SQL Data Partners Podcast

Microsoft Fabric offers two enterprise-scale, open-standard format workloads for data storage: Warehouse and Lakehouse. Which service should you choose? In this episode, we dive into the technical components of OneLake, along with some of the decisions you’ll be asked to make as you start to build out your data infrastructure.

These are two good articles we mention in the podcast that could help inform your decision on the services...

In Episode 281, we introduced Microsoft OneLake with a high-level overview. Now we're going deeper with a discussion on the Parquet format, why Microsoft went with the Delta Lake variation, and what Delta Lake format brings to the table (no pun intended). We'll also examine some "behind the scenes" aspects of file management, and why you'll still be using the GUI to create most of your objects.

Onelake is Microsoft's solution to th...

As you start using Fabric, having a central location for your data is crucial. OneLake acts as this unified destination, offering a single, consolidated repository for all your data. In this podcast episode, we explore the core features of OneLake and its benefits with our guest, Mariano Kovo, and discuss how it efficiently handles large amounts of data from diverse sources. We'll also dive into the importance of how your data is p...

At the Microsoft Build Conference in May 2023, Microsoft announced the new Fabric, where you could slice and dice all your data harmoniously within the environment. A few months later, Kevin, Eugene, and I discussed this evolution of the Azure Data platform in episode 267, and our thoughts on the vision for it's future, our expectations, and predictions.

Now, more than a year later, we decided it's a good time to take an in-depth l...

If you use SQL Server, you will eventually have to migrate that instance somewhere – to a new version, a new server, the cloud . . . somewhere.

Or perhaps you'll find yourself migrating from another database into SQL Server.

No matter which way you slice it, SQL Server migrations can be daunting, not to mention complex and time-consuming. While we know there are risks and many things that can go wrong, the "new" Microsoft continues...

Can you run SQL Server on Azure VM? Which VM is best? Is running SQL Server on a VM in Azure the right choice? Find out in this insightful episode with Anders Pedersen!

With over 10 different SQL Server services now offered in Microsoft Azure, it can be difficult to know how you want to run your environment. Sometimes, the old ways are the best ways for an organization, and running SQL Server on a VM in Azure is the right fit.   

I...

Is testing out pgAdmin on your to-do list?

In this episode of the podcast, we chat with Ryan Booz, a PostgreSQL advocate at Redgate, about how a SQL Server professional might begin a dive into PostgreSQL, one of the most popular open source databases in the world.

Ryan came from a career background in SQL Server, but after experiencing his accidental "jump-into-the-deep-end" PostgreSQL moment, he hasn’t looked back.

Naturally, open...

Listener beware! This episode is full of danger as we tackle an interesting use case for Dynamic SQL. Dynamic SQL generally has a bad reputation in SQL Server circles, and with good reason. Dynamic SQL can open the door to many undesirable results - SQL Injection attacks being the most frightening of these. It can also be difficult to read, making maintenance problematic; however, in this episode one brave soul - Marathon's own Lau...

What kinds of problems are organizations solving with Machine Learning? In this episode, we explore a situation where a public works department was looking for more accurate information to predict future water levels based on rainfall to maintain water tank storage for balancing pressure and to prevent overflow flooding. Marathon data solutions consultants Brian Knox and Andy Yao, built a custom machine learning model and made the ...

After discussing the Capabilities Maturity Model in our last episode, it was fate when Andy Levy reached out and suggested a topic which sounds like a case study about his experience with CMM. As the only data professional in his organization at the time of his hiring, Andy went from fixing problems to slowing increasing his role in the organization and participating in the planning meetings—being in the room where decisions are ma...

Have you ever felt stuck in a rut, repeating the same tasks, while knowing there is room for improvement? The Capability Maturity Model may be a way for you to start contributing to those improvements. In this podcast episode, Kevin Kline from SolarWinds walks us through how we might go from simply dealing with issues as they come, to being a contributor in decisions about the future of our organization.

Listen in and learn about t...

Do you find yourself repeating the same actions when pulling SQL Server performance metrics? 

Performance tuning a troublesome SQL Server can be a challenge. Luckily the community continues to produce wonderful folks like Erik Darling who contribute their knowledge to make your life a bit easier. In this episode of the SQL Data Partners podcast, we sit down with Erik and discuss the scripts he built to gather performance metrics. W...

This past November, Eugene and I attended the 2023 PASS Data Community Summit (aka PASS Summit) in Seattle, while Kevin headed down to Orlando for the Microsoft Live! 360 event in Orlando. Having no remote option this year was fine for us, as it was great to reconnect with our friends and colleagues in the data community, as well as get updates live and in-person from Microsoft on all the new features rolling out. The focus of both...

Moving up the ranks in the holy technology wars is the medallion architecture, and boy are we interested in getting your thoughts. Not since the 2008 Olympics and Michael Phelps' tenth of a second win over Milorad Cavic has there been so much controversy around bronze, silver, and gold.

This episode of the podcast has a genesis with Databricks and the methodology of getting data into a workable form for all the reporting pieces bus...

In this Episode, Carlos talks about managed services and shares some of the benefits of working with an MSP, as well as potential cons. 

The term manage services refers to the practice of outsourcing business administration or management responsibilities to the third party. Why would you ever want to outsource these pieces?

Listen in to learn more and see if hiring an MSP would be a good decision for your company.

The show notes fo...

We love hearing from our listeners!!! In this episode, a long-time listener asked about the future of AI in the data platform space. We thought this was a very interesting topic as Microsoft has been including Artificial Intelligence or AI in more and more of its marketing material. In this episode we'll dive into the definition of AI, what features are currently available, how we can leverage those technologies, and where we think...

All your data, all your teams—in one place. What am I? If you said Microsoft Fabric, you win! When I interned with Cisco Systems in 2000, I supported a platform called Unified Messaging. At that time, we were talking about getting your email, voice mail, and faxes all in one place. My, how the times have changed.

To a certain extent, the Microsoft Fabric is an extension, or wrapper, of some of the tools we have talked about in othe...

We're kicking off Season 7 with containers!

Spinning up a VM may not be such a big deal anymore; however, most of us still have to request from another group one and wait. Even waiting on an Azure VM can be somewhat painful. Wouldn't it be nice to forget about setting up another development environment just to test something that isn't going to stick around?

Our guest today is Chuck Bryan, and he talks to us about how he is using c...

Compañeros! In May, SQL Data Partners was acquired by Marathon Consulting.  There were many moving parts t...