15Feb 2016 by Grant Fritchey 11 Comments

Loading Data into Azure SQL Data Warehouse

Azure, Data Science
Ouch. Let's start with the level set. I'm not an ETL expert. In fact, I haven't done any professional ETL work for several years. My skills are, at best, rusty. With this in mind, I knew I'd have a hard time extracting data from a local database in order to move it up to Azure SQL Data Warehouse. I expected to be fumbling and slow and to constantly feel more than a little stupid as I made one mistake after another. All of this came to pass. Yet... OMG! THAT WAS DIFFICULT! Here's how I started. I defined a bcp command for the tables I was interested in. I ensured it was working correctly, then wrote a little PowerShell script so I could supply a list of tables and get…
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12Jan 2016 by Grant Fritchey No Comments

“Applies To…” in the MSDN Documentation

Azure, SQL Server 2016, T-SQL
Quick little post. I just wanted to share how happy I am with the new "THIS TOPIC APPLIES TO" infographic. An example here: I think it makes things much more clear when you're attempting to figure out what's up with some T-SQL syntax. Well done Microsoft and thank you. Side note, this only exists in documentation that has been updated recently. I first saw it in some documentation that was updated January 11, 2016. It's not there in another piece of documentation I saw that was updated October 15, 2015. Here's hoping it gets put everywhere. It works.
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11Jan 2016 by Grant Fritchey 13 Comments

Restoring a Database in Azure

Azure
One of the many small things you don't have to worry about any more when working with Azure SQL Database are those pesky backups... Ha-ha-ha! Yeah, I can't keep a straight face when I type it. Microsoft takes on the role of DBA and creates backups and log backups for you when you're working in the Platform as a Service offering of Azure SQL Database. If that doesn't scare you, I'm not sure what will. However, there's good news. There are still ways for you to create your own backup (through the bacpac, I outlined it here, years ago). More good news is, Microsoft's backups actually work. Testing it out is easy. Let's walk through it once. I'm going to assume you have an Azure account on which you already…
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03Dec 2015 by Grant Fritchey 4 Comments

Changing Course On Learning

Azure, Database Lifecycle Management, DevOps, DocumentDB, Professional Development
With all the new stuff on the Microsoft Data Platform, it's really hard to keep up with it all. I had announced my plans to charge down the DocumentDB road to try to get the basics of that in my head along with learning some JSON so I could get what all the hoopla is about. However, after a lot of thought and some extensive meetings at Redgate, I'm looking to shift my learning in a new direction. First up. Arrrrrrrrr! No, it's not yet "Talk Like a Pirate Day." I'm going to start learning the R language. It's a language for statistical computing and is one of the many underpinnings for what's going to be happening with a lot of the Machine Learning capabilities in the Data Platform. With Azure…
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14Oct 2015 by Grant Fritchey 2 Comments

Getting Started With DocumentDB

Azure, DocumentDB
I've put this off for too long. It's time to get my feet wet with some new tech. Step 1 is easy. Go to the Azure portal and start the process for creating a DocumentDB: While that's running, let's see what's on the interwebs about getting started in DocumentDB... Nice. I know I'm going to have write a little code to exercise this thing. Here's a great run-through on exactly how to do it. Actually, the first hit when I searched on "Getting Started With DocumentDB." Microsoft has a start page on DocumentDB, but it was clearly put together by someone from marketing. Scroll down to the bottom. There are a couple of interesting links including SQL Query Within DocumentDB. Now we're talking. Here's a Curah! or Docs.com (which is…
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05Oct 2015 by Grant Fritchey 1 Comment

Trace Flags in Azure SQL Database

Azure, SQL Server 2016, T-SQL
One of the ways that you take more direct control over your SQL Server instances is through the use of trace flags. There are a number that people recommend you enable by default. Prior to Extended Events for example, I'd say you should turn on trace flag 1222 in order to capture deadlock information on your server (now I just recommend you use the system_health session). I absolutely think you should turn on trace flag 2371 to get better behavior out of your automated statistics updates. There are others that I'll leave to all the systems experts to advise you on. What about Azure SQL Database? I doubt you'll be shocked, but if I try this: DBCC TRACEON (2371,-1); I get the following error: Msg 2571, Level 14, State 3,…
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16Apr 2015 by Grant Fritchey No Comments

Azure SQL Database v12 and SQL Magazine

Azure
I spend many of my evenings researching and writing. Sometimes it's writing new books. Sometimes it's fixing and rewriting old books. Occasionally it's a blog post like this one. Lately, it's been a series of articles for SQL Magazine that are all about the new functionality available in Azure SQL Database v12 that was released in February for most data centers in Azure. It's a whole new ball game. Check out my introductory article for v12 and the one on DMVs in Azure. I have more coming up on CLR in Azure, getting started, PowerShell, DBCC, T-SQL enhancements, Premium Tier and more. I'll also get into "old" functionality like backup and restore. I'll also explore new functionality, Azure is nothing if not dynamic, as becomes widely available. I know a…
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13Apr 2015 by Grant Fritchey 2 Comments

Azure SQL Database Firewall Settings

Azure
The new portal for managing Azure is pretty. I'm not sure I'm in love with it, but it's pretty. However, one thing that I have to access regularly is the firewall settings for my Azure SQL Database. I do demos from all over the place. I never know what my IP address is going to be. Rather than expose everything, I just set up whatever IP address I'm on and then remove it later. The old portal made this easy. The new one... not so much. So, let's get this down real quick. Assuming you connect to the new portal and go straight to your database, you'll see this image showing you the database and the server it's on: You won't see anything else that suggests FIREWALL. But, you can…
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05Sep 2014 by Grant Fritchey No Comments

Speaker of the Month: September 2014

Professional Development
This month I'm very grateful because I was given the opportunity to present at DevLink in Chattanooga. I got to meet a lot of new people and see presentations by people that just don't hang around SQL Server specific events. It was great. I'm going to apply next year (depending on scheduling of course) and I'm applying for a lot more development conferences. I still get to see friends present, Louis Davidson, Kevin Boles and Kevin Kline were all there. But I get to see new people. Speaking of which, speaker of the month for September 2014 is Josh Lane (b|t) and his presentation AWS vs. Azure, Which One Is Right for You. The thing that I found the most amazing about this presentation was how even-handed it was. Josh Lane…
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13May 2014 by Grant Fritchey 8 Comments

Add an Instance to SQL Server Azure Virtual Machine

Azure, SQL Server
How do you add an instance to your local SQL Server installation? You run the executable that you probably downloaded from MSDN or maybe from a CD. Works the same on an Azure VM right? Sure... but wait. Do I have to go and download the software to my VM instance? Let's assume that you're running one of the VMs from the Gallery, then, the answer is "No." Just navigate to C:\SQLServer_12.0_Full. There you'll find the full installation setup for SQL Server. And you're off and running... Until you realize that you don't have the Product Key for this thing. What happens when you get to this screen: You can look around all you want and you won't see a product key anywhere. At least no where that I could…
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