Infrastructure Blog

My new role - DPE Infrastructure Architect Evangelist for IT-Pro

Petra Korica Pehserl — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 09:33:10 GMT

Dear all!

I recently changed my role to Infrastructure Architect Evangelist especially for IT-Pro audience at Developer & Platform Group (DPE) in Microsoft Austria. If you are interested in news about Cloud, Infrastructure, SQL you can now follow my posts at http://blogs.technet.com/b/austria/ and http://www.codefest.at/

Cheers,

Petra

PASS: New SQL Server/Oracle Virtual Chapter

Petra Korica Pehserl — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 09:14:27 GMT

SQL PASS has installed a new SQL Server/Oracle Virtual Chapter! The goal of the Chapter is "... to provide a conducive environment where through the use of online webinars( from both the SQL Server and Oracle Camps), web based articles and cross product/ cross pollination of concepts and ideas, our members are able to prosper and to pass the knowledge on to others."

SQL Server/Oracle Virtual Chapter looks like a promising place to connect SQL and Oracle DBAs!

Check out http://oracle.sqlpass.org/ for information and link to live meetings!

Business Intelligence Conference in New Orleans

Petra Korica Pehserl — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 11:01:00 GMT

Last week Business Intelligence Conference in New Orleans took place. There have been lots of very interesting sessions regarding virtually every aspect of Business Intelligence!

In the Keynote Ted Kummert, Senior Vice President of Microsofts Business Platform Division gave a very interesting presentation including some cool demos with new functionality of PowerPivot (for example KPIs!!!) and SharePoint...

Be sure to check it out at: http://www.msteched.com/2010/NorthAmerica/Keynote02

Enjoy!

SQL Server 2008 R2 Reporting Services - what's new???

Petra Korica Pehserl — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 14:18:00 GMT

In the new SQL Server 2008 R2 release it is the Reporting Services component that really changed a lot! For example one can now publish report parts (eg chart, table) which can be reused in different reports, or now you can also use SharePoint list as data source...

MSDN offers a great overview on new functionality: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms170438.aspx

Here you can download the new version of authoring tool Report Builder 3.0: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=f78b6b1e-8ccb-407a-bc3e-7955d60e1a6c&displaylang=en

SQL Server R2 RTM is out!!

Petra Korica Pehserl — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 13:42:00 GMT

Check it out here:

www.sqlserverlaunch.com

Enjoy!

Kimberly L. Tripp gives a talk about Index Internals to SQL Server User Group Austria!

Petra Korica Pehserl — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 13:01:00 GMT

Date: 29.04.2010

Start: 17:00

Location: bwin Event Zone, City Point, Marxergasse 1b, 1030 Vienna (U-Bahn (U3, U4)/Schnellbahnstation Landstraße)

Registration: sqlserverug@live.at

Title: SQL Server 2005/2008: Index Internals

Session length: 60 Minutes with Q&A at the end

Speaker: Kimberly Tripp

Language: English

Abstract: Understanding SQL Server indexes is an integral part of performance tuning. From initial base table strategies to long term workload performance tuning – indexes are at the heart of both the analysis and the solution. The real question is why? Why are indexes so critical and what do you need to know as either a developer or a DBA which will help you to build better indexes and move toward better indexing strategies overall. And, what are the most common pitfalls and problems? Where do most applications go wrong? And, what can you do to solve this in existing systems as well as build better solutions moving forward. Come to this fast-paced, demo-packed session to find out.

About the speaker: Kimberly L. Tripp (http://www.sqlskills.com/blogs/Kimberly) is a SQL Server MVP and a Microsoft Regional Director and has worked with computers since 1985. Since 1995, Kimberly has worked as a Speaker, Writer, Trainer and Consultant for her own company SQLskills.com. Working for SQLskills, Kimberly enjoys the ability to work on different types of projects – from consulting to speaking to writing to presenting. In terms of some of these projects, Kimberly is a writer/editor for SQL Server Magazine; authored multiple whitepapers on SQL Server 2005; authored the Index Internals chapter of the new MSPress release SQL Server 2008 Internals and acted as an editor for the new SQL Server MVP Deep Dives title. In presenting, Kimberly has presented lectures and seminars at Microsoft Tech*Ed, SQLConnections, SQLPass, and other SQL Server-related events since 1996 and is consistently top-rated both on quality of technical content and presentation style. In consulting, Kimberly helps customers tackle their availability and performance problems as well as design and architect appropriate solutions. Currently, Kimberly is focused on SQL Server 2008 content for conferences and workshops around the world. For a more detailed bio, please see http://www.sqlskills.com/AboutKimberlyLTripp.asp.

