MAGICPASS Tonight It’s All About Encryption

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Tonight I will be live in front of my home town crew at MagicPASS, lead by the one and only Kendal Van Dyke (@SQLDBA|Blog) sponsored by our Friends over at Idera, and located at the Disney Vacation Club in beautiful Celebration Fl.  If the fact that we are just a stone’s throw from the happiest place on earth isn’t enough of a draw for you, then add to that tonight is TACO night at MagicPASS and you’ve got a the cherry on top of the sundae. No Sundae is a Sundae without the nutty topping, and that Dear Reader is me. 

“So Balls,” you say “Nutty topping….Really… Seriously….”

Ahhh…yes, I see.  Well anyway, so tonight I will be presenting on Transparent Data Encryption Inside and Out in SQL 2012.  I’ve given this presentation a couple times before and this year I’ve given it at SQL Connections and just last week at SQL Rally.  If you are interested in this topic this is a great chance to come out and learn without having to spend big buck’s to go do it.  All we need is a little of your time.  So without further ado let’s talk shop.

TRANSPARENT DATA ENCRYPTION INSIDE AND OUT IN SQL 2012

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Transparent Data Encryption is an important topic to learn about.  Chances are if you are a SQL Professional, at some point in time your boss is going to ask you about it.  They will ask you what the Pros and the Cons of it are and the more information you have the better.  So without further Ado here is the abstract:  (If you'd like to Download the entire contents of the presentation and the scripts Click Here for the Slides and Click Here for the Scripts)

Security is a very important part of your job and in how data is utilized.  We have many tools to make data more secure, and starting in SQL 2008 we were able to add Transparent Data Encryption to that list.  Find out What it does and What it doesn’t do, How it effects Read-Only Filegroups, Performance, Compression (Backup and Row/Page), What the X.509 Encryption Standard is and Why you should be careful of what you store and where, and other Advance Features as well as some tips on how to manage it.

I’ve been in shops where we put this on everything, and I mean EVERYTHING.  I’ve also been in shops where we decided not to go with it because of the complication of certificate management and because Physical Security on Servers, Password Management, and Database management were all divided up amongst multiple departments and not all of them would sign off on it.

There is a real world aspect to everything, technology is great but it might not be for you.  I will cover this topic under the hood, breaking out a Hex Editor to look at the un-encrypted and encrypted contents of a backup file, I will discuss and give out scripts to deal with certificate management (backups and automatic deletions), and I will talk about what TDE does and doesn’t do.  If you are interested in the topic at all this should be a lot of fun, because I love questions and this is the perfect setting to ask them.

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE

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So if you think you might make it out, please click here toRSVP.  Going to MagicPASS is always a lot of fun, there are great people who work with SQL everyday.  

If you are a professional in North Orlando, Middle & South Orlando, Lakeland, Winter Haven, Plant City, or like my friend Dan Taylor (@DBABulldog|Blog) who drives in from Brandon FL, when you come you will see why it is so important to get involved in a local PASS SQL Server User Group.   You make local friends that can help you with your SQL problems, and maybe join one of our certification study groups, you make connections to your local SQL Community which will pay dividends down the road.

Come for the Community and the food, and stick around for the presentation because we’re going to have a fun night.

Thanks and I hope to see you there,

Brad

SQL Rally Deck's and Demo's Up

Hello Dear Reader!  I'm coming to you live from the wonderful SQL Rally in Dallas Texas.  I have two sessions today, and the Slide Deck's and Demo's are live on the Resource Page.  Feel free to download them and see if you'd like to come join me, or download them and follow along!

"So Balls," you say "What are you presenting on?"

Glad you asked Dear Reader, and away we go!



TRANSPARENT DATA ENCRYPTION INSIDE AND OUT IN SQL 2012

The great thing about this session is even though we are using SQL 2012 99.999% of this is the same as SQL 2008 & 2008 R2.  So come and learn about TDE and leave with scripts that will help you deploy this if you are interested. I hope you'll stop by at 10:15 am I'm in room 302/303

Here's the Abstract:

Security is a very important part of your job and in how data is utilized. We have many tools to make data more secure, and starting in SQL Server 2008, we were able to add Transparent Data Encryption to that list. Find out what it does and doesn't do, how it effects read-only filegroups, performance, and compression (backup and row/page), what the X.509 encryption standard is and why you should be careful of what you store and where, and other advanced features and management tips.


SQL INTERNALS, RECOVERY MODELS, AND BACKUPS! OH MY!

This is a fun session that is all about learning.  We have demo's and we have fun, but a lot of getting better and advancing your career in SQL Server is knowing the concepts. We won't be Deep Diving but we will touch on ACID, B-Tree's, Transaction Isolation Levels, Transaction Log Internals, Recovery Models, and Backups.  I hope you'll come join me at 4:00 in room 302/303.


