Category Archives: software

The stuff inside a computer to make programs happen on your computer or mobile device (the “clam”, see the “shell”).

by - 1 Comment

SQL Saturday Silicon Valley Event

Here’s a great upcoming event. Lisacast is going. Hope to see you there!

SQL Saturday Silicon Valley

SQL Saturday Silicon Valley with Ross Mistry (Microsoft) and Mark Ginnebaugh (DesignMind)

February 23rd, 8:30 am to 6:00 pm
Microsoft Technology Center, 1065 La Avenida, Building 1, Mountain View, CA, 94043
The largest Bay Area SQL Server event is here again! SQL Saturday sessions include SQL Server 2012, DBA, Development, Business Intelligence, and Big Data. A great post-event networking reception includes raffle prizes! Even better, the event only charges a $10 lunch fee.

Speakers:

  • Angel Abundez, DesignMind
  • Kevin Boles
  • Carlos Bossy, Quanta Intelligence
  • Mitchell Bottel, Innovative IT Consulting
  • William Brown, Microsoft
  • Dan Bulos, Symmetry Corporation
  • Denny Cherry
  • Rob Farley, LobsterPot Solutions
  • Argenis Fernandez, Microsoft
  • Grant Fritchey, Red Gate
  • Mark Ginnebaugh, DesignMind
  • Janis Griffin, Confio
  • Mark Gschwind, DesignMind
  • Allan Hirt, SQLHA
  • Jason Horner
  • Phil Hummel, EMC
  • Rob Kerr, Blue Granite
  • Scott Klein, Microsoft
  • Kevin Kline, SQLSentry
  • Randy Knight, SQL Solutions Group
  • Julie Koesmarno, LobsterPot Solutions
  • Ami Levin, SolidQ
  • Denise McInerney, Intuit
  • Joy Mundy, Kimball Group
  • Dilip Nayak, CUDirect Corporation
  • Aaron Nelson
  • Joe Sack, SQLskills
  • Chris Shaw, Xtivia
  • Pat Sinthusan, NetApp
  • Mickey Steuwe
  • Mark Tabladillo, Mark Tab Consulting
  • Joseph Vertido, Melissa Data
  • Eddie Wuerch, ExactTarget
  • Wenming Ye, Microsoft

Also, join one of two $149 all-day, pre-conference trainings February 22nd Database Configuration and Tuning with Kevin Kline or Introduction to SQL Server Data Mining with Mark Tabladollo

Real World Database Configuration and Tuning
Speaker: Kevin Kline, SQL Server MVP and Director of Engineering at SQL Sentry

Kevin Klien

This multi-module full day seminar covers best practices for database and application design and configuration, implementation, maintenance and performance tuning.

This session has a special focus on IT organizations with large SQL Server deployments.

– Bare metal tuning of server and disk configuration
– Benchmarking performance
– Physical machine versus virtual machine deployment
– Database conceptual design and normalization through to physical deployment of databases, indexing and partitioning
– Understanding SQL Server query performance
– Identifying performance bottlenecks and resolving performance issues
– Automating as much as possible so that life gets easier!

Prerequisites: Basic understanding of SQL Server architecture and administration.

Kevin Kline has been a Microsoft SQL Server MVP since 2004 and is a noted leader in the SQL Server industry. His product designs have won multiple “Best of TechEd” and “Readers’ Choice” awards. He is a founding board member and former president of PASS – The Professional Association for SQL Server. He has written or co-written eleven books including the best-selling SQL in a Nutshell. Kevin contributes monthly columns to SQL Server Pro and DBTA magazines. Kevin is also a top-rated speaker at conferences worldwide such as Microsoft TechEd, the PASS Summit, DevTeach, Oracle OpenWorld, and SQL Connections. He tweets via @kekline and blogs at KevinEKline.com.

Introduction to SQL Server Data Mining
Speaker: Mark Tabladillo, Ph.D and SQL Server MVP

Mark Tabladillo

QL Server 2012 provides enterprise-level data mining technology, ranging from supporting individual analysts through scalable server solutions.  You will see some of the elements of SQL Server Data Mining from the Excel add-in to full-scale production examples implemented by Microsoft Business Intelligence technology.

Mark will explain data mining in a scientifically accurate way while making the technology practically accessible and even fun. This course is appropriate for people new to data mining technology.  However, feel free to bring your more advanced challenges and questions too.

Objectives:

– Provide a fundamental scientific framework for data mining
– Demonstrate the technology with the fundamental Microsoft data mining interfaces
– Offer practical advice in moving from desktop analysis to enterprise-level deployment

Technology:

– SQL Server 2012 Analysis Services (Multidimensional)
– Office 2013 x64 (Excel and Visio) with Data Mining Add-In
– SQL Server 2012 Integration Services
– SQL Server Management Studio
– SQL Server Data Tools

Mark Tabladillo is a SAS expert, Ph.D, and Microsoft MVP.   He helps teams become more confident in making actionable business decisions with the use of data mining and analytics.  Mark provides training and consulting for companies in United States and around the world. He also teaches part-time with the University of Phoenix, and supervised a dissertation with a graduate student living in Canada.

Contact URL: http://marktab.net/datamining

by - 0 comments

Hadoop There It Is!

Image

What is Hadoop? It’s a relatively new open source data platform with what appears to me to be a new flush of energy (still 99:1 male to female ratio, which says to me that there is something new and nerdy about it).

CEOs and engineers and a few PR people, trailing like jet streams behind them are walking the yellow floor, reminiscent of the yellow brick road.This year, the show is covered by SiliconANGLE’s theCUBE, with a second studio and floor discussions intended as 1-to-1 interviews.

Image

So what is the promise of open source data?

If you ask VMware, they will show you how to virtualize the Haddop platform.

If you ask the Open Knowledge Foundation, they will offer you a helpful Open Data Handbook.

If you ask Jessie Lichtenstein at Wired Magazine, they will warn that open data may “simply empower the empowered” and more aspects need to be taken into consideration.

If you ask the Open Data Center Alliance, lead by “a steering committee of senior IT executives from BMW, China Unicom, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase, Lockheed Martin, Marriott International, Inc., National Australia Bank, Terremark, Disney Technology Solutions and Services, and UBS. Intel Corporation serves as the organization’s technical advisor.”

If you ask Hortonworks, who yesterday announced “enterprise-ready features built on the most stable Apache Hadoop distribution to date”, and also the sponsor of the Hadoop Summit 2012, they’ll make an argument just by showing you testimonials from customers in their partner programs.

If you ask Cloudera, a company who has been around since the clouds were just forming, they will give you their ideas about Hadoop, I found this helpful.

And, if you ask me, I’m pleased that there are multiple data storage platforms in the game. Competition sometimes relieves entropy, a characteristic ever-more frequent in the economy. Hadoop at first glance, looks flexible and current.

Which open data platforms compute in your mind?