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Yearly Archives: 2014

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Analytics Platform System (APS) AU3 released

James Serra's Blog Posted on December 17, 2014 by James SerraDecember 22, 2014

The Analytics Platform System (APS), which is a renaming of the Parallel Data Warehouse (PDW), has just released an appliance update (AU3), which is sort of like a service pack, except that it includes many new features.  These appliance updates are made available frequently, … Continue reading →

Posted in PDW/APS, SQLServerPedia Syndication | Leave a reply

The Modern Data Warehouse

James Serra's Blog Posted on December 3, 2014 by James SerraDecember 10, 2015

The traditional data warehouse has served us well for many years, but new trends are causing it to break in four different ways: data growth, fast query expectations from users, non-relational/unstructured data, and cloud-born data.  How can you prevent this … Continue reading →

Posted in Big Data, Data Lake, Data warehouse, Hadoop, PDW/APS, SQLServerPedia Syndication | 8 Replies

What is Azure Data Factory?

James Serra's Blog Posted on November 26, 2014 by James SerraJuly 29, 2016

The Azure Data Factory (ADF) is a service designed to allow developers to integrate disparate data sources.  It is a platform somewhat like SSIS in the cloud to manage the data you have both on-prem and in the cloud. It … Continue reading →

Posted in Cloud, SQLServerPedia Syndication | 4 Replies

Fast Track Data Warehouse Reference Architecture for SQL Server 2014

James Serra's Blog Posted on November 19, 2014 by James SerraJune 2, 2015

I have previously blogged about the Fast Track Data Warehouse, a reference configuration optimized for data warehousing (see Microsoft SQL Server Reference Architecture and Appliances).  That was version 3.0 of the reference configuration that was for SQL Server 2008 R2.  Released a couple … Continue reading →

Posted in Data warehouse, Fast Track, SQLServerPedia Syndication | 3 Replies

Should you move your data to the cloud?

James Serra's Blog Posted on November 12, 2014 by James SerraNovember 3, 2021

Should you move your data to the cloud?  That is the question. The answer is not simple.  While moving data to the cloud is all the rage, the fact is a large majority of the Fortune 500 companies are not … Continue reading →

Posted in Cloud, SQLServerPedia Syndication | 3 Replies

Book: Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Business Intelligence Development Beginner’s Guide

James Serra's Blog Posted on November 5, 2014 by James SerraNovember 1, 2014

I was fortunate to be a technical reviewer for a new book, SQL Server 2014 Business Intelligence Development by Reza Rad.  Below is the abstract.  It’s a great book for those of you trying to learn about all the various … Continue reading →

Posted in Business Intelligence, SQLServerPedia Syndication | Leave a reply

Analytics Platform System (APS) AU2 released

James Serra's Blog Posted on October 16, 2014 by James SerraOctober 15, 2014

The Analytics Platform System (APS), which is a renaming of the Parallel Data Warehouse (PDW), has recently released an appliance update (AU2), which is sort of like a service pack, except that it includes many new features.  These appliance updates are made available frequently, … Continue reading →

Posted in PDW/APS, SQLServerPedia Syndication | 1 Reply

Non-obvious APS/PDW benefits

James Serra's Blog Posted on October 7, 2014 by James SerraOctober 29, 2014

The Analytics Platform System (APS), which is a renaming of the Parallel Data Warehouse (PDW), has a lot of obvious benefits, which I discuss here.  For those of you who find your database is getting too big, or becoming too … Continue reading →

Posted in PDW/APS, SQLServerPedia Syndication | 8 Replies

IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS explained

James Serra's Blog Posted on September 30, 2014 by James SerraNovember 18, 2015

You might be reading a lot about Cloud computing and see three acronyms frequently: IaaS, PaaS, Saas.  Cloud providers offer their services according to these three fundamental models: Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) This is the most basic model which is essentially your … Continue reading →

Posted in SQLServerPedia Syndication | 7 Replies

Presentation slides for Modern Data Warehousing

James Serra's Blog Posted on August 14, 2014 by James SerraAugust 14, 2014

Thanks to everyone who attended my session “Modern Data Warehousing” at the Central New Jersey SQL User Group yesterday.  The abstract for my session is below.  I hope you enjoyed it! Here is the PowerPoint presentation: Modern Data Warehousing Modern Data Warehousing … Continue reading →

Posted in Data warehouse, Presentation, Session, SQLServerPedia Syndication | 1 Reply

Modern Data Warehousing Presentation

James Serra's Blog Posted on August 12, 2014 by James SerraAugust 12, 2014

I will be presenting the session “Modern Data Warehousing” tomorrow (Wednesday, August 13th) at the Central New Jersey SQL User Group at 6:30pm.  The abstract for my session is below.  I hope you can make it! Modern Data Warehousing The traditional … Continue reading →

Posted in Data warehouse, Presentation, Session, SQLServerPedia Syndication | Leave a reply

24 Hours of PASS videos online

James Serra's Blog Posted on August 7, 2014 by James SerraAugust 6, 2014

All the videos for the sessions at 24 Hours of PASS (Spring 2014) are available for free.  Check the session schedule for a complete list.  Also, many of the PASS virtual chapters have recordings of their meetings online.  Enjoy!

