#blogs

At SQL Cruise our SELECT * is a bit different…

Now that we’re done with SQL Cruises for 2012 we turn towards a new chapter in SQL Cruise in our planning for 2013 and it all starts with updating our presence on the web.  Please explore the site in the meantime but keep in mind all cruises for 2012 have sailed into the sunset.  Please stay tuned for future cruise information coming soon.

In the meantime if you’d like to be kept informed of news with SQL Cruises as we prepare to announce our 2013 schedule early this summer or have questions for the SQL Cruise staff please visit our Contact Page.

If you want to stay current with SQL Cruise information as it materializes please sign up for our feed on the right side of this page and follow us on Twitter at @SQLCruise.

Finally, if you want to get an idea (visually) of what SQL Cruise is like visit our latest sets of photos on Flickr for the Alaska 2012 and Miami 2012 cruises or search on the hashtag of #SQLCruise on Flickr for all past cruiser photos.

The itinerary for SQL Cruise Miami & Caribbean is now LIVE.  We currently have two weeks until our requisite SQL Cruise BBQ the day before we sail and then it’s off to warmer locales to the South where we will dig into SAN, Solid State, Performance Tuning, Professional Development, New Features in SQL 2012, and good food and drinks for the next 7 days.

There are still a few spots open for the cruise if interested and unlike many cruise ships there are single “studio” rooms on board the Norwegian Epic.  If interested please make your next step our registration page.

Today marks the first day in port for SQL Cruise Alaska.  A few hours from us we will dock in Juneau. Behind us, a full first day of cruising the west and northern coasts of Vancouver Island along with training by Buck Woody, Tim Ford, and Brent Ozar.  That was followed by an evening of fine French dining and lively discussions over the day’s learning and technology issues.

We also have a couple of new iPad owners with us as well, Christina Leo won an iPad courtesy of Red Gate on Sunday night and Brad Harker secured his thanks to his BINGO skills from Quest Software.

Today we get to experience a little bit of Isolation.  Transaction Isolation that is courtesy of Kendra Little.  We then hit port for a full day of hiking, biking, photography, exploring, relaxing and socializing.

We will be posting pictures out to Flickr under the hash tags of #sqlcruiseak and #SQLCruise so that you can join us virtually we will be reacquiring access shortly so keep an eye out for a burst of Twitter and Flickr traffic today!

Here is your chance to have an impact on SQL Cruise without ever leaving dry land – and win some cash!

Using hash tag #sqlcruisepic on Twitter, give us an idea on what you want US to task the Cruisers with shooting while on the Alaskan SQL Cruise.  If we choose you (we pick 5 candidates) you’ll be in the running to win a $50 gift certificate from Amazon.

Not bad for sitting there in your pajamas playing around on the Internet, huh?

Candidate goals and their proponents will be announced on Sunday Morning prior to us departing.  Entries are accepted through 12:01, PDT 5/28/2011.

Cruisers will then be tasked with taking photos that match the challenge.  The community will pick winners from those posted pictures using flickr and the tag #sqlcruisepic.  The most-frequently shot goal candidate shot will be the winner for the at-home player (aka Landlubber.)

Game On!

Break Time During Day One Training

Monday, our first day on board SQL Cruise Miami found us sitting in the Bangkok and Singapore meeting rooms attending a full six hours plus of training at the hands of Brent Ozar.  We covered two sessions that day: The SAN Admin Lie Detector Test and after a lunchtime break for food and sun, we covered Wait Stats in depth.  Brent extensively called on his background in SAN and virtualization to discuss how to accurately gauge SAN performance and configuration as well as the proper techniques for configuring your SAN backed SQL instances.  Luckily we were able to also include an additional Cruiser in this discussion: Ben Block, SAN Administrator at one of Brent’s former employers was also able to shed light on the discussion and provide a counter (to Brent’s point) from time-to-time.  I know for one that I am always interested in learning more about that black box called the SAN so I can work more effectively with the SAN Administrator.  Brent’s discussion of the topic definitely provided all of us with a greater understanding of the intricacies of all things SAN.

The noon hour brought a needed break for all.  Some of us chose to spend it refreshing ourselves with food and drink; personally I thought it was therapeutic to get some much needed late-winter sunshine to cure my self-diagnosed Seasonal Affectiveness Disorder (aka Whiteness).  The decks were packed with college students baking in the sun, I luckily found my spot for a bit of time before returning to the afternoon session on Wait Stats.

The topic of wait stats always interests me in that I typically use it as my starting point in any performance tuning situation.  The first thing I do is determine what the accumulated count, duration, and average wait duration is by wait type in order to guide my subsequent performance tuning.  Brent delved into the various common wait types and from there addressed where you would want to turn your attention to next.  While I have what I would call a decent understanding of wait types and their causes, I still managed to pick up quite a few things I will be able to use in active tuning engagements I have in my role as a production Database Administrator.

At the end of the day we held our Quest Software-sponsored Quest Through Your Laptop Bag contest.  Random items were called out by yours-truly. If you had it in your laptop bag you scored a point.  The winner this cruise was Mike Decuir of AllRecipes.com.  He walked away with a $200 gift certificate to Amazon.com courtesy of Quest Software!  Thank you Quest Software and congratulations to Mike!

The day drew to a close with a formal dinner for those of us who decided to dress for the occasion: The aforementioned Mike and his lovely girlfriend Cami, the Rich Zuechs (both Senior and Junior), Crys Manson and her mother Sue Foor and my 12 year old son Austen all sat down for a pleasant dinner at the Aqua restaurant and later joined the remaining Cruisers and their “plus ones” for what we refer to as Prom Night on the cruise ship.  You get to see everyone in their finest attire (which you learn is a variable term with no minimum value) and take pictures against cheesy backdrops for exorbitant prices if you so choose to purchase the pictures on display for all to see over the remainder of the cruise.  Since this cruise also corresponded with Spring Break I’ll let you draw the mental imagery of what most of those photos looked like.  That’s right, 1800 college Spring Breakers on board the Norwegian Dawn this time around.  Apparently New Jersey community colleges were on vacation this week by the looks of the assemblage of personalities collecting around the pool and hot tubs during the cruise.

Overall the day started strong with learning, and finished strong with community!  No better way to kick off our most-recent SQL Cruise in my opinion!