IT Pro Momentum is a method for you to get up to speed on new stuff, with loads of support from Microsoft and for me to get loads of local references about those new products.
www.itpromomentum.com is an online portal - I send you an invitation, you follow the link in the invite and profile yourself & define a project (evaluating SQL Server 2008 or whatever). As your project moves from stage to stage, Microsoft gives you stuff (Online training and content, Managed Forums, TechNet subscription, Support) - when you are at the Plan stage, you'll get your free TechNet subscription. All you have to do in return, is be happy to talk about your experience (anything from standing on stage, to being on a video down to writing a line or two in a blog – and I can do that for you if you want) – nothing too difficult..
Let me know if you're interested - and I'll get the invite sent out.
Note that this isn't just for SQL - we have content for Windows Server (including HPC and IIS), ForeFront, System Centre, Unified Communications and Vista deployment.
I presented at the BSS even in the Pavilion in Stormont yesterday - as usual I really enjoyed it (you're a great crowd).
I just wanted to share my content with you. You can find my slides here.
The "Deep Zoom" website I showed was the Hard Rock Memorabilia site.
You can sign up for Live Mesh here (note that the mobile phone piece isn't there just yet).
Thanks to all those who attended Tuesday night's user group meeting.
Apologies for going on a bit (I was only supposed to take half an hour or so - not the whole hour)!
Aidan has posted the slides we used here.
Some of my demos are here. Well - just the clustering Hyper-V ones. The hotfix I mentioned (951308) fixes all the "messy" configuration when using GUIDs instead of drive letters.
I've been working with Alan McBurney on and of the a good while now. He attended a TechNet session we ran in Belfast that covered Vista and Office deployment.
Alan took what he learnt and implemented it - overcame some of the more detailed "issues" and ended up with a successful , completely Zero Touch deployment.
This video was taken a few months ago, before he changed companies (he now works for Novosco as an Infrastructure Consultant).
Alan talks about how he used System Center Configuration Manager 2007 and Windows Deployment Services to rollout Vista with SP1 (he also says that Vista with SP1 is much better than it was before SP1).
This is only ten minutes long, and well worth watching - it's great to hear how our customers implement our products.
Enjoy,
I'm delighted to announce that Alex Yushchenko will be giving another talk on Windows 2008 Terminal Services in association with the Windows Server 2008 Users Group Ireland. Like the previous one in May this one will be completely free, but unlike the previous one in May this one is for an entire day - so Alex can cover a lot more and get into much more detail this time around. Click here to register.
Agenda
Alex will be including the following subjects during the day:
Oh, and it's in the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin - so it definitely includes free beer!
The Windows Server 2008 User Group - Ireland will be running an event on Microsoft Hyper-V and Virtual Machine Manager 2008 on the 2nd of September at 7pm in the evening (beer might follow). The location is Buswells hotel in the city centre. The event is free to all User Group Members.
You can register here: Hyper-V and Virtual Machine Manager 2008
I'll be talking about Hyper-V, Mark Gibson about System Centre Virtual Machine Manager and Aidan Finn about his experiences with both.
See you on the 2nd September,
SQL Server 2008 has finally Released To Manufacture (RTM)!
Announcing the SQL Academy 2008: A free 4 session program for database professionals.
This is launching on Sept 5th (full day) with the world’s top SQL speakers (Kimberly Tripp and Paul Randal) and continuing monthly thereafter (half day). This is going to fill up very quickly and space is very limited, so if you are from Ireland (North and South) make sure you are not disappointed and register NOW.
I'm serious - register NOW.
There's been a lot of talk recently about our new "Windows Server 2008 Workstation" (Windows Server 2008 with the Desktop Experience features switched on - plus a bunch of hacks). There's been suggestions that it out-performs Vista - I'm not going to enter that can of worms, but I can see a need to run a server operating system as your main OS.
Hyper-V seems to be out-performing every other virtualisation product out there and it's "free". But to get it, you have to run Windows Server 2008. You're not going to be able to run the Server Core installation on your main laptop (because of the small requirement for a UI), but the full install does make sense. But now you want all the Vista "bells and whistles"? You could spend a good long while trawling through various discussions all explaining how to enable certain "features" (Aero, SuperFetch, Audio, Wireless Networking, etc) or you could look at this great little tool I stumbled across today: Windows Server 2008 Workstation Converter
I haven't tried it (yet), but it looks to be the "bee's knees".