Continue reading →
Posted in PASS, SQL Server, SQLServerPedia Syndication, Videos | Leave a reply

SQL Server Agent job steps vs SSIS

James Serra's Blog Posted on July 22, 2014 by James SerraJuly 16, 2014

When doing ETL, you have the choice of using T-SQL or SSIS (see When to use T-SQL or SSIS for ETL).  If you decide T-SQL is the way to go and you just want to execute a bunch of T-SQL statements (individually … Continue reading →

Posted in SQLServerPedia Syndication, SSIS | 2 Replies

IT books that should be on your shelf

James Serra's Blog Posted on July 16, 2014 by James SerraJuly 16, 2014

I have a lot of books on my shelves dealing with business intelligence, data warehousing, master data management, and consulting.  Below are my favorites: Data Warehouse Books: Ralph Kimball Books Building the Data Warehouse Corporate Information Factory DW 2.0 Mastering … Continue reading →

Posted in Career, SQLServerPedia Syndication | 1 Reply

PASS BA Conference 2014: Sessions Recordings Now Available

James Serra's Blog Posted on June 19, 2014 by James SerraJune 19, 2014

All PASS Business Analytics Conference 2014 recordings are now available.  If you purchased the online sessions, to view, log on to your myPASS account, enter your activation code, and watch the sessions from myRecordings.  You can also purchase all recordings on a USB … Continue reading →

Posted in PASS, SQLServerPedia Syndication, Videos | Leave a reply

Presentation slides for Modern Data Warehousing

James Serra's Blog Posted on May 25, 2014 by James SerraMay 25, 2014

Thanks to everyone who attended my session “Modern Data Warehousing” for Pragmatic Works last Thursday.  The abstract for my session is below and the recording is available here.  I hope you enjoyed it. Here is the PowerPoint presentation: Modern Data Warehousing Modern Data Warehousing The … Continue reading →

Posted in Data warehouse, Presentation, Session, SQLServerPedia Syndication | Leave a reply

Presentation slides for Houston SQLSaturday

James Serra's Blog Posted on May 11, 2014 by James SerraJune 9, 2021

Thanks to everyone who attended my two sessions at SQLSaturday in Houston (more info).  Here are the abstracts and PowerPoint links: Best Practices to Deliver BI Solutions If your company is planning to build a data warehouse or BI solution, you … Continue reading →

Posted in Business Intelligence, Career, Presentation, Session, SQLServerPedia Syndication | 1 Reply

Presentation Slides for Building an Effective Data Warehouse Architecture

James Serra's Blog Posted on May 9, 2014 by James SerraMay 9, 2014

Thanks to everyone who attended my session “Building an Effective Data Warehouse Architecture” at the PASS Business Analytics conference.  The abstract is below.  I hope you enjoyed it! Here is the PowerPoint presentation: Building an Effective Data Warehouse Architecture Building an Effective Data Warehouse Architecture … Continue reading →

Posted in Data warehouse, Presentation, Session, SQLServerPedia Syndication | Leave a reply

SQLSaturday in Houston

James Serra's Blog Posted on May 8, 2014 by James SerraMay 7, 2014

This upcoming Saturday I will be presenting two sessions at SQLSaturday in Houston (more info).  I hope to see you there.  Here are the abstracts: Best Practices to Deliver BI Solutions If your company is planning to build a data … Continue reading →

Posted in Presentation, Session, SQLServerPedia Syndication | Leave a reply

Hadoop and Data Warehouses

James Serra's Blog Posted on May 6, 2014 by James SerraNovember 15, 2016

I see a lot of confusion when it comes to Hadoop and its role in a data warehouse solution.  Hadoop should not be a replacement for a data warehouse, but rather should augment/complement a data warehouse.  Hadoop and a data warehouse … Continue reading →

Posted in Data Lake, Data warehouse, Hadoop, PDW/APS, PolyBase, SQLServerPedia Syndication | 5 Replies

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About James Serra

I work at Microsoft as a big data and data warehousing solution architect where I have been for most of the last ten years.  Prior to that I was an independent consultant working as a Data Warehouse/Business Intelligence architect and developer. I am a prior SQL Server MVP with over 35 years of IT experience. The views and opinions on this blog are mine and not that of Microsoft. Check out my book Deciphering Data Architectures: Choosing Between a Modern Data Warehouse, Data Fabric, Data Lakehouse, and Data Mesh. 

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