Frontpage Announcements

SQL Zaterdag

Frederik — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:19:00 GMT

We inspired our Dutch friends at PASS Nederland with SQL Server Day. On March 6th they are organising their first full day event. Full details can be found on http://www.sqlzaterdag.nl/

Good luck guys!!!!!

SQL Zaterdag is geen nieuw soort event, maar wel nieuw voor Nederland. Het is geinspireerd door populaire evenementen als de diverse Code Camps in de .net wereld, SQLSaturday, SQL Server Day en het zeer populaire SQLBits.

Het principe is heel simpel :

Het is op een zaterdag (6 maart in dit geval, bij Info Support te Veenendaal)
Het is gratis !
Er zijn 2 tracks, een BI track en een Engine track (of zo je wilt een "niet BI track")
Wij zorgen voor ontbijt, lunch, koffie en nog meer koffie.
Had ik al gezegd dat het gratis is ?

February 11th, next UG-evening on Service Broker

Frederik — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:15:00 GMT

SQL Server Service Broker and some of the things it can do for you” is brought to you by Nico Jacobs and will take place on February 11th. Since SQL server 2005, it is possible to build a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) inside SQL Server.

The component that enables this is the service broker, a message based system which allows for dialogs between two SQL server instances. In this session, we will first introduce the terminology and features of this framework, then we will discuss some of the scenarios in which it can be used, and we will conclude by implementing a small service broker application. Dr. Nico Jacobs was a researcher at the Computer Science department, KULeuven for seven years, where he obtained his PhD in machine learning (data mining). Since 2004, he is trainer and consultant at U2U, where he focuses primarily on SQL Server and the Business Intelligence back-end.

Free registration is now open.

Upcoming Technet Livemeetings on managing the SQL Server 2008 data platform

Frederik — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:06:00 GMT

Vereenvoudig het management van uw SQL Server 2008 Data Platform

In deze sessie bekijken we de management kant van Microsoft SQL Server 2008 en gaan we dieper in op de uitdagingen waarvoor database beheerders staan.
Topics die we zullen behandelen zijn onder meer: het managen van complexe en high-value taken, proactieve monitoring en tuning van de gezondheid van uw systeem, schaalbaarheidsmanagement voor meerdere data centers, en inzicht verwerven in historische trends en real-time activiteiten

11 Februari – 14:00 Inschrijven

Simplifiez la direction de votre Plateforme de Données SQL Server 2008

Durant cette session nous allons discuter la direction de Microsoft SQL Server 2008 et approfondir les défis auquels doivent faire face les gérants des bases de données. Nous allons parler de (entre autre) : gérer des tâches complexes et de haute valeur, monitorer et améliorer proactivement la santé de votre système, gérer l’élargabilité de plusieurs centres de données, et connaître mieux les trends historiques et les activités en real-time.

11 Février – 10:00 Inscription

TechDays Pre Conf: BI with SQL Server 2008 R2 and Office System 2010 with Rafal Lukawiecki

Frederik — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:16:00 GMT

A must see for any who's working with or thinking about Microsoft BI. Rafal Lukawiecki is probably the most gifted speaker on this topic.

Full Details on: http://www.techdays.be

BI with Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 and Microsoft Office System 2010

We will examine an end-to-end approach to building and delivering a BI solution using the Microsoft BI platform. We will focus on Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 and Microsoft Office System 2010, in particular on PowerPivot, SharePoint 2010, and PerformancePoint Services. To make this seminar easier and more pleasant to follow we have structured the first half to focus on the concepts of BI and the knowledge worker and the second half to focus on underlying technologies.

Register today to benefit from the early bird pricing and save 15%

Session1: The Big Picture of Business Intelligence: Goals, Concepts, and the Platform
This session will introduce the overall picture of Business Intelligence and will relate the Microsoft BI Platform to it. Fundamental concepts, such as Master Data Management, Data Warehousing, Self-service Analysis, Dimensions, Facts, and Measures will be introduced, too. Technology, stressing the newly released products, will be briefly discussed and the overall road ahead will be outlined.

