Introduction
The PASS Virtual Summit 2020 will held November 10-13, 2020. Today, I found out that I was selected as a speaker for the PASS Virtual Summit 2020. This year, I will be presenting two sessions. One is a half-day session, and the other is a regular 75 minute session.
This is the twelfth year in a row that I have had the honor of speaking at the PASS Summit. You can register for the summit here.
The bee frame has nothing to do with this, but I thought it might be interesting…
Dr. DMV with Jupyter Notebooks
The half day session is Dr. DMV with Jupyter Notebooks. BTW, a half-day session lasts 2.5 hours. This gives me time to talk about how to interpret the query results in much more detail, without having to rush.
Here is the abstract:
Dr. DMV with Jupyter Notebooks
Dynamic Management Views and functions allow you to easily see exactly what is happening inside your SQL Server instances and databases with a high level of detail. You can discover your top wait types, most CPU intensive stored procedures, find missing indexes, and identify unused indexes, to name just a few examples.
This session uses Jupyter Notebooks, to demonstrate and explain a complete set of diagnostic DMV queries that you can easily use to detect and diagnose configuration and performance issues in your SQL Server instances and databases. This session goes into exhaustive detail on how to interpret the results of each of the diagnostic queries, including relevant background information on how to properly configure your hardware, storage subsystem, operating system, SQL Server instance and databases in order to avoid performance and scalability issues.
Building a Home Computer Lab
The 75 minute session is Building a Home Computer Lab. This will be a completely new session for me, but it is something that I am obviously passionate about. I always enjoy talking about computer hardware. Given the current human malware situation, with many people working from home (or perhaps in-between jobs), this session is more relevant than usual.
Here is the abstract:
Building a Home Computer Lab
If you want to learn about new data-related technologies and features in a controlled and affordable environment, one option is a home computer lab. Depending on your needs and budget, there are many different ways to build a home lab. These range from using a laptop, to building desktop machines from parts, to using actual servers for a lab. This session covers key considerations for deciding which method to choose. It also has many tips and tricks to make your home computer lab more effective and efficient. This session also covers virtualization considerations.
Final Words
Due to the current global situation, the PASS Virtual Summit 2020 is virtual-only for the first time. This has some pros and cons.
One benefit is that there is no travel time and no travel expenses. The registration cost is much lower than previous PASS Summits. You won’t have to worry about navigating the Houston Convention Center (which would be unfamiliar to most of us).
There won’t be any concerns about finding the room for a session early enough to get a seat. You won’t crammed into an uncomfortable seat, having late-comers (who always have a cup of coffee and a large backpack) climb over you.
There won’t be any issues with noise, room temperature, audio/video quality or attendees talking during a session. Worrying about where to eat and whether PASS will supply breakfast won’t be an issue. There won’t be any lines at the bathrooms!
On the downside, there won’t be the normal PASS Summit experience of seeing and talking with people you know, both during the day, and at night. There will not a physical Exhibition Hall full of sponsors. You won’t be adding to your swag collection or getting free food and drinks.
Unless you actually take time off to watch the sessions at home (and you do your best to stay focused and undisturbed) you may end up not getting the full benefit of a live session. Fortunately, you will be able to download all sessions on demand for 12 months.
I hope people give this new virtual format a chance. I have gotten a lot of value from the PASS organization over the years, and it would be a shame if it does not survive this year.
If you have any questions about this post, please ask me here in the comments or on Twitter. I am pretty active on Twitter as GlennAlanBerry. Thanks for reading!