24 Hours of PASS: Celebration SQL Server 2008 R2

Petra Korica Pehserl — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 15:31:00 GMT

Be sure to check out and registrate for free for 24 hours of PASS online event - starting on May 19th you can watch online various webcasts (BI, Multi server managment, Security,...) for 24 hours in a row!

SQL Server 2008 R2 Update for Developers Training Kit March 2010 Update

Petra Korica Pehserl — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:27:00 GMT

March 2010 Update for SQL Server 2008 R2 for Developers Training Kit has been released! The kit is available as a free download from the MS Download center at the following URL:

http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9710868

Guidance for Developing SharePoint Applications v2.0 Released

Petra Korica Pehserl — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:17:00 GMT

Microsoft's Pattern & Practices group has released a new, updated version of guidance for building collaborative applications that extend your LOB systems.

This guidance helps architects and developers design and build applications that are both flexible and scaleable and it focuses on four key areas – 1) using SharePoint capabilities to build more powerful applications; 2) building SharePoint applications that are easier to scale, maintain and grow; 3) improving application quality through testing and 4) improving and accelerating team productivity.

Important PowerPivot links

Petra Korica Pehserl — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:41:00 GMT

Did you already hear about PowerPivot?

PowerPivot gives users the power to create compelling self-service BI solutions, facilitates sharing and collaboration on user-generated BI solutions in a Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 environment, and enables IT organizations to increase operational efficiencies through Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2-based management tools.

Check it out on:

http://blogs.msdn.com/powerpivot/
http://www.powerpivot.com/

Great links for SharePoint 2010 and InfoPath 2010 (Office 2010)

Petra Korica Pehserl — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:33:00 GMT

Hi,

here are some great links for SharePoint 2010 and InfoPath 2010 (Office 2010), especially for developers! As you maybe already know InfoPath 2010 is a great tool for developing SharePoint 2010 applications - due to various cool features like for example the ability to customize out-of-the box SharePoint forms....

Have fun!

SharePoint Products TechCenter: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/ee263917.aspx
SharePoint 2010 Developer: http://channel9.msdn.com/learn/courses/SharePoint2010Developer/

InfoPath Forms Services: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262498(office.14).aspx
InfoPath Blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/infopath/ (What’s New: http://blogs.msdn.com/infopath/archive/2009/07/15/what-s-new-in-infopath-2010.aspx)
InfoPath 2010 and Forms Services: http://channel9.msdn.com/learn/courses/Office2010/InfoPathUnit/

Office 2010 Workshop: http://channel9.msdn.com/learn/courses/Office2010/
Office Developer Center: http://msdn.microsoft.com/de-at/office/aa905503.aspx

Office 2010 Online Developer Workshop

Petra Korica Pehserl — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:36:00 GMT

The Office 2010 Developer Training Kit on Channel 9 content is designed to help developers get started building solutions, from add-ins to full featured Office Business Applications (OBAs), using Visual Studio 2010 with Office 2010 and SharePoint 2010 as the core platform. For example developing BI Applications with Office 2010!

Microsoft Office 2010 Beta is a broadly extensible platform for building information worker productivity solutions and developing for Office with Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 makes this easy. There is also downloadable version of the training courses including Hands On Labs for all the training units!

SharePoint2010 Developer Training Course

Petra Korica Pehserl — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:15:00 GMT

Check out SharePoint2010 Developer Training Course on Channel 9! The course contains 14 training units covering all aspects of developing solutions on the SharePoint 2010 platform using Visual Studio 2010 and SharePoint Designer 2010.

There is also downloadable version of the training courses including Hands On Labs for all the training units!

Don't forget you can develop SharePoint2010 on your Win 7 machine!

SQL Server 2008 R2 November CTP

Petra Korica Pehserl — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:59:00 GMT

Starting from today the SQL Server November CTP is available for download.

The new CTP adds a bunch of new functionality like Report Builder 3.0 (inclusive geospatial visualization), StreamInsight (low-latency complex event processing (CEP) platform), Master Data Services, scale up to 256 processors, new tools for managing large multi-database environments, ...

You can download the SQL Server 2008 R2 November CTP here.

Have fun!

SQL Server 2008 R2 - Gemini

Petra Korica Pehserl — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:23:00 GMT

I would like to introduce you to a great new concept coming out with SQL Server 2008 R2 and Office 2010 called Gemini! The idea behind Gemini is managed self-service Business Intelligence. This means enabling users in various departements to make their own analysis in cooperation with central IT which decides which data sources can be used. The user interface for Gemini is Excel 2010. Users can connect to provided data sources and enhance them with their own non-structured data like other Excel sheets, data feeds, reports etc...

