SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 1 CTP4

The Microsoft SQL Server Team recently announced the release of the SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 1 Community Technology Preview 4. Unlike the CTP3 which primarily focused on BI functionality, CTP4 focuses on SQL Server functionality across the board.

The new and enhancements features are listed on Books Online and the download page.

SQL Server 2012 SP1 CTP4

SQLServer 2012 SP1 CTP4 Express

SQLServer 2012 SP1 CTP4 Feature Pack

 

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PASS Azure Virtual Chapter Launched!

Earlier this year I became the chapter leader for the PASS SQL Azure Virtual Chapter and decided to reboot it. While in the reboot phase, an announcement was made stating that  SQL Azure would now be known as SQL Database. This situation made the committee members consider not only renaming the group but also changing the focus of the group. The end result is the creation of the PASS Azure Virtual Chapter with a mission to enable Azure knowledge sharing and create a network of Azure and Cloud Computing professionals.

Does this mean that we would not have any SQL Database (SQL Azure) sessions? SQL Database is part of Windows Azure so we will have sessions on the topic but not all the sessions would be focused on it.

Join us for our first session: Getting Started with Windows Azure

Date: Monday 24th September 11 AM Eastern Time (8 AM Pacific) - Add the event to your calendar

Speaker: Brian Prince, Principal Cloud Evangelist Microsoft

Abstract:

Windows Azure is Microsoft's cloud platform for quickly building and running scalable applications. We will cover just what the cloud is, as an industry, and what Microsoft is offering. We will see into the datacenters, how they work, and a high level view of all of the components of the platform.

For more information: http://azure.sqlpass.org/

Follow us on twitter: @AzurePASSVC

 

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TTSSUG School Tour

Later this month, the Trinidad and Tobago SQL Server User Group (TTSSUG) will be hosting sessions at some of the tertiary education institutes in Trinidad. The purpose of the sessions is to introduce students to database topics that would serve them well as they join the IT world.

Agenda:

Introduction to TTSSUG

Introduction to Database Administration

Introduction to Database Programming

 

The presentations will also be highlighting the capabilities and features of SQL Server. The sessions will be from the perspective of an IT professional and not necessarily a theoretical view.

Tour Dates:

University of the Southern Caribbean

Date: Wednesday 26th September 2012

Time: 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm

University of the West Indies

Date: Thursday 27th September 2012

Time: 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm

School of Business and Computer Science

Date: Friday 28th September 2012

Time: 9:00 am to 11:00 am

If you are a student at any of the institutes and you wish to attend, please send an email to events@ttssug.org with your name and the institute that you attend.

 

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T-SQL Tuesday #34 - Presentations Can Be Helpful

The purpose of month's topic chosen by Rob Volk (Blog | Twitter) is to get some insight about where we get SQL Server help.

There are many methods to get assistance with SQL Server when you have issues but what about the help that you didn't realise that you need! How do you ask for help on an issue if you don't know you have an issue? Presentations have been a great resource for providing me with SQL Server knowledge  which assists me with finding and fixing existing and possible future SQL Server issues. It goes without saying that presentations can assist with current known issues as well.

Before you continue reading this thinking that I am just talking about attending sessions please note that  I am also talking about being the presenter. While preparing for a presentation I am sure you will learn something that can be used immediately or eventually for a fix/improvement to you system.

Besides the actual content of the presentation, the interactions during the session (e.g. questions and answers) are quite helpful and informative. You can get direct immediate answers to some of your questions and also both attendee and presenter can possibly learn from other people's scenarios/situations. An extra benefit of attending presentations is the networking opportunities, which can be considered as a separate way of getting help.

In the IT world it is very difficult to attend these presentations but luckily there are many online presentations to deal with this issue. Even if you are unable to attend the online session due to your schedule, many presentations both online and in-person are recorded to allow on demand viewing. Of course it is not going to be as great as being there and the networking opportunity will be lost.

I consider presentations to be a necessity to anyone in the IT world! A great place to get many helpful presentations is the PASS Summit. Sessions are recorded for people who want to see sessions that they missed or people who couldn’t attend but the DVD should not be your first option!

 

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