Just one week until the next PASSMN meeting.  As I mentioned last week, this month we’ll be focusing a  bit on performance.    And yeah, guys with lights coming out of his body means performance… or it might be just a great party.  Come out and join the discussion with a snack and some great presentations.

SQL Server and Partition Alignment & Wait-Time Based Performance Management

September 15th
2:30 PM Networking & Social
3:00 PM Announcements
3:15 PM - 5:15 PM Presentations

8300 Norman Center Drive
9th Floor
Bloomington, MN  55437

If that wasn’t enough to make you want to want to show up, here are the presentation details…

SQL Server and Partition Alignment

Speaker: Jimmy May, Microsoft
Now that SQL Server wait stats are formally documented & DMVs are available, disk partition alignment may be the best kept secret related to database performance optimization. In combination with stripe unit size & file allocation unit size, learn how you can increase I/O throughput by 10%, 30%, & under some circumstances even more. Many customers are unaware of partition alignment. Even experienced disk administrators may be unfamiliar with it. Explanations are often initially met with disbelief. Engineers familiar with the topic may underestimate its importance. For example, some customers think it is useful only for Microsoft Exchange Server. In fact, partition alignment is important for all servers from which high performance is expected, especially SQL Server. Each month I encounter customers with unaligned storage. Until existing misaligned partitions created using Windows Server 2003 or Windows 2000 Server are rebuilt properly, disk partition alignment will remain a relevant technology.

Jimmy May  is a Principal Performance Engineer for Microsoft’s Assessment, Consulting, & Engineering (A.C.E.) Services & works for Team Lee. He is the Founder & Visionary-in-Chief of SQL Server Pros & was formerly the Senior Database Architect for one of the world’s largest OLTP DBs. He is a founder & on the executive committees of both the Indiana Windows User Group & Indianapolis Professional Association for SQL Server . Jimmy lives in Indianapolis, Indiana with his lovely bride, Phyllis, & Fannie May the Wonder Dog. Subscribe to & read his blog at msdn.blogs.com/jimmymay. Contact him at jimmymay@microsoft.com or aspiringgeek@live.com.

Wait-Time Based Performance Management

Speaker: Janis Griffin, Confio
Using Wait Time Analysis and Wait Types is a newer method for tuning SQL Server instances. As a result, there is often confusion on exactly what the data means. The issue typically centers around the fact the wait time data is analyzed at the wrong level or the collected wait time data is not detailed enough. This presentation will focus on these problems and review several real-life case studies of using SQL Server Wait Type data coupled with Wait-Time based performance analysis to solve the most difficult performance related issues.

Janis Griffin has over 20 years of DBA experience including design, development and implementation of many critical database applications. Before coming to Confio, Janis held DBA positions primarily in the Telecom Industry (15 yrs), working with both real-time network routing databases and OLTP business to business applications.