Here's the Abstract


The more you know about SQL Server, the more you understand how it works. SQL Server is a product we use every day, and most of us know the big concepts. At the 10,000-foot view, we know what databases, tables, and columns are. But what makes up those databases, tables, and columns? What are records, pages, extents, and allocation units? What are Full, Simple, and Bulk-Logged recovery models? What are the differences between Full, Transaction Log, Differential, and Filegroup backups? What is a piecemeal restore? This is an introduction to these concepts using SQL Server 2012. In this session, you will learn about the internal structure, recovery models, and backups and be better prepared for future learning and managing SQL Server.


WRAP IT UP


I hope you enjoy your day out here there is A LOT of SQL Learning to be had!


Thanks,


Brad

Thank You to the People That Get Us There

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Hello Dear Reader starting today out in Dallas Texas at the Dallas Convention Center is the Second Annual SQL Rally.  This year Sri Sridharan (@SQLRocks | Blog) and a cast of many other volunteers, click hear to read about these great volunteers, have been hard at work to put together this great event.  There are SQL MVP’s, MCM’s, the Microsoft CSS Team, and even your friendly neighborhood SQL DBA’s such as myself.

While we take a couple days to cram in as much SQL Learning and SQL Networking as we can I wanted to take a minute to say Thank You.  Chances are you have someone that you will be Thanking as well.  If we take a minute to ask the volunteers, the comities, and different SQL Community Leaders they would have someone to Thank as well.  So as we start our SQL Rally let’s start it off on the right foot by saying Thanks to the people that allow us to participate in events like these.

“So Balls,” you say, “who are you saying Thank You to?”

The most important person in the world Dear Reader, the person that gets me there so I can participate in events like these.

THE PEOPLE THAT GET YOU THERE

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When you travel you leave your home behind.  I know not an earth shattering conclusion, but when you leave your home who is there taking care of it? 

When the kids were little they didn’t want to go to sleep at night because they didn’t want to miss anything.  They wanted to stay up and play, or stay up and watch TV.  I used to tell them that while they slept the whole world stopped, and it wouldn’t start again until they woke. I wanted them to be at ease about falling asleep.  They worried what they were missing, and I didn’t want them to worry.

As adults we know that is not true.  When we sleep we know another part of the world is up and active.  In the IT world we count on this.  We expect the system that we put in place to be used while we are not looking.  The whole profit model of the internet and “Buy Now” buttons work on that philosophy, things keep running 24 hours a day.

Life is like that too.  When you are not home, who keeps the show running?  Do you have someone that you can depend on?  Someone that says to you, “Don’t worry go, I can handle this”, someone that you have absolute faith in.   Do you have someone that keeps you from worrying?

THANK YOU TO MY WIFE

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1^st and foremost I need to say a big Thank You to my wife.  We have 4 kids.  She has given me a beautiful family, worked like crazy to support my career and my crazy hours, and she does an amazing job making our house a home.  Did I mention we have 4 kids?

I’ve recently taken a new job and I’ve been traveling quite a bit.  When you do not travel for work, then events like SQL Saturday’s, SQL Rally, SQL Connections, and the PASS Summit seem like just a couple of events a year.  Just a couple times to go away.  You say things like, “This will make me better at what I do, and besides it’s not like it is forever, it’s just a week or a weekend”.  But those things start to add up.  And when you pile on traveling for work as well, it stacks up even higher.

So when I’m gone I’m not able to help if a kiddo wakes up at 2 am tossing his or her cookies all over the bed.  If there is a noise in the middle of the night, I’m not there to go looking, and it means one parent is stretched thin.  While I’m speaking I can’t kiss a scraped knee or check out a flat bicycle tire. 

There are a million little thing and big things that my wife does during the day, she has a full schedule between family, work, and school.  When you take one parent out of the picture, then that day takes on a whole new level of busy.  Make sure the boys have lunch money, let the dog out, make sure the baby’s lunch is made, let the dog back in, get the baby off to day care, let the dog out,  pay the bills, clean the house, let the dog back in, do laundry, and don’t forget to let the dog out.  And that doesn’t even include things she needs to do for herself.  

The fact that she can make it look so effortless, is a testament to just how awesome she is.  So before I head off, I need to say Thank You.  I’m very grateful, and I want to say that without you to support me I wouldn’t get to go participate in these great events that I write about, it just wouldn’t be possible.  You’ve taken such good care of me that I cannot Thank You enough.  Thank You, Thank You, Thank You.

DON’T FORGET TO SAY THANK YOU

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Hopefully I’ll see you when I’m are out in Dallas, but before you get there stop and think about who it is that is making your trip possible.

Chances are I’m not alone in this.  You probably have someone in your life that makes it possible for you to do the things that you do.  Someone that while you’re away, notices more than anyone else. Someone who is happy for you when you get opportunities, helps cover for you when you need it, and offers you the support you need to get the job done.  Someone that when you get excited you want to run to and share the news about <insert good news of your choice/>. 

Someone that while you’re away, notices more than anyone else.  Make sure to say Thank You.

Thanks and I'll see you out there,

Brad