Here are some videos showing the described functionality.

English:

http://blogs.msdn.com/bi/archive/2009/05/04/preview-of-project-gemini.aspx

Geman:

http://edge.technet.com/Media/Project-Gemini-in-SQL-Server-2008-R2-Interaktive-Analysen-in-Excel/

Launch of Austrian SQL Server User Group

Petra Korica Pehserl — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:57:00 GMT

Last Thursday Austrian SQL Server User Group officially started! The SQL Server User Group is an independend user community with goal to discuss functionality and share knowledge about all aspects of SQL Server - infrastructure, business intelligence, installation, development, performance optimization, ...

If you live in Vienna, feel free to join us in one of our monthly meetings (next one is on 19.11. in our MS subsidary)! Otherwise, check out our web site http://usergroups.at/blogs/sqlug/default.aspx

bwin recorded ca 400% performance gain in a testing scenario involving SQL Server 2008 R2 on a 256 processor Windows Server 2008 R2 machine

Petra Korica Pehserl — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:21:00 GMT

bwin Interactive Entertainment AG, a world number one company in online gaming, did some extensive tests at MS headquaters in Redmond. Tests involved a 256 processor Windows Server 2008 R2 machine using the newest version of SQL Server 2008 R2. Through the new technologies bwin could achieve ca 400% performance gain - read the whole story here (on German)...

Launch of Austrian SharePoint Community

Petra Korica Pehserl — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:09:00 GMT

If you speak German :-) please visit our new Austrian SharePoint Community!

The Community will be operated as a blog - http://sharepoint-blog.at/. In this blog we want to offer useful information and tipps to different people dealing with SharePoint - administrators, developers, users, ...

MSDN SQL Server Developer Center

Petra Korica Pehserl — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:41:00 GMT

If you are interested in Microsoft SQL Server Database Engine Development here is a great link leading to MSDN SQL Server Development Center.

SQL Server 2008 developer training kit

Petra Korica Pehserl — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:50:00 GMT

Click here to download SQL Server 2008 developer training kit by Microsofts Developer and Platform Evangelism group. The kit can work with a free SQL Server 2008 version like eg SQL Server 2008 Express. It provides overwiew and examples on spatial data types, filestream, common language runtime integration (CRL) feature, reporting services, date and time and new T-SQL language enhancements like MERGE statement to developers!

SharePoint Guidance

Petra Korica Pehserl — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:15:00 GMT

I recently heard about Microsoft's Patterns and Practices SharePoint Guidance that can be read and downloaded here.

The SharePoint guidance supports architects and developers in designing, building, testing, deploying and upgrading SharePoint intranet applications using a reference implementation called Contoso Training Management. This guidance demonstrates solutions to common architectural, development and application lifecycle management challenges like patterns, design tradeoffs, testing, managing different environments (eg dev, build, test, staging and production), development in teams and much more.

A great web site for SharePoint development

Petra Korica Pehserl — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 15:14:00 GMT

This web site offers some great introductionary stuff for getting started with SharePoint development - including labs, web and screen casts, whitepapers and even VPC downloads!

msdev.com - get some training!

Petra Korica Pehserl — Mon, 11 May 2009 21:43:00 GMT

Check out this web site offers loads of training on different Microsoft Products including .NET, Silverlight, SaaS, WPF, ... and of course SharePoint and SQL Server! Offered trainings are instructor-led web seminars and virtual labs! For example "Implementing Change Data Capture (CDC) in SQL Server 2008" virtual lab!

SharePoint Online Standard Developer Guide

Petra Korica Pehserl — Thu, 07 May 2009 15:25:00 GMT

Recently I found the SharePoint Online Developer Guide. This guide explains the most important aspects of development and administration using SharePoint Online. The discussed themes include creation of SharePoint Online Sites, how to customize SharePoint Online Applications, how to use Data Form Web Part and Web Services, integrate Silverlight and creating Workflows.

MSDN Code Gallery

Petra Korica Pehserl — Sat, 02 May 2009 15:16:00 GMT

MSDN Code Gallery is a developer community where you can download and share sample applications, code snippets and other stuff like videos and templates etc… You can also upload your own code and share and discuss it with other community members. There are lots of cool resources for SQL Server and SharePoint development!

In case you have been wondering what the main difference between CodePlex and MSDN Code Gallery is – CodePlex enables developer to manage their live code projects in addition to code sharing whether MSDN Code Gallery is a pure storage site.