One word of warning - if you're going to use Hyper-V you'll lose the ability to enter Standby and Hibernation.
Larry Doyle from Netforce in Dublin has been deploying Hyper-V. This is worth sharing:
"Windows Server 2008 is an awesome product and I am super excited about it!
I have been testing Windows Server 2008 since beta release and implemented the eagerly anticipated Hyper-V on our test network as soon as it was available. I was so impressed with Hyper-V that we have rolled it out in a live client production network to consolidate their servers into a single server (Dell 2900, 2 x QuadCore 2.33ghz, 16GB RAM, 4 x gigabit NIC, RAID 1 (2 x 400GB SAS), RAID 10 (6 x 146GB SAS), Dual PSU) running 4 virtual machines - SBS 2003 Premium, Windows Server 2008 64-bit running SQL 2005 64-bit, Windows 2008 64-bit Terminal Services with RemoteAPP (another awesome feature) and a Windows 2003 32-bit Application Server. Snapshots of the VMs and Microsoft System Center DPM 2007 running on their existing Windows 2003 Server provides the Disk to Disk to Tape backup solution while utilising their existing investment in hardware. This has been a total success, delivering a cost effective solution to a small growing business that provides them with the ability to effectively manage and grow their IT infrastructure on a cutting edge technology platform. As the entire solution has been built using Microsoft products, integration is seamless. This is the future of virtualisation and now truly brings enterprise technology to the SMB market."
I can only agree with Larry - Hyper-V is a great solution (especially when implemented with System Center).
Anytime I do a demo that requires a SAN, I use the Microsoft iSCSI Target software. I'm lucky, I get to install it onto my demo machines. If you want it, you need to ask your OEM (the one that sold you your Windows Storage Server) - it's just an add-on.
I'm frequently asked how I use it and set it up. So, here goes:
This ten minute demo is broken down into three sections (Setting up the Target, Setting up the Initiator and Setting up the Initiator using the command line in Server Core).
Click to start, double click anywhere to play it in Full Screen and move your mouse over it to get the Player Controls to pop up.
Here's the commands I used towards the end (I just modify and use this for each Server Core machine I need to configure) - democore is the local iSCSI Initiator (the one I'm configuring) and daven-2008 is the iSCSI Target machine. So just replace every instance of each with your own server names.
sc \\democore config msiscsi start= auto net start msiscsi
iscsicli QAddTargetPortal daven-2008 iscsicli QAddTarget iqn.1991-05.com.microsoft:daven-2008-daven-2008-target daven-2008 iscsicli QloginTarget iqn.1991-05.com.microsoft:daven-2008-daven-2008-target iscsicli PersistentLoginTarget iqn.1991-05.com.microsoft:daven-2008-daven-2008-target T * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 0 iscsicli BindPersistentVolumes iscsicli ListPersistentTargets iscsicli ReportTargetMappings
The iSCSI Initiator is already in Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista. You can download it for 2003, 2000 and XP from here. There's also a very detailed User Guide (which explains why I have fifteen stars in my PersistentLoginTarget command).
Once a month for the last six months or so, I've been getting seven emails in my inbox entitled:
Technical Rollup Mail - SQL
Technical Rollup Mail - Security
Technical Rollup Mail - Manageability
Technical Rollup Mail - Unified Communications
Technical Rollup Mail - Internet
Technical Rollup Mail - Platforms
Technical Rollup Mail
The last one is just the previous six in one email.
Each email is nothing more than a list of URLs with a short sentence or paragraph about the content, sorted into groups (News, Documents, Downloads, Events/Webcasts and A.O.B). I've been finding these mails invaluable - not that I'd read any of them in detail and click on all the links, more that I'd scan through them and click on the odd link of interest (the paragraph explaining the content helps here). I also save them away and use them as a searchable reference.
It's very hard to keep on top of what's going on with regard to technology and Microsoft, this is a fantastic monthly update, that I use to attempt to keep my head above water.
