Allen White

New Article on the SQL Server 2012 Backup and Restore PowerShell Cmdlets

2013-05-13T13:08:00Z

While I was on vacation last week in Scotland Simple Talk published a new article I wrote called Backup and Restore SQL Server with the SQL Server 2012 PowerShell cmdlets. Hope you have as much fun with it as I did writing it. Allen...(read more)

T-SQL Tuesday #41 - Presenting and Loving it!

2013-04-09T15:56:00Z

For this T-SQL Tuesday Bob Pusateri asked us to share how we came to love presenting. Before I ever got involved in computing technology I had (and still have) a love for the theatre, specifically musical theatre. When I was little the majority of albums (this was the 1950s, kids) we had were cast albums from Broadway shows my parents had seen at Musicarnival . I performed in shows all through school, and was a Theatre Major at Kent State University before I realized I needed to make a living. It...(read more)

T-SQL Tuesday #39: Managing your SQL Server Services with PowerShell

2013-02-12T18:09:00Z

This T-SQL Tuesday is about using PowerShell to do something with SQL Server. Now, if you've read any of my blog posts you probably know I've been using PowerShell to do things with SQL Server for a while now, but I'm glad Wayne decided on this topic for his T-SQL Tuesday topic, because everyone has different ways to use PowerShell, and you can learn from all of them, as I do. (When I started to write this post I'd intended to share how I convert a PerfMon binary log file into SQL Server data for...(read more)

Speaking - SQL Saturday 173, Washington DC

2012-11-28T19:14:00Z

After a great time at the PASS Summit in Seattle I'll be once again presenting on PowerShell for SQL Server at SQL Saturday #173 in Chevy Chase, Maryland. On Friday, December 7 I'll be presenting my full day session Automate and Manage SQL Server with PowerShell . Here's the abstract: This soup-to-nuts all day session will first introduce you to PowerShell, after which you'll learn the basic SMO object model, how to manipulate data with PowerShell and how to use SMO to manage objects. We'll then...(read more)

PASS Summit 2012 Women In Technology Luncheon

2012-11-08T19:26:00Z

My final stint at the Summit Blogger's Table(tm) is for the annual WIT luncheon. I do appreciate the honor that PASS conferred on me by inviting me to the "table" for the event, it's been a lot of fun (even if there were some moments that weren't.) Newly-elected board member Wendy Pastrick is the MC for this year's luncheon, and the panel consists of Stefanie Higgins, Denise McInerny, Kevin Kline, Jen Stirrup and Kendra Little. I'm pleased to say that I know each one of them except Stefanie Higgins,...(read more)

PASS Summit 2012 PreCon - DBA-298-P Automate and Manage SQL Server with PowerShell

2012-11-08T18:56:00Z

On Tuesday I presented an all-day pre-conference session on using PowerShell to automate and manage SQL Server. It was a very full day and we had a lot of great questions. One discussion in Module 6 was around scripting all the objects in a database, and I'd mentioned the script I wrote for the book The Red Gate Guide to SQL Server Team-based Development . When putting together the demos for the attendees to download I realized I'd placed that script in the Module 6 folder, so you don't need to go...(read more)

PASS Summit 2012 Day Two Keynote

2012-11-08T16:02:00Z

Summit day two is upon us and we're anticipating another exciting keynote. Nice video of international attendees at the start of the keynote focusing on the global community. Doug McDowell came out and talked about how much great content is going on simultaneously at the Summit. In the last five years PASS has incorporated SQL Saturdays, 24 Hours of PASS, SQL Rally, Virtual Chapters, and doubled and maybe even quadrupled the membership numbers. Doug talked about applying the revenues into these programs...(read more)

PASS Summit 2012 Day One Keynote

2012-11-07T17:53:00Z

Today is the official start to the 2012 PASS Summit and I'm honored to have a seat at the Blogger's Table again. This is a set of tables set up in the back of the keynote room for people who blog frequently (I know) to share their thoughts on the keynote with the public, and appreciate the invitation from PASS to participate again. The lights go down and they showed a video of PASS board members talking about what the PASS Summit means to each of them. It was well put together and I know that the...(read more)

[Speaking] PowerShell at the PASS Summit

2012-10-29T14:49:00Z

Next week is the annual PASS Summit , the event of the year for those of us in the SQL Server community. We get to see our old friends, make new friends, and learn an amazing amount about SQL Server, and it'll be in Seattle, so it's close to the mother ship. I love having Microsoft close, because it's easier to get to know the people who actually make this amazing product we spend our lives working with. This year I'm fortunate to have been selected to present three sessions. One is a regular session...(read more)

Search For a Query in RDL Files with PowerShell

2012-10-16T18:58:00Z

In tracking down poorly performing queries for clients I often encounter the query text in a trace file I've captured, but don't know the source of the query. I've found that many of the poorest performing queries are those written into the reports the business users need to make their decisions. If I can't figure out where they came from, usually years after the queries were written, I can't fix them. First thing I did was find a great utility called RSScripter , which opens up a Windows dialog...(read more)

Scanning the Error Log with PowerShell

2012-09-25T18:33:00Z

One of the most important things you can do as a DBA is to keep tabs on the errors reported in the error log, but there's a lot of information there and sometimes it's hard to find the 'good stuff'. You can open the errorlog file directly in a text editor and search for errors but that gets tedious, and string searches generally return just the lines with the error message numbers, and in the error log the real information you want is in the line after that. PowerShell 2.0 introduced a new cmdlet...(read more)

24 Hours of PASS - PowerShell 101 for the SQL Server DBA

2012-09-21T02:32:00Z

Thanks to everyone who came out for the session today. It was a lot of fun and I hope you had a great experience as well. I've attached the demo scripts and slide deck to this post, and I look forward to seeing you in November at the PASS Summit! Allen...(read more)

Speaking - 24 Hours of PASS, Summit Preview Edition

2012-09-19T01:26:00Z

There's so much to learn to be effective with SQL Server, and you have an opportunity to immerse yourselves in 24 hours of free technical training this week from PASS, via the 24 Hours of PASS event. I'll be presenting an introductory session on PowerShell called PowerShell 101 for the SQL Server DBA . Here's the abstract: The more you have to manage, the more likely you'll want to automate your processes. PowerShell is the scripting language that will make you truly effective at managing lots of...(read more)

Speaking - Red Gate's SQL in the City

2012-09-12T00:43:00Z

The great folks at Red Gate have invited me to join the festivities at the SQL in the City events in both Chicago on October 5, and in Seattle on November 5. In both cities I'll be presenting a session entitled Automated Deployment: Application And Database Releases Without The Headache . Here's the abstract: Ever since applications were first created, the deployment of updates and changes has been a headache, with the potential of disruption of the application at best and data corruption at worst....(read more)

T-SQL Tuesday #34: Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, You're My Only Hope!

2012-09-11T01:58:00Z

This T-SQL Tuesday is about a person that helped you understand SQL Server. It's not a stretch to say that it's people that help you get to where you are in life, and Rob Volk ( @sql_r ) is sponsoring this month's T-SQL Tuesday asking who is that person that helped you get there. Over the years, there've been a number of people who've helped me, but one person stands out above the rest, who was patient, kind and always explained the details in a way that just made sense. I first met Don Vilen at...(read more)