Session2: The Knowledge Worker’s Perspective: Self-Service of BI
The most demanded and the fastest growing form of BI is the self-service, personal BI. This session will concentrate on how Office System 2010, in particular SharePoint 2010 and its PerformancePoint Services enable anyone to create and use BI in an organisation. We will also introduce the very new Microsoft PowerPivot stressing how existing Excel skills enable self-service analysis by intermediate and more advanced users. We will also mention other self-service aspects of BI, such as self-service reporting. This session will also discuss the IT Professional challenge of managing the life cycle of a potentially fast, organically growing BI system built by its users.

Session3: The IT Perspective: Data Warehousing, Management, and Analytical Structures
This session aims to take a look at BI capabilities of the SQL Server 2008 R2. We will introduce Master Data Management and new approaches to massive Data Warehousing. We will look at the way in which SQL Server functions as part of the overall BI Platform. Naturally, the fundamental BI functions of SQL Server, such as Data Integration and OLAP will also be discussed in order to enable all attendees to start planning their BI infrastructure after attending this seminar.

Session4: The Analyst’s Perspective: Ad-hoc Analysis with Microsoft PowerPivot and Office 2010 Excel
Returning to the key theme of this seminar, the self-service nature of BI, we will dive deeper into the most exciting of the recent additions to the Microsoft BI platform, the Microsoft PowerPivot. We will look at the ways in which an analyst can use their existing knowledge of Excel to perform advanced analysis of large data sets, including their acquisition and later publication. Briefly, we will introduce a new language for analysis known as DAX which can help more advanced users create powerful analytical applications all inside Excel and PowerPivot. Finally, we will review the existing Data Mining technologies of SQL Server 2008 R2 thus completing the day’s thorough journey through the Microsoft BI Platform.

The Belgian SQL Server user group wishes you happy holidays!!

Steve — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 06:05:00 GMT

Enjoy the holidays. We'll see you back next year!

SQL Server Day 2009 videos now available on Chopsticks

Steve — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:30:00 GMT

Microsoft has made all sessions presented on SQL Server Day 2009 available on Chopsticks

Opening Keynote by Wesley Backelant and Ritchie Houtmeyers
Best Practices for SQL Server Consolidation by Tom Van Mulders
Breaking the ETL world record with Integration Services by Henk van der Valk
Designing Effective Aggregations in Analysyis Services 2008 by Chris Webb
High availability for BI DWH by Patrick Tack
How New.NET Development technologies could change the live of the SQL DBA guy/girl by Gill Cleeren & Kurt Claeys
Implementing best practices with Policy Based Management by Nico Jacobs
Introducing to PowerPivot or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Excel by Chris Webb
Tracking Changes and Data movement in SQL Server 2008 by Dirk Gubbels
Handling XML in SQL Server by Nico Jacobs

SQL Server Day 2009 website live and registration open

Frederik — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:53:00 GMT

On Thursday, the 3rd of December 2009 SQLUG.BE (The Belgian SQL Server User Group) and Microsoft are teaming up to organize the second Belgian SQL Server Day. Focus of the day is off course SQL Server.

Last year, SQL Server Day 2008 was the biggest community driven SQL Server event in the Benelux, with more than 200 attendees.

The event will kick-off with an international speaker positioning the SQL Server data platform, today and tomorrow.

We have 6 break-out sessions with technical content on SQL Server. The speakers are recognized international SQL Server experts; including Dirk Gubbels, Chris Webb, Henk van der Valk, ...

During the lunch break our gold partners will present their solutions and offerings in the lightning sessions .

We conclude the day with a closing keynote on Gemini, the new breakthrough Self-Service Business Intelligence (BI) capabilities being delivered in SQL Server 2008 R2.

Full details and registration are available on www.sqlserverday.be

Technet Event - Virtualization from Desktop to Datacenter - 17 November 2009

Frederik — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:38:00 GMT

On November 17th Microsoft is hosting a Technet Event on Virtualization from Desktop to Datacenter.

Using products that span the desktop to the data center, you can bring capacities online in real-time, as needed; streamline and provision applications, services and data on-demand; accelerate backup and recovery, and enhance availability so that your users are well protected against system failure and service interruptions.