Anyway, turns out that ALL of the content is posted here: The Technical Rollup Mail - There was me thinking I was on the inside!
Enjoy your monthly Technical Rollup Mail,
Eduardo Shanahan from Customer Minds Ltd has deployed his new application on Windows Server 2008 and Hyper-V.
"Our application was developed from the start with Visual Studio 2008, and the sole existence of LINQ saved me months of work. Now that the first version is ready, we went in production with all the datacenter running Windows Server 2008, and Hyper-V on the application servers. Being a company where the system administration is done by developers, we need the simplest tools to get the job done, and W2K8 is cleaner and easier to have up and running. Virtual machines management is not a pain anymore :)"
Great to hear.
I know Carmel Gunn from Prodata pretty well by now, I was asking her how she's been getting on with Windows Server 2008 - she had this to say:
“We saw the demonstrations of Windows Server 2008 and clustering at the community previews and at the launch. It was hard to believe, so we put it into a virtual environment to assess, and it has really impressed me with both the ease of creating a cluster, and the simplicity and speed of failover. We have been assessing it for the past 3 months now, and think it’s great. It is hard to believe that such a complex process executes so simply. We’re very excited by the new features, and look forward to using them.
We are really looking to Hyper-V to reduce the complexity of the many copies of client sites we have to maintain, and reduce the cost of provisioning complex test or pre-production environments for our projects”
Well, you won't have to wait too long (if the rumours are anything to go by).
I've been working with Willie O’ Connor (Computer Science Dept, Trinity College Dublin) for ages now. I was asking him about his plans to deploy Windows Server 2008 - he had this to say:
"Windows Server 2008 is a great product. We’ve been testing Server 2008 since Beta 1 and we are currently in the process of upgrading our current Server 2000/2003 systems to Server 2008. The new version of IIS7 will allow our students a better and more reliable experience in developing for the platform and allows us to delegate control of their projects to the individual students themselves. We are also actively testing Hyper-V on Server Core 2008 with plans to put it into production as soon as possible, with the intentions of complete deployment of Server 2008 by August on all our systems."
I'll be getting an update from Willie in August then!
I just had to share this quote with you.
I've been working with Edouard MELLY from Hewlett Packard for a good long while now, and in my quest to find great local references I came across this from Edouard:
"I've been in charge of 2008 training for HP, and I've tested a lot the new virtualization system: Hyper-V"
"With Hyper-V, Microsoft is going to change the world of virtualization"
"Faster, stronger, reliable, much easier to administrate. A real challenge for all other virtualization systems!"
You know what Edouard? I think your right!
I've been working with Gavin Fitzpatrick from Meath County Council for over a year now (he is one of the few people who attended every single one of my Longhorn Academy sessions). As you might be able to tell, I'm on a mission to get local people to talk about their personal experiences with Windows Server 2008 (on the basis that their comments and opinions are more valuable than mine). This is what Gavin has to say about Windows Server 2008:
"Windows Server 2008 has made great advancements, and I believe it's as far ahead of 2003 as 2003 is from Window NT.
With the great new Features such as NAP, Server Core & not to mention the reinvented Terminal Services Gateway, it makes upgrading to Server 2008 very appetizing. We are planning on Testing these new features in the coming months with a view of Implementing our 1st Production Server shortly afterwards."
And "Yes", I will be going back to everyone who says that they will deploy, to find out how they got on. So watch out Gavin - I'll be checking up on you!
I've been working with Michael Maher (a Principal Infrastructure Specialist working for O2 Ireland) for over a year now. I figured he must be getting close to deploying Windows Server 2008 by now, so I asked him how he was getting on. He had this to say:
"There are many powerful new features in Windows 2008 which caught my attention. I am particularly happy to see hypervisor level virtualisation and a command line only edition of Windows Server. Our business can potentially benefit from the improvements in Remote Access such as RemoteApp. We are likely to initially deploy Windows Server 2008 as a file server. As our organisation moves to Vista clients this will give us the opportunity to avail of the increased file transfer speeds in SMB 2.0."
I look forward to hearing about O2's deployment.