Microsoft Data Warehouse Fast Track for SQL Server 2016 is a joint effort between Microsoft and its hardware partners to deliver validated, pre-configured solutions that reduce the complexity of implementing a data warehouse on SQL Server Enterprise Edition. The Data … Continue reading →
Over the last few years I have been involved in reviewing the architectures of various companies that are building or have built big data solutions. When I say “big data”, I’m referring to the incorporation of semi-structured data such as sensor … Continue reading →
Azure SQL Data Warehouse (SQL DW) is a new platform-as-a service (PaaS) that distributes workloads across multiple compute resources, called massively parallel processing (MPP). Loading data into a MPP data warehouse requires a different approach, or mindset, than traditional methods of loading data into … Continue reading →
Analytics Platform System (APS) is Microsoft’s massively parallel processing (MPP) data warehouse technology. This has only been available as an on-prem solution (see video Overview of Microsoft Analytics Platform System). Until now. At the recent Microsoft Build Developer Conference, Executive Vice … Continue reading →
A “data lake” is a storage repository, usually in Hadoop, that holds a vast amount of raw data in its native format until it is needed. It’s a great place for investigating, exploring, experimenting, and refining data, in addition to archiving … Continue reading →
Microsoft Azure provides you two options when hosting your SQL Server-based data warehouse: Microsoft Azure SQL Database and SQL Server in Azure Virtual Machine. Which one is appropriate based on the size of the data warehouse? What are some hardware features to … Continue reading →
I see a lot of confusion on what exactly is an Operational Data Store (ODS). While it can mean different things to different people, I’ll explain what I see as the most common definition. First let me mention that an … Continue reading →
Thanks to everyone who attended my session “Building a Big Data Solution” (Building an Effective Data Warehouse Architecture with Hadoop, Cloud and MPP) for Pragmatic Works today. The abstract for my session is below and the recording will be available here tomorrow. I hope you enjoyed it! … Continue reading →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
Thanks to everyone who attended my session “Modern Data Warehousing” at the PASS SQLSaturday Business Analytics edition in Dallas. The abstract is below. Great turnout for the last session of the day! Here is the PowerPoint presentation: Modern Data Warehousing Modern Data Warehousing The traditional … Continue reading →
I will be presenting the session “Modern Data Warehousing” on Saturday at the PASS SQLSaturday Business Analytics edition in Dallas at 4:30pm CST (info). The abstract for my session is below. I hope you can make it! Modern Data Warehousing The traditional … Continue reading →
When I am tasked to do a business intelligence or data warehouse assessment, the steps I take to do that depend on the amount of time and the number of people I have. The result of the assessment will be … Continue reading →
I am fortunate enough to have been selected to give a presentation at the PASS Business Analytics Conference in San Jose, CA on May 7-9. My presentation will be on Thursday, May 8th from 1:30-2:30pm. Below is my presentation abstract along with … Continue reading →
Thanks to everyone who attended my session “Building an Effective Data Warehouse Architecture” at the PASS Summit 2013. The abstract is below. It was a packed room with many people having to stand. Maybe next year I’ll get a bigger room 🙂 I … Continue reading →