Greater Lansing Area for SQL Server (GLASS)

As you can probably see, there haven’t been many updates on this page in QUITE a while (October 2021 to be exact). Between busy life and existential angst that was the pandemic I didn’t have a lot of motivation most days and it was a struggle to just get things posted to our Meetup page and get meetings scheduled. Besides that, most of the traffic for our user group meetings were being generated from our Meetup page anyway, so I let this page slide. We did take a bit of a break from June 2022 through December 2022, but we’re getting back in the swing of having monthly meetings. We are still only meeting virtually at the moment but hope to get back to doing some in-person meetings once we get through the spring. Even when we return to in-person meetings we will continue to make our meetings available online. We are also getting most consistent on recording our meetings and making these available online. The few we have available currently are uploaded to our YouTube channel for you to view.

Hope to see you at one of our upcoming meetings!

-Mike A, GLASS UG Leader

Join us on Thursday, October 14 (register HERE) for Tracy Boggiano presenting on “Intro to Query Store”!

In this session, we will look at how to configure your SQL Server Instances

In this session, we will look at the new Query Store feature in SQL Server 2016 and 2017. Query Store tracks changes in execution plans, allowing you to easily view performance differences and revert to older plans with a few clicks of the mouse in 2016.

Then in 2017, Microsoft added wait stats per query plan and Automatic Tuning capabilities. Allowing DBAs more tools to troubleshoot fires with and a way to automatically resolve issues.

In this session, we will walk through the features of Query Store, so you can understand how to use them in SQL Server 2016, 2017, and 2019.

Speaker Bio: Tracy Boggiano is currently a Data Platform MVP, PASSion 2020 Award winner, and works as a Senior Database Administrator for DocuSign. Tracy has worked on SQL Server since 6.5. She has spoken at numerous local user groups and SQLSaturdays, virtual groups, Data Relay, and Summit. She is currently a co-leader of the Triangle SQL Server User Group in Raleigh, NC. Tracy tinkered with databases in middle school to keep her sports card collection organized and got an early start on databases.

Her passion outside of SQL Server is volunteering by advocating for abused and neglected foster children in court through the North Carolina Guardian ad Litem program. This is her favorite and most important job. She has been an Guardian ad Litem for 18+ years and advocated for over 50+ children. As someone who experienced mental health issues she has for the past two years started being a mental health advocate by being a part of the PAIMI (Protection and Advocacy of Individuals with Mental Illnesses) Advisory Council with the DRNC (Disability Rights of North Carolina).

Join us on Thursday, September 12 (register HERE) for Tracy Boggiano presenting on “SQL Server Configuration with dbatools and dbachecks”!

In this session, we will look at how to configure your SQL Server Instances using PowerShell and the dbatools module. Then we will look at how to use dbachecks to confirm the configuration of our instances and how to check for changes in the future of the configuration. Attendees will see how easy it is to use PowerShell via dbatools to configure their SQL Server instances.

Tracy Boggiano is currently a Data Platform MVP, PASSion 2020 Award winner, and works as a Senior Database Administrator for DocuSign. Tracy has worked on SQL Server since 6.5. She has spoken at numerous local user groups and SQLSaturdays, virtual groups, Data Relay, and Summit. She is currently a co-leader of the Triangle SQL Server User Group in Raleigh, NC. Tracy tinkered with databases in middle school to keep her sports card collection organized and got an early start on databases.

Her passion outside of SQL Server is volunteering by advocating for abused and neglected foster children in court through the North Carolina Guardian ad Litem program. This is her favorite and most important job. She has been an Guardian ad Litem for 18+ years and advocated for over 50+ children. As someone who experienced mental health issues she has for the past two years started being a mental health advocate by being a part of the PAIMI (Protection and Advocacy of Individuals with Mental Illnesses) Advisory Council with the DRNC (Disability Rights of North Carolina).

Find out more about Tracy on tracyboggiano.com!

I messed up and never got a post out on our blog for our August 12 meeting! We had Thomas Grohser here to speak on “Shaving Off Microseconds.” We should have a recording of this session, but we still have to do some coordination to get the video uploaded and available. I will update the Meetup and this page once we do!

Join us for our June meeting (register HERE) when Jes Schultz presents on “Which Azure SQL Database Options Should I Choose?” . Jes is a Software Engineer in Commercial Software Engineering at Microsoft who has experience with a wide range of SQL Server features from version 2005 through 2019, and is on the cutting edge with Azure technologies. Since graduating Fox Valley Technical College with an IT-Programmer/Analyst degree, Jes has worked as an SSRS developer, DBA, and consultant. Before joining Microsoft, Jes was a six-time Data Platform MVP, recognized for her community work. Jes tackles every project and problem with tenacity and her enthusiasm is unmatched in the SQL Server community. In her free time, Jes never stops moving and counts fitness, coffee, cooking, and travel as essentials in life. Go to the GLASS Meetup page for full session details and registration info!

Join us for our June meeting (register HERE) when Aaron Cutshall presents on “A Practical Guide to Set-Based Queries“. Aaron has almost 40 years of experience in systems design, databases and architecture. For 20 years he worked in the manufacturing, warehouse, distribution before moving to healthcare. His specialty is in performance architecture and tuning for extremely large data sets. Go to the GLASS Meetup page for full session details and registration info!

Join us for our May meeting (register HERE) when Kathi Kellenberger presents on “T-SQL Window Function Performance”. Kathi is the editor of Simple Talk at Redgate and a Data Platform MVP. She has worked with SQL Server for over 20 years and has authored, co-authored, or tech edited over a dozen technical books. Kathi is the co-leader of the PASS Women in Technology Virtual Group and a volunteer at LaunchCode. Go to the GLASS Meetup page for full session details and registration info!

Join us for our April meeting (register HERE) when Jeff Moden presents on “Black Arts” Index Maintenance – GUIDs vs Fragmentation – They’re not the problem… WE ARE! Jeff has been a perennial speaker for the GLASS user group, speaking each April since our inception 6 years ago! We are thrilled to have Jeff back again for April 2021! Go to the GLASS Meetup page for full session details and registration info!

Join us on Thursday, March 11, 2021 when Angela Henry speaks to the GLASS User Group on why “Data Types Do Matter”! Angela Henry is a Solution Architect, living in High Point, NC and loves what she does. She’s worked with all versions of SQL Server & worn all the hats that come with dealing with SQL Server throughout the years: developer, administrator, data architect and BI developer. She has her MSCE in Data and Analytics (f.k.a., Business Intelligence), is a Data Platform MVP, and a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT). We are thrilled to have Angela present for us for the first time! Go to the GLASS Meetup page for full session details and registration info!

Join us for our February meeting (register HERE) when Deepthi Goguri presents on Statistics and Memory Grant Feedback in SQL Server! Deepthi presented for us for the first time this last November on the internals of the SQL engine. We are thrilled to have her back again for 2021! Go to the GLASS Meetup page for full session details and registration info!