This event will consist out of two tracks: one for Server Virtualization and one for Client Virtualization

Full details can be found on http://www.microsoft.com/belux/technetroadshow/events_detail2.aspx

Technet Roadshow - The New Efficiency

Frederik — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 08:10:00 GMT

On October 27th and 29th Microsoft is hosting two Technet roadshows on Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 and Exchange Server 2010. Sign up for a live launch event near you to experience hands-on labs, live demos, and hear MVPs and industry leaders demonstrate how these products can work for you. This is this year’s best chance to learn and network with your peers and explore the new efficiency.

Full details and free registration can be found on http://www.microsoft.com/belux/technetroadshow/Events.aspx

UPDATE - Zero-Downtime upgrade from SQL Server 2005 by Dirk Gubbels - Presentation files and video available

karim — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:30:00 GMT

We have posted the files used during the presentation to the site.

They are available from the following link.

The session was recorded and can now be watched on Chopsticks:

Part I: http://www.microsoft.com/belux/technet/nl/chopsticks/default.aspx?id=1429

Part II: http://www.microsoft.com/belux/technet/nl/chopsticks/default.aspx?id=1431

Once again, thank you Dirk for a very interesting presentation on how to upgrade from 2005 to 2008 with a minimlal amount of downtime.

Enjoy!!!!

Next UG event: Zero-Downtime upgrade from SQL Server 2005 by Dirk Gubbels - Sep 24th, 2009

Frederik — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:45:00 GMT

On September 24th, we kick off a new year of SQLUG events.

To be sure we kick-off properly, we hired a top-speaker, namely Dirk Gubbels. Dirk is one of our best guest speakers and by far one of the best SQL Server professionals.

Dirk Gubbels is a senior consultant at Microsoft, and has been working with SQL Server since version 4.2.

As one of the few Microsoft Certified Database Architects he has been involved in the most demanding SQL server based applications in Belgium and all over the EMEA region.

His main focus areas are Design, Performance and Availability for both OLTP and Business Intelligence environments.

Upgrading from SQL Server 2005 to 2008 may look very easy and straightforward, but there are always risks involved.

The goal of this session is to identify these risks, and show proven ways to mitigate these, or reduce the impact.

The second part of the session will show some techniques for minimizing downtime during the upgrade, to a point where the application can remain online.

This session will focus on the upgrade process for the Database engine, not on the differences between the versions, or the upgrade process of other SQL Server components

this event is brought to you by Microsoft

Click here to register.

Upcoming Technet events

Frederik — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 07:24:00 GMT

In the comming weeks and months Microsoft is hosting some very interesting Technet events, including a live meeting on SQL Server Integration Services. Full details can be found on the links below.

SQL Server 2008 R2 August CTP Available Today

Frederik — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 18:49:00 GMT

Today Microsoft released the first community technology preview (CTP) of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 for MSDN and TechNet subscribers. A public CTP will be available on Wednesday, August 12th.

Building on the momentum of SQL Server 2008, “R2” improves IT efficiency by reducing the time and cost of developing and managing applications; empowers end users to make better decisions through Self-Service Business Intelligence and enables organizations to scale with confidence by providing high levels of reliability, security and scalability for business critical applications.

This public preview offers the opportunity to experience early, pre-release feature capabilities including:

Application and Multi-server Management
SMP scale up with support for up to 256 logical processors
Report Builder 3.0 with support for geospatial visualization

This CTP provides the first opportunity to explore some of the features of SQL Server 2008 R2 and see how it all comes together to enhance performance and scalability, enable self-service BI and improve IT and developer efficiency. The CTP process is also a great way for you to give us feedback on the new technologies.

More details can be found on http://blogs.technet.com/dataplatforminsider/archive/2009/08/10/download-sql-server-2008-r2-august-ctp-today.aspx

Recordings of last event available on Chopsticks

Frederik — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:23:00 GMT

Two new SQLUG.BE session are now available on Chopsticks

Enjoy the movies!!

Presentations of june 4th Available for download

karim — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 06:35:00 GMT

We zipped presentations and samples of both events and can be downloaded from the following URL: http://sqlug.be/media/p/1092.aspx

Enjoy!