James works at Microsoft as a big data and data warehousing solution architect where he has been for most of the last eleven years. Before that he was an independent consultant working as a Data Warehouse/Business Intelligence architect and developer. He is a prior SQL Server MVP with over 40 years of IT experience. Check out his book Deciphering Data Architectures: Choosing Between a Modern Data Warehouse, Data Fabric, Data Lakehouse, and Data Mesh.
Thanks to everyone who attended my presentation “Scaling SQL Server to HUNDREDS of Terabytes” at Houston SQLSaturday. Here is the PowerPoint presentation: Scaling SQL Server to HUNDREDS of Terabytes Scaling SQL Server to HUNDREDS of Terabytes Learn how SQL Server 2008 can … Continue reading →
As a follow-up to my SQL Server 2012: New Certification Info, Microsoft Learning has announced the certification tracks for the SQL Server 2012 exams. There are new names for the certifications: Your first step is to achieve Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA). If … Continue reading →
I will be speaking at the Houston SQLSaturday this upcoming Saturday (April 21st). Below is info on my session, which is at 4pm. I hope you can be there! Scaling SQL Server to HUNDREDS of Terabytes Learn how SQL Server … Continue reading →
SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT) is a Business Intelligence Development Studio (BIDS) replacement, meaning it has a suite of Visual Studio 2010 add-in tools for building Integration Services (SSIS), Analysis Services (SSAS) & Reporting Services (SSRS) solutions (let’s call that … Continue reading →
I blogged previously that when you are a consultant or contractor, you can sometimes be faced with the decision when taking a new contract of whether to go 1099 or W-2 (Consultants: 1099 or W-2?). However, some staffing firms or clients … Continue reading →
When creating a new cube in SSAS, you are frequently making changes that cause the whole cube to reprocess when you use the “Deploy” option (such as structure changes or aggregation design changes). This means a lot of sitting around … Continue reading →
Now that SQL Server 2012 RTM is out, I have an update to my blog post SQL Server 2012 (“Denali”): Installing on a Virtual Machine, which was for CTP3. Here is the version for the RTM: The steps below are what … Continue reading →
To expand on what I talked about in SQL Server 2012 (“Denali”): Details on the next version of SSAS, there is a new data model called Tabular. So when you are creating a new project, which model should you use, Multidimensional … Continue reading →
My previous blog, SQL Server 2012 (“Denali”): Details on the next version of SSAS, talked about the major new feature in SSAS, which is BISM. But what other changes are there? Well, not much. Here are details on the few changes … Continue reading →
BIDS helper is Visual Studio add-in with features that extend and enhance the functionality of the SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2008 BI Development Studio, and now supports SQL Server 2012 (including tabular mode) and Visual Studio 2010 (SSDT). Version 1.6 … Continue reading →
If you have a source table that has a Tinyint primary key column defined as IDENTITY and you create a Data Source View (DSV) in SSAS and add that table (usually a dimension table), that IDENTITY field will be incorrectly … Continue reading →
In the next few weeks there will be an update to the SQL Server Parallel Data Warehouse (PDW) called “Appliance Update 3” or “AU3”. More than just a cumulative update, an Appliance Update is a complete refresh on the entire solution including software, hardware, … Continue reading →
As a follow-up to my blog Microsoft SQL Server Reference Architecture and Appliances, Dell recently announced the future availability of Dell Quickstart Data Warehouse Appliance based on SQL Server 2012. Right now only HP has a Business Data Warehouse appliance (BDW). Basically these … Continue reading →
When the Fast Track Data Warehouse 3.0 Reference Guide was published, it was based off of SQL Server 2008 R2. With the release of SQL Server 2012, as expected that reference guide has been updated. While an official release has … Continue reading →
After SQL Server 2012 was released this past week, I saw a few mentions from Microsoft about a new feature in SQL Server 2012 called “xVelocity”. I have been using SQL Server 2012 for months now, playing with all the new … Continue reading →
As a follow-up to my posts SQL Server “Denali”: New Certifications and SQL Server 2012: New Certifications, there are now final details coming out about the SQL Server 2012 certifications. The major news: UPDATE: Anyone can take the beta exams for free. Just … Continue reading →
In SQL Server 2012, there is a new data model, called tabular, that is part of the new feature called the Business Intelligence Semantic Model (BISM). BISM also includes the multidimensional model (formally called the UDM). The Tabular model is based on … Continue reading →
Thanks to everyone who attended my presentation “Scaling SQL Server to HUNDREDS of Terabytes” at HASSUG. Here is the PowerPoint presentation: Scaling SQL Server to HUNDREDS of Terabytes As a followup to a question from the presentation about clustering the appliances, I … Continue reading →
NOTE: The subject of this blog was developed into a presentation that can be found at: Building an Effective Data Warehouse Architecture What is the best methodology to use when creating a data warehouse? Well, first off, let’s discuss some of … Continue reading →
Power View is installed when you run the SQL Server 2012 install and on the Feature Selection page choose “Reporting Services Add-in for SharePoint Products”. This is a newer version of the add-in that is installed with SharePoint 2010, with … Continue reading →