If you’re in the Austin area and are interested in a free all-day conference on .NET development-focused topics, be sure to check out the Austin .NET User Group’s annual Austin Code Camp. It takes place on Saturday, August 17th at the St. Edward’s Professional Education Center in Austin. See the site for details on the speakers, sessions, and location.
This year, I’ll be presenting on a couple of topics that were well-receiving in past years. The sessions will be demo-focused, though you can also find the slides from my past presentations on this site. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions or comments!
SQL Server Performance Monitoring & Optimization
Developers can dramatically improve performance by understanding how their queries are executing in the "real world". This session will cover ways in which attendees can monitor performance at various levels, and how they can use this information to optimize queries and improve overall application performance. We’ll start with a discussion of developing a performance optimization strategy and how various tools can help. Then, we’ll walk through the process of using SQL Profiler to collect data in a real-world case: Generating a "hit list" of worst-performing queries based on execution times and frequency.
Next we’ll look at using the Database Tuning Advisor to make suggestions related to physical database structures such as indexes and partitions. Also included will be ways in which built-in reports and dynamic management views can be used to monitor performance of production systems. Time permitting, the presentation will include methods for reducing deadlocks and managing long-running transactions. Finally, the presentation will include an overview of analyzing query plans. The overall emphasis will be on solving practical, real-world database performance problems.
SQL Server Reporting Services: Creating and Managing Reports
Using SQL Server Reporting Services, developers can author and distribute complex reports that come from a variety of data sources. The session will begin with an architectural overview of Reporting Services and how developers can install and configure the required services. Then, we will walk through the process of creating new reports by building connections and data sets using Report Builder 3.0 and Visual Studio 2012. Reporting design features including dynamic drill-downs, tablix reports, charts, and sorting will be demonstrated. Also included will be methods by which multiple levels of report parameters can be used to filter data and increase performance.
Next, we’ll look at deployment details, including scheduling report execution, report subscriptions, configuring caching, creating snapshots, and managing security. Time permitting, the presentation will include a demonstration of using Report Viewer controls within ASP.NET and Windows Forms applications.
