Scott Minar PrequelSaturday How the SQL Server community is about to make your job easier Welcome! You've already discovered the best value anywhere in SQL training; here's how to make the most of it. We'll talk about what to do while you're here and ways to keep up the learning momentum afterward. You'll also be introduced to several invaluable (and not just because they're free) tools that anyone working with SQL Server needs to be familiar with. If you're new to SQL Server, when you get back to work on Monday you'll know how to attack the problem you've been struggling with, you'll solve the next problem faster, and you'll know how to find help if you get stuck. Oh, and you'll know about six other problems that used to be hiding from you.

Welcome! Making the most of today Where to find more info How to reach out when you need help Leveraging the pain of others

SQLSaturday

SQLSaturday is people Organizers Speakers Vendors Attendees Organizers PASS & SQLSaturday (website/branding) Volunteers Planning/Sponsors/Speakers/Communication/Food Room monitors/Servers Speakers Also volunteers Vendors Sponsors are paying for all of this Raffle tickets Please opt-in Their product might just save your bacon some day Attendees Not just DBAs Wide range of industries/experience

Suggestions Sessions Listen Ask Questions Network Thank Sessions Pay attention to the speakers and the abstracts Challenge yourself to attend a session you know nothing about Listen Put away your email Not just to speakers Other attendees' questions Vendors products Ask Questions If you don't get it, you're probably not alone If it's a rabbit hole, ask the speaker afterward (but don't hold them up) Network Tell the speaker how you'll use the info Talk to other attendees at lunch/breaks Your future bosses/coworkers may be here now Don't be afraid to skip a session Thank Organizers Sponsors Speakers

Session Evaluations are ONLINE ONLY Your feedback is valuable! SQLSatBR.com/Sessions/SessionEvaluation.aspx

Keep Learning

Other Events SQLSaturday Baton Rouge SQL Server User Group (see Useful Links) Other PASS User Groups PASS Virtual Groups PASS Summit Houston TechFest 24 Hours of PASS GroupBy SQLSaturday Memphis – October 5th Nashville – January 18th (tentative) Baton Rouge – March 7th (tentative) Summit November 5th - 8th TechFest September 14th GroupBy October 9th&10th Past recordings

On Demand PASS Recordings Blogs StackExchange SQLServerCentral Pluralsight Microsoft LMGTFY

Interactive Assistance StackExchange SQLServerCentral #sqlhelp SQL Server Community Slack Baton Rouge Slack Your Network

Tools

Tools SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) by Microsoft SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT) by Microsoft Azure Data Studio by Microsoft sp_whoisactive by Adam Machanic (blog|twitter) First Responder Kit by Brent Ozar Unlimited (blog|twitter) SQL Server Maintenance Solution by Ola Hallengren dbatools by Chrissy LeMaire (blog|twitter) Plan Explorer by SentryOne BIML Express by Varigence SSMS Use a current version Tools » Options… Query shortcuts Word wrap Line numbers Scroll bar map mode Drag & Drop from Object Explorer Hide Results Alt+Shift Select Azure Data Studio T-SQL Notebooks

Other resources db<>fiddle Paste The Plan SQLServerUpdates.com Shortcuts Cheat Sheet SQL Server Diagnostic Information Queries

Quick Lessons

NOLOCK is not the answer …and neither is auto-shrink Backups must be tested! RPO/RTO RBAR “Your data is only as good as your last backup.”  “Your backups are only as good as your last restore.” RBAR Example: look at all users and set IsActive to false if last login more than three months ago